da fezbet： An injury-ravaged England side overcame a stiff target of 280 to beat South Africa A by four wickets and with 11 balls to spare
The Bulletin by Sahil Dutta17-Nov-2009
ScorecardEngland were taken to the wire in a tense victory over South Africa A in their warm-up match at Potchefstroom. In a fluctuating contest, fifties from Andrew Strauss, Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior ensured adepleted England took the spoils against a strong South African opposition.Strauss, returning after sitting out the Twenty20 series, ledEngland’s chase, dominating a 68-run opening stand with Joe Denly.Denly is short of runs after failing in the Twenty20 series anddespite being dropped on 12 by Morne Morkel, could only manage 24 today.His place at the top of the order could be under threat from Trott,who has done the job for Warwickshire.In his short international career Trott has demonstrated a calmnessrarely seen in England’s one-day cricket. He shared productivepartnerships, first with Strauss and then Matt Prior, as his 89-ball 78gave England a great chance. However, when Trott fell to Morkel in 44th over, England werestill 49 runs short and it took a decisive 46-run stand betweenPrior and Luke Wright to secure the result.The day didn’t start well for the tourists as Alastair Cook joined thelengthening injury list with a bad back. It left England short of fivesenior players and South Africa A captain Hashim Amla, keen totest England’s inexperienced bowlers, batted first after winning thetoss.Having lost their lengths, lines and heads in the second Twenty20, England needed to demonstrate better resolve today. If theyneeded assistance, Ottis Gibson, England’s bowling coach was on fieldas 12th man at one point. But he was powerless as Sajid Mahmood, TimBresnan and Adil Rashid proved expensive again.In windy conditions reminiscent of Chester-le-Street, Amla and AndrewPuttick put on 77 in 14.4 overs as Graham Onions and Bresnan were frequently punished for over-pitching. Ittook Wright to finally make the breakthrough when he had Amlabrilliantly caught by Strauss at mid-wicket for 37. Seven overs later,Wright was again at the centre of the next dismissal when his sharpthrow beat Rilee Rossouw’s dive.Puttick, who played a single one-dayinternational for South Africa in 2005, passed his fifty from 57 ballsbefore mis-timing a slog off Denly when he had made 62. It was aneedless dismissal that characterised the innings. Every one of theSouth African A top five reached at least 24 but none could hammerhome their advantage.Herschelle Gibbs, pressing for an international recall, struggled forfluency and his dismissal sparked a good period for England in which theytook four wickets for 27 runs in 7.1 overs. Gibbs played on trying torun Wright to third man and Onions returned for an improved secondspell in which he claimed the impressive Vaughn van Jaarsveld and Dean Elgarin quick succession.Just as England looked to control the innings, Morkel joinedHeino Kuhn, the wicketkeeper who made his international debut inSunday’s Twenty20, to put on 40 runs in their 5.4 over stand. Morkelunveiled an extra string to his bow with an array of strokes throughthe off-side in a 22-ball 29.Kuhn batted smartly with the tail and pushed South Africa A to 279 for 9, but in the final analysis, it wasn’t quite enough.