England vs South Africa: 2nd Test Match Thread

[Guest]

First topic message reminder :

Here is the match thread for the 2nd test at headlingley

Likely teams

England: Strauss,Cook,Trott,KP,Bell,Taylor,Prior,Bresnan,Swann,Broad,Anderson

S.Africa: Smith,Peterson,Amla,Kallis,AB,Rudolph,Duminy,Philander,Steyn,Morkel,Tahir

Although massive rumours going around that, england will play 4 quicks and leave out swann!

DISCUSS MATCH HERE

[GSC]

KP playing pointless shots at the moment, this is why he will never be a great in my eyes.

Taylor looking fairly good

England need to score and score quickly. Pointless comment

[eirebilly]

KP gets his average up to 50

[GSC]

Taylor falls for 34, bit of bad luck, SA have a sniff again

[eirebilly]

Bugger, he was looking solid as well

[GSC]

Can England get a decent lead from here.

[mystiroakey]

Taylor unlucky lad- but still nice enough debut innings!

[msp83]

Oh, Taylor is gone, bowled by Morkel, one of those very rare ones he managed to pitch anywhere near the stumps for some time.
34 from Taylor, but an innings that showed fine temprament and discipline.
Prior joins Pietersen.

[Duty281]

Decent debut knock from Taylor. Frustrated the Saffers and let KP do his thing at the other end.

[GSC]

If these 2 bat through to close we might lead by then.

[mystiroakey]

Kp for a double!

[msp83]

Looks like Smith has injured himself. Petersen already is carrying an injury and it might be that he'll have to bat lower down the order. If Smith too has a problem, then that would be a huge worry for South Africa.

[eirebilly]

Superb days play today for England. Alot of credit to KP and Taylor for Getting England into a reasonably good position.

[msp83]

England 351-5. Kevin Pietersen notout 149!. He just turned things around for England in the match. And if he could bat with Prior for most of the first session tomorrow, England would be right in it, and with all the injury concerns and a demoralizing counterattack from Pietersen, South Africa has a few things to think about.

[mystiroakey]

what a day for england- first great day since day 1 first test!!

[GSC]

England need to bat 2 sessions and they'll be around 200 ahead.

[Duty281]

I've ran out of superlatives for KP. Yes, he frustrates, he infuriates but when he plays an innings like that you can't fail to love him. It was an innings in a similar vein to the one he played against Sri Lanka in the second Test. That changed the game and the 149* so far may just change this Test match.

England now trail by 68 with 5 wickets remaining. They need to get a minimum lead of 50 which is another 118 runs. If we can do that, we need to bowl the Saffers out for under 250, giving us around 200 or less to chase. That's not impossible - both Saffer openers are injured and they have a long tail.

We're still World Number 1 and we're still fighting to hold on to it! KP, I bow down to thee.

[GSC]

They need a lead of 150+ really. 50 won't worry SA unduly

[mystiroakey]

Its time to just hit out now - We need to go for the win and time isnt on our side- SA only care about the draw anyway- so they wouldnt even bother going to hard on a win even if they got us out in the first session tommorow!

[Duty281]

They need a lead of 150+ really. 50 won't worry SA unduly

Under ordinary circumstances I would agree but sadly due to rain and bad light, we're running out of time. A lead of 50 may now worry SA at first, but a couple of early wickets and they will be worried.

[GSC]

I wouldn't say SA are out of this. One out tommorow and they're into the bowlers. Rack up a quick 250 and give yourself time to knock us over.

[GSC]

50 is barely anything. They won't worry.

150+ is required

[mystiroakey]

Yeah but if we go to cautious we wont beat them GSC- I think we should go out for the win- even if it brings up the small chance of a loss

[GSC]

That was to counter your comment that SA wouldn't go for the win. They absolutely would. Take the #1 slot now.

Very much England's day, but some sloppy batting has kept SA in this.

[mystiroakey]

We went at a decent rate so that hasnt kept sa in it. If we had batted more sensibly and only lost 2 wickets we may have only scored 250 runs!

We are in with a chance for the win- and i hope they just go all out at a minimum of 6 an over first session- pile on 150-200 and bingo we have a big chance of the win!

If we can retain a lead and get a few wickets - game on

[GSC]

If they go at 6 an over in the first session we'll be out for 60.

You have to play smart.

[Hibbz]

I predict SA will attack for the first couple of overs and if they get no wickets will then get Tahir and Duminy to bowl outside leg stump meaning there's no way England can go at any real rate without getting out.

England will be all out somewhere between lunch and tea and SA will bat out time.

I think some of you folks don't understand how difficult it is to score quickly in a test match if the opposition aren't attacking.

My feeling is that England's (and conversely SA's) best chance of victory is if they're bowled out quickly and hope the pitch deteriorates and they can get SA quickly for a low score. The evidence both from the pitch and from SA's previous innings suggest both are very unlikely.

