3rd Cricket test official match thread

We are fielding  and the test is about to start. Go Boys and give the poms a good whipping. I do trust that well know turncoat wee cc will rise to the occasion and support the team.

 B avuma and Khun appear to be the weakest links in the team. But they have a chance to do well.

 Some help for bowlers. England might struggle.

 Great catch and Philander strikes. He is going to be a great danger to the hapless poms!

 Cook on 27 and settling Rabada on and I would think Morri is coming on next over. Wickets please

 57-1 a wicket would be most welcome. Some close calls!

 I can't help but wonder how a fit Vernon Philander would have changed the fortunes of the Proteas at the ICC Cricket Championship. A swing bowler lacking in pace he is still a class act taking two wickets including the wicket of Joe Root in the 2nd Test and has again taken two wickets in the current one. Sad to think that there's nothing in the pipeline coming through that would emulate Philander/ Shaun Pollock type swing bowling.

 Good to see you back Denny.Well, we need Vern and the boys to step up a bit...looks like England is getting ahead of us a bit ATM.

 SA in a bit of bother here. Total implosion...test basically lost within 2 days. 51/5 , chasing a first innings total of 350 odd. Daarn!

 68/7...more than a bit of bother now.

 126/8 lol!

Is this the Brave New World?

 No.....it is the sound of a train in the tunnel heading towards the Proteas with its light off.
Well, we still have Bavuma at the crease.
Who was it again that was so excited about the powerful batting line up of the Proteas?
The only chance the Proteas have is to pray for lots and lots of rain and have the match declared a draw.

The Proteas really don't need the kick in the gut with Vernon Philander being ruled out of the 3rd Test suffering a stomach viral infection. Man of the match in the 2nd Test the go to man will be sorely missed.

Win, draw or loss not what the SA side was made out to be.
Something is missing in this squad.....besides talent.

This is not a good team, and even our better players are flopping. Amla after a reasonble start has only 216 runs after three tests at an average of 36. De Kock has been even more off form with a total of 160 runs at an average of 27.

 The batting order is wrong and so is the selection of 33yr old Heino Khun. Khun as an opener is a failure at test level leaving Amla exposed at first drop to face the new ball and De Kock is too high up in the batting order. The team needs a makeover, Markram and De Bruyn are the obvious replacements, question is why have they not been drafted into the starting line-up. Rabada as the #1 strike bowler has been ordinary. 

Just to let you know that Amla has opened the batting in many tests and his failing has nothing to do with Khun's failures.
Amla exposed to the new ball sounds like BS to me....he failed just like the rest of the team.
Amla is way past his best and is simply fading as the star batsman that he once was.
The unfortunate part of this series is that the will to win and mojo of the squad is questionable at best.
No team can rely on one batsman or bowler to win a series. Guys like AB have pulled the team out of many a situation while at the same time raising the motivation of the other team members. The same can be said for Steyn as a bowler.
Something is missing from this squad besides talent and motivation.  

Amla had actually only had two innings as an opener. He came in at 3 on 146 occasions, at 4 on 27 occasions and twice each at no 5,6 and 7.