SA vs India- 3 Test matches

[BokMagic]

The 3-match test series starts on Friday, 16 December at the Wanderers, Johannesburg. Traditionally one of the fastest and bounciest tracks in SA, it looks like much of the same this time around.

Coming off a 4-0 drubbing in the ODI`s, where the Indian batsmen failed to cope with the extra pace and bounce of the SA wickets, they now head towards the real stuff- Test match cricket.

Some key questions for the series:
- will the Indian be able to cope with the 5-man pace attack?
- will Graeme Smith, clown prince of SA cricket, actually get off the mark?
- will the Indian seamers esp. Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan be more effective during the tests?
- will Paul Adams, brought back from the brink of retirement, and plucked out of his provincial B side, actually play a game, and if he does, will he turn one off the square?
- will Nicky Boje be the last bloke to follow Damien Martyn`s example, and retire mid-series?
- will Dale Steyn continue his upward curve in Test cricket?
- will Mickey Mouse Arthur actually come up with a game-plan, or will he rely on "brave cricket" again?
- will Shaun Pollock finally crank it up to 60mph again?

Anyway, indications are that SA will play at the Wanderers with a 5-man pace attack- Ntini,Steyn, Nel, Kallis and Pollock. Reckon it`ll be too hot to handle for the Indian batsmen.

 

[BokMagic]

So, 1st test comprehensively to India by 123 runs- Smith barely got off the mark, Sreesanth hit his straps quite quickly alright, and Mickey Mouse`s "brave cricket" has disappeared into the sunset, along with any semblance of a game-plan. Well, at least Pollock was cranking it up to 70mph again. Onto the 2nd test in Durban, starting on 26th December, the traditional SA version of the "boxing day Test", the Durban wicket is normally pretty seamer-friendly on day 1, quickening up a bit on days 2-3, and giving some encouragement to spinners on days 4-5, a typical good cricket wicket- oh shite, another Test hiding for SA in the offing.

 

[An Tarbh]

Big reversal in form from the one dayers, what was the big difference in the downturn in South Africa's fortunes?

 

[BokMagic]

If you look closely at the one-dayers, not too much has actually changed- except for the 4th ODI where the SA batting actually clicked, we`ve only really relied on one player getting us out of the shite every time- Kallis with 119* in the 1st, Kemp with 100* in the 2nd and Gibbs with 93* in the 3rd. Even in the Champion`s Trophy, we had to rely heavily on a few lower-order partnerships to dig us out of 40/5 type of holes. This time round, nobody got the traditional lower-order rescue act on in the 1st innings, hence 84 all out and game over.

Also, the SA preparation left much to be desired- while the guys were busy working on their golf swings with a week off, India were busy getting their mental preparation right looking at replays of their recent successes vs the WI.

As long as Mickey Arthur and Graeme Smith continues to run the SA cricket ship, don`t expect us to be anything in real cricket- sure we`ll win a few in the ODI stuff, but in Tests the same problems that haunted us last season vs the Aussies(top-order batting, holding the vital catches and finishing off the tail) will continue to surface, and won`t be addressed other than with some PR- speak. These problems were evident vs. Aus, also vs New Zealand(although some home-grown wickets and a couple of handy toss wins hid the facts) and in Sri Lanka during the August tours.

If you look closely at the one-dayers, not too much has actually changed- except for the 4th ODI where the SA batting actually clicked, we`ve only really relied on one player getting us out of the shite every time- Kallis with 119* in the 1st, Kemp with 100* in the 2nd and Gibbs with 93* in the 3rd. Even in the Champion`s Trophy, we had to rely heavily on a few lower-order partnerships to dig us out of 40/5 type of holes. This time round, nobody got the traditional lower-order rescue act on in the 1st innings, hence 84 all out and game over.

Also, the SA preparation left much to be desired- while the guys were busy working on their golf swings with a week off, India were busy getting their mental preparation right looking at replays of their recent successes vs the WI.

As long as Mickey Arthur and Graeme Smith continues to run the SA cricket ship, don`t expect us to be anything in real cricket- sure we`ll win a few in the ODI stuff, but in Tests the same problems that haunted us last season vs the Aussies(top-order batting, holding the vital catches and finishing off the tail) will continue to surface, and won`t be addressed other than with some PR- speak. These problems were evident vs. Aus, also vs New Zealand(although some home-grown wickets and a couple of handy toss wins hid the facts) and in Sri Lanka during the August tours.

 

[BokMagic]

2nd Test starting today- AB De Villiers promoted to open the batting, with Gibbs moving down to 6- don`t know what to do with the other opening slot though, what with Smith still barely getting off the mark.

Looks like Steyn might also miss out through injury. The wicket looks like standard Kingsmead stuff- hard and bouncy. So no excuses this time for mr Mickey Mouse.

 

[An Tarbh]

Decent start from India, SA 41-3, Gibbs is batting at 4 though with Kallis ruled out with a back injury.

 

[BokMagic]

SA got to 328 all out- Prince getting 121 and up to 900 runs in 2006. Bad light is ruining a lot of the cricket in Durban, a.k.a. the City of Smog.

India currently 125/3, Tendulkar on 50+, having been dropped by Smith on 21.

Oops, make that 125/4- Macky you beauty! Tendulkar gone for 63.

 

[An Tarbh]

Looking good for South Africa alright, India now 201-8, a lead of 127 for SA, tail seems to be wagging though for India, bad light will probably come into play as well.

 

[lettsylegend]

did u see the light fiasco??

the two south-african batsmen were determined to stay on when the umpires offered them the light but a few overs later the umpires walked off anyway stating that the light level was dangerous, which it clearl wasn't...

i hate the way officials in all sports never ever apply common sense

 

[An Tarbh]

there does seem to be a light problem though with Durban, think it was in Durban where England didn't want to go off but SA took the light and this whole debate of when the floodlights were taking over from the natural light. Maybe starting earlier in the day might be a solution.

 

[BokMagic]

Starting earlier in the day would be the ideal solution- the only time in recent memory I can recall of a full day`s play in Durban was last year vs. Aus, when SA were 8 down and the light was substantially worse than today, but play continued for another 40 minutes.

As things stand now, only approx. 120 overs are likely over the last 2 days anyway, as the light will not hold. Funny thing is, I`m only approx. 800km from Durbs, but here the light is still excellent around 19h30 local time.

 

[An Tarbh]

Well then given a South African victory is on the cards at least bad light won't be a problem in the final test then.

 

[Groen_en_Goud]

:cheers: Finally, something to cheer about for RSA Test cricket. Thanks to Prince and Kallis, I fell asleep and missed the last 30 odd runs :zzz: .

Bring on the next three Tests. B)