Ken Borland

–

Eoin Morgan and Jade Dernbach were the people who hurt South Africa the most as England beat them by four wickets with two overs to spare in the third NatWest One-Day International at the Oval on Friday.

 – http://www.supersport.com/cricket/sa-team/news/120831/Morgan_Dernbach_hurt_SA_the_most

Dernbach claimed three big wickets in an under-par South African batting performance that saw the tourists bowled out for 211 inside 47 overs, while Morgan blazed 73 off 67 balls after England had been under some pressure in the run-chase.

Having bowled and fielded so well, the response from England’s top-order batsmen was underwhelming as they struggled to 64 for three after 18 overs.

Ian Bell promises so much at the top of the order with his clean strokeplay and he collected three boundaries in the second over of the innings, bowled by Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

But the extra pace of Dale Steyn proved a different matter and Bell was trapped lbw in the third over for 12.

The departure of the quick-scoring Bell was obviously a major early boost for South Africa and the superb work of the back-up pacemen – Morne Morkel and Wayne Parnell – as well as spinner Robin Peterson ensured that the more obdurate qualities of Alastair Cook (20 off 47 balls) and Trott were the ones that shone through.

Cook, pulling a Peterson short ball straight to deep midwicket, and Ravi Bopara, given out caught behind off Morne Morkel for a duck, were both unhappy with their dismissals but Morgan then came in and took charge with an innings of enormous authority.

Whatever stroke he played, whether orthodox or innovative, he committed to it fully. The left-hander purred along to his half-century off just 54 balls, with five fours and a six.

The jury may still be out on Trott as a limited-overs player, but the truth is that his was a vital innings in the circumstances for England.

The South African-born batsman committed himself to being the sheet-anchor, turning over the strike for Morgan to make merry.

At one stage South Africa had a sniff, but after Morgan and Trott had added 108 off 119 balls, England were firmly in control.

Morgan hits the ball so cleanly, collecting seven fours and two sixes in his innings, that it was a major surprise when the ball skewed straight upwards from an attempted sweep, presenting Peterson with an easy return catch. It’s perhaps worth reminding Peterson of how Herschelle Gibbs cost South Africa dearly at the 1999 World Cup by celebrating a catch too early, because the left-arm spinner lost the ball before throwing it up, but fortunately the umpires ruled he had completed the catch.

South Africa were still fighting hard and Craig Kieswetter was run out for 14 as he responded slowly to a quick single called by Trott and was beaten by Parnell’s fine piece of fielding.

Trott fell just five runs from victory when Parnell had him caught behind off 71 off 125 balls, with just two fours, but allegations that he had not served his team superbly were well wide of the mark.

South Africa’s bowling – Tsotsobe apart – was impressive.

Morkel barged in with typical aggression and showed good control as he took one for 41 in his 10 overs, while Parnell was excellent despite not swinging the ball back into the batsman, finishing with one for 23 in 10 overs.

Peterson also did his best to bowl South Africa back into the game, taking two for 39, while Steyn, having missed the first two ODIs with a neck injury, did not fully hit his stride and took one for 32 in seven overs.

Tsotsobe was the major disappointment. The slow pitch, which gripped, should have suited the pace at which he bowls as well as the cutters he is normally so good at bowling. But the left-arm seamer was flogged for 55 runs in seven overs.

England’s bowlers had earlier pressured and frustrated the South African batsmen, leading to rash strokes.

Pacemen Dernbach (9-0-44-3) and Jimmy Anderson (9.4-0-44-4) led the way for England but, on a slow pitch, medium-pacer Bopara (10-1-31-1) and off-spinner James Tredwell (10-0-49-2) also played key roles as South Africa were bowled out in 46.4 overs.

South Africa had won the toss and elected to bat, and openers Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith breezed to 50 off 51 balls before the tourists’ momentum was arrested by a rash stroke by Smith.

Looking to impose himself (unnecessarily with things going so well), Smith came down the pitch to Anderson and then, when the bowler pitched short, he was forced to try and pull the ball, missed and was bowled for 18.

Amla once again played some superb strokes, although he did not always get reward for them as he picked out the fielders, going to a nifty 43 off 51 balls and collecting five fours before Dernbach, born in Johannesburg and educated at St John’s, removed him with the first ball of his second spell as he returned for the bowling powerplay.

Amla drove loosely and did not move his feet at a delivery that nipped back and found the inside-edge and then went on to the stumps.

Dean Elgar and AB de Villiers then added 47 for the third wicket in nine overs before the South African captain tried to get too clever.

Tredwell is not the most threatening off-spinner on the planet and the plan had obviously been hatched to target the inexperienced Kent man. Between them, De Villiers and Elgar came down the pitch three times in his previous over, which cost 13 runs.

De Villiers was down the wicket again to the second delivery of Tredwell’s next over, but this time it was a straighter delivery, he was not quite to the pitch, but he went through with the shot and was caught at long-on for 28.

For such a quality batsman, never mind the captain, it was shoddy batting and a gift of a wicket to England.

Faf du Plessis (1) then stepped across outside off stump to expose his leg stump and was bowled by Bopara as South Africa crashed to 122 for four.

Elgar continued to soldier on, his 42 off 61 balls showing the fighting qualities of the left-hander, before the wonderful skills of Dernbach claimed his wicket.

The change of pace and the accuracy of Dernbach’s back-of-the-hand slower ball are remarkable and Elgar was left groping as he was bowled through the gate in the 31st over.

With Dale Steyn returning in place of all-rounder Ryan McLaren, South Africa’s batting had obviously been weakened and the new number one-ranked team were grateful for the grit of the left-handers, JP Duminy and Robin Peterson, that at least assured they had something to bowl at.

Dernbach found the edge of Parnell’s bat twice, conceding three boundaries in the 33rd over, before the left-hander edged another ball that seamed across him to the wicketkeeper.

Duminy and Peterson put on 40 for the seventh wicket before Duminy also tried to lay down the law to Tredwell and holed out to long-off. In a way, his dismissal was even more frustrating because he had shown such good composure in scoring 33 before throwing it all away in the 42nd over.

Even though Peterson survived through to the end of the innings, he could only collect one boundary and score 23 not out off 35 balls.

Anderson was the most successful of the England attack, bowling Dale Steyn (1) and Morne Morkel (7), before trapping Lonwabo Tsotsobe lbw for a first-ball duck, but at that stage the damage had already been done.

This was mainly due to Dernbach’s wonderful bowling in the middle of the innings, while Bopara and Tredwell also proved far trickier to hit than the South Africans had perhaps thought.

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.