Must be the new SA method to avoid pre-World Cup burnout!Yeah that's a fair point but ideally tests should last a bit longer than 2 1/2 days
Not quite as extreme as NZ's...don't play them at allMust be the new SA method to avoid pre-World Cup burnout!
Depends on your definition of "minefield". It's a very helpful pitch for the bowlers, and tricky to bat on. Obviously though, Boucher was set and facing the old ball, where it's always going to be easier. The key is surviving the early period, like any innings on a dodgy wicket.Is this really a minefield or what?
I saw bits and pieces of Boucher batting and it looked perfect, so what is the real deal here. Is it bad batting or extremely good bowling?
Yeah, they're not going too bad here, I spoke too soon. I'd forgotten about SAF's difficulties cleaning up the tail of late (Nazir and Sami have put on nearly 50 now). If they can eke out a 170 lead or more (and currently it's around 140 or so) they could actually be in a somewhat decent position.150 is possibly defendable on this pitch, if Pakistan bowl well. So another 40 or 50 and it's still alive. It's worth remembering that India only set Australia 107 to win in Mumbai in '04 and won the match, and there's other examples around too.
Obviously anything under 200 and SA are favourites, but it's not over just yet.