SA in Lanka

Amla hits a hundred and anchors the inning....ABDV powers it in the middle and Miller packs a punch at the end to get them to a 300+

until lanka has batted we will not know if this is a good score or another "patta" sub-continental pitch

.malinga didn't do much and surpirsingly didnpüt finish his quota of 10.

interesting series with in the light of Lanka's new earned respect

lanka need about 100 in about 14 overs......doable......but the balance is a little in SA favour because they have plucked out 5 wickets and Sangkarra has only lower order to help him...but a rather handy lower order.

60-40 in SA favour as it stands now

but the end came too fast, last 5 crumbled for nothing

Imran Tahir is not a bad leggie...better than any spinners that Aus, Eng or NZ have at this moment

KP_fan wrote:but the end came too fast, last 5 crumbled for nothing

Imran Tahir is not a bad leggie...better than any spinners that Aus, Eng or NZ have at this moment

Nathan Lyon is definitely a better Test spinner than Tahir.

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:but the end came too fast, last 5 crumbled for nothing

Imran Tahir is not a bad leggie...better than any spinners that Aus, Eng or NZ have at this moment

Nathan Lyon is definitely a better Test spinner than Tahir.

Lyon picked all his wickets against a disintegrated Cook's England
let him show his worth against another mentally stable side

KP_fan wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:but the end came too fast, last 5 crumbled for nothing

Imran Tahir is not a bad leggie...better than any spinners that Aus, Eng or NZ have at this moment

Nathan Lyon is definitely a better Test spinner than Tahir.

Lyon picked all his wickets against a disintegrated Cook's England
let him show his worth against another mentally stable side

He has done well in the past too. Tahir is a very good limited overs bowler but has a test average of 43 with an economy rate of over 3.50.

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:but the end came too fast, last 5 crumbled for nothing

Imran Tahir is not a bad leggie...better than any spinners that Aus, Eng or NZ have at this moment

Nathan Lyon is definitely a better Test spinner than Tahir.

Lyon picked all his wickets against a disintegrated Cook's England
let him show his worth against another mentally stable side

He has done well in the past too. Tahir is a very good limited overs bowler but has a test average of 43 with an economy rate of over 3.50.

I have said this before.....look beyond averages

when Tahir bowls....he just looks more potent than any one of NZ, Aus or English spinners

Averages of spinners come down when they get to play tests in India, Lanka, UAE and BD ( i.e subcontinent)
How many tests has Tahir played in subcontinent ?

when playing eslewhere as one  of the bowlers in the 5 man  attack with very good pace bowlers  in pace / seam friendly conditions.....he is used as the 4th or 5th bowler

so what kinda bowling attack he is a part of and what is role assigned to him ?

the factors in bold are critical to be reviewed closely...mere top line averages can be very decietful

Lyon has a 7for against India in India. He's not a bad bowler at all, and he has pretty good control as well. Tahir is a lot more inconsistent, even for a leggy. But he's a handy operator in sub-continental conditions, and is a better ODI bowler than Lyon.

even jason Kreza has something like a 10-fer against India....and one shaun Udal reaped a heap of wickets one time in Mumbai.

he gets wicket....but Lyon is NOT a wicket taking bowler even in reasonably friendly conditions....
While Tahir produces many more wicket taking deliveries

Lyon had a 5for on debut against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.
Tahir can produce more attacking deliveries, but he also bowls a lot of rubbish, half-trackers and full tosses are very much a component of his every over.

msp83 wrote:Lyon had a 5for on debut against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.
Tahir can produce more attacking deliveries, but he also bowls a lot of rubbish, half-trackers and full tosses are very much a component of his every over.

yes Tahir is by nature and also by his trade ( leg spin) more attacking an generally wrist spinners are more profligate
Lyon is a classic hold one end Bapu Nadkarni type bowler who gets wickets more because of the quality of bowling on the other end and his steadiness

The 2nd ODI going on, Sri Lanka, batting first, are bowled out for 267 in the last over. Tillakaratne Dilshan top scoring with 86. Ryan McLaren took 4 wickets and Vernon Philander and Imran Tahir 2 each. Dale Steyn bowled only 2.2 overs before getting injured.

dilshan deflates SA and looks like they are gone barring some lower order miracle

A rather embarrassing defeat for the Proteas.

Bundled out for 180 out of which Hashim got 101. Only AB and Steyn got into double figures.

On the plus note nice to see Hashim return to ODI form, back to back 100s bodes well for the Test series.

amala misses the 100 but deKock and DeVilliers get 100s and SA finish around 340

they will win this i can bet  

Quite astonishing that Quinton de Kock is yet to register an ODI 50... Quickest to five ODI centuries as well, in terms of both age, and ODIs taken

First test starts tomorrow.
Dean Elgar and Alviro Petersen to form a new opening combination for South Africa in the post-Graeme Smith era. Quinton de Kock to keep wickets and take the middle order position as AB de Villiers isn't fit enough to keep wickets though he's more than likely to play as a batsman only.
For Sri Lanka, Upul Taranga makes a test comeback replacing Dimuth Karunaratne at the top of the order.

We are on a hiding to nothing. Transition era, and I hope for patience wins out.

Sri Lanka will be preying the pitch has little or no bounce, as they where seriously exposed in the ODIs.

I'm unsure whether QdK will be good enough to keep in these conditions.

Seems rather odd that Hashim will be batting at #4 rather than his regular #3.

Faf has been struggling against spin, but I'm not sure he merits batting at #3.

Faf at 3 and Amla at 4? That's interesting.......

msp83 wrote:Faf at 3 and Amla at 4? That's interesting.......

I'm not happy...

Moving someone up the order, Faf(and I'm a huge a fan), shouldn't mean moving the man who's owned the #3 spot for years.

