England captain Kevin Pietersen said he would go for the jugular after seeing his side take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the one-day series against South Africa at the Oval on Friday.
The sides meet at Lord’s today and Cardiff on Wednesday with Pietersen determined to inflict a whitewash on the tourists.
Samit Patel took five wickets and Andrew Flintoff hit 78 not out to inspire England to a 126-run win and wrap up the series comfortably.
PHOTO: AP
England are now chasing only the second 5-0 series win in their history after they triumphed over Zimbabwe by the same margin in 2001-2002.
“The 5-0 thing puts a lot more extra pressure on us as it would take us up to second in the world rankings,” Pietersen said. “That is the kind of pressure we want — pressure is a privilege and if we win 5-0 it takes us right up to the top. It is something we have talked about and if we deliver we can win 5-0. The dressing room is a very happy place. We are putting pressure on their batters and playing to our potential. We’re hitting their good balls for four and doing a really good job on them. I know South Africa really well and they wanted to beat us. They are very proud people and stubborn people.”
South Africa’s stand-in captain Jacques Kallis said: “The cricket we are playing is not good cricket, but England are playing unbelievable cricket. They are one of the best one-day sides we have played against recently.”
PHOTO: AP
Flintoff’s 77-ball innings and 31 from Patel carried England to 296-7 from 50 overs and South Africa were never up with the rate as they were bowled out for 170, with Patel taking 5-41 to cap a memorable fourth international match.
“It has always been a dream to play for England,” Patel said. “I played against South Africa for the Lions, and although it was always going to be tough, they knew I could bat.”
The South African chase flickered only briefly when Albie Morkel hit Patel for two sixes in an over, but having planted him into the stands for a second time the batsmen offered a low return catch that Patel took low down.
PHOTO: AFP
But the tourists were out of the game by the 30th over of their innings when Mark Boucher was fifth man out with only 114 on the board.
Flintoff, adding to the 78 he made in the first game at Headingley, and relishing his role at No. 5, put on a free-scoring partnership of 74 for the sixth wicket with Patel that took the game away from the South Africans.
His recent form with the bat is another triumph for new captain Kevin Pietersen who has promoted the all-rounder up the order and persuaded Steve Harmison, a crucial figure in this series, out of one-day international retirement. Flintoff survived a nasty blow to his temple on 38 when he was late on pulling a Morne Morkel bouncer, but recovered to hit nine fours and a six.
The pick of the South African bowlers was Johan Botha who took 2-35 from nine overs with his spin.
After being put in England’s Matt Prior played and missed during the early overs, but found his range when he clubbed 14 runs off Makhaya Ntini’s second over, including a six over long-on from a free hit.
Ntini’s first five overs disappeared for 47, but stand-in captain Jacques Kallis forced a breakthrough when Morne Morkel had Prior caught off a top edged pull that Herschelle Gibbs ran round to catch. Ntini looked a tired bowler as he conceded 68 runs in nine overs.
Also See: Kulasekara stars in consolation victory
Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital. There were no such celebrations this year when the defending champions on board LawConnect won the race in the early hours of yesterday morning, as it came about 24 hours after two sailors died on separate boats in sail boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the race. LawConnect, a 100-foot super maxi skippered by Australian tech millionaire Christian Beck, sailed up the River Derwent at just after 2:30am.
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
Chess great Magnus Carlsen on Friday quit the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York after governing body FIDE barred the Norwegian from participating in a round at the tournament for wearing jeans. FIDE said in a statement that its dress code regulations were designed to “ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants.” It issued Carlsen a US$200 fine and gave him an opportunity to change into the correct attire, which the world No. 1 rejected, it said. Carlsen said he had a lunch meeting before the round and had to change quickly. “I put on a shirt, jacket and honestly like
RSS