England v South Africa, Lords, 3rd Test Thread

[Duty281]

First topic message reminder :

The equation is simple. If England win, they remain number 1. If South Africa avoid defeat, they move up to number 1 and will officially be the best Test team in the World.

England: 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ian Bell, 5 James Taylor, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven Finn

South Africa: 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

Are you ready?

[alfie]

Review ...umpires call on impact ! One goes SA way , because that looked so out ...

Swings and roundabouts

[liverbnz]

ABdV is a righty, liver.

Indeed he is. Getting ahead of myself. My bad.

[mystiroakey]

Another classic DRS mess up there. umpire call shouldnt have anything to do with it

[Duty281]

I thought it was out as well. Ah well.

[Mike Selig]

Obviously not plumb, 50-50. First thought on watching it live was "close, did he get just outside the line, did he hit it". Think hotspot shows he didn't hit it (he hit his pad - in two places) but hawk-eye suggests enough doubt whether it hit him in line. Fair call, although reasonable review.

Nice over from Anderson.

[mystiroakey]

not sure how the decision could go back to the umpire on that one!!

[Fists of Fury]

naughty naughty boy umpire.

[mystiroakey]

It hit him in line selig. does half the ball have to be inline then?

[Mike Selig]

not sure how the decision could go back to the umpire on that one!!

Because some of the ball contacted him outside the line of the off-stump.

[mystiroakey]

i thought only part of the ball had to hit him in line of the stump

[Mad for Chelsea]

you need more than half the ball to hit him in line for it to be "in line" do you not? anything between half the ball and no part of it goes to "umpire's call". close, but no cigar for Jimmy...

[Fists of Fury]

It is of course fair enough to say it was marginally not out, but there is no way that England should lose a review for something so close.

[mystiroakey]

So it is half the ball- thats what i suggested first. margins hey

[Mad for Chelsea]

oh a fine catch from Cook there, and a well deserved second wicket for Anderson. SA 105-5

[mystiroakey]

Justice

[alfie]

Never mind No longer matters ...

Fine catch by Cook Jimmy strikes and 105/5 with England back on top.

[Mike Selig]

It is of course fair enough to say it was marginally not out, but there is no way that England should lose a review for something so close.

I would tend to agree with the sentiment, although of course the argument is that you don't review marginals.

As I was typing this, De Villiers nicks Anderson to Cook, GONE! big big wicket that one.

And Anderson has trouble ABdV in these 3 overs, gets his reward.

[Fists of Fury]

Yes Jimmy!!

[Duty281]

Oh Jimmy Jimmy...5 down. England on top.

[Mad for Chelsea]

two lefties in now, neither of whom is a great player of spin. Swann will be feeling confident...

[Guest]

Well, isn't this is a nice surprise. Some good bowling by England so far today!

[Hibbz]

This is a superb spell of bowling from Anderson.

[Duty281]

2 left-handers v Swann. Surely only a matter of time before another wicket falls.

[alfie]

These two batting OK ...will be seeing Jimmy off shortly , and at the moment Swann doesn't seem to be troubling them...

Might need Broad to produce something if we're to get another wicket before tea ?

[skyeman]

Onions having a blinder, Notts 51/5. All to him.

[Hibbz]

I think Swann is just starting to settle into a nice rhythm so I'll to see him continue.

England are in a fantastic position here just hope they can restrict SA to less than 250.

Then it's down to the batsmen. I really fancy Strauss to make a few from recollection he's brilliant when he feels a bit threatened.

[skyeman]

Anderson looks like he has run a marathon, 7 over spell. Time for a change.

[Hibbz]

I love Stuart Broad, after the elephant in the room he's my favourite player but he really is bowling some utter garbage.

Come on you ponce get nasty.

[Duty281]

England still on top but a bit of a frustrating session with only one wicket. Still, there's a very good chance that we'll get them out for under 250 and one more wicket brings the tail in.

[skyeman]

Trott having a trundle before tea.

[mystiroakey]

Trott bowling

[alfie]

Trott ?!

Weird decision ....though it nearly brings a run out !

Maybe the plan ...get 'em to go to sleep

[Mike Selig]

England just need to be patient. Ball not doing much, pitch looks flat.

Nice idea to bring Trott on, breaks things up and nearly works. Would like Finn to have an over before tea.

[alfie]

SA fought back well in that session. Still England on top , but if they had broken this stand early SA would have been pushing to get 200...as it is they could still scramble a respectable total , as the pitch looks fairly friendly for batting.
Lot depends on this pair now.

Expect a burst from Finn after tea ...hope he has readjusted his radar again.

[skyeman]

Swannyyyyyyyyyyyy bowled Rudolph, needed that

[Shelsey93]

Still good stuff. Given that SA won the toss and batted, getting them 7 or 8 down by the close would be a job well done.

[Hibbz]

This is a just brilliant effort so far from England. Lose the toss and the opposition go into bat on what looks a decent pitch it could have been game/series over.

Regardless of how the wickets have come, come they have and they deserve to be able to finish the job.

How the batsmen do might be a different matter but they've been given a real chance.

[eirebilly]

Swann

[Duty281]

We're into the tail now. A score of below 225 is very possible.

[skyeman]

SA 164/6

Another one in a first over of his spell.

Bonus wicket there.

[eirebilly]

Its still very much a possibility that England can bowl SA out today

Question is, would you really want to bat today?

[skyeman]

Still 31 overs to go, should be all out, but Philander, Steyn and Morkel can all bat.

[VTR]

I think this could be set up for a second innings shootout.

I feel we need SA out for a lowish score as we'll probably struggle to get much more than 300. 3 out of our top 6 are hardly bankers are they?

[skyeman]

I think this could be set up for a second innings shootout.

I feel we need SA out for a lowish score as we'll probably struggle to get much more than 300. 3 out of our top 6 are hardly bankers are they?

There is a banker missing though

[Liam]

Finn bowling way too wide to the left hander Duminy, Leave him all day out there. Needs to attack middle and off for me.

[Hibbz]

They can all bat Sky but I think they're all a bit hit and miss. I'm going to stick my neck out and say it could go either way!!

Exciting stuff isn't it?

[Biltong]

Geez, luckily I have been out car hunting today so I haven't been exsed to this innings too much.

It seems we are in for a game here.

I wonder what KP s doing right now!

[Duty281]

You have to remember that this is a good batting track, England have bowled well. There is no reason why we can't make 350+ when we bat.

[eirebilly]

The bowlers are setting up a very good platform for the batsmen here. Big chance for England.

[Liam]

Really need SA out for less than 240 max really if we want a chance at a 150-200 lead after our 1st innings.

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