Date-stamped : 10 Jan96 - 10:38 ODI # 1032 South Africa v England, First One-day International Newlands, Cape Town 9 January 1996. ====> Preview, 8 Jan 96 England turn to one-day challenge By Christopher Martin-Jenkins in Cape Town THE SERIES of seven one-day internationals between South Africa and England, which starts today at Newlands in Cape Town with a match beginning under the sun and ending beneath the moon, has a good deal more purpose than many a similar exercise. The whistle-stop tour of the republic concludes at Port Elizabeth on Sunday week. It is a tough schedule to be shared by 17 English and at least 15 South African players. In themselves the games should amount to an intriguing contest between two teams as well matched in one-day cricket as they were in the Tests, but the seven games in 13 days have a dual purpose in view of the World Cup on the Indian sub-continent. England`s first match in the World Cup starts five weeks tomorrow, South Africa`s the following day. The two teams really will know each other`s strengths and weaknesses inside out by the time they meet again in Rawalpindi on Feb 25. They are in the same group and, though both should qualify with Pakistan and New Zealand at the expense of Holland and the United Arab Republic, defeats overseas at the hands of Zimbabwe, the Australian Cricket Academy and, only last Saturday, Western Pro- vince, are a warning to England to take nothing for granted. What they will hope to develop in the fortnight ahead is team- work, slickness and confidence, the sort which comes from every- one in the side knowing his job and trusting those around them to do theirs. It will not be acquired easily because England have to use these games to sort out their best options for the World Cup and be- cause their opposition is genuinely strong. Despite the reverse on Saturday England are quite capable of win- ning the World Cup South Africa`s side are flexible to a high degree, with no fewer than six players in their current squad of 15 who can be termed as all-rounders for the purposes, at least, of one- day cricket. Brian McMillan may be the only one who would get a Test place as either batsman or bowler, but in a game which demands no more than 10 overs from one man and the brief, positive innings rather than the long haul, Cronje, Kallis, Snell, Pollock and Boje also come into that category. The seven games will tell England`s selectors more about the duel for one off-spinning place between Neil Smith and Mike Watkinson, and whether Mark Ramprakash or the other Smith, Robin, is the right man to retain in the World Cup 14 (at the moment that seems to be no contest). The selectors need to know which of Stewart or Russell is likely to be the better bet as wicketkeeper, and whether Atherton should continue to open with Stewart or with another specialist batsman like Robin Smith or Graham Thorpe or even a `pinch` hitter like Neil Smith. They must decide which of DeFreitas, Gough and Martin is likely to have to be left behind in England to allow for two spinners in the World Cup 14 plus, probably, all the all-rounders, Cork, Reeve and White. These are ticklish questions indeed. Despite the reverse on Saturday which, given that five of the England team against Western Province were playing their first game of the tour and that Gough and Ramprakash were very rusty, was not of great significance, England are quite capable of win- ning the World Cup. They are rated top in The Cricketer magazine`s world one-day rankings, compared with a poor sixth in the Test ratings, and on home soil they have found a highly ef- fective combination, based in the two most recent games against the West Indies on Atherton`s batting. He followed 92 at the Oval with 127 at Lord`s. England will revert to Alec Stewart as Atherton`s opening partner today and he will keep wicket. Outwardly so confident, the vice- captain must be anxious about the technical shortcomings exposed by Allan Donald in the Test series, but he has handled the best fast bowlers well enough in the past. Not the least interesting of their experiments over the next few days will be to see how Paul Adams can be fitted in His characteristic imitation of a boxer practising his footwork in the corner of the ring is a sign that Stewart knows the prob- lem well enough, but good footwork becomes increasingly important as batsmen get older and their eyesight fractionally less sharp. In future Ramprakash will bat in the middle order in the one-day games. He did a useful job in the Texaco matches against the West Indies in knocking the ball around for twos and threes, an art at which Neil Fairbrother is so adept. Robin Smith, who is, because of his suspect right shoulder, less of a force in the field than his rival for a place in the last 14, is more effective batting at three or four and he would be an alternative opener if Stewart does not find form. Smith`s in- nings against Australia at Edgbaston in 1993 was one of the most for- midable pieces of controlled hitting ever seen in a one-day game. South Africa`s options are equally variable. They are expected to repeat a formula which proved successful against Zimbabwe on their recent tour. Dave Richardson opened the batting with Gary Kirsten, McMillan went in at three as the anchor batsman and Han- sie Cronje, an effective hitter of slow bowling, dropped to five. Not the least interesting of their experiments over the next few days will be to see how Paul Adams can be fitted in. He has bowled very effectively and economically in one-day matches for Western Province, and his batting in the fifth Test was as much a revelation to his team-mates as to England. He is expected to play today and