The England cricket team is like a box of chocolates. No, I don’t mean it’s the exclusive property of Jesse Ryder, I mean you never know what you’re going to get. One day we lose abysmally to a bunch of amateurs, the next we beat the tournament favourites. Obviously it helps if the tournament favourites love a good choke, but who cares. A humiliating early exit from the World Cup now looks unlikely.
Today we beat South Africa by six runs – a result which looked nigh on impossible when we capitulated for a miserable 171 with the bat, and then watched the Cricketboks cruise to 124-3 in reply. At that point I was amazed we’d even managed to take three wickets, let alone all ten.
So what happened? What prompted such a remarkable turnaround in fortunes? Well, I’m happy to report that our bowlers finally remembered how to bowl. The pitch definitely gave them a bit of help, so Anderson was in ‘Super Jimmy’ rather than ‘Dim Jim’ mode, but we generally got the ball in the right areas for once (to coin the players’ favourite cliché). Even Mike Yardy and Kevin Pietersen’s dibby dobblers proved effective.
Swann, as ever, put the cat amongst the pigeons by bamboozling Graeme Smith in the fifteenth over. He bowled a superb spell and could well have taken four or five wickets. However, although he didn’t get the figures he deserved, he made the South Africans jittery – and we all know what happens when the Cricketboks get nervous.
When Amla played on to Broad three overs later, and then Kallis flashed at a wide one to give Prior his second catch, the pressure was really on. England sniffed an opportunity – and they became favourites when Anderson cleaned up both DeVilliers and Duminy in his best spell since the Ashes.
Although the Cricketboks tail got them close to England’s score (and ensured some late drama) Stuart Broad produced the Vanish and sealed the game for England i.e. his corking in-ducker was the perfect ‘Steyn-remover’ (pause for applause / groans).
It’s always satisfying to beat the South Africans – even more pleasing, in fact, than poaching their best players. Therefore, we’re rather chuffed with today’s result. England’s World Cup is back on course. The defeat to Ireland is now just a distant memory. There’s nothing like beating an old foe to block out recent traumas.
James Morgan
