***Official*** South Africa in Sri Lanka 2014

[kykweer.proteas]

I think mendis would he a huge threat tomorrow. Herath and perera are actually spinning the ball too much and needs to pitch the ball wider than usual to the lefties.

I have almost no faith in Duminy ever, but our fate rests in his hands.

 

[viriya]

At his best he has a strange habit of getting wickets, usually because the batsmen hasn't faced him before or the pitch is completely ****ed or something. But most of the time he is completely at the mercy of the batsman, he benefits from their errors in LO cricket at times but is just fodder in tests bowling slow straight balls

"He benefits from errors in limited overs cricket" doesn't explain 135 wickets at 20.33 with an econ of 4.49 in ODIs and 66 at 14.42 and a 6.42 econ in T20Is..

 

[Maximas]

Sure it does, batsmen don't have to go after him in tests and look what happens...

 

[Maximas]

I think mendis would he a huge threat tomorrow. Herath and perera are actually spinning the ball too much and needs to pitch the ball wider than usual to the lefties.

Mendis doesn't actually turn the ball though, then again if he can hit the rough with a bit of consistency he might be a threat to the left-handers

 

[Spark]

"He benefits from errors in limited overs cricket" doesn't explain 135 wickets at 20.33 with an econ of 4.49 in ODIs and 66 at 14.42 and a 6.42 econ in T20Is..

Sure it does. Most wickets in ODIs come from batsmen error.

 

[cnerd123]

Mendis isn't accurate enough, doesn't plan well enough, and doesn't get enough work behind the ball to be effective in Tests.

In limited overs it's a different thing; batsmen looking to score find his subtle variations hard to line up, and he seems reasonably intelligent in containing them. Plus a lack of accuracy doesn't hurt so much when you are bowling 6 balls in 6 different spots anyways, with 4 of 5 men back on the rope to cover for you if you miss your mark. Plus you don't really need to spin the ball a lot, just get enough movement off the pitch or in the air that you miss the middle of the bat and get the mis-hit.

In Tests he just doesn't seem as good at setting batsmen up or working them over, lacks the accuracy to bowl in the right areas for long spells (hence the inevitable pressure releasing ball), and doesn't put enough revs behind the ball most of the time to get serious purchase off the wicket, so doesn't trouble batsmen who are content to play late, see him off, and just put away the bad balls.

 

[viriya]

It might explain the average, but the not the good econ. Unless you think Mendis is similar to Narine in that you can survive but not get runs vs him.

 

[cnerd123]

It might explain the average, but the not the good econ. Unless you think Mendis is similar to Narine in that you can survive but not get runs vs him.

Something like that. Both Mendis and Narine seem to have grown up bowling to restrict runs, and don't have good plans when it comes to bowling to get wickets. Narine actually gets more revs on the ball, I think he could do better in Tests than Mendis.

 

[Maximas]

Mendis isn't accurate enough, doesn't plan well enough, and doesn't get enough work behind the ball to be effective in Tests.

In limited overs it's a different thing; batsmen looking to score find his subtle variations hard to line up, and he seems reasonably intelligent in containing them. Plus a lack of accuracy doesn't hurt so much when you are bowling 6 balls in 6 different spots anyways, with 4 of 5 men back on the rope to cover for you if you miss your mark. Plus you don't really need to spin the ball a lot, just get enough movement off the pitch or in the air that you miss the middle of the bat and get the mis-hit.

In Tests he just doesn't seem as good at setting batsmen up or working them over, lacks the accuracy to bowl in the right areas for long spells (hence the inevitable pressure releasing ball), and doesn't put enough revs behind the ball most of the time to get serious purchase off the wicket, so doesn't trouble batsmen who are content to play late, see him off, and just put away the bad balls.

Amen

 

[Prince EWS]

you'd be fuming getting out to mendis in club cricket.

Definitely the bowler I'd nominate if I had to nominate one international frontline bowler to face. He'd get literally no turn out of the turf wickets in my area IMO, so my main issue would be the fact that he probably doesn't bowl that much slower than some of the seamers I face.

 

[Spark]

It might explain the average, but the not the good econ. Unless you think Mendis is similar to Narine in that you can survive but not get runs vs him.

Which, given that the imperative in ODI cricket is to score boundaries, sort of explains both.

This is not hard.

 

[Dan]

Yeah, unless something dramatic has changed as of late, Mendis doesn't have the ability to beat batsmen in the air, and his lack of true stock ball means he can't rely on beating them off the pitch sometimes (which Narine relies upon), unless the track is super helpful. Throw in his inaccuracy, and he's basically being picked solely for the 'look unorthodox' factor these days.

Which, given the novelty has mostly worn off, tends to result in spectacularly mediocre returns in the long form of the game.

 

[viriya]

I thought he was particularly inaccurate in this match.. If he bowled the same in ODIs he would get picked off for runs. I have a feeling he's just trying too hard.

 

[kykweer.proteas]

Mendis doesn't actually turn the ball though, then again if he can hit the rough with a bit of consistency he might be a threat to the left-handers

I think Mendis will be a threat because the spin he gets is not exaggerated like the other two who were spinning the ball almost too much, while Mendis will without a doubt get some assistance from the pitch.

If he can create pressure with consistency of course (which is his big problem).

 

[Maximas]

Don't think so, when you play Mendis, if you play for a bit of spin, you'll almost certainly be all good, despite some assistance he'll never get significant turn and his straight ball is not much use because most of them are pretty much straight. Given he's so easy to judge in the air and off the pitch I can't see him being a threat to a defensive minded batsman. With Herath and Perera not only does their decent turn make the straight ball more effective but the drift and dip they get ads another level of difficulty to facing them that Mendis simply doesn't bring to the table

 

[TT Boy]

Thought de Kock played pretty well tonight. Had no idea what was going on most of the time but by playing a shot, he at least unsettled the bowlers and got a few bad balls.
Unless South Africa want to cash out all their lefties first, I think the promotion indicates de Kock's future is at the top of the order.

 

[harsh.ag]

Thought de Kock played pretty well tonight. Had no idea what was going on most of the time but by playing a shot, he at least unsettled the bowlers and got a few bad balls.
Unless South Africa want to cash out all their lefties first, I think the promotion indicates de Kock's future is at the top of the order.

Hopefully he will replace Petersen, and then SA can have another batsman *** part time spinner, and get rid of Tahir altogether.

 

[harsh.ag]

Elgar
de Kock

Amla
Faf
ABdV
Some good batsman
Duminy

Philander
Steyn
Morkel
Piedt

How does this side look?

 

[jan]

Elgar
de Kock

Amla
Faf
ABdV
Some good batsman
Duminy

Philander
Steyn
Morkel
Piedt

How does this side look?

David Miller at 6 imo. Or van Zyl whose domestic record is better?
I somehow cant get used to Faf at no.4, demote to no.5.
Piedt deserves a go and he simply cant do worse than Tahir.
Thinking further...would Proteas benefit from having a left-arm fastbowler?

 

[91Jmay]

Looks like a strong side that lacks a good spinner. So virtually any South African cricket side of the last 20 years.