Cricket......

[Shebeen]

22nd Match, Group A: Australia v South Africa at Basseterre - Mar 24, 2007

Australia 377/6 (50/50 ov); South Africa 294 (48/50 ov)

Australia won by 83 runs

Scorecard | Commentary | Report | Article index (10) | Photo index (45)

This was the early matchup of the two tournament favourites. Things were going very well at one point initially, with us winning the toss. From then on, putting them into bat we went downhill.

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not going well

 

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klap it

 

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klap it

 

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klap it

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klap it

 

We got the dangerous Mathew Hayden out in the 23^rd over. Problem is he’d already got a hundred off 68 balls. Ponting and Clarke also made quickfire 90s and despite losing 4 wickets in the last five overs they still kept on bashing us away. 377 was a big score - to this day only one higher score has ever been successfully chased (that 438 game at wanderers). The bowlers all got punished, Andrew Hall’s 2/60 from 10 including death overs was the least crap.

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klap it

Things started off well for us. VERY well. AB and Biff had us on the road with an opening stand of 160 from just 20 overs. Then it all went downhill. AB got run out from a direct hit off the boundary. Then Biff got cramps.

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klap it

 

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maybe he got cramp from his hectic bowling schedule?

 

Smith's full-body meltdown in the 26th over was the moment the match changed beyond all recognition. At that point, South Africa were 184 for 1, needing a further 194 - in other words they were cruising. But an attack of cramps in his back, legs and arms decimated his team's momentum, and gave Australia the sniff of a get-out they needed. From that moment on, nine wickets tumbled for 109 in 23 overs.

 

[dev null]

So, SL seems very vulnerable.  If we keep our heads this time we should be able to cruise to the semis.

[Baldrick]

So, SL seems very vulnerable.  If we keep our heads this time we should be able to cruise to the semis.

Assuming we get a result tomorrow

[Stretch]

So, SL seems very vulnerable.  If we keep our heads this time we should be able to cruise to the semis.

 

they do?

 

they clapped England

played well against Aus

they just destroyed scotland (ok its scotland)

 

they were a little shaky against NZ...but that was right in the beginning

[Shebeen]

they do?

 

they clapped England

played well against Aus

they just destroyed scotland (ok its scotland)

 

they were a little shaky against NZ...but that was right in the beginning

Both teams lost 2 games to test opposition - they had a near whoopsie against afghanistan though.

 

Sangakara is on a hot streak, he's basically carried the batting with dilshan all tournament.

The bowling is looking a little bit light, not that much support for malinga these days. 

 

We won't take this one lightly (match is next wednesday btw, 5:30 start so get your boss to buy a tv)

[Stretch]

Both teams lost 2 games to test opposition - they had a near whoopsie against afghanistan though.

 

Sangakara is on a hot streak, he's basically carried the batting with dilshan all tournament.

The bowling is looking a little bit light, not that much support for malinga these days. 

 

We won't take this one lightly (match is next wednesday btw, 5:30 start so get your boss to buy a tv)

 

thats me...and i'll be streaming

[dev null]

Both teams lost 2 games to test opposition - they had a near whoopsie against afghanistan though.

 

Sangakara is on a hot streak, he's basically carried the batting with dilshan all tournament.

The bowling is looking a little bit light, not that much support for malinga these days. 

 

We won't take this one lightly (match is next wednesday btw, 5:30 start so get your boss to buy a tv)

 

 

Get Sangakarra and Dilshan out for little, and they are in big doodoo.  Their bowling was very average against Scotland, and their fielding even poorer.  They dropped a few absolute sitters, and almost another 2 from what I saw.  Malinga's pace is not as hot anymore compared to his younger days.

Edited March 11, 2015 by Moridin

[canfan]

Get Sangakarra and Dilshan out for little, and they are in big doodoo.  Their bowling was very average against Scotland, and their fielding even poorer.  They dropped a few absolute sitters, and almost another 2 from what I saw.  Malinga's pace is not as hot anymore compared to his younger days.

Well isn't that the same dilemma we face? Get AB and Amla out for little and we are in big doodoo!

[dev null]

Well isn't that the same dilemma we face? Get AB and Amla out for little and we are in big doodoo!

 

Yip, quite correct in your observation.  We and SL are both struggling with our teams.  SL have a lot of injuries, and we, well, not sure.  We seem to be struggling to get past the JK era.

 

It all depends who the gods will favour when we meet.  But I doubt if the survivor will make it past the semis, given both teams current form.

[GLuvsMtb]

Yip, quite correct in your observation.  We and SL are both struggling with our teams.  SL have a lot of injuries, and we, well, not sure.  We seem to be struggling to get past the JK era.

 

It all depends who the gods will favour when we meet.  But I doubt if the survivor will make it past the semis, given both teams current form.

I don't quite agree with your assessment. We look much better setting a target than chasing. Our whole top 6 bar QdK scored runs and all bar QdK averages over 55 in the tournament. 

We had a terrible game against India, and let things slip against Pakistan (or Pakistan played exceptionally well on the day, the jury is still out on this one). If we get a result tomorrow, the Pakistan result would not matter as we would have ended second on the log win or lose against Pakistan. 

