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KP_fan wrote:

msp83 wrote:So India is getting back on the field tonight, kicking off their WTC campaign. Rohit has already confirmed Jaiswal will open, and Gill drop down to 3. When all the talk of Yashasvi taking over from Pujara at 3 was going on, I felt he should open, particularly since the team views Gill as the eventual successor to Virat Kohli at 4. Going forward, I see a top 4 of Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran/Devdutt Padikkal/Rohan Kunnummal, Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Eswaran has been hard done by......Jaiswal was jumped over him
Mayank Agarwal should not be ruled out...he has batted very well in FC and has a decent test match showing also.

And don't forget the favorite boy of seniors and BCCI in KL Rahul...as soon as he is fit he will walk back into the 11

Its been tough on Easwaran. Think Mayank and KL might find it difficult to now fight their way back in. Particularly if Yashasvi has a good start to his career. KL might still make a comeback when Rohit leaves, but I hope Easwaran, Rohan and even Padikkal will make better cases for themselves.
As for Yashasvi jumping over Abhimanyu, though its tough on the latter, think is the right call. Jaiswal scored hundreds on his Ranji, Duleep and Irani trophy debuts. He's versatile and has shown adaptability as indicated by his IPL success. And, its not much noted these days, but he's a handy parttimer with the ball, he very much was for the U-19s, hope he'll get a few chances right away to work on that secondary skill of his...

Windies have done it !!!

Hazlewood can't play that...he will be gutted - as will Smith who has carried his bat to no avail...

No doubt about PoTM ...and PoTS , surely ? S Joseph an amazing 7/68

Drawn series and even with an Australian hat on I have to call that Good for Test Cricket.

Hate to see Steve Smith fail to see his side home in a fourth innings again - not for everyone is it piggy

What an amazing scorecard to wakeup to. What a brilliant mini tour for Shamar Joseph. Only gave up the day job 18 months ago. Playing for one of the increasingly "have not" cricketing nations that are driven to the margins by the big three boards that CA are of course a part of. Just remarkable stuff. This very good Oz side are outstanding at home.

https://cricketetal.substack.com/p/west-indies-upset-the-natural-order?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2

That's a lovely short read from Gideon Haigh for anyone interested.

This for me is the greatest individual upset I've seen in test cricket. Australia with their perfect (11-0) day-night record, playing at home, Australia at full strength, against a West Indies team lacking experience and missing some key names of their own. Australia were 1/25 pre-match with Bet365. And probably closer to 1/250 when the West Indies were 64/5 in the first innings!

Shamar Joseph has exploded on to the test scene with 13 wickets in the series and that match-winning 7/68. He may not have even played had Seales been fit.

Australia's failure to chase it from that strong position was very reminiscent of the last Ashes test.

Holder announced, pre-series, that he was prioritising T20 cricket and would miss these tests. How daft does he feel now, missing one of the greatest moments in West Indian cricket this century?

The frustration, however, is that this is only a two-test series. How great would a third test be? How many great conclusions are missed to tests because of these halfway-house two test series? Think of India/SA a month ago and NZ/Eng last year, denied deciding tests.

What a mad day of test cricket.

Was certainly a huge upset in terms of pre match (very reasonable !) expectations. But in fact West Indies were right in this game from the time their later order rescued their first innings. Times today it seemed the Australian experience and home conditions command would bring them through - but Shamar Joseph seems an unstoppable force.

All the more remarkable after the whack on the foot last night that caused him to retire hurt ! Must be a tough lad too...

West Indies would have been a bit unlucky to lose after the Carey Zing Bail incident so I am happy they got their reward. A Third Test would indeed have been interesting ; but perhaps it is better they claim a drawn series as beating a proud Aussie outfit at home twice in a row might have been a bit much to expect ?

For all the "good for the game" feeling it isn't going to solve the problems Test Cricket outside the Big Three faces. And it won't lead to three game series everywhere : unless and until they scrap this silly WTC thing which for all the good intentions is largely responsible for all the abbreviated series now being scheduled. There has to be a better way...

The WTC is the tournament that can save test cricket, if it is run and managed properly, plus packaged together for television rights, advertised and sponsored adequately, which it currently isn't.

