It appears the England cricket team loves to give their fans quite the emotional rollercoaster ride. They very nearly subjected us to a 7 – 0 whitewash by the Australian’s, out for revenge; but then go to South Africa and not only beat in-form Sri Lanka, but also knocked-out the hosts in a superb all-round display. However, although their job is done for now, the side went back to their seemingly more traditional style against New Zealand, collapsing whilst batting first and going down by 7 wickets with 25 overs to spare.
What is the real England? The 6 – 1 destruction might be put down to the Ashes hype still ongoing, whilst the frankly embarrassing performance against New Zealand on Tuesday night didn’t actually matter as we have already qualified for the semis; but the fear struck into remaining teams with the batting display against the Proteas will have been immediately destroyed after being bowled out for 149 by the All Black seamers.
In the games that have mattered, the England team have really turned it on: Sri Lanka’s dangerous top order were blown away by Anderson and Onions, before the notoriously frail England middle-order saw the side home thanks to some calm batting from Owais Shah and some patient accumulation from Eoin Morgan.
Even still, England were one more away from the semis, their next match a clash with the South Africans who needed a victory to avoid elimination. This time batting first, the visitors kept their foot on the proverbial accelerator, not losing early wickets or slowing down in the middle period as has become almost a stereotypical England custom in recent years. Shah and Collingwood past 50, the former going from 51 to 98 in just 23 electrifying balls before being cruelly dismissed two short of a more than deserved century. And yet when he was out, Colly took up the sword, moving to 81 from 79 before being bowled. This just set the stage for young Eoin Morgan to come in and blaze the ball to all parts – his four 4s and five 6s taking him to a 26 ball half-century – the second fastest ever by an English batsman. The final total of 323 – 7 is the highest score of the tournament so far, and one which the fans will have been more than happy with, even though six of the South African side had played in that world record run chase against the Aussies in 2006.
They certainly came out fighting, but were never really in with a chance. Smith’s 134 ball 141 was a superb solo performance, but England’s bowling and fielding were well above par and the Saffers went down by 22 runs and crashing out of their own tournament. It was probably the best ODI display by an England side in recent years, but can we hope for a repeat performance in the semi? Fans watching on Tuesday will have had a sharp fall back to reality, but in a game that doesn’t matter it is hard to determine the actual form of the side.
With Australia the opposition in Friday’s semi, the England side will certainly have a point to prove. As clear underdogs, the pressure on the team will not be as strong as it might have been, but having beaten probably the best two sides in the tournament in less than a week, the side’s confidence will surely be on a high. If England’s top order fire, the Aussie bowlers will certainly have their work cut out to restrict the free flowing scoring. Anderson, Broad and Swann all appear in form, and if they bowl anything like they did against South Africa, the Aussie batsman might struggle to chase down a total under lights.
It seemed more than likely the side would be back in England by now, suffering humiliating defeats to the Southern Hemisphere giants. But now we are just 100 overs away from the final, a place a couple of weeks ago no-one would have even dreamed we would be in.