Chance to score early points

Chance to score early points

England's two-and-a-half-month tour of South Africa begins in earnest on Friday with the first of two Twenty20 internationals at the Wanderers as both sides look to make an opening statement. Having the one-day leg of the tour first means it won't be buried after the main event of the Tests and should retain importance.

The winners will say Twenty20 allows them to build momentum, while the losers will quickly brush off the significance of the matches ahead of the one-day series next week. However, there is still a sense, outside of the World Twenty20, that internationally this format is still the third priority.

England's preparations were going well until their defeat against South Africa A when the batting subsided for 89 all out, while injuries haven't helped the planning. Paul Collingwood takes the reins for the Twenty20s before Andrew Strauss returns for the one-dayers which also creates a slightly disjointed feeling about the tourists' line-up.

Team news
Loots Bosman returns at the top order to partner Graeme Smith with Jacques Kallis rested. Dale Steyn is also back after missing the second one-dayer against Zimbabwe, while both frontline spinners are selected. Albie Morkel will provide the power in the middle order.

South Africa 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Loots Bosman, 3 AB de Villiers, 4 JP Duminy, 5 Albie Morkel, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7 Ryan McLaren, 8 Roelof van der Merwe, 9 Johan Botha, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Charl Langeveldt.


England's fast-bowling department has been stretched so far and Stuart Broad will miss this match and probably the second one as well. However, James Anderson is available after resting a sore knee, but the lack of action for Graham Onions could count against his selection despite his back problem clearing up. Alastair Cook is an unconvincing option as opener, but with Kevin Pietersen not yet quite ready to return and Strauss opting out of Twenty20 he is there by default, although a throat infection could keep him out.

England (possible) 1 Joe Denly, 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Paul Collingwood (capt), 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Matt Prior (wk), 7 Luke Wright, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Sajid Mahmood, 11 James Anderson ...

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England humbled in Twenty20 warm-up

England humbled in Twenty20 warm-up

It wouldn't be an England tour without a warm-up embarrassment and on cue, after two impressive 50-over displays, the tourists capitulated for a paltry 89 on a slow pitch at Bloemfontein to a strong South Africa A side. A four-wicket defeat is hardly ideal preparation four days before the opening international of the trip, but reinforces the notion that England's 20-over game is still some way off the pace.

Andrew Strauss had hoped the good work of recent days wouldn't unravel after passing over the captaincy to Paul Collingwood for the Twenty20 matches. After batting with freedom and confidence in their first two warm-up matches, England couldn't find any momentum on a stodgy surface and weren't helped by three comical run outs. They failed to use 15 of their allocated deliveries as the last six wickets fell in 26 balls.

Having assessed the surface the new ball was thrown to Graeme Swann and he responded with another impressive spell of 2 for 9 as South Africa A were made to work. Adil Rashid also collected a couple in an encouraging display, but Vaughn van Jaarsveld and Rory Kleinveldt ended any doubts over the result with some powerful hitting.

England won't read too much into the result - they have a history of recovering from such setbacks - and conditions in the highveld will be much different. However, if they cared to flick through the TV channels they would have come across pictures of South Africa wiping the floor with Zimbabwe at Centurion Park. This was a day where they were reminded how tough this tour will be.

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Strauss hundred eases England home

Strauss hundred eases England home

Andrew Strauss continued England's confident build-up in South Africa with an unbeaten 117 as the tourists comfortably chased down the Warriors' competitive 254 for an eight-wicket victory in Kimberley. The bowlers were given a much tougher workout than against the Eagles two days ago, but Strauss and Joe Denly made the target appear simple with an opening stand of 175 in 28 overs as the win came with more than nine overs to spare.

Denly's innings was timely after his failure in the first warm-up game and the corresponding success for Jonathan Trott and Eoin Morgan. The expectation is one of that trio will miss out when Kevin Pietersen returns, but with them all showing promising form the selectors will be faced with a tough decision. There has rarely been any concern over Strauss's form in recent times, but it is always good for a touring side to have their captain in the runs and his hundred followed a confident 72 against the Eagles.

The opening pair wasn't particularly tested by the Warriors attack and increased the tempo steadily throughout their partnership. Denly managed two sixes and Strauss also cleared the ropes with a strong blow over long off in another display of how his limited-overs game continues to develop. One area Andy Flower is targeting for improvement during this one-day series is England's boundary-hitting and the early signs have been encouraging, although clubbing Dale Steyn and Co. will be a different matter.

Denly picked out long on with a century for the taking, but Strauss didn't miss out and reached three figures from 109 balls. Alastair Cook was given an outing in place of Trott and collected 34 off 36 balls, adding 53 in nine overs with Strauss, before picking out square leg with the target nearing. Paul Collingwood helped finish off the chase.

Swann took a simple return catch to remove Jeggels and Matt Prior collected his second stumping when Colin Ingram was beaten outside off. The two Jacobs set about rebuilding the innings and took advantage of some loose deliveries from Rashid and also tucked into Collingwood's medium pace which was unusually expense.

Arno Jacobs went to his fifty from 59 balls and Davey Jacobs joined him with a boundary off Sajid Mahmood but fell next ball as he tried to go over the top. Swann returned to claim his third and England did well during the closing stages of the innings, with the final five overs yielding just 26 runs as Jacobs lost the strike and with it the chance of a hundred.

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