England v South Africa, 3rd ODI, The Oval

England can snatch back the No.1 ODI Ranking with victory today and level the series but that will be unlikely with all the negative off-the-field drama that is happening. On the other hand, South Africa will be looking to cement their No.1 ODI ranking and go 2-0 up in the series. Should be a cracker of a game then.

England 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ian Bell, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ravi Bopara, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 7 Samit Patel, 8 James Tredwell, 9 Jade Dernbach, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steve Finn.

South Africa 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Hashim Amla, 3 JP Duminy, 4 Dean Elgar, 5 AB de Villiers (capt, wk), 6 Faf du Plessis, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Robin Peterson, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

South Africa have won the toss and will bat.

Team news: Steyn in for McLaren for the Saffers. For England, Tredwell and Dernbach in for Swann and Bresnan.

Would have liked to have seen Woakes selected. I saw him a few years ago at the SCG and he had a very smooth action. Quite quick too.

Best of luck to both teams.

no Woakes still then? A bit odd that he was preferred for the first ODI, but has now slipped behind Dernbach... Long tail for England today, means the batsmen are going to have to perform. Cook lost his third toss in a row, not a great start

Hope Finn can get Amla early

Need Anderson and Finn to get early wickets. Didn't happen in the Test series, maybe today is the day? Both teams look pretty weak from number 6 down, SA can be put under pressure.

Come on England, 2 new balls, let's get them in some early trouble 50-3 or something like that.

Let's get Amla out early! Come on England!

all about early wickets for England here, SA have a rather long tail. Anderson with a decent first over, but this looks a cracking pitch.

here's Finny

Rubbish idea to pick Dernbach over Woakes. Woakes is not only a better bowler, but he also adds batting depth, whereas our tail looks rather long right now.

Having said that, the Saffers haven't got much batting after their top 6. Early inroads would give us a great chance, but you just know that these two will reach at least 80-0.

SA's ability to miss the ball rather than nick it is so frustrating

Anderson starting to find some swing here.

Fists of Fury wrote: Early inroads would give us a great chance, but you just know that these two will reach at least 80-0.

Sadly, despite my earlier comment this is what I expect to happen. We just can't take early wickets vs. the Saffers - in any form of the game!

Anderson over-pitches and is driven back down the ground for four. This looks an absolute belter of a pitch I must say, 280 needed at least for SA.

I don't always (and in fact less and less often) agree with Michael Holding, but I think he's right about getting an extra man into the leg side for Smith.

better from Finn, and better field set by Cook with the man at square leg already saving a few runs.

Usual garbage from England, then. Well, not garbage, but totally unthreatening. All too easy for South Africa. New Zealand's quicks would pose them more problems than this.

Wake me up when it's over.

Amla batting really well. 50 up already, but I think SA need a big score here looking at this pitch.

GONE! Rush of blood for Smith, charges Anderson, looks like an off-cutter and he's bowled!

YES! Mockers have worked, and they haven't been too successful during this tour.

Elgar in next, wasn't entirely convincing on debut for me, so England need to put some pressure on...

We'll be fine. Whatever Amla scores, I'm sure Bopara will double it!

Let's hope 1 wicket will bring 2.

Bopara into the attack, would have expected Patel, interesting.

VTR wrote:We'll be fine. Whatever Amla scores, I'm sure Bopara will double it!

You mean by gifting him cheap boundaries?

it's a good start from Bops too as he keeps things quiet before sneaking one past Elgar's outside edge with the last ball of the over. 3 from it

Mad for Chelsea wrote:it's a good start from Bops too as he keeps things quiet before sneaking one past Elgar's outside edge with the last ball of the over. 3 from it

The boy is on fire as predicted. Its a blue moon today isn't it? And they do say "Bopara has a good game once in a blue moon" - its all making sense!

nice over from Dernbach too, Amla won't have seen much of his slower ball and indeed doesn't know much about that last one. 2 from the over, England regaining a bit of control outside the PP.

