CRICKET : James Anderson’s maiden five-wicket haul helped England bowl South Africa out for just 119 in the fourth one-day international at Port Elizabeth.
James Anderson’s maiden five-wicket haul helped England bowl South Africa out for just 119 in the fourth one-day international at Port Elizabeth.
Home captain Graeme Smith lasted only four balls, after choosing to bat first on a cloudy morning – and then watched his team falter terminally, only Alviro Petersen (51) putting up worthwhile resistance on a pitch of easy pace and even bounce.
Seeking to re-establish the series lead they lost in Cape Town on Friday – with just one match remaining after today – England put themselves on course to record an unbeatable 2-1 advantage.
Both Stuart Broad and Anderson (five for 23), the latter playing despite a knee niggle, found enough swing to test the batsmen from the outset. Smith went lbw in the second over with only six on the board, to Broad’s second legitimate ball.
Hashim Amla struck an early boundary through cover but when he tried to repeat the dose through midwicket off Anderson, he found Graeme Swann in the ring at easily catchable height.
England profited further when JP Duminy was early on a pull at Anderson and somehow looped a simple catch behind to Matt Prior.
Perhaps the biggest wicket was AB De Villiers’ when he shuffled across and missed a turn to leg in Tim Bresnan’s first over. On another day, he might have survived the lbw verdict.
Anderson returned at the Duckpond end to take two more wickets with the score stuck on 78. The first significant sideways movement off the pitch did for Mark Boucher, Anderson clipping the top of off-stump with a very good delivery which held its line.
As England piled on the pressure, Ryan McLaren’s attempt at a relieving shot merely saw him squirt a drive straight to backward point to go for a duck and Anderson then had Johan Botha fencing a catch behind.
Paul Collingwood nipped in for two wickets too – and although Petersen’s 73-ball 50 kept England waiting until the 37th over, he was last out to an athletic catch at mid-on by Wright off Broad as South Africa registered their lowest ever ODI score on home soil.