It's a much better system, potentially, than the isolated bilaterals that preceded it. I think, also, the two test series problem predated the WTC.

I've posted my views so many times on how awful the bilateral model is, the ills of the big three boards acting as a cartel and the need to sell Test cricket's rights as a package deal, then split the broadcast revenue more evenly. The current system and how they got there is painful to watch.

On the two Test series part, this is very unpopular with many, but, I think 4-day Tests can help with that as long as they are used in the right circumstances. 5-day Tests are tricky to capitalise on outside of marquee series in the big markets. Friday, Saturday and Sunday are the best days financially for Tests. Then Thursday. Which means a 5-day Test either needs to start on Wednesday, which tends to do poorly outside the Ashes and risks not utilising Sunday or even Saturday if the Test ends early. Or, you start on Thursday which puts a potential 5th day showstopper on the Monday, which has the same problem as a Wednesday.

It also becomes difficult to host back-to-back Tests. As 5-day Test only leaves two rest days, then you go again. So a 3 Test series needs to realistically be over 4 weeks minimum. Which then sees touring costs sky rocket for poorer boards. Whereas with 4-day Tests it opens the ability to play Thursday-Sunday, rest 3 days, Thursday to Sunday, rest 3 days, etc.

I wouldn't want it for all series. For instance though, use it as a means to get Bangladesh coming back to England (finally...) and playing a three Test series early in the summer, then England going back to Bangladesh to play a reciprocal three Test series. The series could be done and dusted in three weeks. Whilst not preferable to 5-day Tests, that's a s**t ton better than Bangladesh having not come to England for a Test since 2010, which is shameful. Or for the big boards doing a poor job of reciprocating smaller teams that tour them with similar length series where they can make their money. CA are terrible for the latter and it's also shameful.

Is it preferable to a situation where the ICC hadn't been taken over by a cabal and the game run into the dirt through their short-sightedness? Absolutely not. It's a damn sight better to have more 4-day Tests than seeing South Africa hardly playing, or selecting 4th/5th teams, out of financial necessity as we are seeing in the current FTP cycle though.

There's another test starting on Friday (begins 30 minutes after the start of India/England so doubt it will get any attention anywhere!), between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in Sri Lanka. Just a one-off and obviously outside the WTC.

It is Afghanistan's first test in almost a year, when they were ruthlessly savaged by Bangladesh by a margin of 546 runs.

Perhaps the only way is up? Afghanistan have named four uncapped players, but Rashid Khan is still absent due to a back injury. This is the first of two tests for Afghanistan over the next month; the second is against Ireland in the UAE in February.

For Sri Lanka this is a warm-up for the trickier two test visit to Bangladesh in March.

There's also the beginning of the two-match series between New Zealand and what is effectively South Africa A, starting late Saturday if you're in the UK. This is NZ's build up to hosting Australia for two tests in late February.

Also got some limited overs games between Australia and the West Indies starting on Friday.

Steven Smith said, "there were a lot of comments around I'd failed in 2-3 innings at opening. I had two low scores and a Not Out, now I'm averaging 60 as an opener (smiles)".

Smith trolling those who doubted him as an opener

Looking in at the ODI : see West Indies recovering a bit from a dodgy start against the new Aussie paceman Bartlett. This chap Carty doing rather well , on to 81 from 103 balls.

They'll need a good finish though : 38 overs gone , 177/5.

Looks like Afghanistan are going to get tonked again.

They were bowled out for 198, even though they were 109/2 at one point, Rahmat Shah scored 91. SL's reply is at 80/0 after just 14 overs.

The ODI was a big win for Australia.

The New Zealand/SA test has started. Six debutants in the South Africa side.

New Zealand batting first, and one of those SA debutants, Moreki, has struck with his very first ball in test cricket. Just like Shamar Joseph!

Kiwis in charge now. 157/2 , Williamson and Ravindra grinding the SA bowlers down with a partnership now worth 118.

Slow over rate so I think we are in for some overtime.

Rather less importantly , Australia and West Indies have embarked on another meaningless masala ODI in Sydney.