3 of our 4 front-line bowlers are performing well, namely Tahir, Morkel and Abbot (the latter being somewhat of a surprise to me). 5 of our bowlers averages below 5 runs an over in the tournament, and De Villiers, Rossouw, Duminy and Du Plessis average below 7. I'll take 5 an over from my top 4 and 7 from my 5,th bowler compliment if you give it to me on a small ground like Wellington.

If QdK can play a decent knock and construct his innings better, and JP gets some form with the ball to bring that 5th bowler run rate closer to 5 we will be competitive in the next 4 games. 

Our fielding has been spot on. I can mayber recall 5 lapses in the field. 

Our bowlers seems to be more disciplined with extras.

We need to speed up our overrate if we are not going to bowl out sides

We need to be more focussed at the death. 

[dev null]

Yes, maybe I am over critical.  BUT, we seem to have lost that steadiness when chasing a target that we used to have.   Many years ago we were very good at chasing.  Even though JK was sometimes slow, he seemed to steady the other batsmen around him's nerves.  We seem to panic sometimes when chasing, or look like we are walking on eggs.

 

We need a strong character with leadership abilities AND discipline at number 3 or 4 for this. Faf is not that at the moment, although he could/should be.

[Mntboy]

Yes, maybe I am over critical. BUT, we seem to have lost that steadiness when chasing a target that we used to have. Many years ago we were very good at chasing. Even though JK was sometimes slow, he seemed to steady the other batsmen around him's nerves. We seem to panic sometimes when chasing, or look like we are walking on eggs.

 

We need a strong character with leadership abilities AND discipline at number 3 or 4 for this. Faf is not that at the moment, although he could/should be.

Personally I think the problem with our chasing eminates from a lack of clarity in our batsmen's thinking and a lack of game plan execution. It certainly doesn't help our cause much that we currently seem bereft of an organiser in the manner of a JK or even one Graeme Smith. Would certainly help if Faf could make the step up to being that player for us but the rest of the batting unit needs to deliver as well. Imho I think that Miller is improving his ability to score under pressure as per the hundreds against WI and Zimbabwe show but still need to learn how to get it right against better opposition. Duminy can do better in pressure situations and really needs to have a talk to the coaching staff concerning shot selection and game management. It might also be an idea for him and Miller to have such a discussion with Mike Bevan who was so good in this area, because they are being viewed as our finishers.

 

And yes it would most certainly help if Duminy could get some zip back into his bowling. Also our management of our death bowling could improve (shocker right) especially when bowling first. Not sure of exact figures but we actually bowl better at the death when the other side chases our total and the gap in this aspect could be what's costing us matches.

[Christie]

Firstly, I dont think the selectors got the squad right, they gambled on De Kock, took no reserve opener or WK, plus got the all rounder options badly wrong. The rest of the team selected themselves, so poor job from the SA selectors imo.

I agree, we do not seem to have an "organizer" when chasing. They also made concerning statements to the press like "we should bat like when we are setting a total". Against Pak we needed 4.5 rpo to win, can take singles and hit the bad ball to win, no need for big shots from Rilee, JP, Steyn etc.

All in all, the team has yet to impress, smashing minnows and low ranked WI is better than England, but does not count for much else.

Judging current form, we look weaker than Aus, NZ, SL and Ind, I hope Im wrong, but those look like the top 4.

[GLuvsMtb]

Ok so the batting questions seems to be largely answered.

QdK will probably miss out for the rest of the tournament and AB will keep. Lets hope that moving Rilee around like that does not backfire. One low score could see him in exactly the same place as QdK. I hope Beharfien and JP get a few overs each as AB will be out of the bowling if he keeps. Behardien batted well today, so lets hope there is more to come.

[Wil6]

Firstly, I dont think the selectors got the squad right, they gambled on De Kock, took no reserve opener or WK, plus got the all rounder options badly wrong. The rest of the team selected themselves, so poor job from the SA selectors imo.

I agree, we do not seem to have an "organizer" when chasing. They also made concerning statements to the press like "we should bat like when we are setting a total". Against Pak we needed 4.5 rpo to win, can take singles and hit the bad ball to win, no need for big shots from Rilee, JP, Steyn etc.

All in all, the team has yet to impress, smashing minnows and low ranked WI is better than England, but does not count for much else.

Judging current form, we look weaker than Aus, NZ, SL and Ind, I hope Im wrong, but those look like the top 4.

Spot on, My money is on Sri Lanka or New Zealand. 

 

De Kock is unfortunately in the team because like you said he is our WK, and they did not have the brains to bring our most inform WK and opener Morne van Wyk. But it is what it is, nothing that can be done now.

 

Why don't they bump De Kock up the order? And let Faf open with Amla?

['Dale]

Yoh, the amount of opportunities that QdK got and he never grabbed them, despite being selected to the squad with a high-risk injury.

 

I was hoping that AB 'The Freak' wouldn't need to keep but he seems good with it should it come to this.

 

Crunch time coming on soon.

 

UAE 28/0