England v South Africa, The Oval, 1st Test Thread

[Duty281]

First topic message reminder :

Here we go then, England v South Africa at The Oval where the battle for Number 1 will commence. A win or draw in the series for England will see them retain that coveted spot whereas South Africa need a series win to take the crown. This will be a true battle of the World's two best Test teams. Here are the lineups:

1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson

England bat down to 10 with the formidable Cook opening (made 294 less than 12 months ago), KP (who walks into any team at the moment) and the best WK batsmen in the game, Matt Prior (averages over 40 and he bats at 7). Add the fact that their probable No.8 bats with an average over 40! England have probably the best all-round bowling attack in the game - 2 World-class quicks, a World-'class spinner and a very good all-rounder in Tim Bresnan who averages over 40 with the bat and under 30 with the ball. One weak link though, Ravi Bopara.

1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Alviro Petersen, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 AB de Villiers (wk), 6 Jacques Rudolph, 7 JP Duminy, 8 Vernon Philander, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Imran Tahir

7 specalist batsmen which includes the best no.3 in the World and the best all-rounder seen in this era. There's also Graeme Smith and De Villiers who both average a shade under 50. Then the best fast bowling attack in the World, Steyn (best bowler in the World), Morkel and Philander (average of 14.15 in 7 Tests). Weak links? Petersen isn't the best opener, Boucher the usual WK is injured and Tahir is far from the best spinner in the World.

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My series prediction: 2-0 England.

Enjoy the game!

[skyeman]

great start... this pitch is nails.. i cant see em getting past 50

Slightly optimistic.

[mystiroakey]

lol trebbs

[Duty281]

Lovely start by England, cracking ball by Jimmy A.

[Fists of Fury]

Ha, against the Saffers we are both needed, Trebs!

[trebellbobaggins]

oo the tms safa says smith will score lots of runs.

game on, gauntlet is down.

[trebellbobaggins]

Ha, against the Saffers we are both needed, Trebs!

I think i've been dropped down the order though.

[trebellbobaggins]

smith is smashing us to all parts now, he cannot fail, he cannot get out, he will personally score 300. he is the best ever. he's not even human, he's a god. failure is something he will never know.



phew.. tired.

[trebellbobaggins]

they way they are talking, he's just too good for england. they might as well just conceed this one. TMs say smith has won it. he is a god. a god.

[skyeman]

Come on Jimmy, one more before tea.

[Fists of Fury]

Given Smith's past performances in England, I think there is little doubt that he will score 150+ here and put the Saffers in to a match winning position.

Amla is immovable, as well. Will take something outrageous to break this partnership.

[trebellbobaggins]

it can't be done fists. would need something more than our village attack to break this worlds best ever partnership. That beard alone gives an unbreakable auro of doom, cannot be broken.

[alfie]

Reckon this is the key partnership .

Sure , Kallis and AB de V to come , and you'd be a fool to discount them , but I fancy if England can get a second early on they will have their noses in front . On the other hand this pair are both very good at batting long , and could set it up for the rest...

Good contest here.

[trebellbobaggins]

in as much as Hector versus Achilles was a good contest. The immortal cannot be beaten in combat. It's a futile effort.

[Fists of Fury]

Fully expect these two to bat out the day. Rain is probably our best bet in this match, to remove the risk of a second innings collapse from England.

[skyeman]

Give the last over to Swanny, good at getting a wkt in his first spell.

[Fists of Fury]

Moving along effortlessly now, and South Africa, with these two well set, are looking likely to get a huge total.

[alfie]

Couple of nice shots from Amla there ... will want to get him after tea...

Interesting last session coming up

[Duty281]

25/1 at tea. This is certainly the key partnership and we'll need to get a wicket soon after tea. 41 overs to play as well. Come on England!

[trebellbobaggins]

sa looked so comfortable. They look better with bat and ball. Fearing a 3-0 smashing in this series. Imagine them on more helpful surfaces? we won't get past 100.

[LivinginItaly]

Key session coming up after tea... dare I say a session that could shape the rest of the series let alone the match. England will want at least two more, otherwise SA will be in a good position by the close of play.

[Fists of Fury]

I'm signing off for the day, fellas.

All the best, and if South Africa lose any more than 1 wicket (I'd be surprised if they lost 1) this afternoon then I'll gladly eat my third hat of the series.

[LivinginItaly]

Looks like the rain might save your hat collection Fists.

[trebellbobaggins]

Cheers fury.

[mystiroakey]

I like fury- but trebs and fury together in sterio was getting me down!!

[DouglasJardinesbox]

Morkel with the breakthrough ...well played Prior

Nearly got us to 400 ...

Wonder if Jimmy is up for a bit of tail wagging today ?

Yep, well played Matt Prior. Clearly not good enough to bat at 6 though.

[ChequeredJersey]

Said it wouldn't stay sunny for long

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

Yep, well played Matt Prior. Clearly not good enough to bat at 6 though.

Yeah I mean look at the legends that have batted 6 for England in recent years ..... Bopara, Bairstow, Morgan...he'll never fill their shoes Lets not forget the mighty Flintoff with his test average of err 31. Even Bell has a worse record than prior.

ABD is is the only test 7 (and this isnt his regular position) to have a better batting record than Prior. His record is better than the majority of test 6's

He could bat 6, and is as good as most test 6s out there. England happen to have a good enough team to leave him at 7.

