*Official* South Africa in India

[Arjun]

Our bowlers also won us a test in SA last time. But we need one more fast bowler to step up or the attack will be found wanting.

Still hugely dependent on Zak and Harby for mine - need a consistent third wicket-taker

They need to manage their bowlers better. The way the bowlers have been handled is a lot worse than the bowlers themselves. They need to stick to their top four bowlers and stick to them for a long period, instead of dispensing with them once they hit a slump in form. Seeing so many bowlers lose their places, after a few disappointing phases, speaks badly of the team management, as they've lost some very good players.

Besides, four bowlers are still simply inadequate for this team. Make no mistake, they haven't bowled too badly, but have struggled with a lot- pitch, outfield, fielding, captaincy and at times the umpiring. The last innings of this Test is proof that they're trying their guts out, giving more than a hundred per cent. Rather than take a man off, they need to get one more on. They can capitalise on their very strong top five in the recent past, when all five are fit.

 

[Pratters]

Light was fine. Would have lasted the remaining 15 balls or so.

 

[irfan]

Had a lot of fun. Awesome session. I even came on the camera (was wearing a brown t-shirt) when the camera men focussed behind them but I don't know whether they showed it on the TV or not. Test cricket is the real winner of this series.

No doubt matching the colour of your shorts when the match was on a knife's edge

 

[R_D]

I did not want to say this until the end of the match.... in case i jinx him...
Every time i rip into Harbhajan on these forums.... he starts getting wickets.
Happend in the first innings here.... i was calling him a medium pacer and he took couple of wickets
Decided not to praise him or say anything until the end of the match.



Well done Amla... great series for him... Normally i enjoy him bat but annoyed the **** out of me today... so wanted him to be the last man out.... Well done to South African team.

Great come back by team India.... last few years... they have given us so much joy after all the heart aches in the 90's .. feels so good to have a team.. that won't just fold but will try there best to win

 

[Shri]

Kudos Amla! WAG!

Well played India, with 3 bowlers and uncertainty about the light. Could have been a sweeter win if we had got a full day's play yesterday.

 

[honestbharani]

SA probably would have settled for the drawn series prior to going to India had they known that four of their batsmen virtually weren't going to turn up. You can't win a series with only one or two batsmen contributing. Especially when one match is played on a road on which the opposition capitalise. Some SA batsmen seem to have technical problems. Have they someone on staff who can sort out their batting problems? Isn't Corrie V. a bowler?

Time to put this into perspective here:


We just beat the #2 side in the world (the side most rate as #1) WITHOUT our best #3 of all time and our first choice #6.


Our 3rd best middle order bat was not available for the 1st test and the reserve was injured too. So we went in with a wk who is not even among the best batters in his FC side.. We were without our #1 pacer for 75% of the last innings in the second test. We lost the toss both times.. Winning the toss when you have good spinners can be so crucial in India..

 

[Pratters]

This might be the best single victory I've witnessed live since 2001, no joke! Especially considering what's at stake. In the end, the pitch wasn't a dustbowl, but produced awesome cricket.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Both times, I was at the ground when India won.

 

[Pratters]

Was there a big crowd in?

30-35000 of the total capacity of 40000 right now (many stands are being reconstructed).

 

[Sir Alex]

If you were robbed in Australia you got way out of jail in England, swings and roundabouts and all that

Shame there aren't a couple more Tests in this series hey, could have been interesting

Yes, but one was due to rain break which is completely out of human control, while the other was just rubbish incompetence rrom the umpires. Anyway brige water flow and all that.

 

[Sir Alex]

SA probably would have settled for the drawn series prior to going to India had they known that four of their batsmen virtually weren't going to turn up. You can't win a series with only one or two batsmen contributing. Especially when one match is played on a road on which the opposition capitalise. Some SA batsmen seem to have technical problems. Have they someone on staff who can sort out their batting problems? Isn't Corrie V. a bowler?

Sour Grapes much? We did not have a runathon where somehow one team edged the other. SA lost by an innings and some more on a pitch that was hardly a spin deck and against an attack containing 2.5 bowlers.

 

[Pratters]

The bowler India needs and will fire in the near future - Sudeep Tyagi.

You heard it here first.

 

[Agent TBY]

India scored 600! Road! Spinners took 8 in the second innings! Dustbowl!

 

[TT Boy]

Time to put this into perspective here:


We just beat the #2 side in the world (the side most rate as #1) WITHOUT our best #3 of all time and our first choice #6.


Our 3rd best middle order bat was not available for the 1st test and the reserve was injured too. So we went in with a wk who is not even among the best batters in his FC side.. We were without our #1 pacer for 75% of the last innings in the second test. We lost the toss both times.. Winning the toss when you have good spinners can be so crucial in India..

That be the number six who has done nothing at test level.

Thoroughly deserved win by India. Test match was lost by South Africa on day one, can’t score 200 odd first innings and expect to get a result on that wicket.

 

[honestbharani]

lol... we don't rate him much but on Indian wickets at least, he is a good pick, for me.

 

[Craig]

India scored 600! Road! Spinners took 8 in the second innings! Dustbowl!

And only a two Test series.

Damn BCCI.

 

[R_D]

India scored 600! Road! Spinners took 8 in the second innings! Dustbowl!

haha..

Need SS flow chart to confirm.

 

[Briony]

Sour Grapes much? We did not have a runathon where somehow one team edged the other. SA lost by an innings and some more on a pitch that was hardly a spin deck and against an attack containing 2.5 bowlers.

The point being made is that it was a very good batting pitch but SA contrived to collapse on day one. India was always going to make runs on that track with Steyn not able to reproduce his magic when the ball wasn't swinging. If you bat badly on a road you're in deep trouble. The SA batting lineup is rather inconsistent. Without Amla they would have been an embarrassment. The poor form of JP, Smith and Prince is obviously a talking point but when was the last time that de Villiers played an innings of substance?

 

[ret]

This test showed why Ind is the best test side at the moment. It fought so many odds from injuries to key, a big loss in the last test, pressure, weather and then Zak not bowling on the final day to come up victorious! This is amongst the best Indian wins

The dart thrower was our main hope and he created his old magic at one of his fav ground. So hats off to him for carrying the burden of attack on his shoulders after having a poor last few games

On the negative side, the captaincy could have been better. We should have played an extra bowler in a must win game (and shown by Zak's injury) and hold on to a few catches

On SA, Amla was simply superb. He deserving got the Mots. I can't recall a performance like that from a batsman of visiting sides except may be Andy Flower's

As I had said in one of my posts, one of Ind big strengths is to do well despite the odds. Which is something that has made it the only side in the world to be ODI WC champs, T20 WC champs and top raked side in the tests

 

[Ausage]

The point being made is that it was a very good batting pitch but SA contrived to collapse on day one. India was always going to make runs on that track with Steyn not able to reproduce his magic when the ball wasn't swinging. If you bat badly on a road you're in deep trouble. The SA batting lineup is rather inconsistent. Without Amla they would have been an embarrassment. The poor form of JP, Smith and Prince is obviously a talking point but when was the last time that de Villiers played an innings of substance?

The pitch obviously wasn't a 600+ wicket. It was dropped catches that got the score to insane levels. I don't think it was a matter of capitalizing or not, it was simple poor catching.

 

[Pratters]

On SA, Amla was simply superb. He deserving got the Mots. I can't recall a performance like that from a batsman of visiting sides except may be Andy Flower's

Jimmy Adams tops all the performances I have seen.