England vs http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 ODI Series - Rare chance for the Poms to take revenge - Part 2 - Opinion
Continued from Part 1...
England, in truth, should be l*****g their http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mitchell-Claydon-c1973. The advantage that England has over the Africans is quite evident. Captain Alastair Cook’s stint as England’s ODI captain has also been quite impressive and England’s bench strength is quite strong as well.
Cook has an array of top quality ODI specialists to toe with, where the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RS-Bopara-c2373 for example, has emerged as one of England’s most prolific ODI players in recent times.
Similarly, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in the recently concluded ODI series. Bell’s contributions with the bat had left the former world champions dismayed and overawed. So
it can be safely said that like Australia in recent times, South Africa’s monotonous approach and over confidence could bring about their down fall against an English side that has played some very impressive cricket.
The current complexion of the South African side is an interesting one and could decide the outcome of the four games that are left in the NatWest series. Players such as Marchant De Lange, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Faf-du-Plessis-c1427 are immensely talented, but
all three of them have not played a lot of ODI cricket in the UK. They also look secondary to the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 trio has played a significant role in the Poms' rise amongst the ODI ranks. Tsotsobe’s
reputation as the second best ODI bowler in the world for example, is limited to his feats in the Emirates and in South Africa, and the fact that he could be manhandled for a lack of pace and venom by England, is realistic to say the least. Sides which have
historically done well against England at home have experimented heavily with their complexion, and South Africa’s ODI team seems to lack the same penetrative ability as an http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 or a Pakistan side did.
England on the other hand, has players who have witnessed meteoric rises in ODI cricket in a short space of time. Steve Finn’s reputation as England’s best ODI bowler in contemporary times is reinforced through his fiery bowling spells against teams such
as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Hafeez-c76898 of Pakistan, who have played a pivotal role in their team’s rise. Finn’s achievements stand in stark
contrast to the Proteas, who have had good bowlers at their disposal, but lacked the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Neil-Killeen-c79132 instinct when it really mattered.
Despite all the optimism which surrounds England’s chances against South Africa, the truth is that their opponents would always be formidable. Yet unlike the South African Test team, this ODI outfit is beatable. To back South Africa to win the series would
be sickly prophetic as England seem to be the stronger outfit of the two sides which will be battling it out for ODI kingship. The hosts have a golden opportunity to prove a point, despite the wash out at Cardiff. The scars that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964 has had to bear
in the Test series could make way for a triumphant England, something that English fans have been baying to see this summer.
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