An English victory over the Proteas will be a great morale boost for Pakistan
ENGLAND gained a huge psychological advantage ahead of their five-match Test battle with an emphatic trouncing of South Africa in the triangular series’ final in what was the Proteas’ first-ever One-Day appearance on the hallowed turf of Lord’s.
Michael Vaughan, the man installed as England One-Day skipper after Nasser Hussain decided enough was enough, soon after the World Cup, made it two out of two having won the three-match rubber against Pakistan last month.
England’s sudden transformation from being one of the no-hopers catapulted them from eighth to third in the ICC One-Day International rankings.
Before the start of the English summer, few had expected them to gain so much in terms of results. Especially, after the unwise decision to boycott the Zimbabwe leg of the World Cup in southern Africa on political grounds that came to haunt England no end, as they were sent packing home after the preliminaries.
Faced with an awkward situation after another mega-event calamity, the English management put its vote firmly behind the untried leadership credentials of Vaughan, who acclaimed greatness as the batting star in Test cricket last year.
The come-from-behind victory over Pakistan with a relatively inexperienced squad was just the spur England — and more crucially Vaughan — required going into the tri-series against South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Despite their shortcomings in certain areas of their game, England went one better with a clinical annihilation of South Africa to become worthy winners on a glorious London afternoon. The final itself failed to live up to its billing as England outplayed South Africa in every department of the game on an ideal One-Day pitch.
Graeme Smith, at 22 the youngest ever to lead South Africa, was as clueless as his men at the seven-wicket mauling in a match that lasted only 52.3 overs, in brilliant sunshine and in conditions suited for a run feast.
Shaun Pollock, Smith’s predecessor as skipper, had predicted before the series began that the South Africans would start as favourites. His philosophy being: “You have got to put pressure on yourself. A lot of teams go into series saying that they don’t want to be favourites because they are putting extra pressure on themselves, but we don’t think like that. It’s good for us to say we are favourites.”
Smith had unexpectedly succeeded Pollock after South Africa made a mess of the Duckworth/Lewis method and were unceremoniously dumped out of the World Cup before the Super Six stage. He was fortunate enough to begin his reign in Bangladesh, of all countries where South Africa and India shared the triangular trophy after the final was disrupted by monsoon rain in Dhaka.
Smith, in contrast to Pollock’s generally quiet personality, offers aggression and a brashness that South Africa had been missing for a while on the leadership front.
When he arrived in England, Smith expressed his desire to bring back the smile on the faces of the South African people. “Public expectation is obviously very high in South Africa after what happened in the World Cup. We realize that we owe the people back home a lot and we’ve been working really hard on little things, day-in and day-out, to give them something to shout about.”
But Vaughan ensured that Smith’s dream remains a fantasy for the time being. South Africa, like Pakistan and England, are going through a rebuilding phase but still they were expected to give England a run for their money. Not for the first time, they faltered when it mattered most. The cliche that the Proteas are chokers on the big occasion came back to haunt them yet again.
England will do Pakistan a great favour if they deny Smith’s men winning the Test series during the next eight weeks. Such a result will give Pakistan a big boost when they confront the South Africans immediately after entertaining Bangladesh.
A demoralized South African side will be easier to play against. At least that will be Pakistan’s great desire. A team on a roll is definitely more difficult to conquer for any opponent. The Australians are a good example in this case since for them winning has become a habit and they are virtually invincible compared to the rest of the field. Even a minor hiccup here and there has not stopped their phenomenal domination of world cricket.
As for England, life is becoming more enjoyable after recent upheavals. The difference in the teams in the recently concluded series’ was the telling contributions of Andrew Flintoff, James Anderson, Darren Gough and Marcus Trescothick.
On the other hand, the inability of guys such as Jim Troughton and Robert Key to grab the spotlight highlighted the fact England still require the experience and class of Graham Thorpe to shore up an otherwise brittle middle-order batting.
Thorpe was sorely missed when England lost to Zimbabwe in the triangular opener at Trent Bridge after losing the initiative between the 15th and 35th overs and because Grant Flower played one of his best innings ever — an unbeaten 96 — to engineer his side home by four wickets.
After sitting out for personal reasons for the best of one year, Thorpe has expressed his willingness to play for his country once more. Even Duncan Fletcher has softened his attitude towards the classy left-handed batsman saying he will welcome him if the situation demands.
Anderson continues to improve by leaps and bounds. His knack of picking up wickets quickly is fast becoming a ritual. The fact he gives away far too many runs is only because of youthful exuberance. By playing more and more, Anderson can only improve. There is no doubt that England has finally unearthed a genuine wicket-taking bowler.
Anderson was extremely fortunate to have a man of Gough’s experience operating at the other end. England’s forgotten paceman made a startling comeback from multiple injuries to run away with a Man-of-the-Match performance in the final, taking the key scalps of Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis.
Flintoff was a deserving recipient of the Man-of-the-Series award for some magnificent displays. His catch to get rid of Kallis at Edgbaston was quite sensational. Averaging 314 after making two centuries in three innings, Kallis drove Richard Johnson, but Flintoff, standing at wide third slip in a one-man cordon, plucked the catch out of the air in a style that made Ian Botham extremely proud in the TV commentary booth. For it was Botham who used to hold such offerings with ease.
The South Africans paid a heavy price for lack of variety in their bowling. Pollock, now distinctly slower than he used to be, was accurate but not penetrative. Makhaya Ntini was an exceptional in an otherwise pedestrian attack. He took 14 wickets in the tournament but sorely lacked in support.
The South African batting never really came together. Kallis, emotionally drained by his father’s critical illness, lost touch in the second half of the tournament. Smith and Jacques Rudolph scored in patches while Gibbs hardly scored apart from a chancy unbeaten 93 against Zimbabwe.
And as for the luckless Zimbabweans, things went from bad to worse. They are now really in turmoil and will need a lot of catching up to do if they want to be competitive again. Otherwise, the days are not far off when the minnows of international cricket — Bangladesh — will be celebrating victories over the Africans.
An English victory over the Proteas will be a great morale boost for Pakistan 