Solid couple of overs from Bopara and Dernbach, let's hope we can keep it up.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:Amla won't have seen much of his slower ball and indeed doesn't know much about that last one. .

True, but as it is utilised roughly every other delivery I'm sure he'll soon be picking it and smashing it into the stands like most decent batsmen manage.

another good over from Bops, Amla seems to not enjoy the pace off the ball so much, certainly scoring less from Bops and Dernbach's slower ball foxed him a bit too. Here's Tredders

Elgar clearly deciding the sweep shot is going to be his scoring option against Tredwell. Decent start for the off-spinner though...

England with a decent 5 over spell there, just 15 runs coming. Bowling PP taken, Finn back into the attack.

Anyone else feeling indifferent to this ODi series? It's the 3rd of the summer and we really should've ended with the Test series - with 5 Tests.

Much better over there from Finn, a wicket or two now will see England have a real advantage.

just looking at Elgar, I wonder if he has the variety of shot for ODIs. Looks to very much favour the third man-point sort of region, and I feel England will be able to limit his scoring options pretty well.

Dernbach bowls Amla!

Fists?

VTR wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:Amla won't have seen much of his slower ball and indeed doesn't know much about that last one. .

True, but as it is utilised roughly every other delivery I'm sure he'll soon be picking it and smashing it into the stands like most decent batsmen manage.

Well played

And Dernbach has got Amla! Luck goes England's way there.

England have been a lot sharper in the field today: Bell pulled off a great stop off Smith earlier and Morgan has made another there off a rasping square drive from Elgar.

Fists of Fury wrote:

Having said that, the Saffers haven't got much batting after their top 6. Early inroads would give us a great chance, but you just know that these two will reach at least 80-0.

Well not too far out , Fists : 80/2.

Brisk enough start though and you fancy they'll make a pretty decent total on this good pitch. Probably a good pitch to chase on too , but England will need a Cook or a Trott to bat long...don't like the look of that tail...

good PP for England, just 21 runs from it, and the absolutely huge wicket of Amla.

liverbnz wrote:

VTR wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:Amla won't have seen much of his slower ball and indeed doesn't know much about that last one. .

True, but as it is utilised roughly every other delivery I'm sure he'll soon be picking it and smashing it into the stands like most decent batsmen manage.

Well played

This is going alright today

Okay next one: Tredwell in for Swann - are they serious, he looks about 50! And why replace Swann with a medium pacer because he definitely doesn't turn it. The kind of player De Villiers can hit for 20 runs an over whenever he wants

Had to get Amla out someday I suppose...the other day they looked as if they didn't want to

He really has had a tour to remember , hasn't he ? Played brilliantly , and has had a few handy slices of luck too which has proved an unbeatable combination.

If England could get AB now just maybe could keep them under par here...

VTR are you making a bid to usurp Trebell's position ?

You've started well ...but I'm not sure Tredwell is up to finishing the job for you

RR starting to increase, we need another wicket.

SA (and AB in particular) determined not to let Tredwell settle...

Good to see Bresnan dumped.

they needed to get Woakes in...in place of Tredwell or Patel.....

alfie wrote:VTR are you making a bid to usurp Trebell's position ?

You've started well ...but I'm not sure Tredwell is up to finishing the job for you

Those are big shoes to fill! It started as actual pessimism (sadly I haven't been under a rock this summer!) but as I've just taken a wicket I thought I'd try for another one. Might have to resort to talking up the opposition now I've slated all our bowlers!

fielders in the circle at mid-off and mid-on need to be a lot tighter than that to Elgar, he's just looking to tip and run...

VTR on fire here!

and gone! good bowling from Tredwell, tossed up and De Villiers couldn't resist the bait, lofting it to Bell at long-on! well bowled indeed, and SA in a bit of a pickle here.

Well done VTR (and Tredwell )

Though I'm taking some of the credit for an assist

What's the point of playing Patel if we're not gonna let him bowl? We may as well have given Bairstow a game if Patel isn't going to bowl. And well done Tredders, good wicket. Let's push on.