Ken Borland

Half-centuries from Eoin Morgan and Jonathan Trott were the killers as England beat South Africa by four wickets with two overs to spare in the third NatWest One-Day International at the Oval on Friday.

47th over – WICKET – Wayne Parnell gets some just reward for his tidy bowling as Trott pushes at a delivery that is angling across him, gets the edge and is caught behind for 71 off 125 balls, with just two fours. It was fine innings and a vital contribution to England’s victory.

46th over – Samit Patel launches Morne Morkel over mid-on for a sweetly-struck four.

42nd over – Robin Peterson drops Craig Kieswetter on 13 as the batsman drives a full toss straight back at the bowler, but he can’t hold on. WICKET – But it doesn’t matter as Kieswetter is run out three balls later for 14. Trott drives Peterson to mid-off and sets off for a quick single. Kieswetter is guilty of turning around and ball-watching, and he also turns very wide when he sets off for the run. Ultimately his dive is not enough as Parnell is in quickly and fires in a quick throw to wicketkeeper AB de Villiers, who has the bails off smartly as he takes the ball in front of the stumps.

40th over – Kieswetter survives an lbw review and then comes down the pitch to Peterson’s next delivery and smashes a lofted drive for six over wide long-on.

38th over – WICKET – Morgan’s match-winning innings finally comes to an end as he tries to slog-sweep Peterson, but instead skies the ball straight up for the left-arm spinner to take an easy return catch. There are shades of Herschelle Gibbs’s infamous World Cup blunder as Peterson tries to throw the ball up to celebrate but instead it slips from his fingers. Morgan lingers, the umpires confer and the Irishman is sent on his way for a scintillating 73 off 67 balls that included seven fours and two sixes.

37th over – The hundred partnership is up off 114 balls as Morgan lambasts Morkel through mid-off for four.

36th over – England take the batting powerplay and Morgan dances down the pitch and slaps a slower ball from Lonwabo Tsotsobe high and handsome over long-off for six.

35th over – Width from Dale Steyn and Morgan drives handsomely over mid-off for four.

33rd over – Steyn returns but strays on to the pads of Morgan, who tickles him away to fine leg for four runs.

32nd over – The ball is coming off the pitch slower and slower, so Morgan comes down the pitch and meets Dean Elgar’s delivery on the full, launching it over midwicket for six.

26th over – A messy over from Tsotsobe has already included two wides and now Morgan drives an over-pitched delivery expertly between cover and wide mid-off for four.

24th over – Tsotsobe returns, but Morgan has his measure. The left-hander dances down the pitch to the first ball of the over and, even though his lofted drive comes off the bottom of the bat and goes high over the bowler, it has enough on it to dribble over the boundary. Three balls later, Morgan takes a big step down the wicket, but then hangs back and cuts the ball behind square for another boundary.

21st over – Morgan charges down the pitch to Peterson but is still reaching for the ball as he launches it over mid-off for four.

18th over – WICKET – A controversial dismissal at a key time! Ravi Bopara is on the move as he tries to drive Morkel and there is a loud noise before the ball goes through to wicketkeeper De Villiers. The South Africans appeal and celebrate simultaneously and umpire Kumar Dharmasena gives Bopara out. The batsman asks for a review and, although HotSpot shows nothing, there is a clear noise and nothing else could have caused it but a an edge. So the luckless Bopara has to go for a duck!

17th over – South Africa’s tight bowling brings reward in extraordinary fashion. WICKET – Left-arm spinner Peterson’s fourth delivery is a short ball which Alastair Cook pulls straight to Elgar at deep midwicket. Cook took 47 balls to score his 20 runs, showing how well South Africa squeezed him.

12th over – A tight-set field square on the off side is frustrating Cook, but the left-hander shows his class as he punches a back-of-a-length delivery that is outside off stump from Morkel through mid-on for four.

8th over – Morkel is introduced but Trott steps forward and drives his first delivery superbly, on the up, through cover point for four.

7th over – Super shot from Cook to end the over as he drives Steyn crisply in front of point for four.

6th over – England captain Cook is finally off the mark after 18 balls as he flicks a shortish delivery from Tsotsobe through square-leg for four.

3rd over – WICKET – Just the start Steyn wanted as he traps Ian Bell lbw for 12. Bell steps across to off and plays across a delivery that is angled in, being struck straight in front of the stumps.

2nd over – Bell pushes Tsotsobe’s first delivery square through the off side, the ball racing away and beating Faf du Plessis’ despairing chase and dive to the boundary. Two balls later, Bell half-steers, half-edges the left-arm seamer past the slips for four more. Bell is advancing down the pitch on the penultimate delivery of the over, Tsotsobe drops short, but there is no bounce in the pitch and the batsman pulls the ball emphatically for another boundary.

South Africa innings

Jimmy Anderson took four wickets as he wrapped up the tail and bowled South Africa out for just 211 in the third NatWest One-Day International at the Oval in London on Friday.

