***Official*** South Africa in England

[kingkallis]

Bad light and few drops of rain stops the play!

Any updates on tomorrow's weather? As a protean supporter, I want the repeat of 3rd day of this test

 

[wpdavid]

Bad light and few drops of rain stops the play!

Any updates on tomorrow's weather? As a protean supporter, I want the repeat of 3rd day of this test

Forecast is good, so we should get a full day's play.

Lots of pressure on England afaics. 0-3 stinks far worse than 1-2 with a new captain in charge for the solitary win, whereas SA have a good away win either way. As usual, it'll probably be decided by how many KP makes. Even if England do win this game, there's still too many questions over the batting to fell great about our prospects over the next 12 months.

 

[TT Boy]

It still is very much England's game but ABDV shows what a fine player he is!

Yeah was a top knock from AB. He should really have about nine or more test centuries by now but his a selfless player and does a fine job for the team at six.

Ideally he should now be given Boucher’s gloves for one day cricket so he can be groomed for the test arena. South Africa from a purely batting perspective would improve ten fold if AB replaced Bouch and came in at seven whilst JP Duminy slotted in at six.

Also, maybe it’s a mere coincidence but South Africa’s two leading runs scorers in this game are both ‘non-drinkers’ and weren’t on the piss until Wednesday morning...

 

[TT Boy]

Forecast is good, so we should get a full day's play.

Lots of pressure on England afaics. 0-3 stinks far worse than 1-2 with a new captain in charge for the solitary win, whereas SA have a good away win either way. As usual, it'll probably be decided by how many KP makes. Even if England do win this game, there's still too many questions over the batting to fell great about our prospects over the next 12 months.

100 more runs and we would have a good game on our hands but 190 odd on what is practically a 4th days Oval wicket isn’t a particularly hard total to chase, especially when one considers the South Africans haven’t really bowled well all series. I can’t see Harris running through anyone in his current state and Andre Nel after one decent innings with the ball has reverted back to his usual self i.e. the short and wide crap.

 

[Perm]

Very fine knock from de Villiers, I tipped him for a century when he was on about 50 and it's a real shame to see him fall short.

 

[Precambrian]

Abe Devilliers is such a Gun. His 200 in India was masterclass and this 97 was priceless given the situation. The match is so tantalisingly poised. I think Morkel is the key for SA today. If he manages a couple of wickets in the first 5 overs, SA are likely to win.

My prediction : SA - 80%

 

[Top_Cat]

England should win but it's not going to be easy. Some quick wickets and we'll have a game on our hands.

 

[Perm]

Personally I think England should be able to win this without too much trouble. Strauss has been poor this series, but KP, Bell and Collingwood have all played good knocks and Cook is capable of sticking around for a while.

 

[Goughy]

Obviously I want England to win easily.

However, it would be interesting for England to lose 3 quick wickets (including KP) as see what they are really made of. Id like to see some steel and certain players score runs when needed rather than when easy.

Saying that, Id still prefer a 10 wicket win

 

[GIMH]

Great knock for deV, actually felt sorry for him when he got out

nervous about today tttt, was hoping we'd do the job yesterday so I could see the conclusion. Strauss needs some runs, let's hope he does it

 

[Zinzan]

England by 6 wickets for mine

 

[GIMH]

Match set for a draw going by the current RR

 

[Scaly piscine]

Can't help wondering if Strauss was an unfashionable northerner who was one of the best fielders in the world and could bowl some useful overs that there'd be people banging on about it being last chance saloon.

 

[pasag]

His place should certainly be under scrutiny (as should the whole line up besides KP), though there aren't exactly a plethora of county openers knocking on the door.

 

[GIMH]

I think that's the point. The only person the selectors seem to want to open aside from these two is Vaughan. Maybe Key, thought he might have got a crack last winter.

He hasn't looked as bad as he did last summer where his technique was at fault, from what I've seen it's been more like in the 06-07 Ashes where he doesn't look woefully out of form but keeps getting out. At the end of day the day, though, it's no good batsmen saying "I feel in good touch", as form=scoring runs

 

[GIMH]

His place should certainly be under scrutiny (as should the whole line up besides KP), though there aren't exactly a plethora of county openers knocking on the door.

I'm happy enough for Flintoff & Anderson to have their places as safe at the minute. Agree in general, though

 

[pasag]

I'm happy enough for Flintoff & Anderson to have their places as safe at the minute. Agree in general, though

Oops, meant batting lineup.

Nice stuff from Cook here.

 

[GIMH]

Would be awesome if these two had their best partnership yet, and took us to the win. If they can take us to, say, 100, though, then that should be enough for the rest to scrape together. Should, should, should

 

[GIMH]

What happened for Strauss to score a 5 just then?

edit - nevermind, overthrows, cricinfo playing up

 

[Perm]

At the end of day the day, though, it's no good batsmen saying "I feel in good touch", as form=scoring runs

Not strictly true. I haven't seen much of this series, so I'm speaking in a broader sense. Batsmen can still be in good nick and not actual score many runs, for any number of reasons. Obviously if this happens for a reasonable length of time then the batsman's sense of form will be lost, as he won't spend enough time in the middle to say that he is in good tough. Often it can only take one innings for that form to be realised and for the batsman to make a good score, but a lack of runs doesn't always mean the batsman is in poor form.

Not sure if that made any sense, as I'm bloody tired, but I'm sure you get what I'm saying