3rd Test

Another correction: Anderson is playing. He bowled poorly this morning and never took advantage of the cloud cover at all. A bit disappointed for him.


Elgar and Stiaan managed to see off the new ball with Stiaan going with a soft dismissal. Still they hung around long enough to see the shine off the ball, so job done in that regard. Pity Elgar never got a few more.

Amla got a 40 too. BUT...his technique got him out again. A ball on off stump that wasn't doing a great deal completely beat him for length because he had ZERO foot movement. He made it look like a good ball, it was average at best. I still believe his trigger movement needs to change. This is the same technique issue which has caused most of his dismissals lately. He is quality and i still support him but something needs to change as far as his footwork is concerned. I think he needs to stand still, and move to play the ball...not before the ball is released.

AB...Well i will let you guys decide if he was too aggressive or not. In case you missed his dismissal, he tried to pull a bouncer that climbed higher than he thought it would and gloved a catch to the keeper. I think his approach was a tad too aggressive.

Faf...he has been there for 52 balls and has 16. Finn had him beaten a good few times early on and he could easily have been out. He's still there though, so that's something. Kepler makes a valid point in that he says FAF is playing "what if" cricket at the moment. Not scoring and not turning the strike over. As i'm typing this he just got out.

Bavuma...he is only on 16 at the moment but dammit he has a good looking drive. Obviously a very short push that he makes at the ball but he seems to have excellent timing on his drives. I'm predicting some short bowling will be headed his way soon. Past performances aside, i like the look of him. Granted i have not seen much of him prior to this series. Haha he is so short that the ball can hit him on the thigh while he is standing upright and he can be given LBW.

For me, the problem with the AB/Amla captaincy issue, i think we'll only be able to tell after a few more series if AB as captain is the right move. AB's choice to bat this morning was the right one as far as i am concerned.

 Another average performance from an average team.......our hopes rest with our bowlers.

 Well since last year Elgar has shown much more grit. Make him captain, drop Faf and play VZ at 4 or 5.

Denny, we'll have to see how England bat before we say that. Jimmy was a real issapointment yesterday for me. Looking forward to seeing Viljoen though. I thibk he might show Morne a trick or two. 300 is a decent 1st innings score in JHB, and if we get beyond that I think we'll be well chuffed. Morris to the rescue again. The value of all rounders man.

"Denny, we'll have to see how England bat before we say that" No you don't, cry me a river half of them just gave their wicket away......that's  if you watched the game and read what cricket scribes are saying.
Draad, on what basis would you make Elgar, Captain? Just because he shows some metal? The lad is still trying to establish himself at test level and you choose to burden him with a major extra responsibility??...give me a break! Hell, yesterday he scored his runs at snails pace.....surely that alone tells you something. Agree Faf is past it and they need to find an opener, persisting with Van Zyl is painful. I would replace Faf with Riley Rossouw...quicksmart.

 
Pity the Poms got their line and length wrong. It could easily have been all out for less than 200 runs.

Van Zyl really is a disappointment. How much longer will we be forced to endure this chump. He's obviously uncomfortable as an opener ... question is will he be any better further down the order?


 

 It's not his fault......it's nothing unusual for an opener to play further down the order, however, no-one has tried to make an middle order bat into an opener....not with any success anyway but no these turkeys keep banging away.

 
What do you think of Bavuma?

I kinda like his style.

Looks to be well schooled.

Good technique!!??

Pity about the run out.

I guess time will show us what he's made of. 

Neil Mckenzie Denny. He was a middle order bat wasn't he? They turned him into an opener if I remember correctly and there was a stage when him and Smith averaged 100 for the first wicket. I think Neil was a 4 or 5 I itiqlly, but i could be wrong. Yeah Stiaan does seem to be opening. Maybe they should put him in at three if they really wanna keep him. Let Amla and Elgar open. I saw all the wickets yesterday...except that of Vilas. What is a soft dismissal? To me it's when you chip a shot back to the bowler, leave a straight one or edge to the slips when you're trying to run it down to third man. Shots when you are not being aggressive and where you give your wicket away. Are run outs soft dismissals. I guess maybe they are. Elgar edged it. The ball turned more than he thought it would. More than anybody thought it would. Sort of a soft dismissal. Stiaan top edged going for a pull. Not completely a soft dismissal as he was trying to hit it to the boundary. Amla's technique let.him down and he edged it to the keeper. I don't think thqt was soft. AB gloved it to the keep while going for a hook/pull very aggresively. A silly dismissal but not a soft one. Faf, very nicely timed shot but he fell for a trap and hit straight down square let's throat. Possibly soft. Bavuma...Run out. Vilas I didn't see. None of those dismissals blatantly soft. But then again, the term "soft dismissal" is kind of subjective. One could see all of them as one way or the other. Still, if the Proteas get up to 330 today then the Poms are in deep kak. We wouldn't even have to bowl really well to restrict them to under 250 on this pitch. Again, just speculation on my behalf. It's about to start. Do you guys want updates?

 
Nah ... keep your opinionated horsesh!t to yourself.

Thanks a lot!!

Some trivia . . . the Proteas score is 267/8. If they score another 36 runs AND if neither Rabada or Morris (or anyone else) gets to 50 runs, this will break the world record for the highest test score without a single 50 in the innings.

 Morris gone for 28. Driving a length ball outside off and edges it. Currently 281-8. Viljoen is in next. Looks like we'll get 300.

