Intune Communications and Entertainment: COCA-COLA SOUTH AFRICA U-19 CRICKET TEAM GOES 2

Saturday, February 16, 2013

COCA-COLA SOUTH AFRICA U-19 CRICKET TEAM GOES 2 – 0 UP AGAINST ENGLAND IN THE ODI’S

THE South Africa Coca-Cola side scored a nail-biting victory by 13 runs over England in the second under-19 Youth ODI at Western Province Cricket Club on Friday.

South Africa now leads the five-match series 2-0. The third match will take place at Boland Park in Paarl on Saturday.

Murray Coetzee was named Man of the Match for his innings of 58 for the home side. He was the only player to get past 50 on either side with many players getting starts but being unable to kick on.

England won the toss and elected to bowl first on a surface that gave the seamers some assistance up front but seemed certain to favour the spinners as the match progressed.

South Africa’s opening pair of Murray Coetzee and Clyde Fortuin played particularly well to blunt England’s experienced new ball attack of Oli Stone and Jamie Overton, adding 68 for the first wicket in 19 overs before Fortuin was caught in the deep.

England did not introduce their spinners, Jonathan Tattersall and Tom Shrewsbury, until the 23^rd over and they had an immediate effect with Shrewsbury getting rid of Coetzee in his first over for 58 (90 balls, 4 fours).

South Africa reached the power play, taken after the statutory 35 overs on 153/3 and were undone by some excellent bowling from Stone who caused them to score only 18 runs for the loss of two wickets during these overs.

David Bedingham (39 off 37 balls, 2 fours and 2 sixes), who had impressed with his powerful boundary hitting in the middle overs, was run out in the 41^st over to leave the home side under pressure at 172/6.

However, Greg Oldfield (32 off 37 balls, 3 fours and a six) and Jason Smith (22 not out off 26 balls, 1 four) led a counter-attack that saw South Africa score 70 run in the last 9 overs.

South Africa finished with a very useful 241/9 in their 50 overs, the only disappointment being that six batsmen got into double figures and only one got through to a half-century. There were 20 wides and three no balls in the innings which also contributed significantly to the total. Nevertheless England still managed to complete their overs within the stipulated time.

Stone, as always, was England’s most successful bowler with figures of 2/42.

South Africa kept up the pressure when they took two wickets inside the first seven overs. Dominic Sibley and Callum Jackson then provided the partnership England needed to stabilise their innings. They added 40 in 14 overs but the loss in quick succession of Sibley and another in-form batsman, Ben Duckett, meant they had to start building again.

They reached the halfway stage of their innings on 87/4.

Wickets continued to fall and England reached 133/6, needing 109 off 90 balls, when the power play was taken after 35 overs. England scored 30 runs in the five overs and thus went into the final 10 needing 79 runs with four wickets in hand.

Jamie Overton and Ed Barnard produced a threatening partnership that was keeping England very much in contention. The visitors went into the last five overs needing just 49 runs.

Corbin Bosch produced the vital breakthrough when he had the big-hitting Overton caught in the deep for 48 (45 balls, 6 fours) to end a partnership worth 77 runs in 12.1 overs.

Barnard followed soon afterwards and the tail was unable to keep up the required scoring rate eventually losing by 13 nail-biting runs.

Bosch, who was making his debut provided the first instance of both father and son representing South Africa since unity. His dad, Tertius, played at the 1992 ICC World Cup and was also a member of South Africa’s first ever Test team to play the West Indies.