England vs South Africa - 2nd ODI - NatWest Series 2012 - Match Preview
After a washout in the first game of the all important NatWest Series of 2012, England and South Africa will now contest the 2nd ODI of the series today, at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. Only 33 deliveries were bowled at the Sophia Gardens before the heavens opened up which means that England are still ranked first on the ICC ODI rankings for teams.
With the rankings at stake, it is noteworthy that the venue for the second ODI is the Rose Bowl in Southampton, where the home side has enjoyed plenty of success in recent encounters with the West Indies. Alastair Cook’s men would be aiming to replicate their consistency at the venue and in ODI cricket, in a clash which would have a significant bearing on both teams. A South African victory would dethrone England from their number one spot in the rankings.
England however, are brewing with confidence and on paper appear strong enough to beat the South Africans. They managed to rout a powerful Australian side at home comprehensively, which followed a similar score line against the West Indies. Their opponents have also been impressive, yet unlike England, they have not been able to put in a comprehensive string of performances. Nevertheless, under skipper AB De Villiers, South Africa managed to win six out of their eight ODIs recently, of which three came against a lowly New Zealand, away from home. England on the other hand, would bank upon their conventional and bench strength with players such as Ravi Bopara and Samit Patel being in fine form. South Africa has included players such as Faf Du Plessis and Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who featured in the first ODI at Cardiff and are expected to make significant contributions at the Rose Bowl today.
The spotlight however, would be on English seamer Steve Finn. He has been instrumental in England’s rise as an ODI force, where series victories against Pakistan, Australia and the West Indies, were a product of fine spells of bowling. His ability to extract significant movement on green tops as well as producing prodigious bounce will prove to be a test for South Africa and could well be the defining factor in this series. The Proteas had been rattled by Finn earlier, during his brief spell at Lord's in the third Test of the Investec series, which was just a glimpse of his ability.
For South Africa, the spotlight would be Lonwabo Tsotsobe as the ODI bowling spearhead. Tsotsobe bowled just a handful of overs in the Cardiff game and managed to extract plenty of seam movement, yet his one dimensional approach and lack of pace could also prove to be counterproductive. Unlike Steve Finn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe has not been active in ODI cricket for a couple of months and it remains to be seen how he paves out in the ODI series.
The batsmen will be l*****g their lips as the pitch at the Rose Bowl is expected to be slow, yet provide significant movement with the new ball. Past encounters at the venue have historically been high scoring affairs and the decision to omit an extra batsman and use the left arm orthodox spin of Samit Patel could prove to be handy for England. For South Africa, their one dimensional approach could prove to be fatal, as glimpses of that was one view at Cardiff, when Ian Bell launched Morne Morkel for gigantic sixes.
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