WE WILL BOUNCE BACK AT KINGSMEAD SAYS JORDAN
THE DAYS
CHRIS JORDAN admits England were guilty of not engaging their brains in the opening Twenty20 against South Africa but said they will regain their cool in Durban tonight.
England need victory in the second of three matches to keep the series alive going into Sunday’s finale at Centurion.
And they are still absorbing the lessons learnt from Wednesday’s collapse in East London that saw them fail to get the seven runs from seven balls they needed to win.
“We could have been a bit smarter,” said Jordan. “But in Twenty20 cricket you try to take the positive option more often than not.
“Some days it goes your way, some days it doesn’t.
“The more you are involved in those situations, the more you try to stay calm. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get over the line.” England look likely to resist the temptation to shuffle their line-up, with captain Eoin Morgan asking those who lost on Wednesday to rectify matters this time round at Kingsmead.
Jordan did his prospects of a place in this year’s World T20 squad in Australia no
SOUTH AFRICA:
De Kock (capt-wkt), R Hendricks, Bavuma,
Van Der Dussen, Miller, Smuts, Phehlukwayo, B Hendricks, Steyn, Shamsi, Ngidi
ENGLAND:
Roy, Buttler (wkt), Bairstow, Morgan (capt), Stokes, Denly, Moeen, T Curran, Jordan, Rashid, Wood
Start time: 4pm harm. He once again showed he can locate an accurate yorker late in proceedings, snapping up two wickets in his final over and registering 2-14 in his last two.
“One of the hallmarks of this team is that whoever is playing at the time is trying to keep their standards as high as possible,” said the England paceman.
“I don’t think the environment has been created in such a way to feel pressure for a playing spot.
“That’s not the focus at all. We have a strong squad here and any XI we put out on any given day is strong enough to beat any team.
“Those are the things that we are trying to focus on. Stay nice and calm in most of those situations and back ourselves to come out on top.”
ON THIS DATE IN SPORTING HISTORY
1896: George Lohmann took eight wickets for just seven runs as England bowled out South Africa for 30 in Port Elizabeth. The innings total remained the lowest in a Test match for almost 60 years. 1925: Wigan beat Cumberland amateur side Flimby and Fothergill 116-0 in a rugby league Northern Cup match.
1984: British ice skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won Olympic gold in Sarajevo for their dance interpretation of Ravel’s Bolero, claiming perfect 6.0 scores from all 12 judges. 2006: Mike Ruddock resigned as Wales coach just 11 months after steering the team to their first Grand Slam in 27 years. Ruddock cited family reasons for his decision. 2010: Dick Francis, the bestselling novelist and rider of Devon Loch at the 1956 Grand National, died at the age of 89. 2013: South African Paralympic and Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius was arrested on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend after she was shot dead at his home.