Final: England annihilate SA

The 2003 NatWest Series was brought to a close at Lord's after a consummate English display overwhelmed the tourists, who were reduced to the lowest ODI total ever seen at Headquarters.

Most experts reckoned upon a final showdown between England and South Africa, with the third team in the tournament Zimbabwe expected to provide little more than match practice. Whilst they were right about the finalists, Zimbabwe served up far more of a challenge than many had anticipated, Grant Flower inspiring an opening victory over England, and their tight fielding and excellent team ethic giving their supposed superiors more nervous moments than they had hoped for.

After last Tuesday's comfortable English win at Edgbaston, Graeme Smith's noises were considerably less optimistic than the brash one-upmanship indulged upon before the Series commenced. No longer were the Proteas expected to swat away the hosts like an unwanted bluebottle - England had incredibly become the favourites, and talk of "psychological scars" appeared conspicuous only by its absence.

Richard Johnson passed a late fitness test to maintain his place in the unchanged English side, denying Steve Harmison and Kabir Ali the chance to record their first ODI wickets of the summer, whilst the visitors made one change with Free State's all-rounder Morne van Wyk - who opens the batting and keeps wicket for his province, as well as tossing up some occasional left-arm spin - coming in for the unique Paul Adams, rendering the hosts' spin attack about as incisive as a plastic dessert-spoon in reinforced concrete, and the seam attack (Pollock, Ntini, Kallis, Nel and Hall) none too impressive in its depth, either.

Michael Vaughan's reign as captain has been blessed with considerably more success with the coin than his predecessor Nasser Hussain's, and the Eccles-born batsman won the toss and surprised many by giving South Africa first use of the Lord's pitch - the very same track that England and India contested last year's barnstorming final upon. Vaughan, however, had paid more attention to the history books than his critics. Last year's incredible Indian run chase cannot have been far from his mind, and only one ODI "final" at Lord's since the 1983 World Cup Final has been won by the team batting first. This year's NatWest series, too, has been characterised by succesful run-chases.

And so the scene was set, two gladiators in the middle facing up to one another beneath a cloudless sky, the sun beating down upon Smith and James Anderson, his hair freshly streaked red. The first ball, delivered with the young paceman's trademark action, complete with the disarming look towards mid-wicket, was... wide. Yet Anderson, as is his wont, immediately responded in the best possible way as the Proteas skipper, seemingly over-eager to impress, snatched at the very next ball, his unconvincing drive carrying straight to the ever-reliable Vikram Solanki at backward point, for Solanki to make his biggest mistake of the series, depositing the white Kookaburra upon the hallowed turf. Neither had Smith's bat survived this ball, sending for a replacement as Solanki was left to dwell on his error.

Neither batsman could afford to led his guard drop for a single ball however, as Anderson and then Darren Gough bowling more than their fair share of unplayable deliveries, and it was Anderson who made the first breakthrough as Smith, not for the first time, let down his country in its hour of need. Failing to learn from his reprieve just two overs before, another forced, tentative drive resulted in contact only being made by the outside edge of the bat, leaving Marcus Trescothick to indulge in a spot of catching practice at first slip.

And so it was first blood to the three lions, and Lord's waited for the South African star of the summer, Jacques Kallis, to stride out to the middle. Morne van Wyk was not what they expected, and some of the all-rounder's strokeplay also unsettled the English bowlers. Van Wyk struck out in an unorthodox manner as he and Herschelle Gibbs kept the run-rate up, before Darren Gough managed to get one to leave Gibbs up the slope, finding its way to Chris Read's gloves via the outside edge of the bat. At 30/2, England had got themselves an advantage.

South Africa could not, and dared not, leave Kallis any further, and his introduction at four had to arrest the steady clatter of wickets if the Proteas were going to follow India and become the second touring side to win the NatWest final against the hosts. With van Wyk around, however, it was never likely that it would stay as two down for long. After thumping Anderson to the boundary twice in successive balls, the next cut in down the famous slope and shattered the stumps. 39/3, and with last Tuesday's Edgbaston mauling of the top order fresh in their minds, the only scars that were inflicted were going to be upon South Africa.

The two Jacques, Rudolph and Kallis, had indisputedly been the tourists' best batsmen in the series but their stand proved even less productive than any before it as Gough enticed Kallis to drive at a wider delivery, Chris Read taking the best of his catches low to his right, showing an understanding had already developed between himself and Trescothick at first slip. The visitors' innings was hanging upon an incredibly fine thread as Mark Boucher joined Rudolph at the crease.

It's a measure of the thoroughly professional English bowling display that Rudolph was the highest scorer, making only 19, as his and Boucher's partnership took advantage of the change in bowlers to bring South Africa to 75/4 as neither Andy Flintoff nor Richard Johnson broke through as early as Vaughan had hoped. That was, until Flintoff's round-the-wicket line of attack to Rudolph, which England seem to have hit upon as the most effective way of unsettling the gifted left-hander, induced the faintest of tickles for Read to comfortably take his third catch of the innings. Boucher desperately needed to stick around and play the senior, anchoring role for the rest of the innings.

