Cricket......

[Capricorn]

6 runs from 6 balls required. who to bowl the last over? Duminy did fantastically in the 49th.

[Zac.A]

6 needed from the last over.

Still in with a chance but very slim.

[Capricorn]

dot ball wicket! .. but my word, petersen takes the last over. this is a roll of a dice.. meh.

[Zac.A]

5 off 3

[Zac.A]

dot ball wicket! .. but my word, petersen takes the last over. this is a roll of a dice.. meh.

 

2 wickets for 1 run so far

[Zac.A]

http://www.paulohsms.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/fred-mercury-queen-meme-so-close.png

['Dale]

Super finish to a great match!

[Capricorn]

totally agreed dale: what a match!

 

If anyone is going to be a bit negative bout this, just keep in mind that this is just step #2 in terms of games in prep for 3 years from now. Nothing else matters. Nothing.

 

onward and upward.

['Kaze Pete]

Are the bookies happy?

[Christie]

Great finish

 

SL almost threw it away there. Risky to bowl a spinner for the last over, but it worked for 1/2 of the over.

 

In the end the difference between the 2 sides today was more difficult conditions SA faced at the start of our innings (ball moving around a bit, spinners struggled with the wet ball - great call to bowl first) and the batting genius of AB de Villiers (if not for that innings, we would have been thrashed. Pure genius seems to be on a different level than the other batsmen in this series, only Amla comes close imo. Can't wait for a big stand between those 2 )

 

Regarding the series, some points:

* Smith still a concern imo. It is hars to criticize him after he scored 100, but he bats too slow in the first 10. This is often offset by great batting from Amla, but it has cost us often in the past when he opens with an accumulator, or if Amla goes out and he bats with Kallis. Perhaps have Kallis open instead of Smith?

* Biggest concern is our bowling for ODIs (and T20s too). Not too many wickets fell to brilliant deliveries in the last 2 games. 20 powerplay overs have to be bowled, which means we need 2 bowlers who can bowl well in them. I think they should consider having Tsotsobe bowl his 10 out at the start. He seems to struggle later on, but this may be due to the many left-handers they have got - he bowls left arm over and to a good lefty it seems easier to hit. Perhaps go round the wicket more? Parnell can be one, but we need another death bowler if we want to win the odi or t20 world cup. Imagine if Steyn can learn to fire in 3 or 4 yorkers in an over. Perhaps luck went our way in that 3d ODI, could have been a different story if we had to bowl all the overs.

*They should have given Botha a game, too. I can't understand why he didn't get an opportunity.

*Ingram, Duminy, Du Plessis, still have some work to do on their batting.

Edited January 22, 2012 by Christie

['Dale]

And on another cricket ground in the Middle East:

 

England 37/4 chasing 145 to win in the 2nd test against an inspired Pakistan

 

Pakistan 1-0 against the nr 1 ranked team.

[Christie]

England were looking for 145 in their 2nd innings to win, Pakistan bowled them out for 72

[Delgado]

England were looking for 145 in their 2nd innings to win, Pakistan bowled them out for 72

For real?......or......??

[Mackie]

For real?......or......??

Now who are the suspects?

[Mackie]

Care of cricinfo.com

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan-v-england-2012/engine/current/match/531629.html

 

You can just imagine the hiding the English team are getting form the British press, shame! England Cricket Team = My least favourite team (Of any sporting code)

[Christie]

Lot of hype around England leading up to this series about how awesome they are, how they will dominate test cricket etc.

 

Lets hold thumbs that SA will completely burst their bubble in the middle of the year. They were able to bully India in England, but Steyn, Morkel, Philander, De Lange will be a bit hotter to handle compared to Indian medium pacers.