England v http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 - 3rd ODI - NatWest Series 2012 - Match Preview
After topping the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 Test rankings, the Proteas further snatched the ODI perch from their hosts England, after the former stamped a thumping 80-run victory in the second ODI at Southampton. The pressure is on as the 3rd ODI looms large at the
Kennington Oval, where the two sides will contest on Aug 31, 2012.
Last time when both teams faced-off at the venue, back in 2008, the Poms trounced the visitors by 126 runs. The Proteas on the other hand, savoured their last ODI victory back in 1999 during the World Cup.
For the home side, the news of Andrew Strauss’ retirement and the circumstances surrounding it may have come as a shock but in hindsight, it would be better if they quickly recover from it to put one across South Africa and prevent the visitors from taking
an unassailable 2-0 lead in the five-match NatWest series.
But that’s not the only thing the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GP-Swann-c1501, who was the pick of the bowlers in the second ODI, was rested for the remainder of the series. Making inroads through
the opposition batting lineup had been a problem for the hosts in the Test matches, which seemed to have crept in the ODI series as well.
James Anderson, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TT-Bresnan-c2711 looked off-colour in their last outing, all of whom went for plenty of runs. James Tredwell has been named in the squad and is likely to be asked to fill the spin role in Swann’s absence, but with the Oval pitch
offering little to the spinners, Chris Woakes firmly remains in contention for a spot as well.
English batting on the other hand, has not been at its finest throughout the series as their middle-order is still trying to come to terms with the absence of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RS-Bopara-c2373, who was in great touch against the Australians in July, hasn’t fared
well for the locals in the ongoing series so far.
On the contrary, the tourists are having a ball as far as their bowling goes. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/M-Morkel-c73528 is the leader of the pack, which restricted the Poms at 207 in the last match, and will show no signs of slipping up come the third ODI.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/R-McLaren-c2232 have yet to make their mark in an otherwise impressive Proteas attack, which is likely to remain
unchanged for the next encounter.
For now, the Proteas, batting lineup is anchored by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/HM-Amla-c1557, who will be returning to the same ground where he scored a triple-ton just a month ago. The right-hander will fancy his chances to force the hosts into yet another submission after scoring
a brilliant century at the Rose Bowl. However, the visitors’ middle-order looked a little susceptible, and skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Allan-Robert-Border-c43726 de Villiers would want his batsmen to make a strong comeback.
With the momentum favouring the tourists, they will certainly go into the match as favourites. The home side, on the other hand, has a lot of work to do in their bowling and batting departments, and still have to capitalise on the absence of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DW-Steyn-c1409.
The weather has been a nightmare throughout the English summer and the first match of the ongoing series was also washed out however, forecast for the third ODI looks bright with the prospects of clear skies on the 31st of August in London.
England: http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ST-Finn-c2566
South Africa: Hashim Amla, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/LL-Tsotsobe-c1842.
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