England thrashes South Africa to claim top ODI rank

England reclaimed the position at top of ICC ODI rankings by overpowering South Africa in the third encounter at the Oval on Friday, levelling the series 1-1.

The Proteas did not put a big total on the board, as no batsman could capitalise. Hashim Amla scored crucial 43 runs at the top, while Dean Elgar added 42. Jean-Paul Duminy played a fine innings of 33 runs, but lost his wicket at a critical juncture.

The tale-enders were unable to resist against England’s quick bowlers and as a result, the side collapsed on 211. It was not an easy task for the English batting line-up, but looked tough when England lost three quick wickets early on.

Jonathan Trott and Eoin Morgan put their side back on the right track, and guided it to a comprehensive 4-wicket win by clattering 71 and 73 runs respectively.

On his wonderful show with the bat, Morgan said: "I enjoy it. I’ve been in the side for quite a while now and I enjoy taking on the reins and responsibility in the middle order. Hopefully I’ll continue to make contributions that help us win games."

Earlier in the day, James Anderson claimed four wickets for only 44 runs. James Tredwell, who replaced Graeme Swann, also took full advantage of the opportunity, and bagged a couple of wickets.

England skipper Alastair Cook was pleased with his team’s decent show in all three departments of the game.

"It was a really good bowling performance today. From 50-1 to restrict them to 210, we fielded better and bowled better and you wouldn’t want to chase too many more on that wicket," Cook said.

He added, "I thought the way Eoin Morgan played and Jonathan Trott, they were two such very good innings to see us home there," he said. "Jade came in, we wanted a wicket taker and he got some wickets at crucial times for us."

Losing captain, AB de Villiers, admitted that his side’s total was not enough. He expressed disappointment over his team’s failure with the bat, adding that South Africa could not take advantage after winning the crucial toss. The fourth ODI of the series
will be played at Lord’s on Sunday.

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Posted by Rana Nasir Ghafoor on Sep 1 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry