SA crush England, into CWC semis
Brad Morgan
18 April 2007
The chips were down; South Africa had to beat England to reach the semi-finals of the Cricket World Cup. After some up-and-down performances in the West Indies, the cricketing world finally got to see the best of the Proteas as they crushed the English by nine wickets in their last Super Eights game in Barbados to race into the final four.
It was a one-sided thrashing as England were bowled out for only 154 in 48 overs, after which South Africa flew to 157 for 1 in 19.2 overs to secure the victory the team so badly needed.
'Our skills were superb'
"The way we played today we consistently believed that we can beat England. Our skills were superb," said South African captain Graeme Smith.
Predictably, he was questioned about the "chokers" tag so often used about the Proteas. "It was a big pressure day and I think we really demolished it," he said.
So emphatic was South Africa's victory that England were
booed off the field after the game. "We deserved to be booed," admitted the team's skipper, Michael Vaughan.
At the post-match interviews, West Indian commentator Tony Cozier asked Graeme Smith whether South Africa was peaking at the right time or not. "I damn well hope so," he replied.
Surprising decision
England captain Vaughan won the toss and surprisingly chose to bat on a pitch that, of all the pitches in the Caribbean tournament, appeared to be most suited to South Africa's all-pace attack. The Proteas didn't waste the opportunity afforded them.
Playing without Makhaya Ntini, with Charl Langeveldt preferred as Shaun Pollock's new ball partner, the South African bowlers immediately found their line and length, putting England's openers under pressure.
After seven overs, England had managed only nine runs. Three balls into the eighth over, Langeveldt benefited from the pressure he and Pollock had built up as Ian Bell skied an
attempted pull. Ashwell Prince got under the catch and, looking into the sun, took it to send the opener on his way for seven from 23 deliveries.
Cut loose
Johannesburg-born Andrew Strauss joined Michael Vaughan out in the middle and Vaughan, after taking 20 balls to get off the mark, immediately cut loose by hitting Langeveldt for two and a four.
He struck Langeveldt for another two boundaries in his next over, followed by Strauss pulling the paceman for six in his sixth over.
Andre Nel was brought on to replace Pollock, who had bowled superbly, conceding only eight runs in six overs. The change was almost immediately rewarded as Nel trapped Vaughan on the crease with his second delivery, dismissing him LBW for 17 off 38 balls.
England's most dangerous batsman
That brought former Maritzburg College schoolboy Kevin Pietersen, England's most dangerous batsman, out into the middle.
Langeveldt
gave way to Andrew Hall, who took on the Pollock role of a suffocating line and length that restricted scoring. While he did his bit with some tight bowling, Nel, on the other side, was bowling with good pace and fire, including firing in one bouncer at Pietersen that had the batsman jumping out of the way.
The pressure remained on Strauss and Pietersen until Pietersen decided it was time to break the shackles by giving Nel the charge. He tried to clip him over to the leg side, but instead found a leading edge. Smith raced forward from extra cover, diving forward full length to take a catch just off the ground to send him on his way.
Pieterson had faced 15 balls for his three runs.
Rebuilding
Paul Collingwood teamed with Strauss and set out to help rebuild the England innings which was stuttering along at 56 for 3 after 17 overs. Progress was slow, but the pair managed to add 58 before Jacques Kallis broke up the
partnership.
Strauss had scored a good deal of his run through the slip region, down towards third man, so captain Smith had placed himself at about a fourth or fifth slip position. When Strauss tried to cut a delivery from Kallis that was a little too close for that, he directed the ball into Smith's breadbasket and was caught for 46 off 67 balls.
Smith replaced Shaun Pollock with Andrew Hall whose first five overs had cost only 10 runs. It proved to be a brilliant move. In the first over of his second spell, bowling a beautiful line and finding plenty of reverse swing, Hall removed Collingwood, LBW for 30, as England slipped to 115 for 5 with two new men at the crease.
A peach of a delivery
The first ball of his next over, Hall struck again with a peach of a delivery that found the gap between bat and pad to knock back Andrew Flintoff's middle stump. He was out for five.
