12th February

I need to stop posting these so late at night. I'll try to do tomorrow's before I head off to the Leamington game. Anyways, let's talk some cricket.

All To Play For

Joe Root was once again the star of the show as he scored his second consecutive ODI hundred, but it ended up not being enough to secure victory, as England slipped to 262 all out, which South Africa chased down with one wicket to spare, with only Root's hundred, a sharp 50 from Alex Hales and some lower order runs from Rashid and Woakes breaking into double digits. This was a very disappointing batting display from an England team that can do so much better than this, and this series alone we've seen more telling contributions from both Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, whilst Eoin Morgan and Moeen Ali, who make up the rest of the middle order, are no doubt better than their performances today indicated. Morgan is yet to fire in this series, and England will be hopeful that when the deciding ODI rolls around, with the series finely poised at 2-2, he turns on the style. 

And as for Root, once again it was he who anchored the innings as wickets tumbled around him and nobody was able to kick on. Hales and Root set up the innings well, but after Hales fell for 50, nobody offered much around Root until a little bit of late resistance from Woakes and Rashid, both of whom had excellent days at the office. It's the middle order where the day was lost today. 

From a bowling point of view, England managed to turn this match into an absolute humdinger. As soon as Broad removed Amla for a duck, you could tell that something special was on the cards and South Africa's top order duly obliged. Two wickets each for Stokes, Rashid and Topley showing that this is an all round good bowling line up, with Chris Woakes chipping in with the key wicket of Faf Du Plessis and a terrific piece of fielding to run out danger man AB De Villiers. It's worth noting how impressive Ben Stokes was once again with the ball, taking 2-45 off his full ten overs. If he doesn't contribute with the bat, then he does with the ball, if not both. 

From the South African perspective though, there were standout individuals as well who deserve praise. With the ball, Tahir and  Rabada were particularly impressive, taking 7 of the ten wickets with modest figures as well: Rabada 4-45 with one ball to spare in his contingent, whilst Tahir 3-46 off his ten. And in a match that was tightly contested and low scoring, it was a decisive 62 from 38 balls down the order from Chris Morris which won the day for South Africa, although he fell to Adil Rashid before he could see his team's mission accomplished. 

So this was a stunning game of cricket, a wonderful contest between bat and ball, with standout individuals from both sides, both batsmen and bowlers and ultimately, one that South Africa only just edged, and sets up a phenomenal finish to this One Day series. But in truth, England will be kicking themselves. Once again, they had the superior fire power, set the game up nicely, having reduced South Africa to 143-5 and 210-8, but didn't finish the job. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Dundee beat St Johnstone in the Scottish mid-table battle. 
• Newcastle beat Leicester 26-14. That's hilarious. 
• Costa's nose broke. Couldn't have happen to a nicer bloke... 
• Youngs,Vunipola and Lawes are in for England. Depth. 
• Lawro reckons Norwich will beat West Ham. Okay then. 
• Tomorrow: Premier League preview and Leamington FC Commentary.