England v SA, 5th ODI Debate

First topic message reminder :

The final ODI of the 5 match series between South Africa will start in a few hours from now at Trent Bridge. England go into the match with a 2-1 lead South Africa will have to win the match to draw the series.
England go in with home advantage, and they have been quite a force in ODI cricket at home. On paper they have a better balanced side as well with number 7 Samit Patel any day a better bat than his South African counterpart Wayne Parnell who averages less than 20. England are without Jonathan Trott thouth, who is out with a hand injury. This should most likely give Jonny Bairstow a much awaited opportunity. Ravi Bopara might be promoted up the order to 3, or perhaps considering his recent poor form with the bat, perhaps Kieswetter would be asked to do the job.
For South Africa the middle order isn't firing, and the bowling is not been consistent. Morne Morkel should return, possibly at the expense of Tsotsobe.
The weather is expected to be warm and sunny, but the late evening dew might be a factor.

To be fair Bopara was one of englands better players in that

No more hope

Eng 182 ao, all Ravi's fault.

Woakes no 33

Been a handy knock from Woakes today anyway...got 'em to 182.

Pretty poor all round though. Boycott's teddy bears would have done better...but credit to SA , well fielded , innovative captaincy ...will deserve their win and a share of the series.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:To be fair Bopara was one of englands better players in that

Yes, he looked good for one ball.

Not over til the fat lady sings....

I missed the Mogs dismissal, how did he get out, good bowling or bad shot?

Bops chips in with 5/8 and we all love him again..... Nah.

eirebilly wrote:I missed the Mogs dismissal, how did he get out, good bowling or bad shot?

Early innings mistimed shot. Can't really blame him, but not a good ball particularly either.

eirebilly wrote:I missed the Mogs dismissal, how did he get out, good bowling or bad shot?

Risky shot.

Cheers Shelsey, not like him to be erratic early on though.

Poor batting effort from England, Woakes showed enough promise with the bat though. But how long before he gets another rare chance?

If Woakes could manage a couple of wickets here, perhaps England would look at him more seriously in the future.

It may get tricky when the lights come on, other than that i see noreason why SA wont win this at a canter.

Prediction time. SA after 37 overs for the loss of 4 wickets

England with an early strike, Smith goes in the 2nd over for 1. Dernbach with the wicket.

Tredwell holds on at slip

Number 3 has been a bit of a trouble for SA in this series, This time its du Plessis, after Duminy and Elgar were given a go in the earlier matches.

Can someone explain why Dernbach celebrates like a nutter after getting a wicket?

I all for passion but guys like Tahir and Dernbach take it to far for my liking.

Jeebus, 2 down

England aren't giving it up at all, Anderson gets du Plessis with a brute of a delivery!. Elgar at 4. South Africa 11-2.

Chasing these low totals can be a very tricky thing. Should they go for it right away? Should they take their time and see it through?
AB de Villiers and Duminy are yet to come and Hashim Amla is out there in the middle. Until England see the back of Amla they wouldn't really feel comfortable, this tour has mostly been a walk in the park for Hashim!.

Well, well, well. Elgar can now play the way he likes to.

A wee bit of interest at least now with the 2 quick wkts.

Jimmy with number 2. SA in a bit of a pickle

Frig me 14/3. Now we do have a game.


What is going on

Don't think the pitch is as dificult as it made out to be. But Anderson bowled really well.

AB de Villiers has had a tour of unconverted starts so far, He has to play a big innings today if his side has to get through.

msp83 wrote:Don't think the pitch is as dificult as it made out to be. But Anderson bowled really well.

He has probed beautifully.

Need to get ABDV quite cheaply to be in with a shout. His s/r can soon turn it around.

And 3 quick 4's from ABDV.

Believe

Hmm, this was my fear about Woakes's bowling, he can only get it up to 82mph in his first over and I think he might lack the nip to make it as a bowler at the very highest level. Will be interesting to see how he goes.

If England dont get one of these two out soon then it is curtains...

If we can get them 100/5, then there is still quite a good chance. Runs don't come into now.

I am starting to worry that my prediction of SA getting these runs by 37 overs for the loss of 4 wickets may come true

Amazing to think that Ravi Bopara isnt the poorest number 3 in this game

Ravi Bopara into the attack, and right away there is an LBW appeal, and the next ball missing the outside edge and the stumps not by much!!.

Well, another 50 for Hashim Amla!.

JDizzle wrote:Hmm, this was my fear about Woakes's bowling, he can only get it up to 82mph in his first over and I think he might lack the nip to make it as a bowler at the very highest level. Will be interesting to see how he goes.

This is what I've been saying. A variation on the Bopara conundrum. Woakes is actually a pretty decent batsman and will probably get better. However, his bowling is unlikely to challenge international batsmen ....

AB de Villiers gets his first 50 of the tour!.

Woakes will have to up his a pace a bit, he doesn't have the Praveen Kumar like swing, and without something of that kind, its dificult to consistently trouble international batsmen. He averages 38 in first class cricket with the bat, perhaps England should think about having him batting in the top 6 in ODI matches.

guildfordbat wrote:

JDizzle wrote:Hmm, this was my fear about Woakes's bowling, he can only get it up to 82mph in his first over and I think he might lack the nip to make it as a bowler at the very highest level. Will be interesting to see how he goes.

This is what I've been saying. A variation on the Bopara conundrum. Woakes is actually a pretty decent batsman and will probably get better. However, his bowling is unlikely to challenge international batsmen ....

Whereas Faf du Plesis is at least useless at both.

Id say Woakes is a better bowler than say Luke Wright, but he doesnt seem good enough to be a first 4 does he.

I have felt this for a while msp and Guildford, he just lacks that extra bit of nip of an Anderson, the accuracy of a McGrath or even the swing of a Praveen Kumar. The only thing I would say is that Shaun Pollock sounded like he felt he could easily see things that could be changed in his action to increase his pace, but if it was that easy you would have thought the ECB coaches would have spotted it already. However, we did see Finn add an extra 5mph or so when he went on that strength and conditioning so he could still get there.

And I wouldn't like to see Woakes any higher than 7 tbh, he bats there for his county for a reason and I'm not sure he would cut the mustard as a top 6 batter in international cricket.

JDizzle wrote:

And I wouldn't like to see Woakes any higher than 7 tbh, he bats there for his county for a reason and I'm not sure he would cut the mustard as a top 6 batter in international cricket.

*cough*Bopara*cough*keisweter*cough

eirebilly wrote:Prediction time. SA after 37 overs for the loss of 4 wickets

Even this might have been too optimistic for England

Amla trying to sneak in a ton, but should come up just short

Yeah lets pick Ravi for the Test side.

AlciG wrote:Amla trying to sneak in a ton, but should come up just short

yeah hes rubbish

eirebilly wrote:I am starting to worry that my prediction of SA getting these runs by 37 overs for the loss of 4 wickets may come true

You were a tad optimistic there Billy

South Africa walks it at the end of it all, with another stroll in the park from Hashim Amla. Very good innings from the captain too, and whatever pressure that was there at 14-3 they just dealt with it in the most emphatic style.