***Official*** New Zealand in South Africa

[Zinzan]

Anyone know if sky NZ plan to show the 20-20 on Friday night??

 

[bradman2005]

Anyone know if sky NZ plan to show the 20-20 on Friday night??

yeap 4:25am SS 1

 

[Lyell_Chris]

I don't know about Butler but the other 3 yes
Sherlock told me he got clocked at 149km/h and he thought he could bowl faster

 

[Sir Redman]

For the sake of our pace bowling, I think we need to hope Richard Sherlock, Te Ahu Davis, Leighton Burtt and Ian Butler all have injury free seasons. They have all been clocked in the 140's and with Sherlock, Dayle Hadlee says he was hitting 150 km's in South Africa with the NZ 'A' team last year.

Well they're not off to a good start, I saw on the NZ Herald website (or maybe Stuff) that Sherlock and Burtt are carrying injuries already.

Also, as a matter of interest, Daryl Tuffey played for Weymouth against our Prems on Saturday. He made 35 opening the batting and took 0-36 off 10 overs which is a pretty poor return (although to be fair, he was bowling well within himself on an artificial pitch).

 

[Lyell_Chris]

why the hell are prems playing on artificial

 

[Sir Redman]

The grass pitches just aren't ready..there's been way too much rain so they just haven't had the chance to prepare them.

 

[sportychic33]

well great to hear that the Black Caps are having some slight injury issues.
Styris is the greatest concern with a sore hamstring. Franklin has a bruised heel and Oram has a stiff back from the plane flight over etc.

 

[lord_of_darkness]

The grass pitches just aren't ready..there's been way too much rain so they just haven't had the chance to prepare them.

Word.

why the hell are prems playing on artificial

Lmao Chris.. thats Auckland ( or even NZ ) cricket for ya!..everyone has to contend with playing on Artificial wickets for the best part of the 1st half of the season.. during the one day comp.. and it moves onto turf when the 2day comp begins (2nd half of the season)..

 

[lord_of_darkness]

Apparently it was so hot that Kyle Mills was in a daze after just 5 overs of bowling so they did pretty well to bowl the opposition out so cheaply.

Lmao.. Kyle needs needs to harden up!.. this is international cricket hes playin.. got too used to the NZ winter imo!...lol!

Im also at odds with Patel being selected ahead of Bruce Martin, so it'll be interesting to see how much patience they will have with Patel if Martin continues his good form through-out the NZ domestic season.

Fully agree tim.. i have a feeling the S.Africans wouldnt have much of a problem at all against Patel..!

 

[parisa]

well great to hear that the Black Caps are having some slight injury issues.
Styris is the greatest concern with a sore hamstring. Franklin has a bruised heel and Oram has a stiff back from the plane flight over etc.

NZ still has a few days to go before the 1st match so these players have a chance to recover from their injuries.They especially need Styris to get fit and Oram didn’t bowl in the last practice match because of his back so I’m wondering what are the chances of Oram bowling in the 1st match. It’s good that Bondy got some wickets just to get his confidence going.

 

[Dean]

SA Versus New Zealand: The Best Series On Our Shores Since We Whipped The Aussies!

What's up.

I'm sitting in a boiling hot Johannesburg, and just a few hours away from leaving for the Wanderers.

Players I will be watching as SA kicks off their international season: Shane Bond, Stephen Flemming and the Marshall Twins.

Players they should watch: Smith, Dippenaar, Kallis, Prince, Gibbs, Ntini.

Ntini is going to get a lot more bounce than the Kiwis can handle!

Good luck to Mickey Auther as the new SA coach, I hope you can be more sucseeful than Woolmer was- then we'll be number one where we belong!

 

[Scaly piscine]

Kallis opening in the Twenty20, interesting since he usually plays the selfish stodge role.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Hopefully I'll put the jinx on him by saying the Witness might make the first international Twenty20 century here.

 

[Tim]

Well, South Africa looked pretty ordinary after Smith & Kallis fell.

All the bowlers except Mills were superb. Jeetan Patel actually looks really good..he seems to get alot of turn and if S.A struggle against him, then they'll definately be up against it with Vettori.

134 to win...its very achievable on this pitch.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Wow. Innings of two halves or what?!

Thought SA were cruising at 82-0 off 9, but fair play to Fleming, he had the stones to bring on Astle & Nathan gets the big scalp of Fat Gray. Good captaincy to give Adams a slip when he came back on too; fortune favouring the brave!

I like the look of young Patel, he's got a good change of pace, not afraid to give the ball some air & got some big turn to get thru Kallis. Some good bowling to the tail from Bond too, classic "you miss, I hit stuff". Always good to see a wicket cartwheeling backwards.

It's amazing how many times it's the slow bolwers that do the trick in 20/20 (all right, Pro20 if they insist...) isn't it? Boje has to come on & I bet Fat Gray bowls himself too. NZ clear favourites from here tho.

 

[Zinzan]

Well, South Africa looked pretty ordinary after Smith & Kallis fell.

All the bowlers except Mills were superb. Jeetan Patel actually looks really good..he seems to get alot of turn and if S.A struggle against him, then they'll definately be up against it with Vettori.

134 to win...its very achievable on this pitch.

I overslept and missed the first 9 overs ....So you can thank me for the freakish turnaround

I agree Patel was superb and I have been worried about him at this level.

Also great fielding by NZ and they should chase to total easily....

How well did Smith play in the first 9 overs??

 

[Tim]

He'll gain alot of confidence from dismissing Kallis, Gibbs & Morkel. He beat all of them with flight & turn.

 

[BoyBrumby]

How well did Smith play in the first 9 overs??

He was quality. & i don't give praise to him lightly. Him against Mills & Bond was sheer murder. Guess all those games for Somerset have helped.

 

[Tim]

Well this is the ground that Fleming took NZ to that famous win back in the 2003 World Cup. I wonder if he can do similar damage.

 

[chalky]

I agree I thought Patel was excellent the wickets of Morkel & especially Kallis were class. Is he ahead of Wiseman in the test pecking order?