England v South Africa | 1st Test | The Oval | Jul 19-23, 2012 | Days 2&3

[Justcrazy]

SA lead now

[Justcrazy]

Lead 6 runs now ............ with 5 overs to go SA can get the lead up to 25 by stumps.

[Markhor]

South Africa scoring at such a quick rate, they will accumulate a big lead in a fairly short space of time at this rate.

[Justcrazy]

Lead 10 runs now.

[Justcrazy]

3 overs left

[Justcrazy]

400 up

[Justcrazy]

400 up

[leatherface58]

beginning of the end of Barbie's honeymoon period?

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[Justcrazy]

South Africa lead by 15 runs with 8 wickets remaining in the 1st innings

[Jo_Don]

Amla carries his bat through the day. On the plus side for England, Jimmy, Barbie and Swanny are all approaching their centuries

[cricketworm]

Originally Posted by cricketworm Amla will feast on this wicket. (I know I said that yesterday)

Said this through out. Very predictable this Amla guy is !!

[Amjid Javed]

Still 188 overs left in game. I think S.A plan should be bat another 60 overs and look to declare at tea Time. They should look to bat solidly till lunch keep going at 3 r.p.o and then step it up in 2nd session so they pretty much have 600-650 on board.

S.A are going to find taking 10 wickets in 2nd inns very hard so they need to maximize the time need to do that!

[LegCutter]

South Africa should begin an onslaught and give England a lead of around 150, I really dont want a draw over here.

[Bilal7]

Wow what a day of cricket.
SA really deserve a victory over here, they were average on day 1 but were utterly dominant on days 2 and 3.
Hashim Amla was epic and Smith and Kallis were amazing in their own right.

If SA win this first test, they will have a big mental advantage to win this whole series.

[Jo_Don]

Chilling moment of the Day England's joy at ending Smith's marathon innings was short-lived. While they were naturally delighted at finally ending the stay of a man with 25 Test centuries, the sight of a fellow with 42 Test centuries walking down the pavilion steps to replace him was enough to pour cold water on their excitement. No bowler can relish Jacques Kallis coming to the crease at the best of times, but with the score on 260 for 2, the sight must have been chilling. There may be some doubts about the South Africa tail, but when the head and the body are as strong as this, it is not the most pressing of concerns

That's probably a pretty demoralising sight. And once you get Kallis, there's still AB who could take the game away with a quick century.

[Ironcat]

Nicely done, Saffers.

Basically, bat till after tea on Day 4. Declare maybe an hour or so before the close with a 250+ lead. ABDV to score a run a ball 50.

Steyn and co to have a shy at the batting for 1.25 days on a pitch that should break down in some way.

[Ironcat]

Amla's average nearing 50.

Smith's just crossed into 50s.

ABDV's can also cross into 50s.

[Jo_Don]

Originally Posted by malakian I don't see what the big deal is? Even if SA bowl us out for 350, we'll still bowl them out for less.

Where did this guy suddenly disappear to?

[leatherface58]

wow saffers in a lethal position. i still back England to crawl out of this hole.
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[LegCutter]

I think they should just send Duminy in; and tell him to play like it's the IPL; get a quick lead of around 150-200; and then have England bat under pressure.

[Bilal7]

Originally Posted by LegCutter I think they should just send Duminy in; and tell him to play like it's the IPL; get a quick lead of around 150-200; and then have England bat under pressure.

Amla can be explosive as well. He has a 90+ SR in ODI's

[ak23]

Funny enough I was talking to a team mate last week (who happen to be South African) about Amla being the best batsman I have seen in a very long time. He delivers, consist and its classy when he bats.

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[ares1000]

RSA in control.

[OZGOD]

Shame there's only 2 days to go. I wanted Amla to get a thousand

[KingKhanWC]

Brilliant batting by Amla, Smith and Kallis. Totally dominated the English attack, playing only the correct balls and leaving the rest.

Pretty poor from Strauss. Instead of wasting the energy of his best bowlers bowling wide, he should have made them attack the stumps with a field set accordingly. Swann was the best bowler but SA played hi superbly.

200+ lead by tea will put England under huge pressure. SA are clearly favourites to win this test match from here.

[khalil1986]

Originally Posted by Jo_Don Where did this guy suddenly disappear to?

LOL you would think he would learn from his statements before England got their backsides handed to them by us in the UAE but he seems like a slow learner.

