England - The Most Unpredictable of All

Well last night,it was fascinating to see team England not only defeat the Proteas but also take complete control of the game. This was not just another game that is won by a team in the last moment nor was it that sort of game which was one sided by the so called strong team dominating its opposition. One would have hardly expected England to win the fourth one day international at Port Elizabeth against South Africa especially when they were facing the Proteas in their own den and not to forget the thrashing they received at the same hand a couple of days ago.

Moreover England have not been the team to beat for any decent opposition. The only team that can be expected to be at the receiving end of England are minnows like Banglandesh, Zimbabwe and the West Indies. And England beating South Africa is really a wonder. Nevermind that England have whitewashed South Africa in the 5 match one day series played in April 2008 of the Natwest trophy. Also the way they regained the Ashes earlier this year (when another 5-0 whitewash for England was thought to be on the cards) is still fresh in the minds of the cricket fans.

It should be a dream come true for England to have dismissed South Africa for just 119 and in just 36 odd overs and in addition to have achieved the target in just 31.2 overs. Thanks to some great bowling by James Anderson who neither lies in the ranks of any great bowler like Glenn McGrath, Dale Styen and others. Neither was Steve Harmison rated among top bowlers of the world for their match saving and match winning efforts whatsoever. All for the lone reason that they belong to the England squad whose team rating is top only when counted from the bottom.

Only four of the South African batsmen could cross the double digit mark out of which one person scored a half century. Just a couple of months ago, England lost 6 out of the 7 games played against Australia after their Ashes victory. Sitll, England were there for a surprise when they beat Sri Lanka and South Africa to enter into the semi finals of the ICC Champions trophy when hardly anyone expected that from them. What happened to England in the semi finals against Australia is secondary. And one victory for team England is followed by a series of heavy losses like it happened in the 7 match ODI series against Oz and the other instance being thier 5-0 loss to India last November.

Keeping these facts in mind, England can well be considered as the most unpredictable team in the world fpr no oje knows what is going to happen when England plays.