*Official* England in South Africa

[four_or_six]

Why Smith > Pietersen exhibit no. 443598725890.

 

[kingkallis]

Top knock skipper.....well played!

 

[popepouri]

Biff!

 

[Prince EWS]

Why Smith > Pietersen exhibit no. 443598725890.

 

[Jarquis]

Groan.

 

[Jono]

South Africa well on top now. England will have to bat out of their skins to save this match.

 

[Jayzamann]

He's such a tease. Watching his big innings push his average above 50 before getting out is starting to get old. Push on and keep it up there, man!

Smith has taken a back seat these past 30 minutes. I want Amla to get out in an hilarious manner so we can see some fat boy partnerships.

How about that.

 

[wpdavid]

All over barring a lot of rain over the next 48 hours. Maybe some of them might realise that at this level you routinely get slaughtered if you throw your wickets away. Probably not though. I suppose we'll see if they've learnt anything in the final test.

 

[Eds]

Amla gone just before the century. Who's going to come in now, then? Rumour has it Kallis won't be coming in now so he will be on top form for bowling.

 

[Jayzamann]

Massive partnership, jolly good.

 

[wpdavid]

Why Smith > Pietersen exhibit no. 443598725890.

Was it seriously in doubt? I know some jokers can't see beyond KP's ability to play outrageous shots, but Smith's attitude puts him miles above Pietersen imo, especially as he has to face the new ball every time.

 

[GIMH]

About freaking time

 

[Jayzamann]

They do both look like hulking giants when they take guard, though. Must be something in the water down there.

 

[GIMH]

It's not like Pietersen has never played a special innings, or Smith never played a bad one. Form is temporary and all that. There's not a lot between them but Pietersen is the better batsman. He's just had his worse year in Test cricket and emerged from it with an average of 47 (for the calendar year that is)

 

[Jono]

Rumour has it Kallis won't be coming in now so he will be on top form for bowling.

That would have been a good idea in my opinion, but anyway. Kallis is out there.

 

[Woodster]

Yes it's a very flat deck out there, especially if you don't take early wickets with the new ball. There has been a bit of reverse swing about, but both Smith and Amla countered it pretty well. The positive thing for England is that the pitch is playing so well, but a target of 400+ brings with it a fresh set of pressures.

 

[Prince EWS]

That would have been a good idea in my opinion, but anyway. Kallis is out there.

Yeah I would've been all for it had I not picked Kallis for most runs in the CricketWeb tipping comp.
Don't really know why he's out here TBH.

 

[pasag]

Would be nice if both these sides lost.

 

[wpdavid]

Would be nice if both these sides lost.

One side certainly deserves to, and it ain't SA. What we've seen today is a complete demonstration of why England's batting yesterday was so unacceptable. We were told beforehand that batting would be easiest on Days 2 & 3, and SA have been good enough to take advantage of that fact. If England's top 6 had use their brains, SA would have been facing a massive deficit and life would have been much harder. Instead, all they had to do was see of the new ball and enjoy themselves. Watch and learn Strauss, Cook, Trott, KP and Bell.

 

[popepouri]

It's not like Pietersen has never played a special innings, or Smith never played a bad one. Form is temporary and all that. There's not a lot between them but Pietersen is the better batsman. He's just had his worse year in Test cricket and emerged from it with an average of 47 (for the calendar year that is)

Pietersen is probably more talented than Smith but talent is also useless if you can't use it correctly.