Tuesday, March 8, 2011

England win a thrilling match against South Africa


 England win a thrilling match against South Africa. England come back in the track of World cup 2011 by this victory.  What a World Cup England are producing. From a thrilling tie against India to the shock of losing to Ireland they have now conjured a stunning fight back to beat South Africa by six runs in a gripping contest on a tough pitch in 21th match of ICC World Cup 2011. They took all ten wickets for 102 through a combination of spin, reverse swing, perseverance and the never-say-die-attitude which is such a trait of this team, with Stuart Broad sealing the victory with two wickets in four balls after Dale Steyn's 31-ball 20 had taken his team close to the winning line. After the batting struggled to post 171 - as Broad took 4 for 15, James Anderson produced a devastating burst of reverse swing shortly before the 34-over ball change and Graeme Swann bowled with guile and craft to set up the prospect of victory.
Despite the tricky pitch, South Africa had broken the back of the run-chase after an opening stand of 63 between Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla. However, they suffered two slumps; the first as three wickets fell for 19-with Broad claiming the vital scalps of Amla and Jacques Kallis - then the more significant slide from 124 for 3 to 165 all out as Anderson produced some wonderful reverse swing, Ian Bell pulled off a fine piece of fielding at short leg to run out Faf du Plessis, and Broad cleaned up the tail.AB de Villiers, who began the tournament with back-to-back hundreds, and du Plessis are normally free-flowing batsman, but they decided to consolidate rather than attack during their 42-run stand. It wasn't a major problem for South Africa at the time with the asking rate remaining comfortable, but it conceded the momentum and when the breakthroughs came England still had runs to play with.
Anderson produced his finest spell of reverse-swing he trimmed de Villiers' bails and then clattered JP Duminy's stumps two balls after he'd been reprieved by the DRS having been given caught down the leg side. It had been a controversial moment because there didn't seem enough evidence to overrule the on-field umpire, but Anderson soon made it irrelevant. In between those two wickets, Bell showed brilliant alertness at short leg as he stopped du Plessis's shot and flicked it to Prior in time to complete the run out. Ravi Bopara, back in the side at the expense of Paul Collingwood, set about the recovery with Jonathan Trott, who was saved by the DRS after being given lbw against Imran Tahir on 20. Bopara nearly ran himself out on 26 - it wouldn't have been the first time - but a dive just saved him, then he broke a run of singles with a handsome straight drive for six before Trott reached fifty from 87 balls. Having used up considerable time Trott needed to up the tempo but Tahir pulled off a fine return catch after deceiving his former Warwickshire team-mate in the flight. Prior had the chance to build an innings after previously needing to slog from the start but was undone by Morkel.

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