**Official** West Indies in South Africa Thread

[James90]

Gayle moves onto 99
Ganga at the other end on 17

WI 0/124

 

[James90]

100 FOR GAYLE OFF 79 BALLS

Do you think this "me thinks" guy is the same as the "hoooo" guy?

 

[Adamc]

Wow. Brilliant innings from Gayle, incredible to watch. Stand and deliver - virtually every boundary scored with a minimum of footwork, apart from one cover drive. 9th fastest test century, probably could have been 2nd, after he had 90 off 60 balls. Sarwan was superb also, played with great assurance and confidence from the start.
I thought Adams bowled very well, though Smith's reluctance to turn to spin is quite puzzling. Clearly he was the only player capable of consistently forcing Gayle onto the front foot. He troubled Gayle for some time, but Gayle was past 100 by the time he was brought on. Almost got Sarwan's wicket, but dropped by Boucher/Pollock.
Pitch is still playing very well, WI best chance of preventing a South African cleansweep.

 

[Langeveldt]

Wow.. Gayle was amazing.. I was playing cricket 2004 and watching the cricket, and his scoring was almost identical on both!!

Im going to have a long lie in tomorrow, hopefully he will be out before i wake up then!

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

The say "beware the injured player". That was never more true. Brilliant innings all things considered.

That said, it was some pretty thoughless bowling from the South Africans today. Aside from Adams and Kallis, the bowling was horrible. Kept feeding Gayle with short ones when it was clear that he can't comfortably get forward.

I think the Windies' strategy is to imitate England and score as quickly as possible to keep a result alive. Well done and hopefully some more good cricket to come.

 

[luckyeddie]

Kudos to Crystal - he was absolutely brilliant. It was only when he got into the nineties that he slowed up - almost as though he suddenly thought "there's a ton in this - better make sure".

I hope he's still there when Lara gets to the wicket - man!

Saying that, Sarwan was quite wonderful too.

Unfortunately, I'm bowling in a tournament tomorrow so I won't see it live.

 

[Rich2001]

I think the Windies' strategy is to imitate England and score as quickly as possible to keep a result alive. Well done and hopefully some more good cricket to come.

You don't scare us...

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Saying that, Sarwan was quite wonderful too.

Yes, Sarwan was superb. Aside from that dropped catch, he looked in supreme touch.

You don't scare us...

You should be. When our mighty pace attack on our lightning quick pitches behead your so-called batsmen you will be. :P

 

[Rich2001]

Yes, Sarwan was superb. Aside from that dropped catch, he looked in supreme touch.

You should be. When our mighty pace attack on our lightning quick pitches behead your so-called batsmen you will be. :P

I think that the series will be very intresting, although I forsee a batting series.

IMO the bowling is the week link for us both, Our batsman wont be out in the middle quick enough knowing the pitch will be pace and wont turn at 90 degrees each ball - I forsee the English batsman all getting back in form.

Bowling wise your series in SA has shown how poor your bowlers can be and we all know the English can go so Hot or Cold it's not funny.

Will certianly be intresting watching Harmison, Jones, Anderson lining up agaisnt you though and returning some of that pain you have given us with Walsh and Ambrose!

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Some interesting matchups...

Mohammed v Giles - hopefully this will happen. ie Mohammed will be picked.

Lara v Harmison - let's see how good a bowler he really is .

Anderson v Edwards - the battle of the 'who?' bowlers.

Jacobs v Read - I tip Jacobs.

Thorpe v Chanderpaul - the battle of the dependables.

Flintoff v Lara - Would like to see how Lara deals with his bowling...

 

[iamdavid]

Jacobs v Read - I tip Jacobs.

If Read's even in the side that is , I really dont think either of these sides will be strong enough to bowl each other out , thus a boring series with lots of runs & a few draws .

Lara v Harmison - let's see how good a bowler he really is .

Cant wait to see this , should shut up the pro Harmison camp for good

 

[Craig]

Flintoff v Lara - Would like to see how Lara deals with his bowling...

Yeah throwing the ball back off the bike tracks at Queens Park Oval.

Lara will blast 257* and Ganga makes 168 and Mohammed takes 6/78 and 5/56. Well a lot of people in Trinidad would like that happen!

Super innings by Gayle, and Sarwan scoring a whole lot quicker. Newlands would have to be the best batting wicket in South Africa.

 

[luckyeddie]

Ah, Chris!

Back to being 'Crystal'.

A total change of attitude threw the initiative back to South Africa - and they needed no second invitation. Once more we see the perils of 'padding up' - great decision by Venkat.

 

[Mister Wright]

And now Sarwan is gone...

 

[luckyeddie]

Lara v Harmison - let's see how good a bowler he really is .



Cant wait to see this , should shut up the pro Harmison camp for good

I could mention the mighty Brett Lee here but I won't:P

 

[marc71178]

If Read's even in the side that is

I expect he will be, possibly as number 8...

Cant wait to see this , should shut up the pro Harmison camp for good

You never know until it happens though - can suspect, but until they play who knows - Cricket is a funny old game.

 

[marc71178]

Congratulations to Lara on his 9000 Test Runs - I believe he is the quickest to this milestone.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

I think he is. 2 innings faster than one Sachin Tendulkar.

 

[Langeveldt]

Another good day of test cricket! Lara was again superb, and Nel is backing up his aggro with some wickets in the book!

I cant help thinking though, that if Lara didnt have such good hands or an amazing eye, he would be an awful batsman.. His technique is nowhere.. Still he seems to throw the textbook right out the window

 

[garage flower]

Ah, Chris!

Back to being 'Crystal'.

A total change of attitude threw the initiative back to South Africa - and they needed no second invitation. Once more we see the perils of 'padding up' - great decision by Venkat.

Ordinary decision at best. Might have missed. Chris should certainly have stuck to his natural game though.