Pietersen’s England look to wrap up series
After securing victory in each of the first two one-day internationals against South Africa, England are just one win away from securing an unexpected series win. The third ODI game takes place at the Oval tomorrow, with Kevin Pietersen looking to maintain his 100% record since succeeding Michael Vaughan as England captain.
There is no doubt that England are in confident mood. It’s not often they secure back-to-back ODI victories these days and the fact they have been obtained with such style just adds to what must be a very buoyant dressing room.
There is no doubt that South Africa were favourites going into this limited over series – all cricket odds would have told you that. That’s what makes England’s performances – in particular the one in the second game when South Africa were bowled out for 83 – all the more encouraging from England’s point of view.
There is a very nice balance to this side at the moment. They bat comfortably down to nine and there is plenty of options on the bowling front. The front line seamers – James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison – are backed up by medium pacers Paul Collingwood and Luke Wright and then there are the spin options of Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen and Owais Shah. At least one of these is bound to have a good day aren’t they?
Of course, no-one is getting carried away. Pietersen has admitted that he is excited about the potential of this current team, but he won’t go shouting his mouth off about all the things they can achieve just yet. England have had a good spell before but the reality is that they have been a very poor one-day side for quite some time now. Hopefully, this is the start of better fortunes.
So, onto the third match of the series. It takes place at the Oval tomorrow and a win for England will give them the series with two games to spare. South African captain Graeme Smith is injured and will miss the game and this will affect team morale. They will already be down after the humiliating defeat at Trent Bridge and would have liked to have bounced back under the leadership of their captain. As it is, they will do so with Jacques Kallis as their skipper.
Because the way the series has gone so far and because of Smith’s injury, England have to be the favourites for this one. I will be sticking my cricket betting money on a narrow England win. South Africa will put in more of a performance than they did in Nottingham, but it won’t quite be enough in my view. England are in good form and I expect Kevin Pietersen to continue excelling as captain.
Thomas Rooney – Freelance Sports Journalist
