***Official*** South Africa in India 2015

[cnerd123]

Then DWTA. There are two schools of thought on how to play for a draw. One school of thought is that you do a blockathon. The other school of thought is that if you bat positively as you will last longer and have a better chance of saving the game.

Option C: Block the good balls and hit the bad ones.

It's not like these two have been patting back half volleys and fulltosses. The bowling has been good, the field is tight, the pitch is misbehaving. They're just biding their time and bedding in. No dumb attempts to force the pace by manufacturing big strokes or hitting against the line/spin.

Runs flowing a bit more freely now, since there have been a couple of hittable balls that have been put away.

Just aim to bat for time. Bat long. Occupy the crease. Respect the bowlers and the conditions. I don't see why they need to chase this target. It's too large, the required RR to get to it would require batting that is too risky.

And as I type this, Bavuma falls. Ashwin WAG.

 

[Howe_zat]

Four whole runs since tea. He got greedy.

 

[social]

In my opinion, you can't see the target in a vacuum. The match circumstances are that SA got bowled out for 120 in the first innings, the pitch has true spin and a bit of uneven bounce and Ashwin and Jadeja have 48 wickets @ 11 in 3 tests between them in the series. I don't think any team, certainly not Australia, would attempt to chase 480 with the above circumstances in mind.

Oz has an opener by the name of Warner and cricket here is broadcast by numpties - he would swing from the hip and commentators/public would condone it because "that's the way we play."

 

[Shri]

Its nice to see the world blowing Ashwin now. Just remember ****s, I did it before any of you.

 

[social]

Its nice to see the world blowing Ashwin now. Just remember ****s, I did it before any of you.

No-one outside India is blowing him

Grounds in Oz aren't big enough to contain the shots that will be played off him this season (as usual)

 

[Prince EWS]

Interesting that Pujara could average more than Pujara....

Look at what China's doing. They're learning from China.

 

[indiaholic]

Ashwin's stock off spinner has improved so much.

 

[Shri]

No-one outside India is blowing him

Grounds in Oz aren't big enough to contain the shots that will be played off him this season (as usual)

You don't speak for millions. Go away. Too lazy to troll today.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

I think South Africa is going about it the wrong way. They have barely batted for 2 sessions in this series, and trying to block out 2 days on Day 4 and 5 against Ashwin is just not feasible at this point. It's much better to try to make a statement by playing some shots, and if Amla or AB gets going, they can get to around 250-300 runs which would be a respectable total, something they have not achieved even once in this series.

the only statement playing some shots would send would be "we haven't learned anything so far on this tour"

 

[Howe_zat]

Phew, back to less than 1 run an over. Was looking unsustainable when we had those two fours after tea.

 

[indiaholic]

Yep try and bat out a draw. No point in playing meaningless shots. SA are the team they are because they don't subscribe to the bull **** about playing your natural game. **** no. You play the situation. If it requires you to play 150 balls for three runs then try and do that instead of being a idiot like Rohit Sharma.

 

[cnerd123]

Its nice to see the world blowing Ashwin now. Just remember ****s, I did it before any of you.

Hey I've been an Ashwin megafan since he debuted for India and wrote that mini-blog series on Cricinfo!

Also been a big fan of Jadeja since his RR days. Haterz can suck it.

 

[Daemon]

No-one outside India is blowing him

Grounds in Oz aren't big enough to contain the shots that will be played off him this season (as usual)

You mean like when he took 13 wickets at 25 going at under 4.5 an over in that little tournament called the world cup there?

 

[dfrinku]

This is the sort of innings that I love to watch but wouldn't explain why or encourage anyone in my life to watch with me.

 

[cnerd123]

Partnership: 0 runs off 41 balls.

Glorious.

 

[social]

You mean like when he took 13 wickets at 25 going at under 4.5 an over in that little tournament called the world cup there?

Like virtually everyone else, I'd forgotten that India was at the WC

 

[cnerd123]

And overs bowled has overtaken runs scored again.

Brilliant.

 

[Shri]

Get the heaviest guys to run in and bowl medium pace and rough up the pitch. Give the spinners a rest, use them in a fresh attack again tomorrow.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Yep try and bat out a draw. No point in playing meaningless shots. SA are the team they are because they don't subscribe to the bull **** about playing your natural game. **** no. You play the situation. If it requires you to play 150 balls for three runs then try and do that instead of being a idiot like Rohit Sharma.

tbf it does depend on the defensive capabilities of the batsmen in the middle. Amla and Devilliers both have a good stonewall game so should do that. Some batsman are legitimately more likely to get out stonewalling as attacking so should just cut loose (eg, gooptill) so the "natural game" argument holds some weight with certain players.

 

[Shri]

Like virtually everyone else, I'd forgotten that India was at the WC

You think that proves something but it only proves you have ****ty memory. Real edgy stuff, I could cut my fingers on that post.