"Interesting" debut for the exciting new talent , Jake Fraser-McGurk : Swing and a miss , four (charged) , six (flicked), and OUT all inside five balls to kick off the contest

Inglis also gone already , Alzarri Joseph has two and Australia not off to a great start at 21/2. Though the run rate is fine after just three overs...

alfie wrote:Rather less importantly , Australia and West Indies have embarked on another meaningless masala ODI in Sydney.

"Interesting" debut for the exciting new talent , Jake Fraser-McGurk :  Swing and a miss , four (charged) , six (flicked), and OUT all inside five balls to kick off the contest

Inglis also gone already , Alzarri Joseph has two and Australia not off to a great start at 21/2. Though the run rate is fine after just three overs...

Good for both teams to give some up and coming players a taste of international cricket. A bit hot for it though... high 30s but it feels like 40 degrees.

The Windies must have a death wish (despite the fairly decent start) getting absolutely baked out there in the field... and choosing to be there after winning the toss. Brave stuff... it might pay off?

How are you coping with the heat, alfie? I just had to spray a pigeon with a fine mist of water. It was sitting in an odd place obviously very stressed out. I usually don't care much for them but maybe this one is on its last legs? It didn't move... just let me drench it with water. Looked like a half-drowned rat with wings.

Right, back to the other match in Vizag. I see Jimmy is having another great spell. And the Kiwis are cruising in Mt Maunganui.

Hi PJ : I am coping OK with the heat (though I'm glad it wasn't quite as warm yesterday in Melbourne as it is today...one of our players retired ill at one point yesterday from heat effects ; but I managed to get through an (unsuccessful) opening spell without ill effects despite the concern for my welfare shown by some of my younger teammates. Probably helps that they keep insisting I stay at slip rather than run around in the covers

Australia might be in a bit of a spot at 180/7 ? We will see how West Indies bat after being cooked in the field I guess...

NZ not at all badly placed at 258/2 with Williamson and Ravindra doubtless planning to inflict more pain on SA tomorrow and turn their centuries into doubles.

By the way I am impressed with your compassion for pigeons   I don't mind them , myself - but my son regards "rats with wings" as a blot on the environment (possibly because he was mugged by a flock of them aged about four in our local park)
I tried to aid a young Indian Mynah who was a bit confused wandering into our clubrooms last night , stressed and unable to find the door. Had to leave while it was still flapping about the ceiling so hope it ended up escaping after I went.

Suppose this stuff actually belongs (if it belongs anywhere !) on the morning tea thread...sorry cricket purists

I see Australia did well to recover for 258 - thanks to Abbott with 69 to lift them from 167/7. Probably be enough ?

Comfortable enough total in the end. Australia win by 83 runs.
There was some fight shown by the Windies batsmen but with wickets falling at regular intervals it proved to be an insurmountable task in the end.

Afghanistan showing some fight in the third innings. 185/1, but still trail by 56.

Williamson now has five Test hundreds in his last nine innings. If he played for India, Australia or England he'd have around 11,000-12,000 Test runs now and around 40 centuries.

But the crazy, money-grabbing scheduling means NZ rarely play three-Test series, let along five-Test ones.

sirfredperry wrote:Williamson now has five Test hundreds in his last nine innings. If he played for India, Australia or England he'd have around 11,000-12,000 Test runs now and around 40 centuries.

But the crazy, money-grabbing scheduling means NZ rarely play three-Test series, let along five-Test ones.

Williamson is an absolutely fantastic batter but his overall record, averaging 55 in Tests, is unavoidably helped by NZ playing on some very flat tracks for much of his career. He averages nearly 70 at home. As opposed to 30.5 in England, 33.5 in India, 21 in SA and 43 in Oz. Of those numbers, averaging 43 in Australia is very good as an away batter in this period. The other numbers are low.

To his credit, he has scored 13 of those 30 tons away from home though. So he isn't in the Warner category of making most his big scores (20 of 26 tons in Australia for Warner) at home, but his average being considerably higher than Root and Kohli for instance is largely due to that home number. Warner averaged 56 at home and is still one of the most common players mentioned when padding their average with home numbers. Which puts how big that home average of 70 is in perspective well I think.

