***Official*** India in South Africa 2017/18

[TT Boy]

I still think South Africa have the balance of their team fundamentally wrong. With the fire-power they can call on, they just don't need 5 bowlers (at least not in these conditions), and Philander is just not a test number 7.

10 quicks are playing on a surface which if rain stays away will struggle to reach the weekend - both teams are over the top. Not a big fan of de Bruyn but you need the extra batsman here.

 

[cnerd123]

tbf there could be the very rare seamy-road on which 5 fast bowlers works, especially if 2 of those fast bowlers are basically in your top 7 batsmen (in the case of India with Pandya/Bhuvi)

This is not that kind of pitch tho.

 

[S.Kennedy]

This is a 250-300 pitch. I'm convinced India are 100 runs under par.

 

[OverratedSanity]

There was plrnty of seam movement yesterday. Definitely wouldn't call it a 300 pitch but a lot of that has to do with the attack too. Quite possible that the non Bhuvi Indian bowlers will make this look flatter.

 

[karan316]

"To play test cricket on this surface is unfair ...saw it in NZ in 2003 ...batsman have minimum chance ..icc should look into it." - Ganguly moaning on Twitter.

Ganguly might be really enjoying the contest, but he is getting back at people who always complain about square turners in Asia. And I find it correct, either no one talks about the pitches, or we talk about it "every time" we see a nasty pitch.

 

[karan316]

There was plrnty of seam movement yesterday. Definitely wouldn't call it a 300 pitch but a lot of that has to do with the attack too. Quite possible that the non Bhuvi Indian bowlers will make this look flatter.

Looks more like a lottery pitch to me, anything is possible.

 

[cnerd123]

Looks more like a lottery pitch to me, anything is possible.

it's funny that people who call pitches a 'lottery' often also don't believe their team will win in such conditions.

If it really was a lottery then we have every bit as much a chance to win here as SA does, no?

 

[artvandalay]

That ball which deviated against Ishant(?) was crazy. It's possible this match might not even get into day 4. we are not out of this match yet, got 50 runs more than we should have had Saf been as disciplined as they have been in the previous 2 tests.

 

[Marius]

That ball which deviated against Ishant(?) was crazy. It's possible this match might not even get into day 4. we are not out of this match yet, got 50 runs more than we should have had Saf been as disciplined as they have been in the previous 2 tests.

Will be a blow for the vendors etc at Wanderers if there's no play on the weekend.

At least Wanderers is also hosting an Australia Test.

 

[karan316]

it's funny that people who call pitches a 'lottery' often also don't believe their team will win in such conditions.

If it really was a lottery then we have every bit as much a chance to win here as SA does, no?

That's the reason I said "anything is possible", I think India has a very good chance of winning this one, I never said that SA is the only team getting the benefit because of the pitch. Bhuvi can run through the SA batting order on this pitch, let's hope there are more nicks and less play and misses.

This is a lottery pitch, and so are some of the rank turners. I stick to my statement.

 

[StephenZA]

What creates a poor pitch is inconsistent bounce more than anything else. Technique against a spinning ball, with a lower bounce pitch is different to a pitch with some lateral movement with a bit of extra bounce. Batsmen can deal with both with good technique provided that the bounce remains consistent.

A pitch where you can with a fight get to 250-350 is a good pitch imo.

 

[Daemon]

Definitely not a lottery pitch.

In fact the last one in the third and fourth innings was worse. Bumrah and Rabada got early wickets with shooters that just darted back in and were unplayable.

 

[vcs]

This is pretty unplayable from Bhuvi.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Sky missing the first hour because they're showing the end of the NZ v Pak pyjama match!! Thank the lord for pirated Indian streams.

 

[Victor Ian]

Sky missing the first hour because they're showing the end of the NZ v Pak pyjama match!! Thank the lord for pirated Indian streams.

This is just criminal!

 

[harsh.ag]

What the hell is that slip cordon???

 

[cnerd123]

Hope the trend batting collapses by the home-team today -as demonstrated BD and NZ- will extend to SA

 

[Daemon]

Rabada playing out this period will be a massive win for SA

 

[cnerd123]

And just as I press send Bhuvi gets him.

Bhuvi is so ****ing good. It's a shame he's going to miss the next match.

 

[vcs]

Haha they're almost embarrassed to celebrate that wicket.