***Official*** Australia in South Africa 2018

[harsh.ag]

Urggh. Would have been nice to have two openers carry their bat.

 

[morgieb]

Losing wickets before breaks is absolutely killing us this series.

I may have already said this but I think the key difference between the sides is the ability for South Africa to break partnerships before they start to get really threatening. Australia can take wickets but they have conceded some big partnerships and big innings, whereas with Smith out of touch somewhat we aren't doing the same.

 

[GotSpin]

Or Shaun Marsh does that kinda shot...

 

[StephenZA]

Still no century from an Aus batsmen this series.

 

[stephen]

Our batting this series has been below par from what I expect. It's basically descended into "Smith out cheaply and we lose" again. We absolutely needed to be 5/300 to put enough runs on the board to chase a total. 5/150 is not good enough. Getting out when set has been a huge problem (see Khawaja last game, Warner and Bancroft this game).

We need to start converting 50s into hundreds. It's like Joe Root left his disease here when he visited in the summer.

After this tour, unless he does something spectacular, Shaun Marsh really should make way for a younger bat. If he's going to be a passenger we might as well carry someone younger.

Khawaja is on thin ice as well. He's so inconsistent.

 

[stephen]

And the worst thing about this is that we're not even half way to the new ball. Without Smith soaking up the balls and making our runs our middle order is facing a shinier, harder ball and our tail has to face the second new ball, if we get that far.

 

[Bijed]

Losing wickets before breaks is absolutely killing us this series.

Yeah, it seems to have been happening loads. Is the food in South Africa so good or something that batsmen just get incredibly distracted when it's nearly time for a break?

 

[GotSpin]

Our batting this series has been below par from what I expect. It's basically descended into "Smith out cheaply and we lose" again. We absolutely needed to be 5/300 to put enough runs on the board to chase a total. 5/150 is not good enough. Getting out when set has been a huge problem (see Khawaja last game, Warner and Bancroft this game).

We need to start converting 50s into hundreds. It's like Joe Root left his disease here when he visited in the summer.

After this tour, unless he does something spectacular, Shaun Marsh really should make way for a younger bat. If he's going to be a passenger we might as well carry someone younger.

Khawaja is on thin ice as well. He's so inconsistent.

The shots played by Khawaja and SMarsh were abolustely criminal

 

[GRAB]

Yeah, it seems to have been happening loads. Is the food in South Africa so good or something that batsmen just get incredibly distracted when it's nearly time for a break?

Our polony is to die for...

 

[Bolo]

You haven't met the EP Herald then...

Na, that's just a low budget local paper. Expecting it to be top quality is like expecting the Grocott to be the New York Times.

Does not make it not true... was pretty visible behaviour.

I'm not talking about the incident, just the way it's reported on. Clickbait headline. 'Attacked' is a lot less accurate than 'insulted'. Ridiculous national bias. See how they see describe the start of the de Kock Warner spat for one example.

I'm assuming the fan was acting like a doos (can't tell from looking at that video that we aren't watching an AUS fan sincerely clap Smith off, not that I'm suggesting this was the case), and he should behave better (and possibly be chucked out the ground), but it's not exactly news unless a horrible media outlet hypes it into news.

 

[Spark]

Yeah this game looks hosed

 

[GRAB]

Unplayable from Philander to Mmarsh...

 

[kingkallis]

I swear I saw Jason Gillespie waving the SA flag...

 

[sunilreddy]

Aussie Losers

 

[OverratedSanity]

Vern is so damn good.

 

[Top_Cat]

Losing wickets before breaks is absolutely killing us this series.

Yup and this is why the Warner dismissal hurts so much. It wasn't in any way an unplayable ball, well pitched and quick but any Test opener should back himself to keep that out, he does so, bats for half-hour longer and Aussies go to lunch none down, very different game. Instead, it lays the job of getting to the next break at the middle-order and that sets the tone for the team. Should expect better from a senior player.

That it always comes down to Smith to eat up balls and absorbe the oppo's surge illustrates the problem nicely. When Warner plays like a moron, we get #intent and that's the way he plays. Well, Smith's naturally a dasher too but he ****ing willed himself to bat time because that's what makes a better Test player, leader and skipper. If he can do it, Warner can.

 

[Top_Cat]

Aussie Losers

Shoo fly.

 

[GRAB]

Shoo fly.

The Australian Wave

 

[SeamUp]

That was a beauty from Morkel.

 

[stephen]

Praying for miracle rains in Capetown now.

In all seriousness, this looks like it will be the first home series win against Australia since readmission. Congratulations South Africa. You've outplayed us.

A serious clean out is needed after this. Heads must roll.