Kev revels in Proteas woe
Woeful South Africa were met with a chorus of boos from the Trent Bridge crowd after England completed their biggest-ever one-day victory.
The Proteas were dismissed for just 83 inside 23 overs, allowing England to wrap up a ten-wicket win before the floodlights had even been turned on.
Stuart Broad was England’s hero with the ball, firing his first ever five wicket haul for England, while recalled wicketkeeper Matt Prior equalled Alec Stewart’s one-day record of six catches behind the stumps.
But it was the manner of South Africa’s defeat which left the short changed Trent Bridge crowd angry, prompting touring skipper Graeme Smith into issuing an apology for his team’s display.
“We can only apologise for what was a poor performance,” Smith admitted after the crowd were treated to just 37.1 overs of cricket. “People have paid good money to come to the ground and are rightly angry not to get a proper game. It’s just not good enough on the field at the moment. We’re not playing to the standard we know we are capable of.”
“It is difficult to put a finger on, we’ve had some injuries but there are no excuses and we know we have to perform a lot better.”
Broad, playing on his home ground, claimed an initial spell of 4-9 in 16 balls to put England in control before Andrew Flintoff (3-29) and Steve Harmison (2-4) tore through the South African tail. Broad ended with a career-best figures of 5-23.
Buoyed by his performance in the field, Sussex man Prior then continued his assault with a fine unbeaten 45 in just 36 balls, while fellow opener Ian Bell hit 28no, as England enjoyed a first ever ten-wicket win in limited overs cricket.
But although naturally delighted with the result, captain Kevin Pietersen refused to get carried away with the margin of victory.
“I’m not going to stand here and say this is the best team we’ve had and it’s the start of great things, but if we keep training hard I’m sure we won’t be too far wide of the mark,” he said. “We need to enjoy this evening because wins like this are very, very special.”