Some of the greatest cricket players to have played the game have polished their pads and oiled their bats for the Legends World Championship taking place at Edgbaston in Birmingham. But it was not the greatest of starts for the Old Proteas.
England beat the South Africans by nine wickets with nine overs to spare.
South Africa’s captain and one of the finest all-rounders ever, Jacques Kallis, opened the batting alongside Herchelle Gibbs after the Old Proteas were put in to bat first.
But they had a shaky start with Kallis dismissed by Ryan Sidebottom for one in the first over of the match.
Richard Levi was also dismissed shortly afterwards, also for just a single and things looked gloomy at four for two.
Gibbs and JP Duminy steadied the ship. Together they put on 23 for the third wicket with Gibbs making a top score of 26. That was one of only three partnerships in excess of 20.
And with Owais Shah spinning his magic, the Proteas were bowled out for a paltry 137 in the final over. Shah took three for 23 in three overs.
England made short work of chasing down the required 138 for victory. They did it off 11 overs for the loss of Kevin Pietersen’s wicket, but not before the South African-born Englishman had hit four sixes in an 11-ball 28.
Pietersen’s opening partner, Phil Mustard, finished unbeaten on 84 off 35 balls, an innings that included nine fours and six sixes.
The Old Proteas need to regroup quickly because their second match is on Friday against Australia.