47th over – Anderson wraps up the innings with two wickets in two balls. WICKET – Anderson zips a delivery into Morne Morkel’s pads, from where the ball bounces into the stumps and the big man is bowled for seven. WICKET – Lonwabo Tsotsobe goes back to the next delivery, an in-swinger, and is trapped lbw for a first-ball duck.

46th over – A splendid shot by Morne Morkel as he greets Jade Dernbach’s return by lifting a short ball over wide mid-on for four.

45th over – Jimmy Anderson returns but his first ball is heaved through wide mid-on for four by Robin Peterson. WICKET – But Anderson strikes back two balls later when he bowls Dale Steyn for a single. The batsman is on the drive, but plays all around a delivery that just shapes away to hit off stump.

42nd over – WICKET – JP Duminy has now tossed his wicket away as he comes down the pitch to off-spinner James Tredwell but slices across his lofted drive and is caught by Ian Bell at long-off. Duminy had stuck it out well to score 33 off 46 balls.

41st over – A wonderful back-cut brings four runs for Duminy off Ravi Bopara.

36th over – Steven Finn returns for the batting powerplay but strays on to the leg side and Duminy tickles the ball fine for four.

33rd over – Lovely timing from Wayne Parnell as he clips Dernbach through wide mid-on for a beautiful boundary. So the slip comes out and Parnell edges two successive boundaries through the slips! WICKET – But the left-hander’s luck runs out as slip returns and he pushes at the next delivery, which also seams across him, and delivers a thin edge to wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter. Parnell is out for 13.

31st over – WICKET – Dean Elgar is left groping by a superb back-of-the-hand slower-ball from Dernbach that bowls the left-hander through the gate. Elgar stuck to his task well in scoring 42 off 61 balls, with just two fours.

27th over – WICKET – Faf du Plessis steps outside off stump to try and push Bopara away on the leg side, but the medium-pacer bowls wicket-to-wicket and the batsman loses his leg stump as he is bowled around his legs for a single.

26th over – WICKET – AB de Villiers comes down the wicket again to try and drive over wide mid-on, but this time he’s not quite to the pitch of the ball and off-spinner Tredwell has bowled the straighter delivery. Ian Bell runs around from long-on to take the catch. De Villiers would have been keen to contribute more than his 28 off 31 balls.

24th over – Elgar comes down the pitch and drives off-spinner James Tredwell, off the bottom of the bat and just over the leaping wide mid-on, for four. Three balls later, AB de Villiers skips down the pitch and ships Tredwell to cow-corner for an excellent boundary.

18th over – De Villiers gets his second boundary and it’s with a magnificent drive through the covers off Finn.

17th over – WICKET – Dernbach strikes with his first ball in the bowling powerplay as Amla inside-edges a loose, flatfooted drive at a delivery that nips back, the ball crashing into the stumps. Amla is bowled for a nifty 43 off 51 balls, with five fours. De Villiers gets off the mark third ball with a boundary as Dernbach strays down leg and the South African captain tickles a leg-glance just past diving wicketkeeper Kieswetter.

10th over – Elgar has his first boundary as he steers a square-drive off Dernbach nicely through cover-point for four.

9th over – Anderson starts the next over by straying on to Graeme Smith’s pads and is tucked away past short fine leg for four. The fifty partnership comes up off 51 balls, WICKET but Smith then comes down the pitch to the next delivery, tries to pull, misses and is bowled for 18.

8th over – Finn drops a touch short and Amla paddles a pull over midwicket and the ball runs away for four. Amla ends the over by lashing the ball through extra cover for another four as Finn tries a slower ball but gives too much width.

5th over – Amla drives an over-pitched delivery from Anderson crisply into the covers, where Bopara dives and gets a hand to the ball, but can’t prevent it from scurrying away to the boundary. A wide down leg follows, before Amla then wristily whips a leg-stump delivery behind square for another marvellous boundary.

4th over – Smith has his first boundary off the first ball of the next over as he clips a delivery from Finn, angling the ball across the left-hander from over the wicket, from outside off stump through midwicket.

3rd over – The first boundary of the innings as Amla punches a drive off Anderson straight through mid-off for four. Lovely shot.

Rain forced the opening one-day international between England and South Africa to be abandoned without ever really getting going at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Friday.

 – http://www.supersport.com/cricket/sa-team/news/120824/Rain_spoils_first_ODI

England openers Ian Bell (26*) and Alastair Cook (10*) had charged to 37 without loss midway through the sixth over when the match was stopped for the last time and eventually abandoned at 3.45pm local time.

South Africa captain AB de Villiers had earlier won the toss and elected to bowl first, but his charges had to wait four-and-three-quarter-hours to eventually get on to the field due to rain.

When play did eventually start at 3pm local time, Morne Morkel was able to bowl just a single delivery – a leg-side wide – before Sophia Gardens was once again enveloped in misty drizzle and the action was stopped for another nine minutes.

