Proteas get off to a bad start as England gain momentum

IT WAS a torrid affair as Graeme Smith and his men got off to the worst possible start to their summer with their sixth one-day defeat on the trot against England in the second MTN one-day international.

The toss played a role because the Centurion wicket usually improves later on in the day and England used this to their advantage by cho osing to bowl first. Proteas captain Smith acknowledged this but refused to make it an excuse for the loss.

“I’d hate to use that as an excuse, but I think it generally does tend to get slower and it gets better during the day games in the afternoon. We were hoping that it would deteriorate more, but once the ball got softer it played well. I think England played well with the bat and ball. Every time we started to get momentum we lost wickets, so that was a bit disappointing.”

Paul Collingwood, playing in his 171st one-day international for England, celebrated this feat in style with his century and rates it as one of his finest innings.

“Today was one of the best innings I have played for England. The team produced a special performance, and the way Trott played in the middle with the anchor role was superb and it worked out well for us. Everything went perfectly for me today, individually and as a team as well,” Collingwood said.

England skipper Andrew Strauss said that they were looking to build on this win and take the momentum into the next game.

“Today was a great example of us playing the type of cricket that we want to play, and not make it hard for ourselves. We can take confidence from that and keep moving on,” Strauss said.

Meanwhile, Herschelle Gibbs has been selected as the official replacement for injured Jacques Kallis, who will miss the rest of the one-day series due to a rib injury.