Considering Smudge has 9600 Test runs and Virat just under 8800, I think it might be a stretch that Williamson would have made a lot more runs and tons than either if playing his home cricket away from the very helpful tracks.

Looking across the "big 4", I think Smith is unavoidably the best. In terms of both longevity and his peak he is that bit ahead of the others. Then I think Virat probably had the highest 'peak' when comparing him to Root and Williamson. His best away series were brilliant and done in tough conditions. That 2014 series in Oz was one of greatest batting performances I've seen across a series. Whilst Root and Williamson are now showing more longevity than Virat. Then Root and Virat have more rounded records than Williamson when you consider his away performance compared to theirs.

Overall, I think Williamson is really fairly viewed by cricket fans. He's a magnificent batter, absolutely worthy of being mentioned in the big 4, but probably has a slightly more flawed record than the others, so gets a bit less fanfare.

NZ innings wrapped up in a rush losing the last 5 for 38... But probably not too bothered as they ended up with 511

Ravindra took about half an hour to go from 199 to 200 . Finished with 240. And new SA skipper Brand got six wickets , albeit at considerable cost as several SA bowlers conceded north of 100.

Pitch looks pretty good and SA started quite well (two fours in the first over) and were lucky enough that NZ failed to review an lbw that would have brought up three reds... But Jamieson has just removed Brand caught behind in his second over and at 26/1 they have a lot of work to do...

Jamieson got a second wicket in that over. SA in trouble at 27/2 Not too surprising , I think.

Four down now , I see. Not getting near 511. Or even 311 , I think. The promising Bedingham seems to be batting well though.

Some knock from Rachin Ravindra on debut! Wonder if it's slightly hollow given SA's team is essentially a 3rd XI?

wisden wrote:Some knock from Rachin Ravindra on debut! Wonder if it's slightly hollow given SA's team is essentially a 3rd XI?

I'd say it is pretty hollow, South Africa always have a competitive team, the team playing this match is an absolute travesty and I feel sorry for their supporters

Not actually Ravindra's debut. He's played three tests before, and got 73 runs from 6 innings! His average has been somewhat boosted by playing the South African reserve team.

Shaping up to be a big win for the Kiwis. Jamieson's average back below 20.

Sri Lanka also beat Afghanistan by ten wickets. Afghanistan's spirited fightback ended as they lost their final nine wickets for 82 runs.

Playing this version of SA is a huge chance to boost averages, a bit like playing Zimbabwe or Bangladesh in the mid 2000s, or some of the horrific teams the Windies have sent out to various places over the last decade or so

NZ with a handy first innings lead of 349. But they're batting again ; so those batsmen will get another chance to fatten their averages before putting SA back in for the kill.

Presume the weather forecast is predicting plenty of time to finish this off , with still the rest of day three and two more available.

NZ in no hurry. 39/1 after 12 (Latham didn't last long) Rest of today going to be a bit of a third innings bore as NZ stroll along the path to inevitable victory so hard to get too excited about it. Am going away for a couple of days tomorrow and don't imagine I'll be missing too many thrills !

Hope SA can be a bit more competitive in the second game but not holding my breath...

...and another Williamson century has them finishing the day on 179/4.

A little matter of 528 ahead. Probably reasonably safe to declare some time before lunch tomorrow

I haven't seen any of it personally, but has anyone watched any of the under 19 world cup?

Make that six hundreds in ten innings for Williamson. Apart from a 52 not out with victory secured in the last-but-one Test Championship Final, Kane has converted each of his last ten 50s into hundreds.

Bit surprised NZ batted again. Just how far ahead do you have to be?

alfie wrote:...and another Williamson century has them finishing the day on 179/4.

A little matter of 528 ahead.  Probably reasonably safe to declare some time before lunch tomorrow

530 is their record defeat in terms of runs, 337 the next on the list. The record could be under threat and if not, then the second worst is looking quite likely. Shows that this series shouldn't really be going ahead!

Superb stat padding from Williamson. Two centuries in this match has taken him to 31 centuries, ahead of Root and Kohli (and Bradman), and just one behind Smith. Joint second fastest to 31, too, level with Smith and behind Tendulkar in that regard.

