da bet nacional： NATAL’S match against England did eventually peter out in a draw atKingsmead on Monday, but in terms of preparation for the vital second Teststarting in Port Elizabeth on Thursday, home captain Dale Benkenstein feelsthe tourists got little out of
Ken Borland06-Dec-1999NATAL’S match against England did eventually peter out in a draw atKingsmead on Monday, but in terms of preparation for the vital second Teststarting in Port Elizabeth on Thursday, home captain Dale Benkenstein feelsthe tourists got little out of the match.Natal finished an abbreviated day on 152 for two in their second innings,Doug Watson and Ahmed Amla stroking half-centuries. Resuming on 401 for eight at 10.45am after heavy overnight rain, England were dismissed for 421, Andrew Flintoff, on his 22nd birthday, being stranded on a powerful 89 not out as Alex Tudor and Phil Tufnell did not come to the party.Flintoff and Tudor extended their ninth-wicket partnership to 105, beforethe fast bowler was caught behind off Ross Veenstra for 45, the left-armerpromptly snaffling Tufnell next ball, caught in the gully.Benkenstein, who also captains the SA A team, was quite outspoken in his belief that England were fooling themselves if they thought they had solved their problems at Kingsmead.”I think we (Natal) gave them the worse preparation they could have got. Iwasn’t very impressed with their batting because, apart from when Flintoffand Tudor batted in the last hour on Sunday, I never felt they were on topof our bowling. They played against three spinners here on a good pitch andthey think they’re batting well, but it would be silly to expect anythingbut a fast pitch in Port Elizabeth. They will struggle to dominate the South African attack, but they need to go after them as a draw won’t help England in Port Elizabeth.”We had a few chances to actually get a first-innings lead, but we were unlucky the decisions just didn’t go our way. But overall I thought it was a good game for us and the guys did well,” Benkenstein said after the game.England coach Duncan Fletcher was not exactly bragging about his team’sbrilliance after the game either, but then his feet are normally firmly onthe ground, if not buried a couple of inches deep. “I think there were afew positives,” he said. “We got runs – over 400 – and after telling theguys we wanted to get a hundred in this game, Nasser Hussain went andground one out himself.”Andy Caddick (rested on Monday) again bowled well, Tudor got better andbetter the more he bowled and Flintoff got some of his zip back today.”Fletcher was also happy to report that the injuries which kept pacemenChris Silverwood, flown in from the England A tour of New Zealand as areplacement for Dean Headley, and Alan Mullaly out of this game wereprogressing.Benkenstein was also able to appreciate the bowling efforts of Caddick andTudor, saying the opening pair made life tricky for the batsmen, their steep bounce being a very effective weapon.