*Official* Sri Lanka in South Africa 2011/12

[MrPrez]

Chandimal and Fernando in doubt, the latter seemed to be limping at the end of the Durban match. de Lange misses out for Philander. The expensive and ineffective Tahir retained. Rudolph will bat at #6 but you imagine if he fails it will spell the end of his career.

If the SA batting fails here it's surely time to turn to some young talent, though like Australia their cupboard may be somewhat bare as they seem to turn to veterans like Rudolph, Prince and Petersen when in need of a replacement. Duminy is one but struggles agains the short-pitched ball. Perhaps they might showcase a youngster during the ODIs.

Beep, wrong.
Rudolph has been in stunning form over the past 2 FC seasons and fully deserved his second attempt. Prince has a Test average in the low 40s and was a reliable batsman at 5 and 6 for a long time. Petersen is one case where the selectors are crazy.

We have a number of quality prospects waiting, including Elgar and Rossouw (the two batsmen most likely to get a chance next).

 

[MrPrez]

Predictions:
Smith to score a 70+ score in one of his innings
Peterson to score a fifty and a rubbish score.
Amla to continue his form, hitting good scores including at least one 120+ score.
Kallis to fail again with the bat and people to start doubting him (before he comes with us on tour and dominates). He will take a wicket or two.
de Villiers to ride his luck on his way to a big fifty.
Rudolph to score a fifty down the order.
Boucher to fail.
Philander to take a four-fa and 1 or 2 wickets in the other innings
Steyn to take a fifer and a 3-fa
Morkel to 2 wickets but look better than his figures.
Tahir to take 2 or so wickets, and be inconsistent.

 

[Rasimione]

ever since Petersen got dropped he has scored 3 tons. The hate directed at him is mind bogling.@Briony u can check the stats yourself. Also the cupboard aint as bare as you think. Dean Elgar and Rilee Russotw are talented players, with stats to back them.I get the feeling Mr Prez hates Petersen for whatever reason, but let us be fair, if we go on statistics and actual perfomance, he deserves it. Infact Prince should have been the one dropped originaly and no Petersen IMO.

 

[MrPrez]

They both should have been dropped.

I'm sorry, but Peterson with a FC average of 38 cannot be a longterm option.

 

[Rasimione]

They both should have been dropped.

I'm sorry, but Peterson with a FC average of 38 cannot be a longterm option.

So we must disregard his perfomances because at first class level he averages 38? I have not checked the stats but im willing to bet in the last few years he has been averaging alot better than that.

 

[Briony]

ever since Petersen got dropped he has scored 3 tons. The hate directed at him is mind bogling.@Briony u can check the stats yourself. Also the cupboard aint as bare as you think. Dean Elgar and Rilee Russotw are talented players, with stats to back them.I get the feeling Mr Prez hates Petersen for whatever reason, but let us be fair, if we go on statistics and actual perfomance, he deserves it. Infact Prince should have been the one dropped originaly and no Petersen IMO.

Pleased to hear for SA's sake that they do have youngsters in the wings but they seem loath to pick them. Prince has averaged below thirty for the past two years. Petersen wasn't too shabby during his first incarnation but his stats also didn't indicate someone who might take the team a step forward. Rudolph's recent first class record is great but so far his test form looks no better than during his first stint. Looks like they can't take risks for the tours now because they've persisted with seasoned talent.

 

[MrPrez]

AWTA.
Except that I'm hoping that young talent is finally going to get its chance in the next series.

 

[Briony]

Sri Lanka has sent SA in to bat. Lahiru Thirimanne replaces opener Tharanga Paranavitana while Prasad replaces Fernando. The sun is out and skies are blue. Petersen will open with Smith. Rudolph will bat at fourth drop and Philander will replace de Lange.

 

[Migara]

ever since Petersen got dropped he has scored 3 tons. The hate directed at him is mind bogling.@Briony u can check the stats yourself. Also the cupboard aint as bare as you think. Dean Elgar and Rilee Russotw are talented players, with stats to back them.I get the feeling Mr Prez hates Petersen for whatever reason, but let us be fair, if we go on statistics and actual perfomance, he deserves it. Infact Prince should have been the one dropped originaly and no Petersen IMO.

Cupboard is empty because they are playing for SA A team rather than SA.

 

[MrPrez]

Sri Lankans, how do you rate Thirimanne in comparison to Paranivitana?

 

[Briony]

Evidently already some cracks on the pitch so it could take spin on day five.

 

[Migara]

Missing Fernando will have a tell tale effect. Prasad, although much more aggressive than Fernando, doesn't have the notorious bounce and about 5k slower in average. When those two are combined it has an effect. Loved to see Fernando and Prasad bowling in tandem and breathing some fire, in a stage where SAF batsmen were clearly fidgety against Fernando's pace.

 

[Migara]

Sri Lankans, how do you rate Thirimanne in comparison to Paranivitana?

One young, other old, both are boring. But Thiri does have age on his side to improve.

 

[Athlai]

Piranha

 

[kingkallis]

Another inside edge - this must be damn frustrating for Smith.

 

[Himannv]

Happy to see Thirimanne in the side. Was getting sick of Paranavithana.

 

[Rasimione]

Amla out.

 

[MW1304]

Pie pie pie.

Don't give Jacques free runs when he's out of form.

 

[kingkallis]

What is Kallis doing there? Trying to improve his SR in test matches or what?

 

[kingkallis]

Amazing drives...wow!

1 more ton here and it will be 16th consecutive year for Kallis with at least 1 100 in it..