KP delivers before departure
By Gemma Wright
Kevin Pietersen may be flying home for the birth of his first child, but he can do so safe in the knowledge that he has all but assured England of a place in the semi-finals of the World Twenty20. Short of a catastrophic defeat against New Zealand in St Lucia on Monday, combined with a series of other results going against them, England are through.
A fine side they look, too. In this game, their excellent all-round cricket left a strong South Africa looking rattled and dazed.
This might have been a team performance, but Pietersen was again the star. His was a truly outstanding performance, reaching 53 from 33 balls, with eight fours and a six and making two of the finest fast bowlers in world cricket – Morkel and Steyn – look less than ordinary. The pair, so impressive against New Zealand, here conceded 90 in their eight overs.
Most encouragingly, England also shone in the field. Their bowling was tight and the fielding sound. There’s not been a better performance from any team at this event.
In comparison, the South African fast bowlers struggled to control the England top order. Morkel delivered three no-balls, one of which dismissed Kieswetter, and left his captain admitting he was becoming “very frustrated” by his bowler’s inability to stop over-stepping.
Winning the toss and choosing to bat, England lost Lumb in the first over. However this brought KP to the crease early and, in partnership with Kieswetter, England added 94 from 62 balls. They were 65 for one by the end of the power-play overs.
Kieswetter might just be luckiest man in cricket at the moment. Not only was he dismissed from a no-ball, but he was caught from a free hit in the same over and badly dropped by Duminy on 30.
Botha, the best of a bad bunch for South Africa, eventually brought Pietersen’s dazzling innings to an end when he mis-hit a sweep and spooned a catch to Smith at short fine-leg.
England looked to be heading towards a total around the 200 mark, but South Africa managed to reign them in temporarily, with some better bowling from Kallis and Langeveldt.
Morgan, Yardy and Bresnan all contributed to get England to a total 168 from their 20 overs. It still looked about 20 short of what they could have achieved at the halfway stage.
Bresnan, Sidebottom and Broad all had good early overs, restricting South Africa during the power plays to 34/1. Swann and Yardy controlled the middle overs, both making immediate impact with wickets in their first overs. When Yardy bowled Albie Morkel for 0, South Africa were in real trouble on 46/4 in the 9th over.
The required run rate stayed in double figures for most of their innings. Top scorer Duminy (39) was the only batsman to look dangerous. Duminy is the second South African batsman this week to smash a 6 back over the bowlers head and into the reinforced window of the press box. However, when he sent a slow bouncer from Sidebottom straight to Yardy at square leg, there was no way back for South Africa. The last 3 wickets fell for 18 runs, and with the final ball of the 19th over Sidebottom completed the comprehensive 39 run victory, bowling Morkel with a low full toss.
Man of the match once again, Pietersen described England’s performance as “as close to perfect as it can get” but departs on Saturday to be with his wife, Jessica, who is to give birth imminently. Ravi Bopara will take his place in England’s final group game against New Zealand on Monday, but KP hopes to be back in the Caribbean for the semi-final on either Thursday or Friday. On this form, they could prove hard to beat.
