| |
|
|
|
'White lightning' strikes South African bowlers rip England's batting lineup apart
Posted: Tuesday June 29, 1999 03:25 PM
LONDON (CNN/SI) -- Allan Donald's spell of 4-17 reinforced the opinion that although not the fastest bowler in the world, Donald is still one of the deadliest as helped South Africa defeat England by 122 runs in a World Cup match Saturday. This was the pre-tournament favorites third successive victory as South Africa skittled England out for 103 in 41 overs, the lowest score in the 13 matches played so far in the 12-nation tournament. "England was not a victim of poor batting ... maybe one or two poor shots," said Donald. "The wicket didn't have much in it but we bowled very well." England's pace bowlers had gotten the hosts off to a good start earlier in the day when they restricted South Africa to 225-7 in 50 overs after breaking up the blistering start by Gary Kirsten (45) and Herschelle Gibbs (60) put on 111 runs for the opening partnership. But South Africa lost the openers and five more wickets for only 57 more runs before all rounder Lance Klusener out on the breaks with an unbeaten 48 to lead his team to victory in partnership with Mark Boucher. Klusener's knock came off 40 balls with three boundaries and one six over long-on off Mark Ealham, an innings that fetched him the Man of the Match award. In reply, England began disastrously, losing captain Alec Stewart with only two runs on board in the first over to a controversial leg before decision by umpire Srinivas Venkataraghavan of India. Television replays showed he might have misjudged the height of the ball as it appeared to be going above the stumps. England was soon two down for six as Jacques Kallis had the other opener, Nasser Hussain, caught behind by Mark Boucher for two, setting the stage for Donald's introduction into the attack. Donald claimed Graham Thorpe leg before for 14 and Alan Flintoff caught by a diving Jonty Rhodes before the batsman could open his account. Medium pacer Steve Elworthy dismissed Graeme Hick for 21 to polish off the cream of England's batting. Donald completed the demolition job by forcing Mark Ealham (5) to edge a catch to Darryl Cullinan at first slip and angled in an inswinger to trap Nail Fairbrother leg before for 21. Skipper Hansie Cronje was delighted with the bowling but said the middle-order batsmen need to concentrate more. "We are doing the right things," Cronje said. "But a lot of hard work still needs to be done. "The batsmen need to concentrate more ... the middle order failed to build on a good start," he said. His English counterpart was understandably disappointed with his batsmen. "The batsmen just did not perform," said Stewart, but refused to comment on his controversial dismissal. "We bowled well but lost two early wickets and just couldn't rebuild from there," he said. The only consolation England could muster from a disappointing batting display was that they had avoided the embarrassment of plunging to a new low in their World Cup history by passing their lowest-ever team total of 93 against Australia at Headingley in 1975. Still, their 103 was the lowest scored so far in this tournament. Sri Lanka had scored 110 against South Africa on Wednesday. England, however, failed to beat its previous second-lowest total of 125 against Zimbabwe in Albury in 1992.
England1-Alec Stewart (captain), 11-Nasser Hussain, 9-Graeme Hick, 14-Graham Thorpe, 5-Neil Fairbrother, 4-Mark Ealham, 6-Andrew Flintoff, 3-Robert Croft, 8-Darren Gough, 13-Allan Mullally, 7-Angus Fraser
South Africa1-Gary Kirsten, 2-Herschelle Gibbs, 9-Mark Boucher, 3-Jacques Kallis, 4-Darryl Cullinan, 5-Hansie Cronje (captain), 8-Jonty Rhodes, 7-Shaun Pollock, 13-Lance Klusener, 14-Steve Elworthy, 10-Allan Donald.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | |||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
| |||||||||||||||||||
