Jeor Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 12 hours ago, Paxter said: South Africa in disarray with the bat (hardly a surprise). Aus also off to a shaky start but Smith and Head have countered. As an aside, it does look like this is nearly the end for Davey Warner’s test career. Home conditions are his main strength and he can’t even seem to capitalize on those. This is at least a better contest than the Windies. South Africa are going to struggle to rack up scores, but with a pace battery of Rabada, Ngidi and Nortje they will rattle the cage of the Australian batsmen. Warner is old (36) and hasn't scored in a while. His last 9 innings haven't had a half century, and since Boxing Day 2021 (a period of 11 Tests) he has averaged 22.55 with two half centuries. An early career batsman on that run would have been dropped - several times. His reputation has kept him in the game, but for a 36 year-old that's a death knell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 (edited) PS loving this green pitch at the Gabba. Runs are gold as illustrated by Head's innings. Lots of quick runs, wickets, etc. EDIT: Forget about the runs, it's just lots of wickets apparently. This Test might be over on the 2nd day! Edited December 18, 2022 by Jeor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impmk2 Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 South Africa 3 down for 5 runs. This might not even go to day 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 (edited) 5 hours ago, Jeor said: PS loving this green pitch at the Gabba. Runs are gold as illustrated by Head's innings. Lots of quick runs, wickets, etc. EDIT: Forget about the runs, it's just lots of wickets apparently. This Test might be over on the 2nd day! Not sure I agree about the pitch or it being much more of a contest than the Windies series *cries*. This summer is taking the test out of test match. Edited December 18, 2022 by Paxter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 Ok, so the pitch might be a little too lively when it's still a minefield on the 2nd day and it's going to all be over just after tea. I was thinking 12 wickets falling on the first day, when South Africa admittedly has a weak batting lineup, was pretty good for an Australian pitch. Was expecting it to flatten out into more of a contest today but doesn't look like it. At least compared to the Windies, the Springboks measure up to Australia in the bowling department. Whereas every session seemed to be one sided, this time you have some Aussies jumping around at the crease. Bring back Faf and de Villiers, I say! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impmk2 Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 32 minutes ago, Jeor said: Ok, so the pitch might be a little too lively when it's still a minefield on the 2nd day and it's going to all be over just after tea. So much grass on it you can barely tell the wicket from the surrounding ground! Zondo trying to salvage some respectability here... wacking Cummins around. Entertaining to watch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmanion Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 Then SA give the game away with 19 extras with Aus chasing 34 4 wickets down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 Yes. Losing 4 wickets to chase 30-odd...South Africa were only one decent partnership (100 runs) away from being favourites to win. Their bowling attack has to be one of the more fearsome around, a pity they don't have any world class batsmen. For them to win a match they're going to have to grind out a workmanlike century from Elgar and then make the absolute most of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impmk2 Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 (edited) It's hard to say if Aust were chasing 134 rather than 34 it would've gone the same way. Smith and Khawaja at least were clearly just trying to attack the ball and get it over with fast rather than get themselves set, and South Africa had nothing to lose being as attacking as possible. Different mindset with a higher total. Still not a great look losing 4 wickets so quickly, Aus doing their best to make a game of it. Edited December 18, 2022 by Impmk2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 It did look a very green pitch from the little I saw of it. A bit of a strange choice from an Australian point of view considering getting into a low scoring shootout seemed like the only way they were going to lose. England are in a bit of trouble here considering they’re batting last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 (edited) Sehwag didn’t hold back on criticizing the ‘Gabba wicket: Quote 142 overs and not even lasting 2 days and they have the audacity to lecture on what kind of pitches are needed. Had it happened in India, it would have been labelled end of test cricket, ruining test cricket and what not. The Hypocrisy is mind-boggling. To be fair, plenty of Aussie commentators were also critical of the pitch. And it’s not like the “had it happened” is a hypothetical, since India actually has produced two-day pitches in recent history. But I do think the death knell of test cricket is ringing quite loudly this season. Edited December 18, 2022 by Paxter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted December 19, 2022 Share Posted December 19, 2022 5 for on debut for Rehan Ahmed. Any spinner looking half decent does tend to attract a lot of expectation from England fans considering our problems finding a test class spinner but it really does look like there's something there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 19, 2022 Share Posted December 19, 2022 Wow what a series from England. Pure nightmare for Pakistan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLastWolf Posted December 25, 2022 Share Posted December 25, 2022 IPL Auction went as expected. yawn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 25, 2022 Share Posted December 25, 2022 Cummins choosing to bowl first on the MCG, which is a bit of a surprise. There are very few pitches in Australia where you would bowl first, last match's greentop excepted. I don't expect the South African batting lineup to make him pay for the decision, but I'm hoping Elgar gets a good knock. I like him; never a star player, always in the background, but now he's the best South Africa have got and they rely on his workmanlike experience. Markram was meant to be the next Big Thing but looks like he was just clean dropped by the selectors for this tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 26, 2022 Share Posted December 26, 2022 (edited) Another dire performance from SA’s top order. This test summer feels nearly done already. Edited December 26, 2022 by Paxter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 26, 2022 Share Posted December 26, 2022 Well that was disappointing. Some good passages but nowhere near enough to build a score. They'd had a decent start at 0/29 and seen off the first 10 overs, then a collapse which included running out their captain and best batsman, and then a strong rebuild with 100+ run partnership to put them at a semi-respectable 5/179 before losing the last 5 wickets for 10 runs. The South Africans really don't want to score... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted December 26, 2022 Share Posted December 26, 2022 It’s a shame. South Africa’s bowling lineup is so good if they could just put out a serviceable batting lineup they’d be a really good test team. Pakistan New Zealand is looking a bit more competitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 26, 2022 Share Posted December 26, 2022 Wonder if Warner can do something special on Day 2. His form is terrible but he still has a good knock in him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 26, 2022 Share Posted December 26, 2022 3 hours ago, Paxter said: Wonder if Warner can do something special on Day 2. His form is terrible but he still has a good knock in him. Conditions should be good for batting, but we can always hope Warner continues his current run of form...he must see the writing on the wall so this will be his chance for a fairytale ending, though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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