Interesting comparisons. Tons v the big four (Aus/Ind/Eng/NZ) and the rest:

Smith 23 centuries from 64 matches v the big four and 9 centuries from 43 matches v the rest
Root 18 centuries from 79 matches v the big four and 12 centuries from 58 matches v the rest
Kohli 16 centuries from 64 matches v the big four and 13 centuries from 49 matches v the rest
Williamson 8 centuries from 38 matches v the big four and 23 centuries from 59 matches v the rest

So, Smith is more likely to turn it on against big opposition, and his career record is surprisingly worse against the lesser teams than it is against the higher teams. He averages 56 v opposition that aren't Eng/Ind/NZ, but 59 v opposition that are Eng/Ind/NZ. There is a 7 run disparity in home/away average.

Root is very prolific against India and New Zealand, but his record v Australia (4 tons in 34 matches) really lets him down, as does his conversion rate. Similar to Smith, he's more likely to score a century against bigger opposition, but only narrowly in Root's case. There is an 8 run disparity in home/away average.

Kohli is highly consistent. He doesn't particularly struggle against any team, maybe only in England, and his century rate is similar across all opposition. Unlike Root and Smith, his century accumulation rate is better against non big four opposition. He has only scored two centuries in his last 29 tests. There is a 17 run disparity in home/away average.

Williamson has the worst century record against the biggest opposition, and it's quite clear where's he managed most of his centuries. But that record against non Aus/Eng/Ind opposition is still terrific. He's played a similar number of games as Root against these opposition, but mustered 11 more centuries. His centuries per game against the biggest opposition is the worst of the four. There is a 26 (!) run disparity in home/away average.

Smith then Root then Kohli then Williamson is a fair ranking, I reckon. Kohli could have been ahead of Root if it hadn't been for the last few years. And Root's conversion rate is really what lets him down. Root's got more 50+ scores than any of them, but by far the worst conversion rate. However, Root does deserve a lot of credit because he's carried a very dodgy batting order over quite a few years, plus he plays his home games in England, which must be the trickiest of the four places to bat - indeed, Smith/Kohli/Williamson all average 60+ at home, but Root averages 53. So Root might be closer to Smith, than Kohli.

Another thing about the big four is they're all right handed. Who are the 'big four' of left handers?

Travis Head, obviously enough. Khawaja, possibly with his late renaissance? Karunaratne is in the top ten. Conway? Pant, before his injury. Jadeja?!

There's actually a curious disparity between right and left-handed bats. Since the start of 2017, with a minimum of 20 innings, there are two right handers who average over 60 (Williamson and Brook), three that average between 50 and 60 (Smith, Mitchell and Labuschagne), and six more who average between 45 and 50 (Abid Ali, Rohit, Kohli, Root, Babar and Mushfiqur). So, 11 in total averaging 45+.

But there's zero left handers averaging over 50 in the same time frame, and just three more averaging over 45 (Duckett, Khawaja and Karunaratne).

It's a right-handers game...

Duty281 wrote:
But there's zero left handers averaging over 50 in the same time frame, and just three more averaging over 45 (Duckett, Khawaja and Karunaratne).

If you haven't read it, I'd recommend the book Playing Against the Spin by Ben Jones and Nathan Leamon, which goes some way to explaining the disparities between LHB and RHB batting numbers. Essentially, the two main types of bowling faced, especially when coming through lower levels, are right arm pace and right arm off spin. Because of the angle going across reducing bowled/lbw, right arm pace is easier for LHBs to face and off-spin is obviously easier for RHBs. Therefore in pace heavy conditions (Openers, Australia, etc.) LHBs are over-represented and in spin heavy countries like India, they are under-represented—as can be seen by the comparative lack of left handers in the current India sides, and that the three LHBs you mention are all openers.

Playing Against the Spin is an excellent read. Certainly one the most informative I've read on modern cricket. It's alongside "Cricket 2.0" by Freddie Wilde and Tim Wigmore in that respect.