[mystiroakey]

correct time is not on our hands- the quicker england are out the more chance either side has of the win- Thats why we need to just crush it 20/20 style

[Biltong]

Excellent day for England today, well done to KP for his great knock.

[Hibbz]

correct time is not on our hands- the quicker england are out the more chance either side has of the win- Thats why we need to just crush it 20/20 style

England may want to play 20/20 unfortunately SA are restricted by the same fielding/bowling constraints.

You ever tried to hit sixes from leg side bowling pitched into three days worth of bowlers foot marks Mysti? Aint gonna happen.

[mystiroakey]

they dont have to go for sixes. Who said they did!- but they can try and score as quick as possible!!!!

Which is what i want to see them do.

[Guest]

hibbs/mysti do you'se two know each other as you'se are arguing a lot recently?

[mystiroakey]

the great thing is offcourse we have kp and prior in there who can whack it with the best of them and can naturally score at a decent rate.

However I dont want KP thinking about the double to much and assing about getting there

[mystiroakey]

hibbs/mysti do you'se two know each other as you'se are arguing a lot recently?

Tbh mate I am not really argueing with him- he seems drunk!

But yeah we chat on the golf section quite abit

[JDizzle]

Well done Jimmy! Ideal knock for the situation. Should have got at least a 50 which would have earned him the run in the side he deserves! Woooo!

[eirebilly]

For SA a draw is enough so i can see them setting attacking fields which will restrict England (KP's) hitting out and could be a very dangerous ploy if they tried that. I more see England being out between Lunch and tea with a lead of around 50-60.
SA will simply close the final day out with the bat as they will be in no hurry at all. Unfortunately the onus is all on England to force a result and that really does not seem likely.

[msp83]

One fine day all thanks to the much unfairly maligned Kevin Pietersen(check out the ratings debate on the first test), and I think people here thinking far too ahead. I don't think its time yet to talk about a 150 lead and so on. It all depends on Pietersen, he was in a special zone yesterday, pure genius at its best and its not often you would get into that zone. If South Africa a side not short of genius gets one of the bowlers going, then things could again turn the other way. England's lower order is not as strong as it used to be without Swann coming in at 10.
Again an important factor that might go against England is the stupid non-selection of Swanny. Already there is some rather uneven bounce on the track and on the 5th day may be Swanny would have come to his element. KP can't do it all you know? But if Pietersen continues to bat another couple of hours, then it will be very dificult for South Africa, particularly with all those injury concerns. And at the end of the day you are playing South Africa, and the C word can't be too far away!!!.

[Biltong]

You must be talking challenging, champions?

[KP_fan]

all results are possible.......

the most likely one in my view is followign:

Eng can still fold within 50 to a 100 runs.........SA bats a second time and gives Eng 250ish to chase.......in about 80 overs.........Tahir and 4 pacers cause misery on D5 pitch........will make for a tight and all 3 scenarios likely finish thoeritically....however if SA is able to put Eng in this situation.....ifrom what I saw of Eng's resolve in UAE and Lanka in D5 chases....win is highly unlikely.

Eng's only realistic shot at a win is if KP gets a big 250 today with the help of lower order

[msp83]

You must be talking challenging, champions?

Absolutely spot on Biltong!!!.

[msp83]

More injury related bad news for South Africa. Jacques Kallis will not bowl because of a back problem. Remains to be seen whether he would take the field at some stage.
Petersen already, by the look of things will have to bat down the order, Smith seems to be OK though.
And the 2nd ball of the day from Morne has almost done for England's hopes, Kevin Pietersen out LBW without adding a run to his 149. England 352-6, South Africa will have hopes of managing a first innings lead!.

[msp83]

Prior going on the attack here, 2 boundaries already, one of Steyn, the other of Morkel.

[mystiroakey]

good we are attacking- thats what we need to do- quick runs lads"!!

[Biltong]

Nice to see some banter between Nasser and Shane about the Olympics.

[mystiroakey]

we need 150 from here at a run a ball- get that 100 lead and try and get 4 wickets before they have reach our target and we can get this win!

[eirebilly]

First England just need to match the SA score.

[mystiroakey]

we dont want it taking half the day though Billy!

anyway we are close- but our run rate is slowing again

[Duty281]

Prior doing well, 50 runs off of 69 balls. Every run is crucial.

[eirebilly]

I think that its more important that England dont try to rush things as it generally leads to wickets. I understand the need for quick runs but England are into the tail so should bat sensibly for a bit, get past SA score and have a swing in the second session.

[Duty281]

What's annyoing me most is Tahir is getting decent turn, where's Swann when you need him?!

[eirebilly]

It really was an odd selection to leave him out wasnt it

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