Crazy Cup campaign continues for England

NEW DELHI:

England's World Cup roller coaster ride unexpectedly hit the heights yesterday following the lowest of lows last week, sneaking a win against South Africa in a chaotic clash in Chennai.

Defending what looked like a disastrous 171 all out - and with the previously unbeaten Proteas on course at 124-3 - England's bowlers made the most of a crumbling pitch to shuffle out the last seven South African batsmen for 41 runs for a six-run victory.

It was a madcap match where England collapsed to 3-2 and 15-3 before South Africa followed suit and slumped to 165 all out.

In the end, the English bowlers bounced back with a match-winning performance to move on from the Ireland embarrassment and give England just their second win of the tournament.

At Chennai's Chidambaram Stadium, Stuart Broad made two early breakthroughs and mopped up the tail for his 4-15, sending England to a win after a tie and a loss in their two previous matches. Fellow seamer James Anderson had 2-16, including the game-changing wicket of AB de Villiers for 25 to start the South African slide.

The spin of Graeme Swann, Michael Yardy and Kevin Pietersen eventually told as it tied down the South Africans and allowed the two pacemen to poach the wickets.

Earlier, recalled Ravi Bopara was man of the match for his 60 from 98 balls as England's batsmen did enough for a winning score on a slow and utterly unpredictable pitch. England were 15-3 when Bopara reached the crease and his teammates could only add another 23 after he departed.

Battered bowlers

But England's battered bowlers finally delivered and successfully defended the small score after they had conceded 292 to Netherlands, 338 to India and, most painfully, 329 to Ireland.

England's crazy Cup campaign has now seen their players - and fans - run the full range of emotions in its first four group games. Yet even after a narrow escape, a formidable fightback and a devastating defeat, there was somehow space for more drama.

South Africa were still odds-on to win at 160-7, but Tim Bresnan and then the Broad sealed it with the last three wickets in quick succession in another nerve-fraying finish.

"We're definitely doing our bit to advertise the 50-over format, but we'd like games to be a little bit less close than they are,'' England captain Andrew Strauss said.

99-run stand

Bopara shared a 99-run stand with Jonathan Trott, who ground out a 94-ball 52 against his country of birth, to right England's rapidly sinking ship after left arm spinner Robin Peterson had captured three wickets in his first three overs opening the bowling.

South Africa skipper Graeme Smith's surprise move with Peterson, after Strauss had opted to bat, paid off as the skipper and then Kevin Pietersen fell in the first over, and Ian Bell was caught and bowled in the fifth.

Bopara and Trott clawed England to 171, which still shouldn't have been enough, but the bowlers repaid their debt after costly mistakes against the Irish and England's quarterfinal concerns were eased.

"Just goes to show, if you believe you can win a game, you can - as Ireland proved the other day, as we proved today,'' Swann said.