DRS meaning that spinners got more LBWs had a larger effect on LHBs due to there simply being more offies in cricket. RHBs struggled too. KP was basically a brilliant player of spin until he couldn't take a huge stride, plant his massive front pad down the track and sweep everything without getting triggered. After DRS he looked lost against SLA for a time. Finger spinners who mastered that undercut delivery that just skidded on with the arm just caused carnage in that period as batters who learned their game pre-DRS were trying to adapt. Swann was brilliant at it to the south paws. Herath was a master of it to RHBs.

Right-arm seamers coming round the wicket had a massive impact for lefties as well. Rewind to 2005 and it was novel seeing England do it. It was a big factor in the Ashes and Flintoff was really the only bowler who was good at it. Up until then, coming round the wicket was something seamers did when they got desperate and a leftie was already well past 50. Now, if a run of the mill F-C seamer isn't comfortable coming round the wicket it sticks out like a sore thumb. Such is how the game shifts. Jimmy mastered the wobble ball after seeing Asif use it, it was so revolutionary that the ECB started running seminars across the counties to try to get their new weapon into English cricket. A few years later and we have Stuart Broad referring to himself as a "wobble seam bowler" rather than a seamer. Every seamer in a county academy will be developing a wobble ball now. The only rare exceptions will be kids that can clock express speeds.

It's something I find fascinating to try to predict. What will be the next thing that all bowlers can do in 10 years time that is out there now? I reckon a lot of finger spinners will develop a knuckle ball as standard practice. Sunil Narine has used it so well since reinventing himself. It shouldn't be something that is prevented by physical limitations as spinners generally have massive hands anyway and their arm comes over slower than pacers. Having a ball that's hard to read but has no revolutions on it, so it just drops out the air suddenly at the last moment seems an ideal weapon to prevent batters coming down the track to a finger spinner. No doubt it would be laughed at first. Plenty of pundits claimed the wobble ball was just poor seam control and by accident until we saw Test batting averages plummet off the back of the best seamers adopting it though.

I haven't bought as many cricket books recently if anyone's got suggestions? I used to read a frankly sad number. Cricket writing was an early obsession due to my grandfathers impressive library on the sport. Thinking through the last couple years of slightly sparser reading, in the more traditional cricket writing style of mixing a bit of romanticism with being educational, I adored Scyld Berry's "Disappearing World" about the 18 counties which is both nostalgic and critical equal measure. Whilst the anthology "Warne in Wisden" that Richard Whitehead put together was cracking as well. I also reread Gideon Haigh's "On Warne" shortly after he passed away. An older one but an excellent book. "Who Only Cricket Know" by David Woodhouse on the extraordinary '53/54 tour of the West Indies would be my top pick though. It must have taken a ridiculous number of hours to tie together the reports and player interviews of the time, then basically cross referencing it with present day interviews, to tell that story in full and so comprehensively for the first time.

I'd have thought numbers of right handers in the population is the big factor, this must apply to bowling as well. Only 10% of the population are left handed, so if you took the top 10 bowlers of any era, the expectation would be one left handed. I think it's fair to assume most bowl per their natural handedness

Batting is a bit less clearcut, because of course not everyone bats per their dominant hand. But, it must be more common to bat "correctly", so even if something like 10% of right handed people batted left handed, left handers would only represent 20% of batsmen (the effect the other way would be negligible, because left handedness is rare to start with, so natural left handers batting right handed would only make up a tiny percentage of all batsmen).

LHBs have long been overrepresented though, hence it being an interesting topic. Around 26% of all Test runs have been scored by lefties. Whilst it rises to nearly a third of Test runs in the 21st century. Last I checked, a third of the top 50 run scorers in Tests were lefties as well. Whilst 30% of men's Test debutants in the 2010s were lefties according to a fun Andy Bull article for Cricinfo.

So there was this big statistical quirk in comparison to how many lefties there are in the general population, but also how many there are in cricket in general. The later part is where it becomes more of an observation but one that many cricketers share on the topic. From playing school and club cricket non stop growing up, I saw very few left-handed batters. At my last club in Edinburgh, we had 5 men's teams, 2 women's teams and a mixed development XI. We had two decent LHBs. Then a stalwart right-arm seamer who bats left handed and takes wild swipes. Likewise there were barely any I remember in school cricket. Yet there's this very high proportion who make it to the pro game.