a full house is guaranteed. Adams at present can sell tickets as rapidly as Luciano Pavarot- ti, whose open-air concert at Stellenbosch on Sunday night caused the biggest traffic jam seen in the area for years. England (v South Africa): *MA Atherton, -AJ Stewart, GA Hick, GP Thorpe, NH Fairbrother, C White, DA Reeve, NMK Smith, DG Cork, PJ Martin, D Gough. ====> Report, 9 Jan 96 Pollock`s fire establishes victory for South Africa By Christopher Martin-Jenkins in Cape Town South Africa (211) beat England (205) by 6 runs WHAT both sides hope may prove to have been the first step on the road to Lahore and the World Cup final on March 17 began here last night with a thrilling six-run win for South Africa, gained by means of an inspired all-round performance by Shaun Pollock, a searing spell of fast bowling by Allan Donald and fielding of breathtaking brilliance. Jonty Rhodes and Brian McMillan were once again to the fore. For England, Graham Thorpe kept the run chase going to the 49th over after a fourth-wicket stand of 61 with his fellow left- hander Neil Fairbrother which seemed to have done much to earn England the first of the #1,500 purses at stake in the seven matches of this one-day series. It repaired the large hole which Donald`s pace and aggression had bored into the heart of the in- nings, but both Donald and Pollock had more up their sleeves. Between the 17th and 22nd overs, Donald reversed a comfortable, if occasionally fortunate start to England`s pursuit of a barely adequate South African score of 211 for eight on a hard, true, lively pitch. Alec Stewart and Graeme Hick were given out leg- before on the back foot to balls searing back off the seam; Mike Atherton - already caught low by McMillan at slip but given the benefit of the doubt off Donald`s second ball, then dropped at finger-tip width by Dave Richardson off his third - had his off- stump unarguably ripped out by a ball which left him late. While Donald was running in flat out in his green uniform beneath the lights and hurling the ball down at batsmen intent on match- ing fire with fire, the game produced dramatic entertainment for a crowd packing Newlands to the gunwhales and overflowing on to the roof of the railway station next door. His second and third spells held the key to the game after Pol- lock, fresh from an innings of 66 at a run a ball, had taken the fourth wicket when Fairbrother drove him hard to mid-off. For- tunately for England, Thorpe was still there but Craig White and Dermot Reeve were out cheaply and Dominic Cork ran himself out gormlessly as Donald followed through off his own bowling. South Africa`s effort in the field was outstanding Hansie Cronje chose to keep two final Donald overs in reserve but gave Pollock the luxury of a slip when he returned and duly had Neil Smith superbly caught by McMillan diving like a goalkeeper high to his right. That left Thorpe with only Darren Gough and Peter Martin to come. With 13 balls left and 13 runs still need- ed, Thorpe finally risked the aerial route and Chris Matthews hung on nobly to the resulting skier to square-leg. Twelve runs off two overs was too much to ask of a pair of fast bowlers. South Africa`s effort in the field was outstanding and with the bat they made a good recovery after after an unconvincing start. England had taken six wickets and kept the score limited to 107 when Cronje, who was starting to flow, was run out brilliantly by Thorpe in the 31st over, but Jacques Kallis and Pollock combined impressively. England bowled and fielded well on the whole but the difference between their fast bowlers and Donald was that between domestic cats and a leopard. Cork and Martin swung the ball and White and Gough got some bounce but none of them remotely matched Donald for pace or raw menace. There is, however, more than one way to skin a cat and after Gary Kirsten had been leg-before on the front foot to a lethal late inswinger from Cork, the next four South African batsmen were all caught behind by Stewart trying to attack balls swinging or cut- ting. McMillan, having survived a confident appeal for an apparent de- flection off his glove as he cut at Cork, snicked a drive at a wide away-swinger in the sixth over and Richardson did exactly the same in the 11th after Martin had changed ends. The wick- et which probably cost South Africa most, however, was Dar- ryl Cullinan`s. He had hit a couple of regal strokes but got a top edge off Reeve to Stewart, who had made the decision to come up to the stumps only the ball before. Rhodes, whose fielding at least doubled the value of his 16 runs, gave Stewart his fourth catch when he tried to run White to third man, but Cronje and Kallis managed to add 30 in seven overs be- fore Thorpe produced a piece of work on the boundary`s edge which even Rhodes could not have bettered. A glorious drive to deep ex- tra by Kallis was stopped after a fearless dive and the throw back to Martin was flat and fast as Cronje called for a third. Enter the loose-limbed Pollock, with only 19 overs left. He was second fiddle at first to the elegant Kallis, whose driving, especially through mid-on, bore the unmistakable hallmark of class. Once he had skied a pull to deep square-leg, however, Pol- lock gave free rein to his attacking instinct. He hit the ball hard, but not all the time: a delicate late paddle for four off one of Reeve`s slower balls was evidence of a finesse which his Uncle Graeme, with all his power, seldom needed. When he was 29, he should have been caught by Thorpe at midwick- et. That was the one serious blemish in the field, where many of the World Cup games are going to be lost or won. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)