The first Cricket test between South Africa and England at Centurion ended in a draw.
South Africa 418 and 301 for 6 dec ; England 356 and 228/9
Match result: Draw
England made 228/9 in their final innings as the last pair held on for 20 deliveries, whilst South Africa pressed for the last wicket.
The celebrations from England at the conclusion of the game were a little over the top in my opinion, but highlight just how important it was for them not to go down early in the series. South Africa were happy enough to have put themselves in a position to go for the win, but perhaps didn’t risk enough to get the victory they sought.
It was a dramatic test, with plenty of momentum shifts during the game. England were generally always behind, and fought tenaciously.
Looking back, I thought the game was lost by South Africa rather than England saving the game.
After a decent first innings, South Africa applied good pressure to have England at 242/8, and looking at a lead of about 150. As we’ve seen over the last 18 months however, the Proteas are unable to wrap up the tail effectively. The partnership between Graeme Swann and James Anderson may well have been the saving of the game for England.
With only a small lead, South Africa had to score quickly and put England under pressure. It didn’t go to plan with some poor batting, and at 46/4, it could have swung England’s way. However a good partnership between AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla sound pulled the momentum back South Africa’s way. At this stage it was important for South Africa to attack and try to up the scoring rate. There was a lack of urgency from some players, Amla in particular that simply did not leave enough time to have a fair crack at England on the 4th evening.
Whilst I understand Graeme Smith did not want to give England a chance at victory, sometimes you have to be prepared to lose in order to win. If you truly believe you are the best side in the world, I believe you need to play as if you are the best side in the world.
I hope the batting shows greater urgency in Durban, and as AB de Villiers showed, you don’t have to do anything silly to score at a decent rate. Amla and Prince in particular get bogged down and stifle the innings. Perhaps it comes from the fact that technically they don’t get forward enough and struggle against the fuller delivery.
However it is the bowling attack that I feel is the biggest problem. Many are saying that the “Mdingi Express”, Makhaya Ntini is the weak link. He was certainly below his best and didn’t get much reward but he usually gets better as a series goes on. He also hasn’t had much cricket recently and I probably be prepared to give him another chance in Durban. Had de Villiers held on to the chance in the first over, who knows what Makhaya would have produced!
I thought Friedel de Wet bowled better as the match went on, and the weak link was in fact Morne Morkel. It surprises me how many people say Morkel has so much talent and is a good bowler. In my view he can only bowl 1 type of delivery, short of a length. He seems incapable of bowling it fuller and getting the batsmen to drive, and often ends up bowling to wide. In my opinion it is why we struggle to wrap up the tail.
Waqar Younis got about 60% of Batsmen 8, 9, 10 1nd 11 out either LBW or bowled. That’s because he bowled full and attacked the stumps. Our bowlers bowl too wide and do not attack the stumps enough. In the first innings when Swann and Anderson were going, Smith put the field back and gave away too many easy runs, and the England players had no pressure placed on them. I’ve always believed you can’t set a field for bad bowling. Rather bowl stump to stump, have the field up and force the batsmen into an error.
We certainly missed Jacques Kallis in the bowling department, but I’d like to see a bowler who either bowls wicket to wicket and/or can bowl fuller eg Wayne Parnell or Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Morkel is hardly likely to get more than 2-3 wickets at best. When did he last take 5 wickets in an innings?
With 1 or 2 changes we showed we should beat England if we play to our potential. Let’s see what Durban brings us!