With the final delivery of the same over, Hall snapped
up his third wicket, slanting one across left-handed Paul Nixon to which the England wicketkeeper found an edge to SA gloveman Mark Boucher. Having faced only two balls, he was out for one.
Then, with the first ball of his next over, Hall was again in on the act as Sajid Mahmood played on, bowled for a duck.
Sensational second spell
From 111 for 3, England had suddenly tumbled to 121 for 8. Hall, in his second spell, had been sensational, sending down three overs and claiming 4 for 6.
In possibly the only questionable decision he made all day, SA skipper Smith then decided to replace Hall with Charl Langeveldt. That didn't work as Langeveldt went for 10 in his first over back. Smith didn't dally, replacing him with Kallis.
Ravi Bopara tried his best to give some substance to England's innings, but he didn't have the support he needed. Monty Panesar stuck around for 28 balls, but managed only two runs before slashing at a delivery
from Nel and being caught behind by Boucher.
Bopara, meanwhile, played a few nice shots to up England's total, but James Anderson looked like a sitting duck with the bat and Hall soon exposed him when a full delivery hit him on the pads, plumb in front of the stumps, and he was out for a duck.
Bopara finished undefeated on 27 off 44 deliveries.
SA World Cup best
Hall led the South African team off the field after capturing a career-best 5 for 18 in 10 overs. His return was the best yet by a South African at the World Cup.
Nel bowled with pace and his typical aggression to knock over 3 for 35, while Kallis picked up 1 for 22 in eight.
Shaun Pollock's contribution shouldn't be underestimated either. He didn't pick up a wicket, but the pressure he created with his disciplined and probing line and length was worth wickets to the other bowlers. He was miserly, giving up only 17 runs in 10 overs.
Ridiculously inadequate victory target
Commentators seemed to think England needed between 230 and 240 runs to set South Africa a testing total but, with the way the Proteas batted, that score would have been hopelessly too little. A victory target of 155 proved to be ridiculously inadequate.
Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers came out with positive shot-making on their minds, and they took the game to the English bowlers.
Sajid Mahmood sent down the second over of the innings and it went for 14 runs as De Villiers twice struck him to the boundary.
James Anderson went for six in the next over, followed by Mahmood going for 14 again as De Villiers helped himself to two more fours.
Racing away
After four overs, South Africa had reached 37 without loss. England, by comparison, were 5 without loss after four.
Andrew Flintoff replaced Mahmood, but his first ball was dispatched to the boundary by
Smith.
Left-arm spinner Monty Panesar was brought into the attack early on, in the eighth over, but the South African batting assault continued as he went for nine runs.
Flintoff, though, struck in the next over, the tenth, having De Villiers caught by wicketkeeper Nixon for 42, scored off 35 balls, with eight fours.
100 up
Kallis joined Smith at the crease and there was no let up for the English bowlers. Panesar's second over went for 15 as South Africa reached 100 for 1 after 11 overs. England, after 11 overs, had been 29 for 1.
In the fourteenth over, Smith reached his 50, having faced only nine dot balls.
Flintoff's sixth over, bowled to Smith, produced 14 runs, as the South African captain smashed the first three deliveries for four, taking SA to 135 for 1 after 17 overs.
Mahmood had Smith caught behind off an edge, but it was a no-ball, which pretty much summed up England's day.
Tenth in
history
Kallis then picked up three runs off the first ball of the nineteenth over to take him to 9 000 runs in one-day internationals, making him only the tenth player in history to achieve the feat and the first South African to get there.
The very next ball, Smith brought England's suffering to an end, driving Anderson down the ground for four to complete a brutal victory.
He finished unbeaten on 89 off only 58 balls, striking 13 fours, while Kallis finished on 17 off 25 balls.
Man of the match
On another day, Smith might have won the man of the match award for his superb attacking innings, but Hall, deservedly, claimed the honours for his outstanding 5 for 18.
South Africa's nine-wicket win was the side's largest over England in terms of wickets.
The victory earned South Africa a semi-final place, almost certainly against Australia, in Saint Lucia. A win there would help the team's fans forget the side's
earlier stumbles in the tournament very quickly.
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