Cricket: England vs South Africa

[Zapater]

Bowler bowls.

Batter bats.

England implode.

Same old story.

The thing is you can't be upset with this can you? If you look at South Africa we are man for man a much better team, with players that can set up and win test matches. England should be delighted that they managed to escape with there without being absolutely belted. On two occasions we were a wicket away from claiming the test despite being not near our best bowling. It just continues the frustration and disappointment which has filled South African cricket for so long. Despite having the cogs to dominate the game we always find a way to shoot ourselves in the foot. The emphatic victory in the last game was particularly pleasing though. There's still some **** that needs to be sorted out though. I.e. Tahir when he's illegible or Harris? Also the number 8 batting position is a problem, having McLaren (I'm not his biggest fan) made the world of difference at number 8. He let Boucher play a better innings rather than being a dasher.

Disappointing but good signs especially with Morkel. Confident this team can win the tests against India.

[Shaggy]

The emphatic victory in the last game may not have happened had Smith been given out when he was on 8 or whatever it was. Disgraceful stuff from Harper whose incompetence could've cost England the series win.

Yes your boys had the upper hand but twice you couldn't finish England off and we hung on fairly and squarely for well-earned draws. There's nothing wrong with being on the back foot and scrapping gamely and it was rightly 1-0 going into the last game. Smith was out and it would've been a very different game.

A draw was fair overall though.

[Zapater]

I'm not being a prick here, but come on. England got skittled for well under 200 in each innings of that last match. There's going to be good and bad decisions in every series that teams have to deal with.

That would be like me saying if Struass didn't have a mothers meeting with Prior and the bowler for around 5 minutes every time deciding to review or not we'd have won both of those other games because we'd have had another half an hour or so to get that final wicket.

We played one bad innings of cricket with the bat (the test SA lost) and drew the series because of it. England played several but got out of jail. On different days South Africa would have won those matches. SA retain the trophy but I think a draw has to go down as an unsatisfactory result.

I'm not saying that England don't deserve credit for their grit, I just feel a tad aggrieved that those games were 99% won yet people overlook them as draws and label it a just result

[Shaggy]

I'd probably feel aggrieved if I were you, but when the boot's on the other foot....

And come on...there's no such thing as 99% won. You either win it or you don't and England refused to be beaten. Also that just wasn't another bad decision...it was truly incompetent, Smith was out, clear as day, and there was no excuse for missing it.

Like I said though...I'll take the draw

[Zapater]

Disappointing but good signs especially with Morkel. Confident this team can win the tests against India.

I called it, no one. I mean no one goes to India and bosses them like that, especially from a bowling perspective on their flat pitches.

[Shaggy]

Steyn's performance was sensational.

[SouthAfricaRed]

I called it, no one. I mean no one goes to India and bosses them like that, especially from a bowling perspective on their flat pitches.

This is the third time SA have beaten India in India by an Innings since 2000

I backed them at 4.50 to win the test

However I'm sure that India will now prepare a monster pitch for their spinners. So back India to level the series

[Zapater]

I know, I was meaning no one other than us of course.

No doubt they're going to prepare a shocker of a pitch. Remember a couple years ago after we went one up? That was the absolute worst pitch I've ever seen. I do think perhaps we may be better equipped to handle it, although on some of those wickets there's not too much that can be done. Also, anyone think that Prince's opening stint should come to an end? I hate to say it because I'm a huge fan of Duminy, but if he doesn't get his **** sorted I wouldn't mind seeing Prince dropping back to the middle order in a chance to redeem himself and see Pietersen giving a chance to open the innings. That being said, we're winning so maybe things will pan out with some persistence.

[SouthAfricaRed]

I know, I was meaning no one other than us of course.

No doubt they're going to prepare a shocker of a pitch. Remember a couple years ago after we went one up? That was the absolute worst pitch I've ever seen. I do think perhaps we may be better equipped to handle it, although on some of those wickets there's not too much that can be done. Also, anyone think that Prince's opening stint should come to an end? I hate to say it because I'm a huge fan of Duminy, but if he doesn't get his **** sorted I wouldn't mind seeing Prince dropping back to the middle order in a chance to redeem himself and see Pietersen giving a chance to open the innings. That being said, we're winning so maybe things will pan out with some persistence.

Yes the openers is a problem. Maybe Amla should try it since he's batting virtually first few overs anyway

I cant think of any decent openers from the provinces that have shown much either. Prince is not coping well and he needs to play in his natural position to see if he can regain his form. Duminy has struggled since his wonderful debut in Aus. He had a shocker against Swann and his confidence must be very low. He has a flaw in his technique and need to sort it out

[SouthAfricaRed]

What a weird Test match the second test is turning out to be

South Africa were cruising on the 1st day at 208/1 (India were at odds of 13.00 to win this test ) and then South Africa 296 all out on a pitch that is flat. Did anyone see any dodgy bookmakers in the SA dressing room?

India pile on the runs and score 643/6 with 4 players getting 100 and now South Africa is struggling again at 214/7

I'm just pissed off I didnt back India at 13.00 to win But my original bet of a drawn series is looking good now

[Zapater]

So unjust (not because we didn't deserve to lose, because after that middle order showing we definitely did) considering that it was only 9 balls left to survive. Especially seeing it happened to us twice in the last few games.

Shows the importance of Smith and particularly Kallis stepping up. When they don't, we are practically destined to lose.