***Official*** South Africa in New Zealand 2017

[The Hutt Rec]

That's even worse.

 

[Bahnz]

Make that 8. Just glargh.

 

[vandem]

That's a very poor dismissal.

But not as poor as that one .... didn't really need him to try for a quick 15 (20) again.

I don't think Neesh currently has the mind-set to change his batting between test and white ball mode. He got a test 70 in India, but was an innings full of half-chances. Ideal for a #8 who is a genuine 3rd seamer, but not good enough for #6 who isn't trusted for more than 5-10 overs a day.

We have enough of these mid-tier players to have them play as red ball specialists (Raval, Latham?) or white ball specialists (Neesham, Santner?).

 

[straw man]

That was ****house Neesham.

 

[Zinzan]

lol Maharaj will never get easier top order wickets in his career as he has in the last test and a half....

 

[Zinzan]

At least it's not an innings defeat which there was an outside chance of when KW was dismissed. Still should be over today you'd have thought.

 

[Immenso]

Beyond words how much of a rabble this outfit is. From branch to root.

 

[Zinzan]

Beyond words how much of a rabble this outfit is. From branch to root.

Can we really be that critical when SA's personnel is just so much stronger? I mean it would be different if we were playing Bangers or even SL at home.

My expectations going into this Test is that it would be an annihilation job, so I was surprised NZ had the edge mid-way through yesterday. Their cricketers are just too good for us I'm afraid, too much skill and mental toughness for our marshmellows.

 

[Scaly piscine]

So basically SA's last 4 wickets have caught up 175 runs on NZ's first 5 wickets. That's not good.

 

[Flem274*]

tbh if you're going to pick intentrounders then you're going to have to take the good with the incredibly bad. they can't all be sobers.

played raval but i'm not looking forward to seeing how the current NZ setup will eventually make you bat like Latham did today.

 

[Zinzan]

Well played Raval, against a top class attack too.

Does that Kippax guy who used to bag him and tell us all he was village-level still post here incidentally?

 

[Bahnz]

Problem with those two WR partnerships is that now every time Watling comes out to bat in this situation there's always that feeble hope that we might still have a chance.

 

[Flem274*]

Can we really be that critical when SA's personnel is just so much stronger? I mean it would be different if we were playing Bangers or even SL at home.

My expectations going into this Test is that it would be an annihilation job, so I was surprised NZ had the edge mid-way through yesterday. Their cricketers are just too good for us I'm afraid, too much skill and mental toughness for our marshmellows.

is it though?

morkel, elgar, philander, rabada, QdK, Maharaj, Faf and Amla all walk into NZs 15 man squad no question but they also have duminy scraping through, bavuma and cook have struggled lately and amla is batting with a small twig atm. plus across two tests NZ have played their pace attack relatively well.

NZ had them on day 1, both when they were 4 for zip and then again at 8-9 down. the old demons of yesteryear returned though and bavuma, QdK and friggin morkel played blinders. harbhajan singh and jerome taylor all over again.

and NZ collapsed to duminy

 

[Flem274*]

Well played Raval, against a top class attack too.

Does that Kippax guy who used to bag him and tell us all he was village-level still post here incidentally?

athlai still posts here yes

 

[vandem]

Can we really be that critical when SA's personnel is just so much stronger? I mean it would be different if we were playing Bangers or even SL at home...

Yes we can. Saffers may have a better XI when comparing player-for-player, but we are playing some dumb test cricket (selectors and caption included). Gambling on another "we don't need 3 front line seamers" again. Batting complacency against their part-time spinner in day 1 (but at least we didn't keep getting caught at mid on and mid off like against Lyon). Opening up after lunch day 2 with our worst bowler? Not giving Patel better bowling spells and fields on day 2 on his home ground. Neesh trying to hit the spinner over his head on his 5th ball.

 

[Scaly piscine]

So glad Cricinfo posts comments saying these two need to effectively bat the next 100 overs. Insightful.

 

[Daemon]

What's a combined SA - NZ side look like? Not limited to performances in this series. Some of these are pretty hard to split.

Elgar
Cook/Raval/Latham
Williamson
Amla
Faf
Watling/Bavuma/Duminy
QdK
Philander
Maharaj
Wagner
Rabada

 

[Zinzan]

is it though?

morkel, elgar, philander, rabada, QdK, Maharaj, Faf and Amla all walk into NZs 15 man squad no question but they also have duminy scraping through, bavuma and cook have struggled lately and amla is batting with a small twig atm. plus across two tests NZ have played their pace attack relatively well.

NZ had them on day 1, both when they were 4 for zip and then again at 8-9 down. the old demons of yesteryear returned though and bavuma, QdK and friggin morkel played blinders. harbhajan singh and jerome taylor all over again.

and NZ collapsed to duminy

Mate. lining the sides up in batting order of this match;

Raval = Cook
Elgar > Latham (on form, ordinarily would be quite even)
Amla = KW
Duminy > Broom
Faf > Nicholls
Bavuma > Neesham
de Kock > Watlinh
Philander > CDG
Rabada > Southee
Maharaj > Patel
Morkel < Wagner

Overall, it's SA 8, NZ 1 & a couple even.

Obviously changes when Taylor and Boult play with Taylor > Duminy & Boult at best equal, but probably behind Rabada.

 

[Zinzan]

What's a combined SA - NZ side look like? Not limited to performances in this series. Some of these are pretty hard to split.

Elgar
Cook/Raval/Latham
Williamson
Amla
Faf
Watling/Bavuma/Duminy
QdK
Philander
Maharaj
Wagner
Rabada

We discussed this earlier. With these line-ups, only KW & possibly Wagner over Morkel would make it from NZ.

 

[Briony]

What about if AB and Steyn were in the equation?