South Africa v England, 3rd ODI, Port Elizabeth

England have South Africa in their sights

Andrew Miller

February 3, 2005

England's cricketers go on safari in the Eastern Cape, ahead of the third one-day international at Bloemfontein © Getty Images

England return to the scene of their World Cup exit tomorrow, as the third one-day international against South Africa gets underway at Port Elizabeth. Back in 2003, England seemed to be cruising to victory against the mighty Australians, only for Michael Bevan and Andy Bichel to add 73 unbeaten runs for the ninth wicket, to engineer a stunning two-wicket victory on a slow and exceedingly low wicket.

But come tomorrow, there will be only one side harbouring any "what-ifs", after the manner in which South Africa squandered a position of supremacy to tie a thrilling match at Bloemfontein. South Africa needed three to win from six balls, with five wickets in hand, but were held in check by Kabir Ali, whose nerves had at one stage looked so taut they might snap, but then eased at precisely the right moment for England.

The first ball of the decisive over was a waist-high no-ball that Mark Boucher had swatted for four, and at that stage, Kabir wanted the ground to swallow him up. "I just thought 'oh God, what have I done here?' he told reporters afterwards. "I was nervous but I just tried to get as many yorkers in as I could." With the scores level and one delivery remaining, he speared the ball into Andrew Hall's blockhole for Geraint Jones to pull off a smart stumping and trigger wild celebrations in the England camp.

"It was a real gutsy performance from the young Kabir," added Michael Vaughan, who was kept off the field by a stomach bug and played no part in the climax. "To gather his thoughts and be mentally tough enough to produce those yorkers was a great effort. The more death-bowling options we have, the better, and he is certainly one of those options."

Twenty-four hours later, the worst of Vaughan's illness has subsided, and he looks set to take his place in the starting line-up at PE. "I am not too bad," he told BBC Sport. "I didn't feel too good yesterday, but I hope to play, and it has got better." But despite his final-over heroics, Kabir may yet miss out on a berth in the side, as Steve Harmison is fit again after suffering a calf strain, and England are eager to get him back among the wickets after his devastating disappointments in the Test series.

England enjoyed a break from the grind today, as they took a trip round the Shamwari Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape. But despite the multitude of elephants on display, the only big game that'll be in England's sights tomorrow will be of the human variety. Kevin Pietersen, fresh from his maiden international century and showing no signs of being cowed by the hostile South African crowds, will be hunting for even more runs to boost his already formidable average of 234.

"Kevin's innings from that position is what we ask of a senior player, not one that has played six games," said Vaughan, after Pietersen had clubbed 108 not out from 96 balls to lift England from a dicey position at 67 for 3. "His potential shone through. He showed last night he has a lot of passion playing for England and he is a huge talent who is strengthening our team."

South Africa's captain, Graeme Smith, on the other hand, had less to be cheery about, after watching his side fritter away an unassailable advantage in the final over. But he put a brave face on the result nonetheless. "It was disappointing in the end," he conceded, "but we have a lot more confidence now than what we came out with [after the first match in the series]."

South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 AB de Villiers, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Herschelle Gibbs, 5 Ashwell Prince, 6 Justin Kemp, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Andrew Hall, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Andre Nel.

England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Geraint Jones (wk), 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Andrew Strauss, 5 Kevin Pietersen, 6 Paul Collingwood, 7 Ian Bell, 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Steve Harmison, 10 Darren Gough, 11 Matthew Hoggard.

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Players/Umpires

Kevin Pietersen

Graeme Smith

Michael Vaughan

Series/Tournaments

England tour of South Africa

Teams

England

South Africa

Grounds

St George's Park