ICC Champions Trophy: England beats South Africa and books place in Sunday’s final at Edgbaston

20/06/2013 no comments »
ICC Champions Trophy: England beats South Africa and books place in Sunday’s final at Edgbaston

The 2013 I.C.C. Champions Trophy is currently nearing its conclusion and hosts England beat South Africa in today’s semi-final to book their place in Sunday’s Final at Edgbaston.

The other semi-final is between tournament favourites India and their sub-continental rivals Sri Lanka, which is a repeat of the 2011 World Cup Final which was won by the Indians.

Conditions at the ground and wickets are always crucial in the outcome of Cricket matches, and no more so than in England as the unpredictable weather means that swing bowling can be pivotal in bowling a side out cheaply. An excellent example of this is England bowler James Anderson who is fantastic at exploiting the conditions, and this was evident with his two wickets against the South Africans in their semi-final victory.

The other bowlers including spinner James Tredwell and seamer Steven Finn both staked their claims for regular starts, as their performances, along with Stuart Broad were hugely impressive in dismissing the Proteas for 175 runs. This shows England’s strength in depth, as Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan sat out the game giving Tredwell and Finn their opportunity, so the selectors now have an unenviable task choosing a team for Sunday’s fixture.

Regarding the other semi-final on Thursday, the Indians have won seven of the last ten one day games between the two nations so they are strong favourites for this tie, but as in all sports anything can happen, so writing off the talented Sri Lankans would be hasty. Lasith Malinga has been one of the players of the tournament so far with his ‘sling’ bowling action, so Sri Lanka will be hoping he can continue his good form thus cause problems for the Indian batsman in the process.

The Indians have a strong looking batting line up to combat Malinga, with Shikhar Dhawan and Mahendra Dhoni amongst others, so it will be a truly fascinating contest watching who comes out on top. The tournament has been a universal success so far with some fantastic games, so hopefully the two remaining fixtures will surely be played in exactly the same manner.


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