feel satisfied with that session but they need to keep Pretorius out of the attack. Norje is sharp without being menacing and Rabada has found some nice shape and variation. 2 Down before lunch...I'll take it.
They took another two wickets in the second session and the run rate is low. I like Nortje - he seems to have the knack to take out top batsmen - this time it was Root.
Stokers look meaning though.
Pretorius bowling figures is 7 overs bowled - 6 runs scored - 5 maidens. Not really all that bad,
The score after day 1 is 262/9
The score after day 1 is 262/9
Maharaj is going to be a handful on day 3 - 4. They struggled like mad to get him away. 26 overs for 68 on the first day is a great effort. Got us to the new ball brilliantly.
Pretorius did a perfect holding job for a while. Really helped to turn the screw.
Nortje send a few 150+ balls down. Ended up being too much for Stoke despite the ball being almost 60 overs old.
Interestingly, the collapse happened after a ball change.
Andersen and Broad are going to struggle if they don't get early wickets tomorrow.
Might be a very very long day for the Poms.
"Pretorius bowling figures is 7 overs bowled - 6 runs scored - 5 maidens. Not really all that bad,"
Agreed. I should have explained myself a bit better. I was referring to the morning session when he was bowling with the new ball, it's a wasted exercise, he's not going to buy you a wicket with a hard red cherry, better to use the speedsters to extract it benefits while it's still hard..
He got two with the soft ball, setting up the openers to clean up with the new ball.
That's a great job.
Exactly the benefit of my point.