For that to happen there must be advantages in it. It seems those advantages have seen some decline at the pro level as sides better target lefties with tactics such as seamers starting around the wicket though.

There are interesting theories around whether cricketers would be better off deciding their stance based on their "dominant eye" rather than "dominant hand" given the stance in cricket is more interchangeable.

NZ declared overnight, and SA are 5/2, with Southee swinging it round corners.

Controversial opinion, perhaps, but I don't think SA are chasing this 529...

U-19 World Cup

India came back from a top order collapse to chase down a fairly big total vs SA yesterdy and already in finals


Today defending only 179
Pak picked top 4 of Aus for 59 and then let Aus get to 102 and then collapsed next 5 within 62 runs
Aus last wicket did 17 runs to take them home and into what will be a repeat of senior men's final
IND-vs-AUS

It was a humdinger...pak has the bowling to defend small total....Aus's No. 11 showed the most "solidest" forward defense you will along with the organized batter McMillan , showed steely nerves to take them thru

Second test is underway between SA and NZ. SA getting a halfway respectable 220/6 on the first day, after being 101/5.

Classic test cricket that, with a run rate of 2.47.

Unless my calculations are a mess, the South Africans in the New Zealand side have more than twice as many caps as the South Africans in the South Africa side going into the second test.

Duty281 wrote:Second test is underway between SA and NZ. SA getting a halfway respectable 220/6 on the first day, after being 101/5.

Classic test cricket that, with a run rate of 2.47.

Confess I had forgotten this one started so missed most of the "action" yesterday. But yes , "classic" - if you mean 1960s... SA very much intent on survival rather than run rate. Didn't help all that much as the tail folded today - all out 242.

NZ aren't exactly racing either : 121/3 from 48 at tea. Ravindra and Young in occupation after Piedt removed Williamson and Latham in that session - a good result for SA as both were seemingly set at 43 and 40.

So SA are hanging in the game for now. Think NZ would want a decent lead as SA have loaded up with spinners for this one and might fancy their chances defending on day five : Piedt quite impressive this innings already with 2/38 from 18 overs. But I suppose more likely the SA second innings gets blown away cheaply ...

For now , game is on. Last session now could be significant.

Well now... SA have struck a couple of blows since tea... Ravindra chopped on from Moreki for 29 , and then Blundell did the same against Patterson...

And even as I type , Piedt has got Phillips ! Little edge onto pad and well taken behind... NZ staggering at 162/6

NZ falling apart now...Young caught in the deep ...gone for 36 , Piedt has four and it's 163/7. Still 79 behind and just the bowlers left.

Too early to say SA in a commanding position ; but they're certainly on top at present and the NZ bowlers have some work to do with bat and/or ball ...

A clearly rattled NZ subsiding here against the pressure ...Southee lofted an attempted big hit , and Henry was run out in a bad mix up with Wagner...183/9 and they are going to trail by a few...

Wagner understandably bringing out the long handle now : six and four off Piedt will be some welcome relief ! Still 49 behind. SA will want to nip out this last wicket quickly.

Certainly spin there : the (rather burly !) other SA spinner von Berg is turning it quite a lot. NZ probably got it wrong leaving out Santner for the extra pace man in this game.

Henry looking to pounce on anything he can from Piedt . Now survives a close lbw on umpires call and celebrates by hitting the next ball out of the ground

203/9

Always enjoy watching Neil Wagner bat...still going after Piedt (27 now from his last three overs) and they trail by only 32. Newcomer O'Rourke is doing a good support job with 16 resolute dots...

SA persisting with spin both ends . Wonder if this is wise ? Von Berg is spinning it big - both ways ; but as yet unrewarded. New ball due in three if this doesn't end before.

Ah but it does...a deserved five wickets for Piedt as Wagner charges and is stumped for a handy 33. Piedt's figures rearranged a bit towards the end but 5/89 from 32 pretty impressive . Paterson 3/39 also did a fine job.

211 all out so SA bat again with a lead of 31. Didn't see that coming this morning !