*Official* England in South Africa 2019/20

[slippy888]

Nortje playing a very good innings here he showing his class and proving why he hyped up as the next Brian Mcmillian

 

[Grumpy]

Has a spinner taken the first five wickets in a test in South Africa before? Howzattt

Ajmal 2013 Cape Town

 

[slippy888]

I cant see FAF playing test cricket for long i know he one of the great players of our generation but he seems to have lost his desire at test level

 

[theegyptian]

Don't really see the point of Root bowling unless Bess changing ends, or spin both ends. Give Bess a proper run at de kock ffs.

 

[marc71178]

Don't really see the point of Root bowling unless Bess changing ends, or spin both ends. Give Bess a proper run at de kock ffs.

With Curran at the other end I really cannot work out any logic or anything.

 

[slippy888]

Nortje is blunting the England attack

 

[Bijed]

Nortje is blunting the England attack

Well jinxed!

Really good knock though. Sounds like his concentration just lapsed a bit in the end, but that's fair enough for the longest ever first-class innings and 136 balls is always a great effort from a nightwatchman

 

[slippy888]

Philander is probable the best batsman in this team on current form

 

[BSM]

So if we get SA out for less then 299 England are going to enforce the follow on right? I know captains in recent times have been justifiably cautious about doing so because the fourth innings is the toughest time to bat but this is probably one of the few game situations where it doesn't really pose too much of a threat. With rain around you wouldn't have there would be a lot of time for a 4th innings, and the pitch doesn't look like its deteriorating too badly

 

[Raffski]

I think in the circumstances you’d have to enforce the follow on if possible.

Stop bowling Joe

 

[wpdavid]

Philander is probable the best batsman in this team on current form

The biggest shock at Cape Town may well have been that England dismissed him cheaply; his track record against us is ridiculously good for a number 8.

Can we assume that these two are trying to cash in before the new ball arrives? Smart batting, if so.

 

[wpdavid]

Light metres? Time for Denly to accompany Bess,surely.

And this looks like one of those spells when even Root may notice that the force isn't with Stokes right now.

 

[MW1304]

Our catching has been so much better than usual so far this series, there had to be a regression at some point.

 

[Garson007]

Have to score another 92 runs tomorrow. After that the game is done.

 

[MW1304]

De Kock's legside clips off Wood were a thing of beauty. An easy swing but just absolutely crunched them.

 

[Gnske]

Hmm I wonder what sort of article Firdose put out after yesterday, I really can't imagine what the content of it is. I wonder if it mentions Temba Bavuma at all.

 

[Howe_zat]

I did the digging and found the last time a spinner took the first 5 wickets in SA was Murali in 2000. https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...t-test-sri-lanka-tour-of-south-africa-2000-01

Swann, Harbhajan and Warne have all come close in recent years too, so yeah, it ain't actually that rare

 

[mackembhoy]

Someone said on thread earlier Ajmal did it in 2013.

Only he went one better and took first 6. What South Africa would do for that batting line up now.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...nd-test-pakistan-tour-of-south-africa-2012-13

 

[FBU]

Well done Nortje. excellent nightwatchman. At 4 and 6. 5 hours 18 mins in the series.
·
Cricviz
Nortje has a false shot percentage of just 2% in this innings, the lowest of any batsman in the match.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Dobell's latest article is a steaming turd even by his own standards, saying Bess is reviving traditional offspin is utterly absurd. Nathan Lyon has comprehensively proved there is still plenty of space for orthodox offies, regardless of anything that pathetic curdled cheese Prior has to say.

TBF Bess was certainly impressive, but the fawning praise he is receiving is pretty dreadful