South Africa ease past England

South Africa beat England by seven wickets with ten balls to spare in the first game in Group E of the Super Eights. In truth, it was a thrashing, with England well behind from the first Powerplay. The South Africans cruised to their minuscule target of 112, taking a massive 46 singles in the process.

England were bowled out for 111, with only Owais Shah (38) offering much in the way of stickability or inspiration.

South Africa made their way to the 5.5 runs an over target cautiously, and though it took them until the 18th over to pass England’s total, the result was never in doubt.

England bowled well – Adil Rashid (1/24) in particular showed plenty of variety and confidence. But England had no chance of making up for an inept batting performance against one of the most skilled attacks in world cricket.

Ravi Bopara (2) and Luke Wright (1), England’s bankers over the last week or so, were both back on the bench within two overs, as Dale Steyn (1/19) and the brilliant left-armer Wayne Parnell (3/14) gave South Africa the immediate initiative.

Kevin Pietersen fell to a sensational catch from Roleof van der Merwe, diving to his left at mid-off. That made it 25/3.

Shah, having taken a long time to play himself in, briefly threatened to make a game of it when he hit van der Merwe for 6-6-4 in consecutive balls. But England, short of runs – their six-over total of 25/3 was the lowest of the tournament so far – simply had too much ground to make up.

England’s procession of batsmen dismissed thanks to poor shot selection was a return to familiar scenes, after the excellent showing against Pakistan on Sunday. Shah was out trying to steer the ball fine past the wicket-keeper; Foster was out reverse sweeping; Mascarenhas was out dabbing at a ball outside off-stump. The reluctance to try and hit down the ground with the face of the bat was marked. Already up against it, England’s refusal to play the percentages in their shot selection made their task almost impossible.

South Africa were mustard in the field; England less so. Skipper Paul Collingwood’s field placements were a puzzle, looking to defend 111 rather than going for wickets, he introduced a slip only very belatedly once the game was gone.

For a time, tight bowling kept the score rate down: Mascarenhas went for just a single from the first over of the innings. But it was improbable that England could win without taking wickets: Broad hurried Graeme Smith into a top edge (17/1); Graeme Swann bowled Herschelle Gibbs with a quicker ball as Gibbs looked to finish things off (91/2); and Rashid picked up a late consolation wicket when he had AB de Villiers caught at slip (108/3). But there was little to challenge the inevitable result or sense of anti-climax.

The Saffers are the world’s No 1 ODI side and England’s record in the short form is patchy at least. The result, perhaps, should have come as no surprise. The meekness of England’s surrender – especially in the light of the 4-0 win they handed out to the Saffers when the sides met last summer – was what will have disappointed the Trent Bridge faithful.

Man of the match Jacques Kallis (57 off 49) anchored the run chase without really breaking sweat. He didn’t need to.

Now England must beat reigning champions India on Sunday to stay in the competition.