It was all of two balls after Rudolph fell that Boucher perished, with a dismally irresponsible shot. Richard Johnson delivered a ball that seemed sure to be called a wide - that was, until Boucher chased it, gifting Read yet another catch as 75/4 became 75/6. Shaun Pollock and Martin van Jaarsveld, who had hit an assured 45 at Edgbaston to partially recover South Africa from a position of similar ignominy, dug in.

Ashley Giles was brought into the attack and - finally - came around the wicket, sending down some of the best deliveries he has produced in this year's series. He found enough turn to deceive van Jaarsveld, whose attempted leg glance resulted only in a leading edge and a smart return catch for the jubilant Warwickshire man, taking only his second wicket this summer and initiating the final throes of the innings

Andy Hall, coming in at 9, is indisputedly an excellent striker of the ball, yet also one who is prone to forget that discretion is often the better part of valour. So was the case today, and he hadn't even got off the mark when an attempted pull off a short ball from Anderson could only get as far as skipper Vaughan at mid-on. The tail was exposed.

Andre Nel, not one renowned for his skills with willow in hand, managed to recreate Rikki Clarke's trademark dismissal - swinging wildly across the line to a left-arm spinner, with the result that the ball, completely unthreatened by blade, either carries straight on into the stumps, the valiant guardian's pads, or his backside (or all three, if you're Rikki). Remember, when "Clarked" features with Simon Hughes on Channel 4's Jargon Busting, you heard it here first. In Andre's case, it was the pads, and one of the most clear-cut LBW decisions of the series, and Giles had 2/3 - two of which were wides..

Anderson, bowled out with figures of 3/50, was replaced by Andy Flintoff, whose first ball resulted in Read's fifth catch of the innings, Pollock falling one short of Rudolph's top score. Flintoff finished with 2/18, impressive, but the true star was Darren Gough, with sensational figures of 7-2-9-2. Gough only bowled one ball away from the legendary "corridor of uncertainly" on and just outside off stump, and was well rewarded. The Proteas' total of 107 was their lowest against England, and fourth lowest in ODIs, and the lowest ever recorded at Lord's in an ODI, beating Pakistan's dismal 139 in the 1999 World Cup Final.

Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini are not the kind of players to lie down and allow defeat to wash over them like debris upon the strandline, however. An excellent first over - a maiden - from Pollock was followed up by Ntini finding the outside edge of Trescothick's bat, with Andy Hall snaffling a good catch at slip, the Somerset man back in the pavilion without troubling Lord's first female scorer, Kent nurse Cathy Rawson.

Pollock and Ntini kept the pressure on for the first few over, but once again Smith's captaincy was found wanting as Vaughan's slashed square drive, with the score just 6/1, found a gap right where gully should have been - the only way the South Africans could win the game was to bowl England out - and attacking fields were needed. No matter how good Pollock and Ntini are, they can't keep England below 2.2 an over for long, and they can't bowl every over of the game, either.

Fears about the Proteas' back-up bowling were starkly confirmed as Vaughan, ably supported by Vikram Solanki, made the visitors pay for their failure to seize the initiative away from England, as both batsmen caressed and smote in equal measure on the way to setting England's highest second-wicket partnership against their opponents. The stand of 87 put the game well and truly beyond South Africa's reach, and despite Vaughan (30) and Solanki (50) falling in quick succession - to a mis-timed pull and playing on trying to cut a short one from Hall - the damage had been done, with Solanki in particular hammering some glorious blows, Jacques Kallis (3-0-33-0) bearing the brunt of the Worcestershire batsman's assault.

It was left to Anthony McGrath (15*) and Andy Flintoff (6*) to finish the task, and that they did with 29.4 overs - 178 balls - still remaining of the England innings. A series that began with Smith's proclamations of superiority and nigh-on invincibility has ended with the Western Province batsman's face being covered in copious amounts of egg. Not only have his predictions proved as accurate as Steve Harmison on an off-day, his batting has shown an alarming tendency to go to pieces when it's needed most. Now claiming that there are still positives to take out of the series, and that things aren't as bad as they seem - Smith has a long and winding path to travel before his side is taken seriously as real challengers to the Australian crown. England, however, are catapulted to third in the Kendix/ICC One-Day International rankings with this triumph added to their victory over Pakistan last month, and maybe, just maybe, this new dawn will not prove to be so false as so many have before.

South Africa 107 (JM Anderson 3/50, AF Giles 2/3, D Gough 2/9)

England 111/3 (VS Solanki 50, MP Vaughan 30)

England win by 7 wickets

England win the 2003 NatWest Series

CricketWeb Player of the Match: Darren Gough (England)

CricketWeb Player of the Series: Andrew Flintoff (England)
Runners-Up: Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Heath Streak (Zimbabwe)

CricketWeb Team of the Series
Marcus Trescothick
Vikram Solanki
Jacques Kallis
Michael Vaughan (capt)
Jacques Rudolph
Andrew Flintoff
Chris Read (wk)
Heath Streak
Darren Gough
Makhaya Ntini
James Anderson

Posted by Neil