***Official*** New Zealand in South Africa

[Chubb]

Sack the ****ing coach already! I mean seriously get John Wright or Fletcher or someone, anyone, who can get the best out of these players.

 

[Silver Arrow]

O'Brien making the most of his time at the crease with a 6 and two 4s

 

[Loony BoB]

At least O'Brien can bat. :S Does Bracewell focus only on the bowlers, even when coaching out the batting?

 

[Silver Arrow]

McCullum gone, lbw Steyn, Steyn's on fire at the moment

 

[Loony BoB]

Would be nice to at least get it to less than 100 runs behind. =/

 

[Silver Arrow]

Innings all over Steyn has a 5-wicket bag and NZ are bowled out for 118.
Great bowling from Steyn, he has proved to be very dangerous on this track and has richley deserved his 5-wicket haul.

 

[Bahnz]

And so the slaughter ends. At least we managed to avoid the follow-on.

I can now quite easily see South Africa racking up 400+. The conditions are good for batting and the bowlers might still be quite tired from yesterday.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

This Chris Martin travelling comedy act continues with that corking shot.

 

[chalky]

Shane Bond = Living Ledgend

 

[The Sean]

Still can't get my head around the fact that he's only playing in his 17th Test. That's ridiculous.

Gun bowler.

 

[chalky]

Still can't get my head around the fact that he's only playing in his 17th Test. That's ridiculous.

Gun bowler.

Hopefully he stays fit so we get to see a bit more of him in test cricket next year with New Zealand playing 6 tests against England.

 

[grecian]

This is not worthy of its own thread, but does anyone know why Plunkett and Harmison are playing in the SA Domestic Comp? Reverse Kolpak?

Just to get some cricket under their belt before the Test series against Sri Lanka I think.

They aren't in the squad.

Harmison will be in the squad, if he proves his fitness in these matches, which he seems to be doing. No idea why Plunkers is there, can only be an embarrassment to all concerned, I would of thought.

On the Bond issue, this is the first time I've seen him bowl in a Test match, which is a bit depressing, tbh.

 

[chalky]

Martin gets Smith game on.

Amla is still there (thanks to McCullum) but looks so out of his depth. Every innings I've seen him bat, even the ones where he got runs, he looks this way. Surely there are better batsmen in South Africa.

 

[Loony BoB]

And so the slaughter ends. At least we managed to avoid the follow-on.

I can now quite easily see South Africa racking up 400+. The conditions are good for batting and the bowlers might still be quite tired from yesterday.

400+? Have you seen the scores batsmen are making on this wicket? Don't blame the bowlers for the incompetence of the batsmen - I'm sure we'll get them out for less than that unless there is one hell of an innings from a star batsman. And I mean a real cracker.

 

[Bahnz]

400+? Have you seen the scores batsmen are making on this wicket? Don't blame the bowlers for the incompetence of the batsmen - I'm sure we'll get them out for less than that unless there is one hell of an innings from a star batsman. And I mean a real cracker.

I'm not blaming the bowlers. The fact is, is that the pitch isn't terrible, and the conditions are now quite good. If New Zealand had any half decent top order batsmen, we would have expected 300 to be the bare minimum. South Africa, with a vastly superior batting line up, will be aiming for even higher. On the first day the conditions were cloudy, and the pitch was juicy, which gave us the advantage, allowing us to bowl them out cheaply. Today the sun is out, the pitch has firmed up and a lot of the swing is gone.

What's worse, New Zealand only really have two bowlers who were ever likely to be successful in these conditions (Martin and Bond). The rest are, including Vettori, just filling in overs. O'Brien simply doesn't look like taking a wicket, the conditions aren't right for Oram to cash in, and the pitch isn't offering much turn for Danny. Thus there's plenty of opportunities for the South African batsmen to make hay.

This has left our new captain looking quite desperate. Already he's brought Bond back on after his first spell, and he's clearly down on pace and not especially threatening. With both Kallis and Amla set, I could see them moving quite comfortably through the rest of today without losing a wicket, provided neither one of them does anything silly.

 

[Raghav]

105 -2 for saf. Kallis looking set! thats worse news for NZ

 

[Flem274*]

Can we borrow Shaun Pollock and Ricky Ponting?

 

[Jono]

The one time I make some good bets, is when my betting account is on empty and I have no funds.

I knew SA would have a first innings lead after day one. With all due respect to NZ's batting, even in the position they were in I could feel a collapse coming. And I told about three people that I could see a Steyn five-for as well. Would have been great bets come stumps on day one.

NZ would have to be shattered with yesterday's play. Piss poor from them really.

 

[JBH001]

NZ would have to be shattered with yesterday's play. Piss poor from them really.

Agreed.

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Why is it that a guy like Amla can only score against us?