Australia v South Africa, 2nd Test Adelaide

First topic message reminder :

November 22-26, Adelaide Oval
Start time: 1030 CST, 1100 EST, 0000 GMT

Australia:
1 Ed Cowan, 2 David Warner, 3 Rob Quiney, 4 Ricky Ponting, 5 Michael Clarke*, 6 Michael Hussey,
7 Matthew Wade† , 8 Peter Siddle, 9 James Pattinson, 10 Ben Hilfenhaus, 11 Nathan Lyon.

South Africa:
1 Graeme Smith*, 2 Alviro Petersen, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 AB de Villiers† , 6 Jacques Rudolph,
7 Faf du Plessis, 8 Morne Morkel, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Imran Tahir, 11 Rory Kleinveldt.

So with Australia about to go 1-0 up, they need only avoid defeat in the final Test to become the new No.1 Test team which would make 4 different teams at the summit in 16 months!

Punter's time is up IMO..

although it was a nice touch for the crowd to cheer him everytime he bowled a ball

Great job there's DRS in this series as that moron Billy Bowden trigger Faf LBW with a ball that pitches aside leg.

In the end no harm done.

Not good for the ticker tho!

Another rubbish decision by Billy Bowden.

Faf again saved by DRS.

I think Billy needs a trip to the opticians.

He's a worry isn't he? Imagine if your life depended on his eyesight!

Linebreaker wrote:He's a worry isn't he? Imagine if your life depended on his eyesight!

I'm not sure how he's still an 'Elite Panel Umpire'.

It's clear to the world that he's not very good. Makes so many shocking decisions.

The second shocker against Faf was simply horrific. Giving a batsman LBW when they hit it thru squarish cover isn't a laughing matter.

Regarding life depending on Billy's eyesight, if he was a surgeon you'd be in real trouble!

Extraordinary figures for Nathan Lyon in the Proteas 2nd dig.

27-15-27-2. He's shown excellent control, he's been aided by AB and Faf digging in. But a decent showing nonetheless.

Real backs to the wall stuff from SA. Putting up a good fight. Still 5 wickets left at tea....

Well done Faf.

Epic stand from SA. A draw is probably the fairest result given all the injury obstacles they've had to undergo.

Siddle bowls Kleinveldt with twelve minutes to go !

Tense finish , anyone ?

Counting down...five balls left...

Cracking finish, SA have fought right to the end like a true no.1 team. Somehow, it's 0-0 with 1 to play.

Didn't bother getting up early this morning thinking both games would be over by tea so just seen the results. Can't believe SA held out.

I didn't see any of this match but seems to have been a fantastic rearguard fight by South Africa to salvage a draw.

Yep well done SA, great fightback. Australia obviously will rue losing Pattinson, but then South Africa lost Kallis also. The key was that Australia couldn't get a wicket before the new ball, and then only managed 1 with the new ball. From then on for me it was always going to be tough.

All fantastically set up for Perth, which will surely be a result (has Perth ever been a draw?)

It does go to show how difficult it is to remove decent batsmen on a good pitch if they arent looking to score runs. Gripping stuff, frustrating for us aussies but I dont believe Sth Africa will escape a third time if we pick the right team for Perth.

FAF batted well in both innings and was the Saffers hero...but how he got Man of the Match in front of Michael Clarke who scored 230 and batted for just as long is beyond me. One batted to save his wicket and the other batted to set up a potential win for his team. I know which one most cricket fans would rather pay to watch.

Mike Selig wrote:

All fantastically set up for Perth, which will surely be a result (has Perth ever been a draw?)

Dont get too many draws there but it was the venue in 2005 which was identical to today, when Rudolf batted all day to get 100 and save the match for Sth Africa. They seem to be very good at not getting out ...... grrrr

yeah but that was during the period where Perth had gone "flat". Nothing like that now. Would be very surprised if Perth wasn't a result.

Yep. Last 2-3 Tests at the WACA have seen it back to being the quickest pitch in the world. Runs can be scored quickly, but wickets are sure to tumble at some point too.

Well done to Faf - my assessment of his selection as 'the new Jonty Rhodes' (in for fielding as much as anything, facilitated by AB keeping and freeing up a place down the order) must now be revised considerably.

Fair play to Faf , hes been a passenger in the shorter formats but seems far better suited to the test arena.

Bit of a harsh assessment, he's pretty adept at T20.

Phenonemal debut for Faf!!!!

lyon's figures defy belief!

50-31-3-49-0.98

Taking nothing away from a tremendous fight by South Africa but surely, given the eternity of time they had, the Aussies should have bowled them out.
Lyon's figures were remarkable, but he would have been better off taking, say, 6-125 and winning the match.

Epic rearguard fight by SA.....

....or poor fourth innings bowling effort by Australia ?

sirfredperry wrote:....or poor fourth innings bowling effort by Australia ?

Nope don't think so.

First of all, they were handicapped by having only 3 main bowlers, and their one guy who with his height and pace would have been best placed to make use of uneven bounce not amongst them. Moreover, Lyon is not really a spinner who is going to run through sides, he's more likely to do what he did which is pick up the odd wicket and keep things tidy. He is a good bowler though, certainly Australia's best spinner since Warne.

Secondly South Africa completely dead-batted. Don't blame them that much for that, but they were patting long hops back to Lyon at times. Du Plessis played really well, a terrific effort of concentration. I said during the series in England that for me he has a touch of class about him which Rudolph doesn't. He was very well supported by Kallis and De Villiers, both world class players.

Thirdly, the pitch didn't deteriorate as it could have. The odd ball kept low, but overall it was playing more like a day 4 than day 5 pitch.

Finally, the luck went South Africa's way.