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

[SteveWaugh]

Are you his relative or friend or coach?

No, I just observe an abnormal level of control in Bumrah's fast bowling.

 

[Heboric]

People who bought tickets for Saturday are getting a bit nervous

 

[Starfighter]

I see India falling victim to the traditional Philander thirty.

 

[Pothas]

Yeah been a fun and competitive series for the most part but some pretty pathetic collapses have ruined it.

Leaves me really looking forward to SA v Australia and England v India as well, both could be really close series.

Others have mentioned it but SA have really got to change the balance of their side, the batting has been pretty poor for a long while now and only picking 5 specialist batsmen is not going to make that any better, Bavuma could have made a big difference in this match.

 

[Daemon]

Yeah, Bavuma tends to make these handy partnerships in difficult times, even if he never goes on to make a substantial score.

 

[karan316]

Bhuvi is such an asset for the team, I remember watching Bhuvi and Praveen Kumar bowling for UP and getting that crazy swing. PK was a lot more accurate and street smart at that time, plus his batting was also an X-factor, he could smash a few sixes out of nowhere. I hoped that one day I would see both of them bowling together for Indian on a green top. But things can change so quickly, PK's bowling just kept spiraling down while Bhuvi improved on every aspect of his game. PK is still 31, I hope he gets a mentor who can show him the right direction, he has the skills, but the temperament is simply missing.

FYI, it was PK who saw something in a 16 yr old Bhuvi and suggested his name to his state cricket association.

 

[NUFAN]

What an excellent contest, love these low scoring matches. I didnt watch India bat second dig, is batting slightly easier now or did they just do a little better？

 

[karan316]

'You can get out every ball here' - Amla - ESPNcricinfo

 

[vcs]

Bhuvi is such an asset for the team, I remember watching Bhuvi and Praveen Kumar bowling for UP and getting that crazy swing on their deliveries. PK was a lot more accurate and street smart at that time, plus his batting was also an X-factor, he could smash a few sixes out of nowhere. I hoped that one day I would see both of them bowling together for Indian on a green top. But things can change so quickly, PK's bowling just kept spiraling down while Bhuvi improved on every aspect of his game. PK is still 31, I hope he gets a mentor who can show him the right direction, he has the skills, but the temperament is simply missing.

FYI, it was PK who saw something in a 16 yr old Bhuvi and suggested his name to his state cricket association.

That's a surprise to me, he looked around 34 when he was picked and that was 7 or 8 years ago.

 

[OverratedSanity]

That's pretty rubbish from Rahulk

 

[cnerd123]

FFS Rahul

Why do they keep doing this? Just leave the god damn ball.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Loads of inconsistent bounce here. Batting last won't be easy at all.

 

[OverratedSanity]

sigh

 

[Stapel]

What target do we, the transcendent members of cricketweb, consider to be a perfectly balanced 4th innings target?

At this moment, betting odds favour SA by a fair margin. I don't really know how this is influenced by earlier stakes. Anyway, I think it's closer to 50-50.


What a daft post, now that Pujara is out......

 

[cnerd123]

I think we need 200 to put sufficient pressure on SA.

Pujara always gets the unplayable ones doesn't he? People are now going to look back at this series and Pujara's stats and go 'Che sucks in overseas conditions, his technique is no good, home track bully...'

 

[Daemon]

Like I said, stumps came at an awful time for us yesterday.

 

[StephenZA]

Anything over 150 puts pressure on SA on this pitch... its the good old; one 50+ run partnership wins you the game.

The inconsistent bounce is very not Wanderers. Tying to leave to much grass on the pitch has resulted in a soft surface resulting in divots creating inconsistent bounce. I am actually unhappy with the SA team attitude; SA don't need this sort of movement to be effective, we just need good old fashioned SA bounce with a touch of seam movement. This pitch deserves to be condemned by the ICC at this stage.

 

[OverratedSanity]

The **** is this pitch lol. Ridiculous variation in bounce.

 

[Daemon]

I like how Kohli's playing inside the line so much in this test. His hands are still chasing but if he keeps working on it he might just make some runs in England.

 

[Daemon]

Agree with Holding, this pitch is poor. Looks pretty unsafe imo.