**Official** South Africa in England 2012

[Manee]

I know it is a bit late, but that cover drive from Amla at the end of the day was class. Series is in his hands now. Big century here and its all over for England.

 

[BoyBrumby]

just don't see how you can say that, direct replacement scores 95, I know Kp scored more on his last innings, but no guarantee.

Scored 12 in his last innings, didn't he?

 

[grecian]

Scored 12 in his last innings, didn't he?

Yeah, I suppose if your going to be all factual on me

 

[LegendaryProtea]

I'd say it's pretty even. It all comes down to Amla and AB tomorrow. You'd expect the lower MO and the tail to get some decent runs but the bulk have to come from those two. If Amla gets a century and if AB can get a rapid 50 that puts England on the back foot then the number 1 ranking should be secure. I'd actually prefer Steyn just come out and play aggressively rather than occupy because it's important to make these overs before the new ball count. If he gets out then it gets AB in who has a good 25 or so overs to get his eye in and make some good, fast runs. Should be a thrilling day!

 

[Cabinet96]

Hashim Amla's first chance average this series: 18.2

Hashim Amla's actual average this series: 139.3

And full credit to him. England's catching has been dreadful for a while now, and against strong opposition you just can't put down so many crucial chances and still dominate matches. Amla's made England pay hugely for their fielding blips, as did Petersen at Leeds.

 

[grecian]

Hashim Amla's first chance average this series: 18.2

Hashim Amla's actual average this series: 139.3

And full credit to him. England's catching has been dreadful for a while now, and against strong opposition you just can't put down so many crucial chances and still dominate matches. Amla's made England pay hugely for their fielding blips, as did Petersen at Leeds.

/Richard mode

There's no credit involved scoring runs after a drop is just pointless, and quite frankly no sensible person counts those runs.

/Richard mode off

Yep I said at the start of the series we had to be spot on with taking chances, coz the Saffie batters will punish us, and the beard has punished us more than soho dominatrices have punished tory MPs over the decades.

 

[watson]

That Kallis wicket evens things out a bit but I still think it's SA's advantage. 275 should be a par target and I think chances are they will beat that with three batsmen still to come. A draw is still possible which would suit them. And it looks like there will be some turn for Tahir in the fourth innings and the England batting will be under huge pressure with the series and no.1 ranking at stake. Despite Bairstow's 95 I still think they will miss KP at the crunch.

Let's not ruin Bairstow's innings by bringing Kevin Pietersen into it. He's not relevant anymore.

In the context of the match, with England in deep trouble at 4/54, Jon Bairstow scored one of the best 90s in Test match cricket.

If England get out of gaol (the fall of Kallis near the close of play was crucial), actually win this game, and hence turn this series around after being obliterated in the first Test, then Jon Bairstow will have scored one of greatest 90s in Test match cricket. End of story.

 

[uvelocity]

shan't be a draw my friends

 

[KungFu_Kallis]

For the 2nd time in the match Kallis leaves dissatisfied with the 3rd ump's decision. I don't think he has any reason to feel aggrieved this time though. That 31 will remain his highest Test score at Lord's, presumably.

I don't blame him for feeling stiffed by the umpires 2 innings in a row. Benefit of the doubt? What benefit of the doubt? Gone the way of the dinosaurs one feels. Although no doubt Zombie Taufel will claim he got it perfect with his laser vision.

 

[Valer]

Predicting that the Bairstow innings will be forgotten very quickly --
Either england get a solid hurry on in the second innning and hence the bowler (s) is(are) remembered OR
Someone needs to get good runs to make the chase OR
England loose.

 

[TT Boy]

Did Kevin Pietersen betray his captain by advising South Africa how to dismiss Andrew Strauss? | Mail Online

Such a bad article. Morne has been going round the wicket to Strauss for years.

 

[vic_orthdox]

The good thing about chasing at Lords is the pitch will almost be the same as it is now, can see it changing much at all, so it will come down to the SA bowling, England batting and the pressure.

Starting to take more turn now though.

Duminy more likely to make use of it than Tahir, tbf...

(nah, actually think Tahir's not as bad as the wraps that he cops)

 

[TT Boy]

Don't even think 300 is a bridge too far for England. Wicket really is lifeless. Akin to the Lord's surface where Sri Lanka batted for 2 days to save a test and South Africa 4 years ago. Lot of batsman just did themselves in this test match + good disciplined bowling makes 300 seem a better total than it is.

 

[BoyBrumby]

shan't be a draw my friends

Dunno; yarps don't actually need to win so it's quite conceivable that if England are unable to dismiss them they might just bat and bat.

Starting to take more turn now though.

Duminy more likely to make use of it than Tahir, tbf...

(nah, actually think Tahir's not as bad as the wraps that he cops)

Dunno. One top seven wicket in five innings isn't great for a front liner, is it? & provides no real brake on scoring either.

Obviously mopping up the tail is a skill in itself too tho and I definitely think Fatty should've brought him on when Finn started to hand about.

Plus his massively OTT celebs for bagging a #11 on the mow chafe a bit too.

 

[Quaggas]

Likelihood of significant rain Monday also seems to be diminishing

 

[uvelocity]

Dunno; yarps don't actually need to win so it's quite conceivable that if England are unable to dismiss them they might just bat and bat.

well yeah they would, but c'mon

 

[Stumpcam]

Excellent umpiring / DRS demo on SKY just now. Highlighting how difficult it is for the umpire to make a judgment when he only gets one look.

Gets's easier with practice, though.

Light-hearted piece, fairly good fun.

 

[Burgey]

Steyn is going to be seriously pissed off at getting the short stuff. Can't wait to see how mad his eyes can really get.

 

[Spark]

Steyn is going to be seriously pissed of at getting the short stuff. Can't wait to see how mad his eyes can really get.

Came in here to post exactly this. England, if you're gonna hurt him, at least hurt his right hand.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Came in here to post exactly this. England, if you're gonna hurt him, at least hurt his right hand.

You can just imagine the England top order in the field, egging on Finn at the time, whilst in the back of their mind hoping that Steyn gets out soon before he cops too much of a battering.