URN

After the defeat against Ireland the England players hoped they would perform better against one of the favourites South Africa. Having won the toss and electing to bat England were hoping to set a decent total to defend. However Captain Strauss was out on the third bowl without troubling the scorers, England managed to score just 171 runs with Bopara top scoring with 60. England going into the break were defiantly looking like a team which wouldn’t make it to the knock out stage. South Africa’s first wicket stand of 63 gave them a great platform to go win the game. However Anderson and Broad managed to skittle South Africa out for 165 and England won by 6 runs. Anderson whose previous figures include 0-72 and 1-91 bowled a fantastic spell ending on 6-0-16-2, Broad’s figures were also good as he ended on 4-15. Hopefully England can maintain this momentum going into the Bangladesh game.

In other news Kevin Pietersen who bowled 8 overs against South Africa has been ruled out of the tournament due to a hernia injury which will require surgery. Eoin Morgan has been called up as his replacement, and was in good form before he picked up an injury prior to the world cup. Will Matt Prior return to opening the innings?

Keep Listening to the URN sports show.

Nimitray Joshi

England suffered an incredible loss against the cricket minnows Ireland yesterday. Having set Ireland 327 England looked in the hot seat going into the break with Trott getting 92 and Bell 81 England must have thought they had it in the bag. Having got Ireland to 111-5 with Swann getting a few quick wickets and Ed Joyce already back in the pavilion, one would assume the England players were cruising and thinking about what to have for supper that evening. However the pink haired Kevin O’Brien pulled of a magnificent innings, breaking the record for the fastest world cup centaury of just 50 balls getting the last of those 50 runs of just 20 balls. He was finally run out for 113 of 63 balls, however the damage was already done with Mooney hitting the final runs of the first ball of the final over, to win by 3 wickets.

Jubilant Ireland players celebrate a historic world cup win: photo courtesy of BBC Sport

One Hundred & Twenty-four days since the start, 13 events, approximately 18 hours of competition and it comes down to this: Varsity 20/20 Cricket on Clifton Campus for the Varsity series decider! With the current score standing at 7-6 in Trent’s favour, Uni must win to tie the series BUT a tie is enough for Uni to retain the Varsity trophy! After a tough season which has seen them relegated this is Uni’s chance to set the records straight!