Collingwood and Trott give England the Iniative

A magnificent unbeaten century from Paul Collingwood helped England defeat South Africa by 7 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the ODI series. Chasing the Proteas 250 he shared a partnership of 162 with Jonathon Trott to place England within sight of victory before Eoigan Morgan finished the job with a swashbucking 27 from 18 balls.

England had already impressed with the ball, reducing South Africa to 165 for 6 before Peterson and Boucher had marshalled Graeme Smith's men to a competative 250. Collingwood had already caught the eye with a stunning diving catch to dismiss AB de Villiers before sharing a somewhat surprising bowling partnership with Trott. The pitch itself seemed to favour more medium paced bowling and the pair combined to return joint figures of 2 for 45 from 13 overs, capping a wonderful day as captain for Andrew Strauss who saw his bowling changes result in immediate wickets on 4 seperate occasions. To use up so many overs not only ensured that the main seam attack of Anderson (3 for 60), Bresnan (2 for 46), Wright and Mahmoood was ably supported in the middle of the innings, but also made up for the limited use of Rashid, who would have been expected to offer more than the expensive 3 overs he managed.

Bresnan and Wright were particularly impressive, having been dealt with so harshly in the Pro20 matches they were back on their metal, doing the basics well and backed up for the most part by an energetic fielding performance. Andrew Strauss's inability to hold on to 2 very basic chances were the only major blots on a England's copy book as the South African's struggled to take charge with a line up which looked decidedly light on genuine top order ability without the injured Kallis.

While England had relied on the taking the pace off the ball, South Africa didn't have anyone in the same mould as Trott or Collingwood and were unable to take advantage of the slight slowness in the track. Trott impressed at the top of the order with a well paced 87 but it was Collingwood, earning a record 171 ODI caps who guided England home with his fifth one day century.

The match as a whole was a lesson in how vital it is have a balance in your side. England only used one more bowler than the Proteas, but there was a lot more variety in their attack. Anderson and Bresnan offer swing at good pace, while Wright can hit the deck hard and is quicker than he seems. With Collingwood and now Trott bowling tight areas at a tricky medium the seam department is multi-dimensional, especially compared to the South African attack. On another day they could have turned to spin with Rashid or even Pieterson but the key in this shorter format is for the captain to have a variety of options.

In contrast, Graeme Smith will have looked at Steyn, McLaren and Langeveldt and known that even though they bowl at slightly different paces they all rely on swing and skid onto the batsmen. Albie Morkel is not yet the finished article and although van der Merwe continues to improve he does not have the depth of backup bowling that Strauss has, and as a result needs the conditions to favour his frontline attack.
The same could be said of the two batting line ups on display today. Trott's county experience as an opener showed, and throughout the middle order you saw people who knew the position they were in. Pieterson should have been England's no.3 for years, while Collingwood's experience and recent developments as an attacking force make him a natural foil for Morgan and Prior at 5 and 6. Beyond that, Wright and Bresnan are more than strong finishers as they showed against Australia in the Champion's Trophy semi-final and Rashid has several first class centuries to his name. The Proteas clearly struggled to balance their team without Kallis, and as a result nearly the entire line up looked like they were batting one position higher than they their attributes suit and Graeme Smith will be praying that Kallis is fit to bolster and balance both his batting and bowling attacks.

Both sides have time on their side before next Friday's fixture, as England hope that Swann and Broad will be fit with Mahmood and Rashid the likely players to miss out. Strauss can only hope that bringing in these players with so little match practice doesn't disrupt the balance which served them so well today.