England v South Africa 4th Test Betting

ENGLAND v SOUTH AFRICA 4th TEST BETTING

Series Summary

First Test – Lord’s 10th July
England made a vastly promising start to the 4-match Test series against South Africa. Having lost the toss and batting first, 152 from Kevin Pietersen and 199 from Ian Bell enabled the English side to amass a total of
593-8 declared. Despite a century from Ashwell Prince, South Africa was dismissed for 247, with Monty Panesar taking 4-74. England enforced the follow-on, with South Africa some 346 runs in arrears. The South African 2nd innings batting performance was far better. Graeme Smith (107) and Neil McKenzie (138) completed an opening partnership of 204. McKenzie was then joined by Hashim Amla (104 no) putting on 125 for the second wicket. South Africa eventually declared on 393-3, securing an unlikely draw.

Second Test – Headingley 18th July
South Africa again won the toss and chose to field first. The English batsmen struggled in the face of some lively quick bowling from Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. Kevin Pietersen top-scored with 45 and England were dismissed inside 53 overs, for a mere 203, with Steyn and Morkel claiming 4 wickets each. Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie put on 50 for the first South African wicket, while Hashim Amla made a useful 38. AB de Villiers and Ashwell Prince put on 212 for the 5th wicket. De Villiers was then joined wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, putting on 89 for the 6th wicket. South Africa was eventually bowled out for 522, a lead of 309.
England’s second innings was marginally better, with 50s from Alastair Cook and Stuart Broad. However, they still struggled with Steyn and Morkel (3 wickets each) and succumbed for 327, a lead of just 8 runs. Smith and McKenzie knocked 9 off 6 balls for a 10-wicket victory.

Third Test – Edgbaston 30th July
England won the toss and chose to bat. Despite 50s from Alastair Cook and Ian Bell, they struggled to 231, with skipper Michael Vaughan out for a “golden duck”. The English bowlers kept the in the game, dismissing South Africa for 314. Andrew Flintoff took 4-89 in 30 overs, James Anderson 3-72 in 26.2 overs and Ryan Sidebottom 3-81 in 25 overs. Paul Collingwood’s 135 was the highlight of the second innings, backed up by Kevin Pietersen’s 94, giving a total of 363 and a lead of 280. 154 from skipper Graeme Smith and 45no from Mark Boucher saw South Africa comfortably home, with 5 wickets in hand. This success won the series for South Africa, giving them an unassailable 2-0 lead, with just the Oval Test on Thursday 7th August remaining.

Vaughan Resigns

At a hastily arranged England and Wales Cricket Board press conference on Sunday, Michael Vaughan resigned as England captain, following the series defeat against South Africa, after their five-wicket loss at Edgbaston on Saturday. An emotional Vaughan said he will take some time out of the game and will not play in the final Test at The Oval, though remains available for selection for future England sides. The series loss to South Africa is England’s third in five series, dating back to the 1-0 reversal against India last summer. They then lost by the same margin in Sri Lanka before losing the first Test against New Zealand. England struck back to take the series 2-1, but the performances were far from convincing. Vaughan’s own lack of scoring has also added to the pressure he has experienced. In five innings in the latest series he made a humble total of 40 (2, 0, 21, 0, 17), being troubled consistently by the quicker bowlers. His last ten Tests have produced an average of 22.

With Paul Collingwood also resigning as one-day captain, Kevin Pietersen is likely to be announced as the new English captain for Test matches, One-day Internationals and Twenty20. The squad for the final Test at the Oval is likely to contain a number of changes. The overall standard of batting has been poor, and call-ups are quite possible for Ravi Bopara, Owais Shah and Robert Key. Ryan Sidebottom has been struggling with a back problem for some time, so Durham’s Steve Harmison (who was included in the 13 for the 3rd Test, but did not play) could well be back in favour and a recall for Simon Jones is also a possibility. Stuart Broad was something of a surprise omission from the side for the 3rd test, as he is a useful all-rounder, who had made 50 in his previous 3 Tests. South Africa are 7/4 with sportingbet to win the 4th Test, with England at 10/3 with Stan James and the draw at 5/4 with William Hill.

Quick bowler Dale Steyn will not be considered for the fourth Test owing to his broken thumb. South Africa has already wrapped up the series 2-0, so the management have decided not to risk him in the “dead” rubber. Steyn sustained the fracture in the field during the second Test at Headingley, where he took seven wickets in the match. He missed the series clincher at Edgbaston, with fellow strike bowler Andre Nel covering for him. Nel seized his chance by taking three wickets in England’s first innings and there would have been some tricky selection decisions for The Oval if Steyn had been fit. South Africa now seems likely to retain their series-winning line-up.

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    • Written by Jason Tynan · Filed Under Cricket 

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