TheSportsCampus

The tag of chokers is a tough one to live with. South African teams may have gone through a massive metamorphosis in the last 20 years since their return to the international stage, however, till they turn around and win something big, it will be a tag the players will take to their grave. Their pronounced inability to come good in tight situations (read: choke) was on bare naked display at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday when the team chasing a paltry 172 to win, slid from 124/3 to 165 all out. Of course England had plenty to do with the outcome too, but they would be the first to admit that they were outplayed for 78 overs in the contest, and were more than a little fortunate to squeak home in the end.

England won the toss in Chennai and opted to bat first and for the first time in the World Cup, the opening pair of Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen failed to fire. However, the failure was so pronounced, that England found themselves 3/2 at the end of the first over. Robin Peterson was the surprise selection to open the bowling, with vice captain Johan Botha sitting out of this game as well. Strauss opted to use his feet to the left-arm spinner and charged down the wicket to chip him over the in-field and picked out the only man on the legside boundary to make a very disappointing walk back to the pavilion with naught to his name. Kevin Pietersen scored 2 runs more than his opening partner, but his poor track record against left-arm spin continued as he edged his third delivery right into the waiting arms of Kallis at slip. Robin Peterson then made matters even worse for England as he took a terrific catch off his own bowling to dismiss Ian Bell for 5 to leave England in dire straits at 15/3.

England found a much needed partnership from the reliable Jonathan Trott and the recalled Ravi Bopara, who got the nod for this game ahead of Paul Collingwood. The pair were painfully slow out there in the middle initially, but they accelerated against the part-timers and put together 99 crucial runs for the fourth wicket before Imran Tahir started working his magic, removing Trott for a well compiled 52.

Smith was right on the money as he rung in the changes to keep his bowlers fresh. Morne Morkel removed Matt Prior (10) and Ravi Bopara (60) in a short burst, before Dale Steyn came back to trap Tim Bresnan plumb in front. Imran Tahir cleaned up the tail to end with 4 wickets for 38, but not before Graeme Swann played a vital cameo, scoring 16 runs to take the England score up to 171.

England opted to give their own left-arm spinner Michael Yardy a go with the new ball, but not being a big turner, Yardy got virtually no assistance from the new ball. Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla were cantering towards the target till Andrew Strauss finally tossed the ball to his chief spinner Graeme Swann. The world's leading off-spinner brought the contest alive by removing Smith for 22, but at 63/1, it was still South Africa's game to lose.

The Proteas lost two more wickets in quick succession as Stuart Broad removed Amla and Kallis, the former top scoring for South Africa with an excellent 42 while the latter chipped in with 15. At 82/3 England were right back in the game, but AB de Villiers, who had scored back to back hundreds in the opening two games of the World Cup and Faf du Plessis appeared to be guiding the Proteas home.

England, however, were not done for the day and struck thrice with the score on 124. James Anderson, woeful in the tournament thus far, produced a magical spell to knock over De Villiers (25) and Duminy (0) in consecutive overs and in between Ian Bell ran out Du Plessis for 17. Things got worse for South Africa when Robin Peterson was caught behind off Yardy for 3, and at 127/7 England were all of a sudden the favourites.

The game had changed completely within the space of 5 overs, but South Africa refused to role over and die. Morne van Wyk, keeping wickets in this game and a very capable bat at no.7, found good company in Dale Steyn, and the pair added 33 runs for the 8th wicket. At 160/7 with just 12 needed to win from 24 balls South Africa really should have finished the job, but Tim Bresnan came back to pick up his only wicket of the day, that of Van Wyk, who inside edged the ball onto his stumps, failing to learn from so many others who had fallen the same way on this slow pitch.

Suddenly Steyn was left with his fellow bowlers and he tried to rush things along, but Stuart Broad had other ideas. He trapped the South African speedster in front with a trademark-Steyn delivery, a ball that reversed just enough to skid on straight into the pads. And Broad then wrapped up an enthralling contest when Morkel edged a wide-ish delivery straight to Prior to leave South Africa 6 runs shy of their target.

While South Africa never really threw the game away with poor cricketing shots, the fact of the matter is that when the going gets tough, the Proteas tend to go missing. South Africa beat India in an ODI Series earlier this year 3-2, but the two games they lost should really have been won too, both exceptionally close finishes where India's mental toughness edged them out. The Proteas though are expected to easily bounce back from this loss and while their quarter-final place is unlikely to be under threat, teams always know they stand a chance against them.

England on the other hand appeared to have one foot on the plane back home, and have been given a real lifeline from this win. One more positive result should see them wrap up a quarter-final berth, and they will hope to do just that when they take on Bangladesh on Friday. South Africa meanwhile have almost a full week to think about this defeat before they face India in a vital clash on Saturday that could well determine which team will go onto top Group B.·

Teams:

England: Strauss (c),·Pietersen, Trott, Bell, Bopara, Prior, Yardy, Bresnan, Swann, Broad, Anderson.

South Africa: Amla, Smith (c), Kallis, De Villiers, Duminy, Du Plessis, Van Wyk, Peterson, Steyn, Morkel, Tahir.

Mini Scorecard:

England 171 all out (45.4 overs, 3.74rpo)
Bopara 60 (98) Tahir 4-38
Trott 52 (94) Peterson 3-22

South Africa 165 all out (47.4 overs, 3.46rpo)
Amla 42 (51) Broad 4-15
De Villiers 25 (44) Anderson 2-16

England win by 6 runs

Also Read Match Previews: England vs Bangladesh, West Indies vs Ireland

File Photograph Copyright: ICC World T20