Former Proteas all-rounder and coach, Eric Simons, believes that the outcome of the one-day series between South Africa and England boils down to an outright battle between the two sides' powerful batting line-ups.

Twenty20 Internationals have always been a batsmen's game, and the two we've seen on this tour have certainly been run-fests.

England were destructive on Friday at the Wanderers, and Sunday saw Graeme Smith and Loots Bosman produce one of the most incredible displays of six-hitting ever seen on the international stage.

And while both teams will be pleased with their batting form leading up to the five-match ODI series, their respective bowling performances will be of grave concern to both Mickey Arthur and Andy Flower.

As good as Smith and Bosman were at Centurion, Simons is of the opinion however that they were helped by some very poor bowling from the England attack.

"It was an interesting spectacle," Simons said of the opening pairs' record breaking stand.

"Graeme and Loots did well, but I don't think England bowled particularly well.

"You play as well as the bowlers let you. That [England's poor bowling] had a lot to do with Graeme and Loots dominating them."

Lack of planning

The former Proteas seamer highlighted the tourists' lack of planning as a major factor in them being on the receiving end of the second-highest Twenty20 International total in history.

"I think they've got a problem with their bowling," Simons told iafrica.com. "I watched the game and I like to try to work out what the gameplan is, and I couldn't.

"That says to me," he added, "they don't quite know where the ball is going."

"The only one you could make some sense of what he was trying to do was [James] Anderson. The others just seem to run up and bowl and get hit both sides of the wicket.

"[They bowled] too full and then too short."

But as poor as the England bowlers were, the well-respected Simons believes that the Proteas' bowling attack is not looking in much better shape.

He explained: "If we have to look for a weak point [in the Proteas], then our seam bowling is.

"It is a concern, the amount of loose balls they bowl and inability to build pressure.

"I also don't think that Johan Botha is the same bowler when he can't bowl the doosra and it makes a big difference to his ability as a spinner."