I agree Gerry. Perhaps they are thinking Hashim is now saddled with the additional responsibilities of captaincy, Jacques Kallis is not any more there at 4 to provide the innings with stability, so Amla can do the role. Not sure that is the right way to go about, and not at all sure whether Faf is the man to bat 3. He's a fighter despite his issues with spin, but I would have left Faf at 4 or 5. If AB isn't keeping, then he has to bat 4. AB at 4, Faf at 5 and de Kock at 6. I don't think JP Duminy is good enough to be a top 6 test batsman for a side like South Africa. As a batting all-rounder, he fits in at 7.

msp83 wrote:I agree Gerry. Perhaps they are thinking Hashim is now saddled with the additional responsibilities of captaincy, Jacques Kallis is not any more there at 4 to provide the innings with stability, so Amla can do the role. Not sure that is the right way to go about, and not at all sure whether Faf is the man to bat 3. He's a fighter despite his issues with spin, but I would have left Faf at 4 or 5. If AB isn't keeping, then he has to bat 4. AB at 4, Faf at 5 and de Kock at 6. I don't think JP Duminy is good enough to be a top 6 test batsman for a side like South Africa. As a batting all-rounder, he fits in at 7.

I don't think Faf's technique is suited to #3 TBH MSP.

Faf is too bottom handed, tries to hit 70% of deliveries through leg side. On these slow low Asian pitches you need to play straight.

Duminy could be a good #6 if he becomes more consistent.

The game underway. South Africa 57 without loss and they are going along at a very good clip at over 4 an over. As expected, Quinton de Kock is keeping wickets, and Imran Tahir is the only specialist spinner in the lineup, to be backed up by JP Duminy, who is slated to bat at 7.
As for Sri Lanka, a few changes from the winning side in England in the last test, Upul Tharanga in for Dimuth Karunaratne, Dilruwan Perera comes in as the 2nd spinner. The injured Nuwan Pradeep misses out and Suranga Lakmal comes in. Bit of a surprise not to have Dhamika Prasad in there after his match turning 5for in England.

SA 87-1. Petersen the man out, LBW to Perera for 34, Petersen's review not saving him, as the onfield decision stayed on umpire's call.

I see Perreira is their second spinner...know nothing about him but he is the one with the wicket

SA go to tea at 194-1, Elgar has brought up his ton, and Faf has gone pass 50. SA in command.

Still can't believe Elgar has a subcontinent hundred.

from 222 / 3......SA could collapse for about 300ish..which is below par

Amla failed.....early pressure of captaincy

AB gonna escape due to a missing frame. Technology folks.

There's a dog on the park. And no one going to move him.

KP_fan wrote:from 222 / 3......SA could collapse for about 300ish..which is below par

Amla failed.....early pressure of captaincy

He didn't fail because of pressure, he played a poor shot

331-7......is how SA stand now....they did collapse but then recovered QDC gets a 50 on debut.....SA is lucky to have such quality batsman WKs
they will finish no less than 350 which doesn't seal the game for them but rather does make it interestingly poised.

If they get to 450 from here it will be an imposing total

Jean-Paul Duminy playing a career defining innings. Marshalling the tail and inching towards a well deserved century. I've always felt JP was a little soft, but very talented. But he showed his toughness today.

Sri Lanka are being batted out of the game here and the pitch is playing with some variable bounce.

455/9 the Proteas have declared.

JP registers 4th Test match hundred, 100* batting at #8. Excellent innings.

about 130 runs came of last two wickets.....these lower order runs is becoming the norm now.....

SA get the upper hand.....dunno why they declared....anotehr 30 runs would have been a bonus

Good knock from Duminy who really needed that innings. Very happy to see young Quinton de Kock performing.

on what should be a spin friendly pitch ( because its Galle) Morkel and Steyn fired and cracked them down to 100-3

Sri Lanka 122-3 at lunch. Upul Tharanga fighting hard on test return, batting on 81. Dale Steyn has been Dale Steyn. He got Kaushal Silva with a brute of a lifter, and then smashed a near Yorker into Mahela Jayawardene's pads to pin him LBW. Morkel's short ball attack was taken on by Kumar Sangakkara but his execution let him down as he played on.
SA very much on top.

4 down now...apparently Lanka has not used the home advantage of preparing a spin friendly pitch

JP Duminy, while going at just about 2 an over, got the important wicket of the well set Upul Tharanga. Their frontline, specialist spinner Imran Tahir on the other hand, has gone at over 5 an over and hasn't taken a wicket. Tahir can play only on real spinning tracks.
Perhaps SA should give young Pete a debut in the next game.

Vernon packing a few extra kilos. Horrible to see.

Steyn getting some serious reverse.

Dale Steyn isn't your run of the mile bowler. He's just the best your going to see for a long long time.

Vernon Philander isn't suited to these kinda of pitches. Maybe Parnell or de Lange would be better to give the Lankan pancake batsmen the hurry up.

Steyn takes another one. Guy is ridiculous in the subcontinent.

subcontinent offer reverse....and a fast paced bowler skilled with reverse can take the pich out of the equation.

I ( and generally a lot of us in India) have a very high regard for Wayne Parnell's skill.
he should be the 3rd seamer...I agree in non swinging conditions.

it will be a major achievement if SA can close out this test match

23rd Test match 5 wicket bag for the phenomenal Dale Steyn.

367 Test wickets @ 22.81.

He could just be the greatest of all time.

Dale Steyn now has five 5 wicket bags in Asia.

2 in Sri Lanka
2 in India, one of which was a 10 wicket match bag
1 in Pakistan

He needs to get one in UAE abc Bangladesh to complete the set.

Yeah, I think he's the best I've ever seen. Long since eclipsed Donald, maybe the greatest of all time.

Morkel just got caned.