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England's cricket resurgence

Author: John Harris
Date: 30/09/2009
Cricket betting

What a great turnaround for the England one-day team.

After sliding to a sixth straight defeat against Australia a fortnight ago in the seven-match series, a whitewash looked the only possible outcome.

However, a swift and dramatic turn of events has followed. A four wicket victory against the Baggy Greens was used as captain Andrew Strauss' motivation going into the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa.

England's first game against Sri Lanka was a breeze; this after Kumar Sangakkara's men had dismantled online betting favourites South Africa in their opener.

Under pressure pair Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood hit knocks of 44 and 46 respectively, while relative newcomer Eoin Morgan hit 62 from 63 balls and the single that signalled the victory.

If the startled public thought this success was a fluke then perhaps they were forced to think again after England's heroics against Graeme Smith's South Africa.

England opened up the innings in their second match against the much-fancied Proteas and the much-improved Shah hit a sensational 98 from 89 balls, including six huge sixes and was backed up impressively by Collingwood (82).

Towards the back end of their 50-overs, Morgan stepped to the crease and single-handedly batted the game out of sight.

His imperious knock of 67 from 34 balls, that included four fours and five sixes. left the hosts with no answers.

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The young Irishman looks to have hit himself from a bit-part option to a realistic first-choice candidate in his adopted nation's team.

Although Proteas captain Smith hit a superlative 141 from 134 balls, it wasn't enough as his top line batsmen crumbled around him and his bowlers proved too costly.

James Anderson produced the goods with the ball when it mattered and swept up three wickets, including the destructive pairing of Herschelle Gibbs and Mark Boucher.

With Morgan in fine big-hitting form, talk of effervescent but absent duo Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff has suddenly subsided.

Hopefully this won't add pressure to the young man's shoulders ahead of Tuesday's final group clash against New Zealand and the weekend's semi-final showdown.

England are making small strides and the beleaguered side of a fortnight ago is pretty much the same but a new belief and confidence is oozing among the ranks.

But with Australia, India or Pakistan ahead of them in the semi-finals, Strauss' men can not rest on their laurels.

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