South Africa experienced a thrashing defeat at the hands of England losing their second spot in ICC rankings to England. South Africa was defeated and outclassed and it has been a long time that South Africa was in this kind of position. The enthusiastic England players under the new captain Kevin Pietersen were all fired up in the fourth ODI against England.

England won the toss and chose to field. South African batsmen started their innings slowly and were looking determined not to lose a wicket in the power plays. Rain interrupted the match at the end of 6th over when the cricket score was 30 without a wicket. Match resumed and South Africa managed to reach 50 in 8th over. It was a steady batting performance from South Africa comparing to their previous performances.

South Africa lost wickets regularly and after a long time, it was a delight to watch Gibbs in action. Gibbs scored 74 runs from 75 balls. South Africa was 183 for the loss of 6 wickets in the 32nd over when rain interrupted play. Rain was pouring down and as per D/L method, England were set a target of 137 runs to chase in 20 over.

England started their innings in a shaky manner losing two quick wickets. Then a steady partnership between Shah and Kevin pietersen rescued the England players from collapse. Kevin pietersen played positively right from the beginning of his innings and this set the tone of the England victory. The England players were full of confidence after their consecutive victories and this confidence was clearly seen in the 4th ODI at Lords.

Shah played steadily and scored 44 runs in 40 balls. He was a part in the partnership with Kevin pietersen and Flintoff. Flintoff was aggressive right from the start of his innings. He scored 31 runs in just 12 balls and led England to victory. England chased the target of 137 runs with 14 balls to spare. This is the fourth consecutive win for England.


Flintoff took 3 wickets and this formed as the basis for confident and aggressive batting performance. Flintoff is in good form both in batting and bowling. England is looking great and unbeatable under the captaincy of Kevin pietersen. Flintoff was chosen as the man of the match and England lead the series 4 -0 against South Africa. England had already won the NatWest series dominating South Africa to the core.

Comments

Add New RSS

3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

Newer news items:

Older news items: