England lost the fifth Standard Bank limited overs international in the field, and not in the batting. This is the opinion of the England captain, Michael Vaughan, when he spoke to the media after the match at Buffalo Park on Wednesday, which South Africa won by seven runs.
South Africa now have an unbeatable three-one lead in the seven match series.
”We knew that if we could get to a stage where we were in hitting range, we were in with a shout,” said Vaughan. ”These are small grounds, and if you can get to a point where you have wickets in hand, the lower order can have the freedom to hit the ball. We tried to make sure that we didn’t lose wickets the way we did in Cape Town. We wanted to stay in the game.”
Vaughan praised South African Kevin Pietersen, who hit an unbeaten century off 69 balls.
”He’s a special player,” he said.
”I’m encouraged by his attitude. He’s very confident — quite cocky — and he certainly can bat. And when we have Freddie Flintoff in the middle order, it’s really going to be something to watch.”
Vaughan said he thought there were many positives to come out of the series so far.
”We believe we can win the last two games, and go home three-three. We pushed them hard in the last two games, and our batting has been very good. We lack a bit of experience in the bowling and the fielding, but we can turn that around and make sure we win the next two games.”
Graeme Smith was delighted with the performance of his team.
”We did all we needed to do. Going into that last bit, the ball was very wet, and the outfield was very damp. We just needed to bowl well, and do what we had to do to win the game — and we did that, and now we move on to Durban.”
Smith said man-of-the-match Justin Kemp was playing superbly.
”It’s great to have people like that who can really hit the ball. He’s added a lot of impetus to our batting line up. Coming in at 35 overs, he can really turn the game around.”
Smith said he was also delighted that he had played an important role in the victory, with his undefeated 115.
”Obviously, I would have liked to have scored more runs in the Tests, but I’m very pleased to have played a big role in two important wins.”
Smith said it was very important for the top order to set up a platform so that players like Kemp, Mark Boucher and Shaun Pollock would have the freedom to score freely.
”If you’re four or five down early on, they can’t come in and play that role. And that’s what we’ve done so well in the last few matches.”
Smith said the South African fielding still needed some work.
”We gave Pietersen a few chances, [a missed stumping when he was on 16, and a dropped catch at the start of the final over].
”Pietersen comes in to bat at a different stage,” he said. ”The field’s spread and the ball’s softer and that plays into his hands.”
”We didn’t field so well tonight, and we still won a game,” he continued.
”That’s the exciting thing, that we can still improve.”
The sixth limited overs match will be played in Durban on Friday, and the final match at Centurion on Sunday. – Sapa