England demolish SA to enter Semis

Tags: ENG v SA 18th Match at Bridgetown - May 8, 2010, ICC World T20 - 2010, Kevin Peter Pietersen, Ryan Jay Sidebottom, Michael Howard Yardy, England, South Africa

Published on: May 10, 2010

Scorecard | Commentary | Graphs

England defeated South Africa by a crushing margin of 39 runs which happens to be their second Super Eights victory.

South Africa Innings

England defeated South Africa by a crushing margin of 39 runs which happens to be their second Super Eights victory. England with this have almost sealed a berth in the Semi Finals! Well it certainly was a very bad and erratic day for SA in all the three departments of the game. England didn't get as much as they wanted on the board batting first but their bowlers did a great job backed up by some sharp fielding to successfully defend a total of 168. With none of the SA batsmen coming good, it was a cakewalk win for England which was perfectly executed with minimum of minimum blemishes.

South Africa were bundled out for 129 in 19 overs with Ryan Sidebottom and Graeme Swann taking three wickets each. Left arm spinner Michael Yardy played a significant part as well with his 2 for 31. The top scorer for SA was JP Duminy who struck a 25-ball 39 but by the time he unleashes the big shots, SA were down and dusted! The match was sealed in the 10th over when the score was reduced to a hopeless 53 for 5.

England Innings

England after all the blistering shots from Kevin Pietersen and opener Craig Kieswetter could only put up 168 for 7. For some reason they couldn't sustain their high momentum throughout their innings. South Africa was a jaded unit out in the middle with the bowlers being absolutely erratic and the fielders choking to drop many catches. Pietersen intimidated them with his hard hit shots but couldn't go onto make a really big score. He fell after scoring 53 from 33 balls with 8 fours and six in an innings that had several full blooded pulls off rising deliveries. Kieswetter who was caught off a no-ball also struck the ball hard but ended up with a slightly slowish 41 from 42 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes.

Apart from Pietersen and Kieswetter, the other English batsmen couldn't score anything significant. The pair of Kieswetter and Pietersen had put on 94 runs for the second wicket before Pietersen got out sweeping Botha to short fine leg in the 12th over.

Johan Botha was the pick of the bowlers for SA, removing Michael Lumb in the first over of the match having him lbw. Botha had finished with neat figures of 4-0-15-2. The rest of the bowlers with the exception of Jacques Kallis (3-0-15-0) took a pounding. South Africa should fancy their chances of chasing 169 and England will be disappointed of not getting past 180

Toss and Teams

England have won the toss and elected to bat first in their second Super Eights Match against South Africa at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. Both sides have remained unchanged from their respective last game. England are just a win away from sealing a place in the Semi Finals having defeated Pakistan. Same is the came with South Africa in earning a spot in the Semis as they beat New Zealand in their first Super Eights Match.

England : Craig Kieswetter (WK), Michael Lumb, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood (C), Eoin Morgan, Luke Wright, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, Michael Yardy, Tim Bresnan and Ryan Sidebottom

South Africa : Graeme Smith (C), Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Albie Morkel, Mark Boucher (WK), Johan Botha, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Charl Langeveldt

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