*Official* India in South Africa

[Rant0r]

The shadows aren't going to help

 

[Jono]

Had that nicked that would have been handy

 

[Uppercut]

Seems we'll get in 90 overs every day here by the looks of it so far... doesn't bode well for our chances of getting a draw...

Don't think a draw's very likely. Too much bounce in the wicket.

 

[Blaze 18]

Yeah that's why even 1 more wicket (especially of Kallis) would have been vital.

Yeah, India will have to bowl really well tomorrow to make a match out of this.

 

[Rant0r]

Slow bounce however

 

[Cevno]

Sharma unlucky to not get more than 1 wicket here,

Zaheer was dissapointing today.
Probably our worst quick today.

 

[Stapel]

Harbhajan's series in 2001 was a perfectly relevant reply to the post which claimed Swann is better now than Harbhajan EVER was.

On topic:

VCS indeed made a valid point. But did Harby's great match make him the best spinner (bar W&M) during a solid period of time? Hard to tell....

Lol @ the Harby comment.

Swann averaging 20-odd in 2010 has to be seen with some perspective regarding the strength of the opposition and the variations in his performances against B'desh and Pak and SA and Oz. You'd think he's Murali already seeing how some people rate him.

Not Murali, but with some distance the best spinner around these days.

 

[Teja.]

If we just get Kallis, I reckon we can get the rest for <80 runs. We're not gonna get the bastard though.

We need a superhuman 1st Innings batting performance.

 

[Cevno]

India are not actually in too bad a position here if they can dismiss South Africa early tomorrow morning.

Second new ball will be key. From here on this pitch will only flatten upto day 4 when it starts to worsen.

 

[Jono]

Don't think a draw's very likely. Too much bounce in the wicket.

Bounce isn't really an issue. Its tennis ball, as the curator predicted.

 

[M0rphin3]

Ah well, at least India haven't let the South Africans score too quickly. Still South Africa's day though, no question.

Well you'd expect them to do a little better than 'not letting the opposition score quickly' winning the toss and bowling on this wicket.

 

[Uppercut]

Slow bounce however

I think the slowness might be just as much from the Indian bowlers than the wicket. Speedgun's had all three of them at around 80mph all day, often even less.

I guess we won't know til South Africa bowl. Could be an iffy speedgun.

 

[vcs]

Don't think a draw's very likely. Too much bounce in the wicket.

What was the pitch like when England drew here last year?

 

[Xuhaib]

Sharma unlucky to not get more than 1 wicket here,

Zaheer was dissapointing today.
Probably our worst quick today.

Poetic justice recently he's been picking up wickets during some of the most rubbish spells of fast bowling.

 

[Blaze 18]

Well you'd expect them to do a little better than 'not letting the opposition score quickly' winning the toss and bowling on this wicket.

That is true, India didn't make full use of the conditions, but that they haven't let South Africa really get away means that they only need a wicket or two to bring the match back into balance.

 

[Prince EWS]

If we just get Kallis, I reckon we can get the rest for >80 runs. We're not gonna get the bastard though.

Sigged.

 

[Rant0r]

On topic:

VCS indeed made a valid point. But did Harby's great match make him the best spinner (bar W&M) during a solid period of time? Hard to tell....



Not Murali, but with some distance the best spinner around these days.

Thankyou

I think the slowness might be just as much from the Indian bowlers than the wicket. Speedgun's had all three of them at around 80mph all day, often even less.

I guess we won't know til South Africa bowl. Could be an iffy speedgun.

I have to disagree, plenty of balls have carried to head height to Dhoni, but slowly, as someone mentioned earlier, the bounce is "tennis ball"

 

[Teja.]

On topic:

VCS indeed made a valid point. But did Harby's great match make him the best spinner (bar W&M) during a solid period of time? Hard to tell....



Not Murali, but with some distance the best spinner around these days.

Perhaps, But still one who will average about 30 against the best sides, not higher quality than that. In all fairness, Shakib isn't far off, IMHO. Shakib averaged 21 in SA, 32 against India and 18 against NZ. He just hasn't had an opportunity of playing 6 tests against the quality of batting lineups that Swann faced.

Come to think of it, Swann keeps getting praised for averaging about 30 in SA while Shakib being much better is rarely mentioned.

But yeah, Swann's better.

 

[Uppercut]

Bounce isn't really an issue. Its tennis ball, as the curator predicted.

You do normally get results on pitches like these though. The real draw decks are the ones where edges fall short of first slip, although England did just about manage to save one here last year and obviously India's batting is excellent.

Depends on the weather too.

 

[Prince EWS]

Poetic justice recently he's been picking up wickets during some of the most rubbish spells of fast bowling.

Haha yeah AWTA. That 3fa he picked up against Australia was hilarious.