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South Africa vs. England Fourth ODI International
Port Elizabeth
8.00am GMT

England walk back into the lions den on Sunday, as they look to regain the upper hand over their South African counterparts. The Proteas crushed England by a massive 112 runs which saw them end a run of six defeats against the English in the One Day International format. There was some big hitting on Friday from the South Africans, who were put into bat first. The Cape Town ground on a day night match was notorious for favouring the first batting side, and that is exactly what happened  again. Batting first, South Africa raced to a massive 354-6, helped along by AB de Villiers’ 121 from just 85 balls.

England’s reply needed a steady start, something which they did not get, as they stood at 58-3 at one point. The only innings of note came from Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood again. However, with little back up coming down the order, England were soon chasing a lost cause, and were all out in the 42nd over, still more than a century in deficit of their total chase. That clearly was not what captain Andrew Strauss would have wanted, as being 1-0 up in the five day series, a second consecutive win would have at least secured a drawn series at worst, with the first ODI being rained out.

It was, in some ways expected that the home side would come out all guns a-blazing to make amends for their failure in the second ODI where England out played them. England’s bowlers did not do a good enough job of tying the up South African openers, as length and line were not being delivered with any kind of consistency. The eagerness to get Stuart Broad back into the attack was part of the downfall, as he went expensively from his first couple of overs. Jimmy Anderson, likewise was not making any kind of impact under the conditions either.

It was De Villiers though who England could not cope with, and could not find a way to stop scoring, despite the constant changes in bowling. Because South Africa posted such a huge total, it was always going to give them a chance in field, as England had to play risky shots just to try and play catch up. Andrew Strauss and Luke Wright started off well, but the risks were not always rewarded. It was only Kevin Pietersen, getting back into form and fitness, along with Collingwood who put up any kind of resistence.

So it is on to the crucial fourth ODI with the series tied at 1-1. England’s battered and bruised bowlers, Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson and Graeme Swann are all expected to play. England need to not be too dishearten from the hiding that South Africa gave them on Friday. England have gotten the better of the Proteas over recent times, and that is saying something as England’s ODI history is not much to write home about. Whoever wins this game will know that they cannot lose the series, and gain some huge initiative going into the 5th ODI.

England to win: 7/4 at Bet365
South Africa to win: 8/15 at 888Sport

Top England Batsman: If you fancy Paul Collingwood to continue his fine batting form, being England’s top scorer in the past two games, he is 9/2 at SkyBet.