Oh my giddy aunt, what a match! England beat South Africa by six runs. SO close. England won the toss and decided to bat, with the creases having been generous so far throughout the competition. It was evident soon into the innings, however, that this was not an easy pitch to bat on. Far more turn than anyone thought (any Englishman anyway). Good news for the spinners, hence why SA started with two of them, and with great result - Strassy bowled for a duck and Pieterson gone for 2. If it wasn't for Bopara's great knock of 60 from 98 balls, England would have been dead and buried. As it was, England's total of 171 was not good enough. Things weren't looking good when SA's openers came out to bat, especially as they raced away to 63-0 before Broad made the break through. South Africa looked good for the win right up until the very end but England were champing at the bit and you could tell they were up for the fight.
They ended up bowling SA out for 164 in 47.4 overs. Amazing stuff from the bowlers - Broad and Swann especially stand out. What was really encouraging to see was England back to their bowling and fielding best, or something like it. They were timing their catches, runs, and slides perfectly. They were working together and communicating again. All of the bowlers posted good figures and Jimmy took two vital wickets for 16 runs, second only to Broad's 4-15.
It was a great performance, a great come-back, and a very exciting match. Yet another England game that went to the wire with twists and turns along the way. Strauss even joked about it in his post-match interview, saying 'we like to keep people interested.'
Bring on Bangladesh! Phew, I need a lie down.
I'll keep you blogged...
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