*Official* Match 7 - South Africa v West Indies

[Spark]

Someone else who was at risk of having his prepared food go bad was television commentator and former England opener Geoffrey Boycott, who had brought his own meal with him. He had suffered from throat cancer and caters for his specific eating needs. "I don't eat curries, which is what they normally give you. So I bring sandwiches. Anything which is spicy just burns," he said. Police wanted him to leave the sandwiches outside but Boycott wouldn't budge. "I said, 'I want to speak to the general or the brigadier, whoever's in charge, 'cause I'm taking my bloody sandwiches in'." An official came to Boycott's rescue and ensured he was able to take his sandwiches with him.

 

[TT Boy]

Tahir.

Tahir’s figures were the 26th best bowling figures in ODIs by a debutant and the third best bowling figures by a South African on debut.

Also another useless stat: AB de Villiers century was his third in India. AB currently averages over 100 in India in ODIs as well as over 100 in Bangladesh and just over 70 in ODIs played in Asia.

 

[TT Boy]

Agree with a lot of what has been said about SA's batting line-up. It's vital sides try and get into that mid-lower order without too much damage. The top 5 looks excellent, De Villiers is now one of the finest ODI batsmen around, Kallis continues in his own exceptional way, Amla is in tremendous touch, Smith rarely disappoints, and if Duminy can show in this WC the flashes of class he's shown in the past, he will be pivotal to SA getting the big totals. The problem is if, and it is an if, a side runs through the top order, do Du Plessis, Peterson, Botha, etc have enough to do a job, serious question marks at this stage imo.

Don't think Faf, Botha and Robbie P have any issue if you want them to bat, the issue is if you need those guys to go on a slogging spree. Botha showed in the recent ODIs against India that he can bat time and so can Faf and P, just the question remains is can they slog say 50 from the last 5 like an Albie or Miller could. But I think the way South Africa will work around their lower order hitting deficiencies is just by bowling first.

 

[Prince EWS]

Tahir’s figures were the 26th best bowling figures in ODIs by a debutant and the third best bowling figures by a South African on debut.

Also another useless stat: AB de Villiers century was his third in India. AB currently averages over 100 in India in ODIs as well as over 100 in Bangladesh and just over 70 in ODIs played in Asia.

Yeah I was looking at those stats while I was doing my pre-tournament betting. Needless to say I had a couple of bets on AB (most tournament runs, and most SA runs).

 

[Prince EWS]

Don't think Faf, Botha and Robbie P have any issue if you want them to bat, the issue is if you need those guys to go on a slogging spree. Botha showed in the recent ODIs against India that he can bat time and so can Faf and P, just the question remains is can they slog say 50 from the last 5 like an Albie or Miller could. But I think the way South Africa will work around their lower order hitting deficiencies is just by bowling first.

I still don't see why you need eight bowling options. Couldn't you just bring Ingram or MVW in for Robbie and bowl Kallis/Faf/Duminy for 10? Seems so obvious to me.

 

[TT Boy]

I still don't see why you need eight bowling options. Couldn't you just bring Ingram or MVW in for Robbie and bowl Kallis/Faf/Duminy for 10? Seems so obviously to me.

Yeah I was thinking along those lines this morning. Probably something to consider if they come up against a more formidable bowling line-up.

 

[popepouri]

I still don't see why you need eight bowling options. Couldn't you just bring Ingram or MVW in for Robbie and bowl Kallis/Faf/Duminy for 10? Seems so obviously to me.

I agree with this...if fact take it one step further and drop Botha, bring back Lopsy and play 7 batsmen like India.

 

[Howe_zat]

Given that they ended up bowling Kallis regardless you'd think having an extra batsman wouldn't bother them. Faf and Duminy is hardly much of a drop from Peterson anyway, and big step up in batting.

Such irony that this, of all things, is South Africa's problem. The haven of all-rounders that had Pollock and Klusner coming in 8 and 9.

 

[vcs]

Given that they ended up bowling Kallis regardless you'd think having an extra batsman wouldn't bother them. Faf and Duminy is hardly much of a drop from Peterson anyway, and big step up in batting.

Such irony that this, of all things, is South Africa's problem. The haven of all-rounders that had Pollock and Klusner coming in 8 and 9.

Would be somewhat ironic as well if SA were to finally win the WC with this kind of team composition.

 

[Woodster]

Don't think Faf, Botha and Robbie P have any issue if you want them to bat, the issue is if you need those guys to go on a slogging spree. Botha showed in the recent ODIs against India that he can bat time and so can Faf and P, just the question remains is can they slog say 50 from the last 5 like an Albie or Miller could. But I think the way South Africa will work around their lower order hitting deficiencies is just by bowling first.

It's not just about batting time, it's got be used constructively, and there may be times when the side is under real pressure and I personally would not be overly confident in those guys turning the innings around, They're far from rabbits with the bat, just don't think as mid-lower order they offer enough strength. I agree that if they needed to hit out it may be problematic, and at six,seven, and eight, they are going to have to hit their fair share bondaries towards the end of an innings, which is generally when they're going to have to bat.

 

[Jono]

Would be somewhat ironic as well if SA were to finally win the WC with this kind of team composition.

Haha agreed.