England Drop, and Then Throw The Series Away At The Oval

June 25, 2008 by Rob Scanlon

England Cricket New Zealand (246-9) beat England (245 all out) by 1 wicket.

The final match in this topsy-turvy Natwest One Day series is this Saturday at Lords. The problem is that after today, England cannot win the series as they now trail 2-1 and only have themselves to blame. They were not outplayed in this game but unusually slack and error-prone fielding punctuated their defence of 245 runs and eventually cost them at a packed Brit Oval ground.

England’s innings began in stuttering and unconvincing fashion. The opening stand between Ian Bell and Luke Wright reached 41, but Wright again looked erratic and restless in his 18 from 29 balls - which only included 2 four’s on a rapid Oval outfield. Desperate to force the pace in the powerplay overs, Wright was caught again as England struggled to launch the bullish platform they craved.

The lack of early momentum is hardly a new problem- the last World Cup in the West Indies showed that England haven’t found the formula to consistently get off to a flyer in the early spells.

Pietersen only lasted 2 balls on a wicket that could have given him a big score had he played himself in. KP has hit a hundred in this series so you could argue it was time for another member of the side to do the same, but no-one did. Plenty of players got settled and established a decent score but left too prematurely for Head Coach Peter Moore’s liking. Bell was caught behind on 46, Ravi Bopara got some runs under his belt at number 4 with 58 and Owais Shah hit an excellent 63. Shah’s innings, before being run out, was the pick of the England side, but had he gone on to get a century, his side would have got more than the modest 245. Modest because the wicket wasn’t doing anything extraordinary and the outfield was incredibly quick due to the amount of closely cut wickets across the field.

The last 5 England wickets only brought 43 runs as the innings closed with 2 balls left of the 50 overs. Tim Southee was again New Zealand’s most productive bowler, returning 3 wickets for 47. Mills and Gillespie chipped in with 2 each, granting a total that the Kiwi’s would have been happy to chase, especially as they put the home side into bat at the toss and are renowned for being very good at batting second.

Brendon McCullum being dismissed for just 1 gave England a massive boost to their chances. Ryan Sidebottom, returning to the side in place of Chris Tremlett, picked up McCullum and then Ross Taylor (6) in quick succession.

Jamie How (37) and Scott Styris (69) then put on 59 and rebuilt the innings sensibly - but really, this is where England lost the game. Styris, who has looked out of touch in this and the corresponding series back in the winter, was dropped 3 times early in his time at the crease. The simplest chance fell at 2nd slip to Shah who fumbled with Styris on 0. Collingwood and then Broad - off his own bowling - then failed to cling on as the all rounder got into the 20’s. Had Styris (who picked up the man of the match award) not reached 69, England would probably have won so this is why they must blame themselves- they had their chances.

Graeme Swann, despite not extracting much turn, got rid of How and Daniel Flynn (12), bowling well before having his figures ruined somewhat by Jacob Oram’s positive striking in his 38 from 30 balls. Oram couldn’t resist a short pitched delivery from Anderson though, and after playing a similar delivery rather gingerly the ball before, holed out to deep square leg.

Styris was run out after a poor decision by his partner Grant Elliott who was then controversially run out himself not long after. Elliott, attempting a quick single, collided heavily with the bowler Sidebottom and fell to the floor, clearly injured and unable to complete the run. England seized the unfortunate opportunity and ran him out, much to New Zealand’s disgruntlement. Collingwood had the option of withdrawing the appeal to the umpires, but decided to uphold it and admitted after he was “probably wrong” in doing so.

Had England won, New Zealand’s players may not have been so gracious in accepting his apology after the game. As it was, Kyle Mills again hit some vital late runs and New Zealand won on the last ball of the innings. Needing two to win from the last ball of a promising final over from Luke Wright, Mills and Mark Gillespie sprinted a single in order to tie the game. Graeme Swann hurled the ball at the unguarded stumps, the throw missed and the New Zealanders ran a jubilant second run to seal victory. The Oval was stunned and New Zealand had completed a remarkable comeback after such a poor start to this series.

A couple of main points from todays game- firstly, England do need to keep giving Luke Wright time despite his uneven form. He will come off and develop, and his bowling is also a good weapon. He has proved himself adept at bowling at the death twice now- once in the winter series game that finished as a tie, and today.

The second is Tim Ambrose. I remain unconvinced by the keeper, despite the selectors backing him in the one day and test formats. He dropped another catch today- a catch which would have won the game, adding to one in Bristol on Saturday. He is also barely contributing a run and looks unsure of how to pace his innings. His strike rate today was only 50, which is not good enough when quick runs are needed at the climax of an innings. I can’t see the selectors changing their minds however, Ambrose will probably still be the preferred choice when South Africa come to town later this summer.

The final ODI begins this Saturday at Lords from 10.45am.

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