People are talking like the sub 400 score is some kind of disaster, maybe after the start they had its far from great, but remember the state they were in at this point in the India series against the Chuckle brothers bowling?

They are well in this game, all three results still very possible.

[Duty281]

Stopped raining apparently. Be good to at least get another hour at South Africa under heavy cloud.

[LivinginItaly]

Exactly, can only benefit England this rain break.

[trebellbobaggins]

I like fury- but trebs and fury together in sterio was getting me down!!

Sorry roakster. I was fairly mild for a while but our collapse didnt help.

[mystiroakey]

thats allright trebbs. Its all good, we are all fighting the cause

[Duty281]

Inspection at 5:40.

[amanuensis]

Yep, well played Matt Prior. Clearly not good enough to bat at 6 though.

Yeah I mean look at the legends that have batted 6 for England in recent years ..... Bopara, Bairstow, Morgan...he'll never fill their shoes Lets not forget the mighty Flintoff with his test average of err 31. Even Bell has a worse record than prior.

ABD is is the only test 7 (and this isnt his regular position) to have a better batting record than Prior. His record is better than the majority of test 6's

He could bat 6, and is as good as most test 6s out there. England happen to have a good enough team to leave him at 7.

People are talking like the sub 400 score is some kind of disaster, maybe after the start they had its far from great, but remember the state they were in at this point in the India series against the Chuckle brothers bowling?

They are well in this game, all three results still very possible.

What?

[Duty281]

Play resumes at 5:55 and will (hopefully) last till 7:30. If we can get 2 more wickets in that time it'll be good and put us on top.

[skyeman]

Swann looking very dangerous.

[Ozzy3213]

Need to break this partnership.

[mystiroakey]

its starting of like a carbon copy of the english innings

[skyeman]

Jimmy back on, get ready

[Carrotdude]

These 2 look set for the long haul, really could have done with Strauss catching that tough chance.

[Duty281]

Day 2 was South Africa's day.

Under cloudy skies, they managed to limit England to below 400. Steyn and Morkel looked very dangerous when bowling today. England's lower-order fired; they added 101 for the final 4 wickets and Matt Prior proved why he's the best wicket keeper batsman in the game today with a very useful knock of 60 which could prove very useful and make all the difference.

And then onto the South African innings. It was pretty much a parallel of England's innings. Opener gets out cheaply and then the other opener and the No.3 dig in. Smith and Amla look like they could both post big scores but England might be eyeing that longish tail with relish. The pitch is starting to turn and that will delight Swann who's looking threatening while there was some swing for Anderson.

As for the overall match situation, it's honours even in my book. It should be a cracking final 3 days and the weather forecast is good. Day 3 will be pivotal. South Africa will look to bat out all of it while England will look to keep South Africa below 285.

[mystiroakey]

Well played south africa- great days cricket!

game on

[Ozzy3213]

Duty, completely agree, we are in for a cracking next 3 days. this is proper test match cricket. Saffas in the box seat right now, much as England were this time yesterday. Jimmy, Bres and Broady need to come out fired up but controlled in the morning to get England back into it mentally.

Going to be a fascinating days cricket, cannot wait.

[trebellbobaggins]

Been out watching the batman film. So England are deep in the Poopie then.

Very poor batting display and now Sa are putting the boot in. Today looks like it could define this series. SA simply much better with bat and ball.

Reminds me of the old days, we make it look a minefield , they make it look a road.

[mystiroakey]

did you enjoy it dude- i am going tommorow!!

[Shelsey93]

I thought that that was a really good day's Test cricket, if one which South Africa won in the end.

I said at the start of the day that the first half hour was important and SA did what they needed to do - get Cook and another (Bopara). Two new-ish batters allowed them to ramp up the pressure, and I think that they bowled quite a bit better than yesterday. And every time an important partnership appeared to be developing they got another breakthrough. I think that England will be disappointed with their total - it is only par for the surface, and as I said yesterday SA are unlikely to roll over.

Now we need to do the same to SA tomorrow morning as they did to us today - grab an early wicket or two, and ramp up the pressure.

So far I'd say this series is living up to the tag. Nobody looks miles off the pace, and its developing into a real scrap.

[DouglasJardinesbox]

To the 99% who fully back putting a useless #6 (Johnny, Ravi, Irish) in the team instead of Finn, please put forward your case now. I'm so bored with the 'we don't need 4 seamers' crap. Bringing Finn on when Bresnan and Broad were coughing up nothing would have been sooooo much better. Although, granted, Ravi's excellent duck did help us a lot.

sigh......

[mystiroakey]

ermm yeah i suppose- but broad did alot- after the rain the pitch got benign

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

Yes I imagine Steve finn wouldve been lethal on a low slow pitch, and they specifically picked Bopara because they expected him to get out for 0.

[DouglasJardinesbox]

Yes I imagine Steve finn wouldve been lethal on a low slow pitch, and they specifically picked Bopara because they expected him to get out for 0.

I expected him to score a duck. Don't the selectors know more than a Scottish dude who knows nothing about cricket? Really?

Fact: Bopara scored 0
Non Fact: Finn would have got 0 wickets

It's time to get real here.

[mystiroakey]

get real here?

we are no.1 and the selectors normally proove us all wrong- we are two days in to a test v no.2 in the world. We are possibly marginally ahead or bang on even at the mo. The pitch was dead yesterday evening, but when it wasnt the bolwers looked ubber dangerous

Thats real here!!!

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