Proteas face series defeat

2008-08-28 22:14

Altus Momberg

London - The South African cricket team will have to find a counter to the dangerous English bowlers to avoid a series-deciding defeat in the one-day international at the Oval here on Friday.

A third consecutive defeat will make an end to the Proteas' hopes of winning the five-match series after winning the Test series 2-1.

To make their task even harder, SA captain Graeme Smith will take no further part in the series. He has a tennis-elbow injury.

Jacques Kallis will now captain the team and Hashim Amla takes Smith's place as opening batsman.

Both Morkel brothers, Albie and Morné, trained with the squad on Thursday but a final decision about Morné's fitness has not been taken. He has an injury to his side. Albie, who has a sore shoulder, is likely to play.

England have an outstanding one-day attack that dismissed the Proteas for 83 in Nottingham on Tuesday.

James Anderson and Stuart Broad take the new ball but the real danger comes when Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff attack the batsmen during the middle of the innings.

Towards the middle of the innings

Most teams, South Africa included, use their best bowlers at the start of the opposition's innings. The second and third lines of attack operate towards the middle of the innings, when the batsmen start cutting loose.

However, the composition of the England attack actually results in increased pressure on the batsmen during the middle overs.

The Proteas will have to come up with something to turn the tables. An improved performance by the top-order batsmen will help.

South Africa used to bat a long way down the order, with a number of all-rounders adding to the depth.

However, the Proteas have a long tail now, with most of the bowlers unable to contribute much to the score.

It will be ideal, therefore, if one of the top-order specialists bats through.

To start a comeback from 0-2 down in the series, the South Africans will also look to their bowlers to raise their game. They failed to impress during the 14 overs that England needed to pass the SA score at Trent Bridge.

The bowling lacked intensity, Dale Steyn battled to gain accuracy and there was little pressure on the England batsmen.

The last two one-day internationals in the series will be played at Lord's on Sunday and in Cardiff on Wednesday.

The teams:

England (from): Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Owais Shah, Kevin Pietersen (capt), Andrew Flintoff, Ravi Bopara, Luke Wright, Graham Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Samit Patel, Chris Tremlett, Alastair Cook and Tim Bresnan.

South Africa (probably): Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis (capt), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Mark Boucher, Albie Morkel, Johan Botha, André Nel or Morné Morkel, Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini.

Television: Live coverage on CSN and SuperSport 2 on DStv from 11:15 SA time.

- Die Burger