Peterson rocks England with three wickets

Agencies

Chennai, 06 March 2011: Ian Bell failed to bring England back from the early loss of openers and became the third batsman to fall to Robin Peterson, who took a brilliant return catch to dismiss Bell in a crucial Group B encounter on Sunday.

 

Graeme Smith’s decision to open bowling with left-arm spinner Peterseon reaped rich benefits as he stunned England with the wickets of Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen off the third and sixth ball of the innings.

 

Strauss wanted to hit out from the word go and was lapped up at deep mid-wicket, while Pietersen managed to edge one for a sharp catch by Jacques Kallis in the slips.

 

Earlier, facing South Africa in a crucial Group B encounter here on Sunday, England skipper Andrew Strauss won the toss and chose to bat first, with Ravi Bopara replacing Paul Collingwood.

 

 

England, who tied their match with India and were later stunned by Ireland, are in a kind of must-win situation with Ireland and West Indies breathing down their neck for a place in the quarterfinals.

 

Strauss’ decision to replace old-guard Collingwood is a clear signal that England are looking for a win even if they had to drop proven performers to achieve that.

 

South Africa, on the other hand, ran through West Indies and Netherlands to stay on top of the Group A points table but can expect England to come hard at them. The Proteas wen into the match unchanged from their last match against the Netherlands.

 

Squad:

 

England: A Strauss (c), K Pietersen, J Trott, I Bell, R Bopara, M Prior (wk), M Yardy, T Bresnan, G Swann, S Broad, J Anderson

 

South Africa: G Smith (c), H Amla, J Kallis, AB de Villiers (wk), JP Duminy, F du Plessis, M van Wyk, R Peterson, M Morkel, D Steyn, Imran Tahir