South Africa vs England 3rd Test 14-18th Jan

First topic message reminder :

The pivotal 3rd Test starts in two days time. England are expected to be unchanged. Dale Steyn is out injured for SA and looks doubtful for the rest of the series, though Kyle Abbott is fit and will come into the frame for selection. Another possible change is someone else to open in the place of Van Zyl

England slips a bit too close ?

Good to see Broad has his pace back ...last couple clocked at over 140. Pace isn't everything , of course ; but having it up there makes it just that bit trickier for the batsmen...

Van Zyl gone caught at slip

Good bowling from Broad. Big half hour moving up.

Broad strikes again to finally remove Van Zhyl who never looked settled. South Africa 28 for 2 leading by 18.

Amla still remains the key wicket Alfie but its going well right now.

eirebilly wrote:Amla still remains the key wicket Alfie but its going well right now.

Amla , yes ...and AB , I think. Very much this pairing...

De Villiers gone !

Mammoth wicket. de Villiers caught behind for a duck. South Africa teetering on 30 for 3.

South Africa desperately need a steadying partnership of 50 and fast. Broad with all three wickets as Du Plessis comes to the wicket.

Could this be one of those matching winning sessions from Broad...

Hmm. As I was saying...

Amla very much the Big Obstacle now. Broad on fire. Very interesting period of play.

Nice to see you on the board , eirebilly
How is the move to England going ?

I do pop in from time to time Alfie but mainly on the rugby threads.

How did you know about the England move? Its going well, we have a house and herself is there since begin December

At the moment South Africa are like a boxer taking too much punishment. They are holding on trying to clear their head and stage a recovery. England are like a boxer pressing for the knockout blow.

eirebilly wrote:I do pop in from time to time Alfie but mainly on the rugby threads.

How did you know about the England move? Its going well, we have a house and herself is there since begin December

Psychic , mate :

We were on a while back with Trebs when you mentioned it. Where did you end up settling ?

Is that the knockout blow? Amla caught at short leg by James Taylor. South Africa 31 for 4. They are really 21 for 4.

Aaah right

Southport, were herself has family. I still have to finish off my contract here before fully moving over.
Broad again...

James Taylor might just have won this Test for England ...amazing grab at short leg to snare Amla

Broad four now...

CaledonianCraig wrote:At the moment South Africa are like a boxer taking too much punishment. They are holding on trying to clear their head and stage a recovery. England are like a boxer pressing for the knockout blow.

Nice analogy there Craig.


Broad seems to be having one of his "Man on Fire" days.


OMG! And Taylor pulls off an absolute worldie to get rid of Amla and give Broad his 4th wicket!!!

Unbelieveable!!

That's some catch by Taylor, going to say his lack of height has helped him there.

Only Bavuma left of the recognised batsmen who has shown any sort of form.

You have to think SA will struggle to set a challenging target for England now.

A hatrick of wicket maidens from Broad, he is on fire.

Utterly outrageous catch by Taylor

At the moment I'd say South Africa would settle for a score of 200 to defend at the moment. 35 for 4 and lead by 25.

Olly wrote:Utterly outrageous catch by Taylor

Some advantage in being a shortarse

It satisfied the 'everyone run about like loonies' criteria of being a worldie catch too! Unreal grab.

I genuinely believe that Broad is the best bowler in the world when he's in this sort of mood, simply unplayable. Number five down as I type.

Goodnight Bavuma ! Broad in Trent Bridge form...

Ridiculous spell by Broad. He has bowled Bavuma for a duck. South Africa now in a state of disarray 35 for 5. All five wickets for Broad. At this rate this match could be all over in three days.

Words escape me, this is sensational.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:I genuinely believe that Broad is the best bowler in the world when he's in this sort of mood, simply unplayable. Number five down as I type.

He really is the master of the Devastating Spell.

I think my road map for both sides goes out the window.

Good God! Broad has his 5-for already with the dismissal of Bavuma for a duck. Weird one - hit glove and deflected onto stumps.

Think SA will struggle to get to 3 figures at this rate.


Broad is a bowling god right now!

This reminds me a bit of the last test when people were saying it was an England collapse. Conditions then were great for bowling (overcast and wearing pitch) and the same goes for today I reckon - conditions perfect for bowling. That is taking nothing away from Broad though who has still had to deliver.

How many times have we seen broad produced these spells?

He is a very streaky bowler. This is reminiscent of his 8/15 against Australia last year.

I genuinely feel sorry for SA right now. What can anyone do against someone like Broad when he's got his mojo fully operational?

Figures of 9 - 5 - 14 - 5

Simply ridiculous!

He's not so streaky a bowler anymore to be fair. He still product 'those' spells, but he's a lot more consistent when he doesn't these days too.

Anyway the real issue here is that as soon as a pitch offers any form of assistance to the bowlers batsmen generally are all at Sea. Most modern day players have been reared on a diet of flat pitches and they get found out as soon as there is a bit of sideways movements ,bounce ,spin or pace .

The seventh time in tests that Broad has taken a five for in a single spell.

Broad takes a breather and Finn comes into the attack. South Africa trying to clear their head at 44 for 5.

Fantastic spell from Broad

Will be over to Finn now , I think. Important he hits the spot straight away - England maybe two wickets away from complete demolition of SA ...

Gee whizz...Finn strikes and Taylor snares another superb catch at short leg. Vilas goes for 8.

Vilas gone!

Another stunning catch by Taylor - one-handed.

Finn gets his first wicket of the innings and SA are now 45-6.

The end is surely nigh...

JDizzle wrote:He's not so streaky a bowler anymore to be fair. He still product 'those' spells, but he's a lot more consistent when he doesn't these days too.

I agree with that. Has the odd bad day , but usually when he is "off" for some reason , like first innings here...

Taylor another blinder at short leg !

He'll never get away from there now

Six down...

Taylor with an even better catch there, he's been misfiring with the bat but those two catches are huge.

This session so far - 29 runs and 6 wickets.

That catch was even better than the Amla one...

Just brilliant.

Stokes gets in on the act. An inswinger bowls Morris. South Africa in tatters at 46 for 7.

Stokes gets the potentially difficult Morris ! 46/7

What an hour and a half...

Oh wow...

Stokes re-arranges Morris' stumps and SA are 46-7.

This is going to be all over today.

That was some in swinger from Stokes. Started miles outside off and hit leg.

This isn't going to last much longer, Rabada doesn't seem to know which end of the bat to hold.

south africa have been an embarrassment for a while now, easy series win this