Jeor Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 I think it was the right decision to bowl first, NZ should have had some more wickets but Australia toughed it out really well. Wagner once again getting Smith with a short ball. He's been the pick of the bowlers this series; Boult got a wicket in his first over but otherwise has looked relatively innocuous. The pacemen have bowled tidily, but the real problem is Santner. He's been taken for 0/49 off 9 overs and has offered zero control. Although they have the all-rounder, expecting pace bowlers to shoulder heavy bowling loads in these hot conditions is a big ask and it is vital Santner offers them some relief and ties down an end. How NZ will wish they had Dan Vettori still around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 12 hours ago, ljkeane said: Decent start for England at Centurion but while De Kock's still at the crease there's the danger it could get away from them. I saw the start of the De Kock innings...very streaky but chanced his arm and it worked. I guess we'll see what happens when England bat, hard to tell if something around 300 is a workable score or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 De Kock is a gem. Pleasing to see him back in form - I was worried for a while there. Australia now in a very good position. This series is theirs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 33 minutes ago, Paxter said: Australia now in a very good position. This series is theirs. Sadly I must agree with you. My forlorn hopes for NZ are now in the toilet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 Hehe. You knew it to be true but I think you were being a good sport and harbouring hopes of a good series. I would love to see more competitive test cricket in Australia but only South Africa and India ever seem to pose a serious challenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 Well, at least the game is moving on now with 8/458, so we'll get to see NZ bat later today. There's a fair bit of bounce in the wicket and the Aussies looked uncomfortable against the short-pitched bowling, so I don't think NZ are much of a chance batting, but I'm still hoping they might surprise me. They can't win this match (unless they score 600+ and bowl Australia out on the last day) but they at least need to give their bowlers a rest by putting together a decent batting innings. Yes, we haven't had many competitive home series lately. Next summer we get India (after having hosted the T20 World Cup) so hopefully they are still a powerhouse by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 Major error by Kane Williamson - out to an intemperate hook shot from way outside off stump. So uncharacteristic and definitely a sign of the pressure he feels he's under. No chance for NZ to rescue this match now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 England doing their best to make South Africa's 284 look good. They've gone all El Collapso again, top five batsmen all caught behind by the wicketkeeper (I wonder if that's a record or something). Curran and the tail can bat a bit, and Buttler is still there, so they may get up to parity. It's interesting that the all-rounder has seen a resurgence. Sam Curran, Ben Stokes and Dwayne Pretorius on either side of this match, and de Grandhomme in NZ. If not for Travis Head's century, Australia might have been tempted to go for Mitch Marsh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 This is a good match so far. South Africa are not in the ascendancy by much, but it’s pleasing to see them perform well after all the recent pressure and criticism. I’m perplexed at the re-selection of Bairstow. Either he needs an extended spell out of the side to improve his game or he doesn’t! Some pretty desperate selection really. I guess he might not have played if Pope were fit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 I just saw on the cricinfo commentary that Philander is retiring after this series. Seems a shame as he's "only" 34 and still effective with a Test bowling average of 22 and strike rate under 50. He isn't express pace either so he probably could have kept it up a couple more years but I guess touring life etc is difficult and we don't know what his mental or physical state are. I always liked him as a cricketer though! The collapse is complete being bowled out in the 180s. While it's poor for England, I guess South Africa would have been in virtually the same state if not for De Kock's chancy but ultimately successful innings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 Yeah it’s a real changing of the guard for South Africa. Batting is more of a problem than bowling though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 6 hours ago, Paxter said: I’m perplexed at the re-selection of Bairstow. Either he needs an extended spell out of the side to improve his game or he doesn’t! Some pretty desperate selection really. I guess he might not have played if Pope were fit? I'm pretty sure it's because Pope's not fit to play. I suppose they could have gone with Crawley but I'm not sure if he's fit either. England shoot themselves in the foot again. They're a bit fortunate that South Africa are also struggling with the bat so they're not entirely out of the game but it's pretty close to over. 5 hours ago, Jeor said: I just saw on the cricinfo commentary that Philander is retiring after this series. Seems a shame as he's "only" 34 and still effective with a Test bowling average of 22 and strike rate under 50. He isn't express pace either so he probably could have kept it up a couple more years but I guess touring life etc is difficult and we don't know what his mental or physical state are. I always liked him as a cricketer though! It's a shame but despite him not having an action that looks the most strenuous he's had a lot of fitness issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 I am literally having '90s flashbacks here. What the hell is wrong with our batsmen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 Yah. Not good cricket from the Black Caps in this series. Disappointing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 New Zealand are angering me here! They're the 2nd best Test team in the world and had taken care of business against England (admittedly England not being in good shape either) to give me so much hope of a competitive series but the batting has been worse than abysmal. I haven't even bothered watching post-lunch. The South Africa vs England game is much more interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 I think the conditions and historical factors weigh heavily on NZ. One test match win since the 80s (across both home and away tests) is a very poor record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 History be damned, these Kiwis have still betrayed me with their capriciousness! Wagner gets Smith for a fourth consecutive time. He is their leading bowler, and actually has a very good Test record. Great workhorse and bowls with menace. Boult has been subdued, maybe rushed back too soon or still just finding his match fitness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 England have let this slip away. There are some mitigating circumstances with half the side playing while sick but it hasn't been a great performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 We've batted a lot better today than I thought we would. At 72/4, I didn't think England would have had much more than 250 to chase but we've done well to get to a 350+ lead. England's bowlers did help us out by bowling too short in the first session - their length has been much better after lunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 The lower order has worked for South Africa too in both digs - the last five wickets in the first innings were good for around 170 runs, and the last five wickets in the second innings were good for another 120. England had a decent shot at the top order both times but were just unable to roll up the second half of the lineup. South Africa have traditionally had pretty good tails because of their all-rounders (e.g. Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis, to a lesser extent other guys like Klusener, Boje) and it's nice to see them doing it again. Philander, Maharaj and Rabada are a pretty good 8, 9 and 10 (with Nortje presumably normally batting at 11 if he weren't used as a nightwatchman, and he made a 40 in the second innings). I wonder how much the illness is going to affect England's batting - presumably they'll still come out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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