The case for Andrew Strauss to enter the Twenty20 fray was made in his absence by a woeful England batting display last night. The team subsided to 89 all out and failed to bat out their full allocation against a side who were some way from being a genuine South Africa second string.
A slow, gripping pitch only partly explains the collapse, which included run-outs in three successive overs during a passage featuring the loss of the last seven wickets for only 18 runs. Alastair Cook top-scored with 22 from 30 balls spanning the first 14 overs, but never came to terms with the pace of the surface.
To add to concerns, James Anderson was ruled out because of an injury to his right knee, which a team spokesman said is not serious. Nevertheless, with Graham Onions (back) and Stuart Broad (shoulder) still recovering, the squad was left with only three fit pace bowlers. Graeme Swann then suffered a minor side strain in the field. Given Strauss’s career decision to opt out of the shortest form, the team comprised the 11 men standing.
If the priority is to beat South Africa in the brace of 20-overs fixtures beginning on Friday rather than plan for the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies next spring, Strauss may rethink his own role. He has stressed the importance of laying down a strong early marker against South Africa before the one-day series and the four Test matches.
Equally, Swann said on Monday that games have to be played in the here and now, and that tactics for the Caribbean in six months’ time cannot heavily influence plans out here.
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No blame can be attached to Paul Collingwood, the Twenty20 captain, for what happened last night. Collingwood was the most fluent England batsman during the 11 balls he faced and then took the imaginative decision to open the bowling with Swann, having seen the pronounced turn for Thandi Tshabalala in the first innings.
Strauss was in wonderful touch during the two 50-over warm-ups, scoring a total of 189 runs for once out in 204 balls. However, he will probably feel — and there is no shortage of evidence to back this up — that England are simply inconsistent and as likely to recover on Friday without him as repeat this performance.
“He has made the decision that he does not want to play Twenty20 cricket and it is pretty much as simple as that,” Collingwood said. “It is also nice for him to have a break from captaincy. If we are down to our bare bones he may have to play, but there is hardly any chance of that.”
Collingwood also sounded cool on an early return by Kevin Pietersen, who arrived in Johannesburg yesterday and is not scheduled to play until the final 50-overs warm-up next Tuesday. “I would not say that is set in stone, but it is highly unlikely that Kevin will play in the Twenty20s,” Collingwood said.
Joe Denly driving the second legitimate ball of the innings crisply past extra cover augured well, but a brilliant right-handed catch by Heino Kuhn, the wicketkeeper, to dismiss Denly set wickets tumbling. Jonathan Trott slashed to deep point and, with Cook unable to hit the boundaries necessary, pressure built at the other end.
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Tshabalala bravely flighted his first ball high, enticing Collingwood to drive and bowling him through the gate. A quicker, wider ball forced an error from Eoin Morgan and a direct hit by Justin Ontong off his own bowling to remove Matt Prior typified some sharp fielding. Panic coursed through the England ranks.
A disappointing, though far from disappointed crowd, greeted wickets excitedly. Such a small target meant that South Africa A could bat with limited risk. Swann, his competitive juices flowing, struck in his second over, but England needed to make further inroads early to maintain any degree of pressure.
England XI
J L Denly c Kuhn b De Villiers 7
A N Cook c Rossouw b Ontong 22
I J L Trott c Bosman b De Villiers 7
*P D Collingwood b Tshabalala 18
E J G Morgan c Theron b Tshabalala 11
†M J Prior run out 1
L J Wright run out 2
T T Bresnan run out 4
A U Rashid not out 6
G P Swann c Van Jaarsveld b Ontong 1
S I Mahmood b Theron 1
Extras (lb 6, w 3) 9
Total (17.3 overs) 89
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-27, 3-49, 4-71, 5-75, 6-75, 7-77, 8-82, 9-85.
Bowling: Kleinveldt 2-0-10-0; De Villiers 3-0-19-2; M Morkel 3-0-14-0; Theron 2.3-0-15-1; Tshabalala 4-0-16-2; Ontong 3-0-9-2.
South Africa A
†H G Kuhn c Cook b Swann 4
L L Bosman st Prior b Swann 18
R R Rossouw c Prior b Rashid 23
V B van Jaarsveld c Denly b Mahmood 23
J L Ontong c Denly b Rashid 6
R K Kleinveldt run out 13
M Morkel not out 0
C J D de Villiers not out 1
Extras (w 1, nb 1) 2
Total 6 wkts (17.3 overs) 90
H Davids, J Theron and T Tshabalala did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-46, 3-50, 4-61, 5-87, 6-89.
Bowling: Swann 4-1-9-2; Bresnan 3.3-0-16-0; Mahmood 3-0-12-1; Rashid 4-1-22-2; Collingwood 2-0-16-0; Denly 1-0-15-0.
Man of the match: Tshabalala.
Umpires: M Erasmus and B G Jerling.