*Official* South Africa Tour of Sri Lanka 2018

[OverratedSanity]

Yeah but that was on the back of a couple of greats who outclassed them. Teams touring now are made to look look like they don’t know which end of the cue to hold.

Some pretty bad players of spin these days. I didn't agree with this opinion originally but it's become very clear over the last couple of years especially that batting against spin is at a real low at the moment.

Also, India kind of undermined their own achievement by winning the recent series that convincingly. SL barely won a session in any of those games. It was a very odd tour, because on either side of that, SL have been doing very well.

 

[vcs]

Some pretty bad players of spin these days. I didn't agree with this opinion originally but it's become very clear over the last couple of years especially that batting against spin is at a real low at the moment.

Also, India kind of undermined their own achievement by winning the recent series that convincingly. SL barely won a session in any of those games. It was a very odd tour, because on either side of that, SL have been doing very well.

Yeah, SL have really turned things around after that thrashing by India. Dilruwan could barely land it on the pitch last year when Kohli was smacking double hundreds for fun and look at him now.

 

[Black_Warrior]

I've seen this outside of CW too. Tbf though, I've not looked at stuff like Facebook, where it's probably happening.

This is not a high profile series at the best of times so unlikely to gain much attention when there's a Fifa World Cup and Wimbledon going on at the same time.

The pitch doctoring debates usually start with a former player or journalist putting out a tweet questioning the pitch and social media goes into a meltdown.

 

[Gnske]

Just more reason to love Karunaratne's performance imo. Gutsiest bat in their lineup. Needs more love.

Signs of panicky strokes in SA already, Elgar's dismissal was utterly bizarre for him. Most likely in their lineup to actually do a Karunaratne.

 

[vcs]

Temba at 4 doesn't inspire much confidence. Wasn't Faf batting there when AB was having his extended break?

 

[Gnske]

Nah it was de Bruyn and Bavuma filling in as far as I remember.

 

[Dendarii]

While AB was missing Duminy batted at four until they axed him, then they went with De Kock for a couple of games, followed by Bavuma, after which AB was back.

 

[Borges]

Isn't Duminy a better player of spin than some of these batsmen? He can also bowl a bit.

 

[Prince EWS]

Isn't Duminy a better player of spin than some of these batsmen? He can also bowl a bit.

Retired from Tests.

Also no, he has nightmares about Prosper Utseya and James Tredwell.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yeah Duminy's just as bad, wouldn't have helped. SA haven't produced a single good player of spin since Smith and Kallis retired.

 

[trundler]

Vern didn't get to bowl a lot and there wasn't a lot of reverse swing in the pervious match. He displayed some excellent rearguard action with the bat. SA definitely need an extra bat here. Should he be dropped?

 

[Prince EWS]

Vern didn't get to bowl a lot and there wasn't a lot of reverse swing in the pervious match. He displayed some excellent rearguard action with the bat. SA definitely need an extra bat here. Should he be dropped?

I'd have considered dropping him if not for his batting efforts, and I was 100% taking the piss when I mentioned it in the first innings, but if it's another turner I'm not convinced the actual batsmen they could bring in (I haven't looked at the squad, but I'm assuming it'd de Bruyn and/or Klassen) would actually offer more than him with the bat after what he showed in the second innings too. He's not going to make a ton but if it's a low scorer I'd pretty much back him as just as much if not more of a chance of scoring an important 40 down where he's batting, and he obviously offers something with the new ball too even if he only ends up with one spell per innings.

 

[Borges]

They didn't even give him the new ball in the second innings. He came on after everyone else, including the spinners, had bowled and got three overs.

 

[Prince EWS]

They didn't even give him the new ball in the second innings. He came on after everyone else, including the spinners, had bowled and got three overs.

Yeah but that was stupid.

 

[sachinbudhwar]

Sa Vs Sl

SL Will Win This Series But Does This Even Matter They Can Only Win On Dustbowls Their Bowling Is Poor And Their Batting Is Pathetic In Short They Are Equal To Associates Nations.

 

[vcs]

Looking at it purely logically, Steyn should probably be dropped if they want to accommodate another batsman.

Realistically however, Shamsi will probably make way.

 

[StephenZA]

If ABdV was still available we would have played the extra batsmen and either Steyn or Shamsi would have been left out. We don't have another batsmen anywhere near that quality at the moment and de Bruyn is not good enough against spin to warrant dropping the extra bowler. Regards Klaasens, maybe he deserves his shot over QDK... I don't know how much more leeway we can give QDK it just feels wrong to drop such an obviously talented player but he has been struggling for so long now. But dropping him for just one test in SL? Would Klaasens keep his spot in the test team for the series coming up in SA later this year. I just don't see the point at the moment.

Honestly not much SA can really change at the moment, just have to hope for a much better performance from the batsmen.

 

[Dendarii]

Isn't Duminy a better player of spin than some of these batsmen? He can also bowl a bit.

No he can't. At one stage he was a handy bowler (although more in the shorter formats), but he's very much a part-timer these days. Anyway, as was mentioned, he's retired from tests.

 

[Bahseph]

This is the best we have lads. The only way I see us winning in these conditions is if we bat first and score close to 350+. Vern is always underrated with the bat imo. Never gets a big score but he usually stands up when we need a rear guard. I'm sure his 2nd innings stats with the bat are actually quite good to be honest,although I can't be bothered to check.

 

[Bahseph]

And I am happy that none of the team or media have called the pitch a dustbowl. That means the team has to look at themselves instead of acting like victims,ala India 2015.