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| April 18, 2007 | Wednesday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 29, 1428 |
Hall wrecks England’s Cup hopes
BRIDGETOWN (Barbados), April 17: Andrew Hall took five for 18 as England slumped to 154 all out against South Africa in their World Cup Super Eights match on Tuesday.
England now face elimination from the competition unless their bowlers can turn the match around while victory will book South Africa's place in the last four alongside Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
Hall's intelligent seam bowling prompted a middle-order batting collapse, with five English wickets going for just 10 runs.
England captain Michael Vaughan won the toss and opted to bat first on a wicket that has proven lively in the morning sessions, hoping to take advantage of the quicker pace on the track.
But Vaughan, opening with Ian Bell, made a slow start with the first run not coming until the 14th ball and England only managing five runs off the first five overs.
South African seamers Shaun Pollock and Charl Langeveldt kept England pegged back and Langeveldt then claimed the wicket of a frustrated Bell who skied an attempted pull shot to Ashwell Prince.
The impressive Andre Nel then trapped Vaughan leg before for 17 to leave England at 37 for two in the 13th over.
The pressure was on England's South African-born batsman Kevin Pietersen who faced some hostility — with bowling and staring — from Nel.
It was not long before the seamer had his victim with Pietersen (3) spooning a catch to mid-off as he got himself tangled up on a drive.
Andrew Strauss, got his head down with Paul Collingwood showing some patience and discipline as England looked to consolidate.
The pair produced England's best partnership by putting on 58 before Strauss went for 46, flashing at Jacques Kallis outside off stump; captain Graeme Smith snaffled up an easy catch at gully.
Collingwood followed shortly afterwards for 30, lbw to Hall who then dealt with England's last real threat, Andrew Flintoff, removing the all-rounder's middle stump with a ball that cut back off the seam and through a huge gap between bat and pad.
Hall then took Paul Nixon and Sajid Mahmood with successive deliveries and only an unbeaten cameo innings of 27 from Ravi Bopara gave England's attack something to bowl at.
Hall picked up his fifth wicket with his final ball, dismissing James Anderson leg before as England's innings ended with two overs remaining.
Scoreboard
ENGLAND:
I.R. Bell c Prince b Langeveldt 7
M.P. Vaughan lbw b Nel 17
A.J. Strauss c Smith b Kallis 46
K.P. Pietersen c Smith b Nel 3
P.D. Collingwood lbw b Hall 30
A. Flintoff b Hall 5
R.S. Bopara not out 27
P.A. Nixon c Boucher b Hall 1
S.I. Mahmood b Hall 0
M.S. Panesar c Boucher b Nel 2
J.M. Anderson lbw b Hall 0
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-4, W-5, NB-3) 16
TOTAL (all out, 48 overs) 154
FALL OF WKTS: 1-9 (Bell, 7.3 ov), 2-37 (Vaughan, 12.2 ov), 3-53 (Pietersen, 16.2 ov), 4-111 (Strauss, 32.4 ov), 5-115 (Collingwood, 33.5 ov), 6-119 (Flintoff, 35.1 ov), 7-121 (Nixon, 35.6 ov), 8-121 (Mahmood, 37.1 ov), 9-144 (Panesar, 44.3 ov).
BOWLING: Pollock 10-2-17-0 (1nb); Langeveldt 7-1-38-1; Nel 10-3-35-3 (2nb, 4w); Hall 10-2-18-5; Kallis 8-0-22-1; Kemp 3-0-16-0 (1w).
SOUTH AFRICA: G.C. Smith, A.B. de Villiers, J.H. Kallis, H.H. Gibbs, A.G. Prince, J.M. Kemp, M.V. Boucher, S.M. Pollock, A.J. Hall, A. Nel, C.K. Langeveldt.
UMPIRES: S.A. Bucknor (West Indies) and S.J.A. Taufel (Australia).
TV UMPIRE: B.F. Bowden (New Zealand).
MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Madugalle (Sri Lanka).—Reuters
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