Date-stamped : 16 Jan96 - 14:16 ODI # 1035 South Africa v England, 3rd One-day International. Wanderers, Johannesburg. 13 January 1996 ====> Report Ramshackle England fail again - Scyld Berry South Africa (199-7) beat England (198-8) by 3 wickets ENGLAND are undertaking a crash course in one-day cricket this fortnight and the only part of it going to plan so far is the `crash`. On Saturday they went 2-1 down to South Africa when they lost by a margin which should have been considerably larger than three wickets, and afterwards Raymond Illingworth had to admit that his players were not yet on course for the World Cup. England could not have an earlier opportunity to get back into this one-day series, for Sunday sees the fourth of the seven matches. It is at Centurion Park, however, a ground which normal- ly - if not in the Test Match there - favours fast bowling as much as the Wanderers, and South Africa in that department are a day`s trek ahead of England. It is true that England chose to give Dominic Cork a rest, of which he was in sore need, and to rotate their players so that everyone who had not played in the first two games had a run yes- terday. They were consequently short of a seamer or two in condi- tions made for them, but overall, England as yet are no more likely to be World Cup winners than South Africa, and the starts they made in their batting and in bowling were particularly ramshackle. The pinch-hitter experiment did not work, again, when England chose to bat, which was just what South Africa with their seven possible seamers wanted. Phillip DeFreitas went down the pitch a couple of times to off-drive Matthews - it is wonderful how bats- men use their feet to medium pace once a Test series is over - but he played more air-shots than contact-shots. Smiting a few more boundaries in the first 15 overs is hardly worthwhile if many fewer balls are hit and scored off. It was a good morning for bowling too, high-cloudy and temperate; the ball swung more than in any other international match of this tour, and it carried through to the keeper on the one bouncy sur- face England have seen on this tour. Specialist openers would have found it a struggle. A pinch-hitter should be kept for World Cup matches reduced by rain, and then Cork might be the best ex- ponent as Derbyshire`s Sunday opener last summer. After 15 overs England were not up and running but 42 for three. The man of the match, Shaun Pollock, for once moved the ball away, which will have gratified Warwickshire even further in their choice, and which led to Mike Atherton`s miscalculation. He would have steered the ball off the middle if it had not swung, DeFreitas got too far under an off drive, and Robin Smith might have been hard done by when he shouldered arms. Ramprakash picked up some speed on the runway without his in- nings, a little like his international career to date, really taking off England, when Ather-less, seem unable to pass 200 here but they were taken closer than usual under the guidance of Neil Fair- brother. The left-hander bided his time while Ramprakash picked up some speed on the runway without his innings, a little like his international career to date, really taking off. Fairbrother remained the junior partner when Craig White came in to play a handsome hand. From the very moment White came in at Cape Town last weekend, he has radiated more confidence than on any of his previous England appearances. If he had not overtaken Dermot Reeve already, he did so here by gracefully moving down the pitch to loft his off drives and hitting 34 off 38 balls. His bowling was more demand- ing than Reeve`s slower stuff, and is gaining its control. It was only when White, and subsequently Fairbrother, were being aggressive that the loud speakers in the ground could blare their favourite slogan of the moment: "Uh-hah, uh-hah, uh-hah, uh-hah - it`s four!". Jack Russell, like Fairbrother, weighed in with a six, and the last over from Richard Snell was made to pay 17, but - for all the difficulty of hitting the `heavy balls` from Pollock, McMillan and Donald - the public address system might have modified its comment on England`s innings to "it`s poor!". Yet South Africa`s batsmen contrived to make a game of it, as they often do, not batting with any great expertise in technique or shot selection, and yet mustering sufficient runs, as again they often do. South Africa ought to be perturbed that they did not knock off the runs with four or more wickets in hand. Andrew Hudson still falls to the off side and aims straight balls through mid-wicket. Hansie Cronje remains obsessed with the open-faced steer. When Fairbrother came up wih a fine right- handed catch and Cullinan chased a wide one, England had been pardoned for the shoddiest of opening overs - it cost three wides, four leg-byes and four runs - and welcomed back into the match. England`s thin resources were not quite maximised England, though, did not have enough wicket-taking seamers to force the breach, and South Africa`s sensible late-middle order again did their work. Reeve and Mike Watkinson, though he bowled a fuller length than hitherto as an off-spinner, were neither economical nor penetrative and South Africa deliberately did not let Hick settle as he had at Bloemfontein. England`s thin resources were not quite maximised. McMillan, even more than most of his colleagues, looks maritime against spin and the time to get through Watkinson`s allocation might have been when he came in. Later, at 189 for seven, England had their last chance, and two overs of DeFreitas remained, yet Watkinson bowled, and the over, during which Pollock drove coolly over mid-off, cost nine. Loud as the cheers of 30,000 were for the winning run, with 11 balls to spare, the loudest of all on the day came when announce- ment was made of the three goals scored by South Africa in their African Nations Cup game against Cameroon. Although football may not have been the favourite pastime of these spectators, their patriotic roar still rolled around the tree-lined northern suburbs of Johannesburg and out across the scarred plateaux of the mid-Rand. Next weekend the cricket and the football will go on, and South Africa`s rugby captain, Francois Pienaar, will have for guest of honour at his wedding that other No 6, Nelson Mandela. Indeed, from a perspective of this tour, the most remarkable feature has been the air of normality which prevails, and sport - the return of international sport - has played its part in this miracle of a transformation. Basil d`Oliveira, the former England cricketer who was born in Cape Town, will this week be flown to Johannesburg by the United Cricket Board to have a special audience with President Mandela. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> more JOHANNESBURG, Saturday - Jonty Rhodes hit a responsible 44 to hold England`s bowlers at bay and guide South Africa to a three- wicket win in their third one-day international at the Wanderers on Saturday. Replying to England`s 198 for eight South Africa reached 199 for seven from 48.1 overs to go 2-1 up in the seven-match series. Rhodes, who scored his runs from 65 balls, rescued his side from a somewhat parlous 73 for four and underlined his importance to South Africa`s World Cup hopes. Two wickets each for Phillip DeFreitas and Darren Gough had jolt- ed South Africa, but Rhodes added 41 for the fifth wicket with Jacques Kallis and 43 with Brian McMillan for the sixth. When Rhodes was caught behind off Gough in the 39th over only 42 more runs were required and the result was in little doubt. Earlier England were rocked by an opening spell of three for eight from fast bowler Shaun Pollock and only Neil Fairbrother`s 57 not out ensured that the bowlers would have any kind of total to defend. Source :: The Daily News (http://sri.lanka.net/lakehouse/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)