Hopefully the Proteas can hang on a little longer because ideally I guess they'd like to have 45 minutes or so at the at the English openers before lunch. Oh crap...Radaba just got out too. Shortish away swinger edged to the keeper. Down to Giraffe boy and Viljoen to get another 19 runs :/

 
Hey Poepol ... please ... I'm asking nicely ... no-one's interested in your rendition ...

Now be a good P oepol and run along ... 

Viljoen hits a 4 off the first ball he faces. Who should open the bowling for SA. Obviously Morkel will get the new ball but i think Viljoen should be second. He's fast, gets good bounce ans England don't know much about him.

 Plum,  ignore smutbek, keep up the good work .

10 runs away from 300 now.

303 up for the Proteas with a pull in front of square by Viljoen. Very Kevin Pretensesn'esque that shot. Next ball went for 4 byes. 207 now

14 runs from that over. Ouch! These runs will hurt England I think.

Haha Morkel just got dropped by the keeper. He went in front of first slip and bubbled it. More ouch!

Anderson just got taken off for running on the pitch...hahaha. Stokes takes over from him mid-year and picks up Morkel with his first ball. Comedy!

My info was incorrect. The highest innings total without a 50 was in fact 315 by England against the West Indies so the Proteas fell 2 runs short. Still, this was only the 13th time in history that every batsman in the team reached double figures.

Johnny Bairstow also dropped a catch at the end that would have seen him tie the record of 7 catches in an innings if he'd held it .

Morris opening the bowling. Interesting. So i guess Morkel will take the new ball with him. The commentators are saying that one wants to bowl full here so let's see the Protea's plan is. Morris is making them play in the first over. Bavuma at silly mid-on with his helmet on looks like a Lego Man.

Ramada getting the new ball with Morris. Very interesting. Could this be punishment for Morkel's poor.opening spells thus far in the series. Radaba on the money right away. Second ball he has cook beaten already. Third ball dropping just short of Faf at short square leg. Fourth ball he forces a defensive shot. Fifth ball on the top of off and forces another defensive shot. Sixth ball on off and picks up alerting edge. That's how you bowl to a new batter. In my book, good job!

Got him. Radaba rewarded for making the batters play. Drove at a wider ball and edged it to the slips. So, AB's choice of opening bowlers has done the trick.

The first few overs from these two have been good. Aside from a few balls that have been too straight, the Protea bowlers have made it tough for England. Let's.hope Morkel doesn't relieve all the pressure with wayward balls.when he comes on next.

Morkel starts with a wide ball outside off which is left alone, and follows it up with a shorter slightly less wide ball outside off which is also left. Why Morne!!!? Why!!!? 3rd ball down leg side. 4th ball wide outside off stump. Left alone. 5th ball over corrects and bowls on leg stump. On side push for two runs. This guys really kills me.

Ramada continuing and has beaten the batter once in this over and made him play all but one ball in that over. This guys looks a real new ball bowler to me. Viljoen is on now.

Vvvvviiiiiiilllllljjjjjoooooooeeeeeeennnnnn!!!!!!???? Gets a wicket with his first ball!!! Outside leg but picks up an edge and Vilas takes it. Cook goes in exactly the same way as he did in his previous innings. Lol poor guy :/

 england 22-2. 300 looking a long a55 way away. Viljoen has a wicket, but it was a bit of a wayward first over from him. He clock 150km/h during that over.

AB has taken Morkel off after just one over already and Radaba is continuing. Though, Radaba is 20 and he is teaching Morkel how to bowl. Impressive. Pretty interesting stuff from AB though. Gotta give him that.

Right Hands has the last over before lunch. 1) Well outside off and left alone. 2) Same as ball one just slight fuller. 3) Absolute peach...147km/h and deviates away from off. Batter totally beaten. Could easily have edged that. 4) Too straight and worked on the off side for one. 5) Short just outside off and beats the bat again. Steeply rising ball. 6) Beats the bat again with a length ball outside off. Lunch time and time for me to start my day :)

 Denny, averaging just short of 40 after 24 tests as a opener? Cemented his place in the cide IMO...AND he captained the SA o19's and SAA sides....better than any of the other choices in my book.

 That all sounds fine and dandy and he might well be the obvious choice down the track as captain but I pause as I see an opener fighting to establish himself with the bat at the optimum level. One of the most important factors about being a captain is respect and by that I mean respect in one's own performance which naturally flows on to command the respect of the team.

 Elgar gone....we're left with the shaky Stiaan....spare a thought for Hashim as he now has to face the new ball and play the role of  opener instead of the #3.

 The pile of sh!t mounts....and if our newly crowned captain starts in a swashbuckling fashion then we can kiss our asses a goodbye. Faf....ag voeitog, he'd probably wish himself a heart attack than step into a self created nightmare of an environment. Can't say I'm surprised by what's going down.

 Denny, I'm punting elgar because AM is no skipper, neither is Amla and my previous choice, Faf is also struggling to survive. We need someone with balls in the dressing room. BBB!

 Oh alright, Elgar is captain....so what now??? It's a new dawn for Protea cricket and all the associated problems I've mentioned ad nauseum is swept away...have I got that  right??? Tx.

 There's a lot more change needed than just the skipper. SA Sport is at a crossroad. ..make or break. We either forget about politics and the past and move on, or we dwindle away in mediocrity.  It's time to make a stand or go downhill fast. My money is on the easy slope to desaster.

 Who are the coaching staff of this pathetic bunch called the Blommetjies, or Proteas by some? All I know they are not worth the shoelaces of earlier teams like that captained by Hansie as an example.