South Africa will have a lot to do in the final game by Asher Wilson

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Scorecard:	England v South Africa
Event:	South Africa in England 2012

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DateLine: 5th September 2012

 

South Africa will have a lot to do in the final game against hosts England when the teams meet at Nottingham for the 5th ODI to decide the winner of the series. England already have one hand placed on the Cup with a 2-1 lead and take the winning momentum with them having registered 2 wins in a row.

 

The tourists have been unconvincing and failed to strike the right balance with which they dominated the Test series and allowed the hosts to do just enough to go over the line. South Africa have suffered quite a bit thanks to their shaky middle order and will be hoping the team puts up a much better performance this time round.

 

The victory at Lord’s means that England will not have too many worries about their run-making, thanks to their batting line-up which has been in good form, barring a few minor hiccups. Their bowlers too have given the home fans much to smile about, Jade Dernbach, Jimmy Anderson and James Tredwell have all contributed well with the ball and will look to continue their form in the final game. Although it is ensured that the hosts would remain undefeated in an ODI series at home for another year; stretching their unbeaten run since Australia beat them in 2009. England meanwhile, have also managed to regain their number one ranking in ODIs. England would also be hoping to get any under performing batsmen finish the series on a high as the pressure is a little less on the home side.

 

It is expected that the hosts might be without the services of Jonathan Trott, who has so far played a key role in the series, after the right-handed batsman suffered a fracture in his right hand following a delivery from Dale Steyn. The question remains if South Africa can capitalise on this shortfall.

 

For South Africa, apart from Amla, none of the batsmen have been able to cross the 100 run mark in the matches played so far.

 

South Africa will have to pull up their socks and deliver a much improved batting performance if they are to tie the series.

 

Their middle-order has has let them down in the series so far. Jacques Kallis has surely been missed by the Team, who was rested ahead of the World T20.

 

The de Villiers, Captain of the visitors, feels that the senior players will have to come upto expectations and help the team show some winning attitude.

 

Let us hope that the weather remains sunny and fine through the day so we can enjoy some good one-day cricket.

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
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