England's one day adventures

Having spent 21 years of my life watching cricket I thought it was about time I did something else. So now I'm writing about it.

England's performance tonight was good on the surface but despite the win the underlying faults remain. Ian Bell continues to frustrate - someone of his talent simply should be getting more runs while Matt Prior continues to find novel ways of getting himself out. The reliance on KP and Flintoff to accelerate in the later stages of the game works well in England but else where such as the subcontinent or games played during the day without floodlights they will need a more attacking start. Having said all that I think England need to stick with Bell and Prior for at least a few series in a row. They need to work out how to bat at the top of the order and how to bat together, which takes time. They managed to provide a reasonable start tonight even when looking scrappy at points.

The bowlers seemed to work well as a unit with Harmison's return taking some of the pressure off Flintoff. Broad remains a problem with the ball - he'll only learn by playing but has appeared ineffective all summer despite the obvious advantages of his height and reasonable pace. KP's bowling changes were astute throughout the game and this team is most definitely taking on his character. The rest of the series will be interesting as SA will have expected to win this series and should perform better in the next game. England will be full of confidence and the rest of the series should be tight.