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| Final ODI at
Cardiff washed out |
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September
03, 2008
England's dreams of making a 5-0 clean sweep in
the NatWest Series was spoilt by some really bad weather at
Cardiff in Wales. The match was abandoned and England had to
settle with 4-0. Andrew Flintoff was awarded as the Player of
the Series.
The final match at the Sophia Gardens which
was a day-night affair saw a delayed start which reduced the
match to a a 43-over-side one. England asked SA to bat first
after winning the toss and all that was
possible in the match was 13 minutes of play.
Those few minutes saw three overs of play and Herschelle Gibbs
becoming a causality as he got caught behind off Stuart Broad.
It was a personal loss for Gibbs as this cheap score dents his
batting average. SA were 6 for 1 in those 3 overs with Hashim
Amla on 3 and acting skipper Jacques Kallis yet to open his
account.
It was a good comeback for England under
their new skipper Kevin Pietersen. First they minimized their
Test Series loss to 1-2 with a victory in the final test. The
One Day Series saw South Africa completely lose their focus
and the players all of a sudden underperformed much below
their potential. It didn't help South Africa when they lost
their Skipper Graeme Smith midway through the One Day Series.
It looked as if England was the only side that was showing any
bit of intensity on the field. The Proteas on the other hand
just looked to end the tour and get back home.
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