*Official* India in South Africa

[Cevno]

India should be looking to bat out the whole day tomorrow.

If they can do it they ought to be in control.

 

[vcs]

55-45 to SA at the moment just because of the lower-order runs they got earlier in the day.

 

[kingjulian]

55-45 to SA at the moment just because of the lower-order runs they got earlier in the day.

Yup...two quick wicket could change a lot of things.

SA only need a lead of 20 or 30 runs to be in the driving seat.

On the flip side, i'd be more worried about the fitness of SA bowlers. Can Steyn and Morkel cope with the extra work load they have had so far and will have till lunch and bit more tomorrow, as Kallis has to spend a while on the field before he gets to bowl.

 

[Manee]

55-45 to SA at the moment just because of the lower-order runs they got earlier in the day.

And the chance of an Indian collapse which gives SA a massive first innings lead.

 

[Shri]

Run rate could be a problem here. If they play at the same pace tomorrow, they are going to get a lead less than 50 at the end of tomorrow's day. Not ideal.

 

[Shri]

Yup...two quick wicket could change a lot of things.

SA only need a lead of 20 or 30 runs to be in the driving seat.

On the flip side, i'd be more worried about the fitness of SA bowlers. Can Steyn and Morkel cope with the extra work load they have had so far and will have till lunch and bit more tomorrow, as Kallis has to spend a while on the field before he gets to bowl.

Kallis isn't going to bowl. Hope he doesn't bat again either.

South Africa v India, 3rd Test, Cape Town: Injured Kallis to bat only if necessary in second innings | Cricket News | South Africa v India | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[Contra]

Big blow that. We really need to bat well tommorow. With Kallis not being able to bowl it weakens SA's bowling a bit. There is a bit in the pitch still but if we can be careful I can't see why we won't be able to get a lead.

 

[Teja.]

Kallis isn't going to bowl. Hope he doesn't bat again either.

South Africa v India, 3rd Test, Cape Town: Injured Kallis to bat only if necessary in second innings | Cricket News | South Africa v India | ESPN Cricinfo

Last time a batsman said that, He played a miraculous Innings to get his country from 120/8 to winning the game.

 

[vcs]

Last time a batsman said that, He played a miraculous Innings to get his country from 120/ to winning the game.

Good point.. if anyone could do that, it's Kallis.

 

[Blaze 18]

Good work by the Indian batsmen so far, but the job is far, far from done. The still trail by two hundred and twenty runs, which means they will have to bat the whole day tomorrow if they are to have a serious chance of winning the match. I just hope India don't collapse tomorrow - unlikely given that day three is supposed to have the best batting conditions, but when you have a certain Dale Steyn in the opposition line-up...

 

[Cruxdude]

Good work by the Indian batsmen so far, but the job is far, far from done. The still trail by two hundred and twenty runs, which means they will have to bat the whole day tomorrow if they are to have a serious chance of winning the match. I just hope India don't collapse tomorrow - unlikely given that day three is supposed to have the best batting conditions, but when you have a certain Dale Steyn in the opposition line-up...

The thing with this series other than the first match has been that no team has gone much ahead of the other. Any time one threatens to go ahead, the other team hit backs.

 

[Blaze 18]

The thing with this series other than the first match has been that no team has gone much ahead of the other. Any time one threatens to go ahead, the other team hit backs.

True. Hope that trend changes tomorrow though, India need at least one of Gambhir/Tendulkar to carry on and get a big one.

 

[Dissector]

Kallis isn't going to bowl. Hope he doesn't bat again either.

South Africa v India, 3rd Test, Cape Town: Injured Kallis to bat only if necessary in second innings | Cricket News | South Africa v India | ESPN Cricinfo

It doesn't count as a kallisball win if Kallis isn't playing.

 

[Blaze 18]

By the way, this is the first time India have managed to field a first choice eleven in five tests versus South Africa, over the last year (two tests in India plus this series). If you also consider that India lost four out of the five tosses, 2-2 isn't a bad result.

 

[Dissector]

Tbh if your main bowler has major fitness issues and his replacements are utter crap I would say those are legitimate weaknesses. Still India has definitely been unlucky with tosses.

 

[kingkallis]

Yup...two quick wicket could change a lot of things.

SA only need a lead of 20 or 30 runs to be in the driving seat.

On the flip side, i'd be more worried about the fitness of SA bowlers. Can Steyn and Morkel cope with the extra work load they have had so far and will have till lunch and bit more tomorrow, as Kallis has to spend a while on the field before he gets to bowl.

That shows how important Jacques Kallis is to this South African bowling unit.

 

[Blaze 18]

Tbh if your main bowler has major fitness issues and his replacements are utter crap I would say those are legitimate weaknesses. Still India has definitely been unlucky with tosses.

I am not denying that it is a weakness; just pointing out that India have very rarely managed to put their best eleven on the field in the recent past. Gambhir, Zaheer, Dravid, Laxman, Sreesanth, Harbhajan have all missed matches over the past year.

 

[Woodster]

Jacques Kallis was truly outstanding today. A real lesson in how to survive conditions that favour the bowlers early in his innings, while progressively stamping his authority on the innings with some textbook strokeplay, and then he batted very sensibly, with no less skill, with the tail. A joy to watch, and a real masterclass.

Sreesanth was very dangerous when he got the ball whooping around, the one he got Prince with was a real ripper, and the Boucher dismissal was very impressive too. Came back well after a below par showing on day one.

Good partnership buillding from Tendulkar and the fortunate Gambhir, but they stuck to their guns and got through to the close of play without any further damage to the wickets column.

 

[Zinzan]

How did Gambhir look ? The small part of his innings I saw he looked terribly out of form

 

[Burgey]

I am not denying that it is a weakness; just pointing out that India have very rarely managed to put their best eleven on the field in the recent past. Gambhir, Zaheer, Dravid, Laxman, Sreesanth, Harbhajan have all missed matches over the past year.

Cry me a river.