Ken Borland

Jonathan Trott may have failed on his return to South African soil, but openers Sam Robson and Adam Lyth both scored centuries as the England Lions made an emphatic start to their tour against a Gauteng Invitation XI at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto Campus Oval on Monday.

Trott may be the centre of attention as he tries to resurrect his international career after a self-imposed exile due to a stress-related condition that left him too mentally vulnerable to play cricket, but the South African-born batsman lasted just 20 minutes and 13 balls at the crease, leaving the spotlight to Robson and Lyth as they powered England A to 361 for four at stumps.

Lyth and Robson added 176 for the first wicket before Robson retired on 109, having stroked 12 fours and a six in a fluent 152-ball innings befitting England’s current Test incumbent opener.

Lyth retired 12 overs later on 106, having started watchfully and then sped up as he faced 171 balls and hit 16 fours and a six.

When an actual wicket did finally occur, it was Trott’s, the 49-Test veteran sparring outside the off stump and being caught behind for six off Keith Dudgeon, a 19-year-old seamer with just one first-class wicket.

James Vince also fell cheaply for seven, caught at cover off Nono Pongolo – a dismissal which advertised the slow nature of the pitch as the ball ‘stopped’ on the batsman – before Alex Lees played some sparkling cricket in going to 82 not out off 136 deliveries.

Jonny Bairstow was also showing signs of living up to his billing as he crunched 32 not out before stumps, capitalising on a second new ball that was woefully used by Gauteng.

Dudgeon (17-6-41-1) and Pongolo (17-4-59-1) both bowled tidily enough on a flat pitch, but fellow seamers Matthew Arnold (16-1-102-0) and Lazarus Mokoena (15-3-73-0) were both expensive.

Left-arm spinner Dale Deeb (22-4-66-0) will be disappointed his accurate bowling did not bring reward, but first-day pitches like the one at the scenic Soweto Campus Oval are not going to provide much turn.

This is a vital tour for the likes of Robson, Lyth and Lees, who are all aiming to be included in England’s touring party to the West Indies in April and, with former head coach Andy Flower watching from the sideline, they all would have kept themselves firmly in the selectors’ thoughts.

“It’s another good opportunity to play high-standard cricket for the Lions and obviously, on a personal level, it’s nice to get runs and put on a good show. I managed to get a partnership going with Adam and we’ve started the tour well before the ‘tests’. It’s going to be a good, hard tour leading up to the West Indies tour, which a number of us are hoping to get on to,” Robson said.

“They bowled pretty well with the new ball and then went quite negative, with a seven-two field and bowling wide, so I had to rein myself in, leave well, not give my wicket away and then cash in later when the bowlers were tired,” Lyth added.

 http://citizen.co.za/302178/england-lions-make-emphatic-start-tour-gauteng-invitation-xi/

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.