***Official*** South Africa in Sri Lanka 2014

[Maximas]

Really up against it here, need Herath to really come to the party and Mahela/Sanga in the second innings, have been outplayed up to now

 

[karan316]

SL spinners are "not doing a great job". So much turn is on offer, the SA batsmen will not be unhappy with the situation right now.

 

[kykweer.proteas]

Batting still seems very easy on this flat pitch? :/

 

[Maximas]

Much needed breakthrough, a Herath classic, needs to turn into a collapse though, not just to mean we get set a lower target but to try and stall SA on their way as well and take time out of the game

 

[Maximas]

Batting still seems very easy on this flat pitch? :/

I think your attack has what it takes to get more out of it though, our spinners don't put enough revs on the ball and our pacers aren't fast enough or good enough with the old ball to do a Steyn

 

[kingkallis]

Lead: 358. Remaining overs in the game: 125. I guess 10 more overs, 40-50 more runs should be good for Hash to declare.

 

[karan316]

SA have the game in their pocket if they don't do anything silly from here on, the surface isn't easy to bat on. Both spinners have taken wickets, but looking at the pitch and SA's spin weakness, they shouldn't have scored so much.

 

[kykweer.proteas]

SA have the game in their pocket if they don't do anything silly from here on, the surface isn't easy to bat on. Both spinners have taken wickets, but looking at the pitch and SA's spin weakness, they shouldn't have scored so much.

PERCEIVED spin weakness.

 

[YorksLanka]

Again, awesome from Steyn..start the tuk tuk as bumble would say- unless sanga and mahela go big but it is all in favour(deservedly) of SA.

 

[Maximas]

SA have the game in their pocket if they don't do anything silly from here on, the surface isn't easy to bat on. Both spinners have taken wickets, but looking at the pitch and SA's spin weakness, they shouldn't have scored so much.

Won the toss and batted on a flat pitch that offered little to spinners who probably fatigued a fair bit given a seamer went off the field, and then they batted again and had the freedom to be aggressive which made it much tougher for the Sri Lankan spinners who were getting a decent amount of assistance but nothing ridiculous. The fact that every SA batsman got a start in the second innings tells me the pitch isn't playing that badly given that it can be very tough to get yourself in on these surfaces when they are turning a lot.

And today we see the downside of Tharanga - doesn't always come off and it exposes the middle order when he nicks off early, would've been great if he'd gone on again and forced Hash onto the defensive a little bit

 

[Raffski]

It's rare to see a touring side perform so well in the first test match of a series in the subcontinent, really impressive from SA

 

[karan316]

PERCEIVED spin weakness.

SA's lowest batting average of sub 30 is in SL.

 

[kykweer.proteas]

SA's lowest batting average of sub 30 is in SL.

8 years makes quite a difference. What about the rest of the sub continent?

 

[Flem274*]

historical batting averages for countries in other countries are so stupid. How are completely different batting line ups relevant to the one playing now?

I mean I can see how you could look for a trend in national strengths and weaknesses but just because Joe Snow from 1978 did X it doesn't mean Amla and AB will do X too.

 

[karan316]

Won the toss and batted on a flat pitch that offered little to spinners who probably fatigued a fair bit given a seamer went off the field, and then they batted again and had the freedom to be aggressive which made it much tougher for the Sri Lankan spinners who were getting a decent amount of assistance but nothing ridiculous. The fact that every SA batsman got a start in the second innings tells me the pitch isn't playing that badly given that it can be very tough to get yourself in on these surfaces when they are turning a lot.

And today we see the downside of Tharanga - doesn't always come off and it exposes the middle order when he nicks off early, would've been great if he'd gone on again and forced Hash onto the defensive a little bit

Maybe, the fact that the SA batsmen looked comfortable might mean that the pitch has slowed down. But we'll have to see how it goes from here on, the ball was turning sharply, and SA's spin bowlers are not comparable to Herath or Dilruwan.

But talking about Eranga's injury, they did have a decent option in Mathews, he should have bowled more to keep the spinners fresh if the pitch wasn't assisting much in the 1st innings.

 

[kykweer.proteas]

its quite ironic that Sri Lankan spinners are only threatening when they get "ridiculius" assistance.

 

[Blocky]

Actually really impressed by that declaration, very aggressive.

 

[karan316]

historical batting averages for countries in other countries are so stupid. How are completely different batting line ups relevant to the one playing now?

I mean I can see how you could look for a trend in national strengths and weaknesses but just because Joe Snow from 1978 did X it doesn't mean Amla and AB will do X too.

Yeah, I agree on that. And stats can be very misleading, but again, its also because of the overall conditions that players play in, the kind of pitches on which the South Africans play back home make it difficult for them to adapt to low and slow turning wickets, agreed some of the players might just find ways to adapt with experience, but majority of the players will have their problems against good spin bowling.

8 years makes quite a difference. What about the rest of the sub continent?

SA's worst 4 averages are in India, Pak, SL and Aus.

 

[kykweer.proteas]

SA's worst 4 averages are against, India, Pak, SL and Aus.

What's SA' "worst 4 averages" compared to those of the other test playing nations over the last 5-6 years?

 

[karan316]

its quite ironic that Sri Lankan spinners are only threatening when they get "ridiculius" assistance.

Its quite ironic that South African spinners are not threatening even when they get "ridiculous" assistance.