An initial reduction in overs to a 24-overs-a-side match then became 23 overs per team, of which England were able to face just 5.3 before the game was called off.

Cook and Bell, neither of whom are in England’s T20 squad, struggled to score in the first three overs before Bell played some inspired strokes as he collected two fours and two sixes in 18 balls.

He certainly seemed pretty clued up about how to go about opening the innings in a 20-odd overs innings.

Morkel conceded 19 runs in his three overs, including a pair of Bell sixes in his last over, while Lonwabo Tsotsobe conceded 18 runs in 2.3 overs.

South Africa had included debutant Dean Elgar and Ryan McLaren in their starting XI, but unfortunately neither of the all-rounders had the chance to further their reputations.

Rain once again killed the action after England reached 37 without loss midway through the sixth over in the first NatWest One-Day International against South Africa at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Friday.

6th over – Clever batting now by Ian Bell as he steps outside off stump and flicks a shortish delivery from Lonwabo Tsotsobe over short fine leg for four.

5th over – Superb batting in the final batting powerplay over by Bell as he continues to come down the pitch, heaving Morne Morkel over midwicket for six and then driving him classically over long-off for another maximum.

4th over – Alastair Cook starts the next over in style as he drives Tsotsobe beautifully through the covers for four. Bell then comes down the pitch and drives the left-arm seamer sweetly over mid-off for another boundary.

3rd over – England are struggling to score and Cook pushes Morkel straight down the pitch and sets off for a suicidal single. Wayne Parnell gathers the ball just behind the bowler’s wicket, but his wild throw results in an astonishing run out miss from no more than five metres away with all three stumps to aim at! Cook was miles out and gets a major let-off before he had scored.

1st over – Play finally gets underway after a delay of four-and-three-quarter hours with a 24-overs-a-side match. Morkel’s first ball is a wide outside off stump and then the rain returns. There is another delay of nine minutes and an over is lost, reducing the game to 23 overs-a-side. Morkel completes his over well, not conceding another run.

South Africa player ratings

Graeme Smith – 8

The South African captain once again provided immense substance at the top of the order. His unorthodox strokeplay drove England to distraction and he was solid in trying conditions.

Alviro Petersen – 7

Starting to feel comfortable at international level; a solid series highlighted by his epic, stoic 182 at Headingley after missing out on the Oval run-fest.

Hashim Amla – 9

As reliable and elegant as always, his 311* at the Oval will be remembered forever. When his team were under pressure at Lord’s, he responded with another fine century.

Jacques Kallis – 7

Never failed to impress whether it was in scoring his wonderful, series-defining century at the Oval, making vital breakthroughs with the ball or taking superb catches in the slips.

AB de Villiers – 6

Three 40s suggest there may have been too much of a load on him being asked to keep wicket as well. Reliable with the gloves, but his focus is surely on scoring big hundreds.

Jacques Rudolph – 6

Although he has still not cemented himself at number six, his battling efforts at Headingley and Lord’s were crucial for victory.

JP Duminy – 7

Batted beautifully and with an air of assurance that he has not had for a while. Possibly moved himself ahead of Rudolph in the queue with his defiant efforts down the order.

Vernon Philander – 8

Starred with bat and ball at Lord’s after chipping in with a couple of wickets in each of the first two Tests. His unerring line and length did not bring as much reward as it could have … until Lord’s where he showed what all the fuss was about.

Dale Steyn – 8

Another whose efforts did not always bring the reward they deserved, but he showed his class at the Oval. The leader of the attack even if he didn’t take the new ball and tremendously skilful and fiery.

Morne Morkel – 7

England’s batsmen were kept on their toes when he hit his straps – his pace, bounce and aggression meant they were continually under pressure.

Imran Tahir – 5

Stopped some threatening England lower-order rallies with important wickets, but is still in the developmental stage of his international career. A lack of control at times arrested his ability to build pressure.

Highlights of the series

Kevin Pietersen – The only England batsmen capable of turning a dodgy position at Headingley into a situation where the hosts could be the only winners. The only person capable of sowing such discontent that his international career was seemingly over straight after that innings.

Vernon Philander’s dream day – Philander had an outstanding fourth day at Lord’s. He had been joint top-scorer with Duminy in the first innings and South Africa had been reduced to 282 for seven in their second innings, a lead of just 276, when he scored a crucial 35 to take the target well beyond 300. Philander then claimed two quick wickets to fatally undermine England’s chase.

Oval heroics – There have been many great batting line-ups that have taken on England, but in 924 Tests they had never conceded successive double-century partnerships until Kallis and Amla put on an unbeaten 377 for the third wicket, following the 259 for the second wicket between Smith and Amla. A pitch that had been seemingly flat was then transformed as Dale Steyn took three for eight after lunch on the final day to set up a crushing innings win.