[Jo_Don]

Originally Posted by KingKhanWC Brilliant batting by Amla, Smith and Kallis. Totally dominated the English attack, playing only the correct balls and leaving the rest. Pretty poor from Strauss. Instead of wasting the energy of his best bowlers bowling wide, he should have made them attack the stumps with a field set accordingly. Swann was the best bowler but SA played hi superbly. 200+ lead by tea will put England under huge pressure. SA are clearly favourites to win this test match from here.

They've worked out a way to negate Swann. If you notice closely, you'll see all the batsmen taking an middle-off guard. This is because if they miss the ball, it'll hit them outside the line of off-stump, removing LBWs from the equation. Also, if the bowler gets it slightly wrong, it's an easy shot to the leg side.

Originally Posted by khalil1986 LOL you would think he would learn from his statements before England got their backsides handed to them by us in the UAE but he seems like a slow learner.

I don't mind to be honest, the more he runs his mouth, the more his team suffers

[Bilal7]

They've worked out a way to negate Swann. If you notice closely, you'll see all the batsmen taking an middle-off guard. This is because if they miss the ball, it'll hit them outside the line of off-stump, removing LBWs from the equation. Also, if the bowler gets it slightly wrong, it's an easy shot to the leg side.

Isn't there a risk of getting bowled around their legs due to this tactic? I'd hate to have that happen to Amla after of all this. The ball isn't spinning though, so it's not that risky.

[KingKhanWC]

Originally Posted by Jo_Don They've worked out a way to negate Swann. If you notice closely, you'll see all the batsmen taking an middle-off guard. This is because if they miss the ball, it'll hit them outside the line of off-stump, removing LBWs from the equation. Also, if the bowler gets it slightly wrong, it's an easy shot to the leg side.

Yes I know, it's a well thought out technique but wouldn't work against a bowler with a hard to pick doosra.

Amla and Kallis are great players of spin, Amla's tour of India proved this and Kallis has done it for years now. What was surprising was how Smith played Swann really well. He was excellent at leaving the ball and coming down the pitch to hit it through mid on.

Your team has all the ingredients of being the undisputed no.1 team in the world, today was a baby step towards this.

[Jo_Don]

Originally Posted by Bilal7 Isn't there a risk of getting bowled around their legs due to this tactic? I'd hate to have that happen to Amla after of all this. The ball isn't spinning though, so it's not that risky.

Not if he's bowling over the wicket to right handlers. He tried going around but they just blocked him out and put the wide ones away through the off side.

Smith took the same guard, but he's good on the leg side, so there was little risk of being bowled around his legs.

[VTEC]

English Pace Attack failed and failed badly

When i got Trundler Jim leading the attack this is expected

[Robert]

Originally Posted by VTEC When i got Trundler Jim leading the attack this is expected

"Mr Anderson, that's the sound of inevitability."

Originally Posted by Bilal7 If SA win this first test, they will have a big mental advantage to win this whole series.

Nah, they'll still choke in the last test to leave it 1-1.

Probably going to win this one, though.

[saj001]

^ SA will win the series.

[Jo_Don]

Originally Posted by Robert Nah, they'll still choke in the last test to leave it 1-1. Probably going to win this one, though.

I don't see England winning one, unless something changes. That needs to come from the bowlers.

Something interesting was pointed out on air. Much of England's recent success was based on defensive bowling, waiting for batsmen to become impatient and play a rash shot (based on the aggressive trend towards batting from most batsmen these days). And it's worked for them so far, but it's not going to work against guys like Smith, Amla, Kallis, Chanderpaul, etc.

[pakistani pride]

I remember the famous term used for the indian quicks ... POP GUN ATTACK ...
The Eng bowling was really poor today and if the pitch doesnt help them they struggle big time against WORLD CLASS BATSMEN.

Flintoff and Harmison maybe were world class for just 2 years or so but they didnt need the help of the pitch to bowl out world class teams, broad and anderson were bowling around 80 mph !!!

[WalkingWiggett]

Barbs and Jim weren't too shabby at knocking over Pakistan earlier this year "bowling around 80 mph" in the UAE, and many other bowling units have struggled to bowl out Pakistan since Misbah become PAK captain and the likes of Azhar, Taufeeq and Asad have cemented their places through genuine performance.

Barbs and Jim are still good bowlers. They shouldn't be hyped up as anything near greatness let alone legendary - that probably applies to both these teams playing as a whole too - but they are very good, as are the England and real South Africa Test teams. Just not out-and-out great, because true greatness is rare in this wonderful game, self-evidently.

[Anfield]

English bowlers didn't have a good day today but you can't play them down by saying they're good in bowler-friendly conditions only. They have bowled well recently in quite a few dead tracks.. I inning or 1 match doesn't change anything..

[Ironcat]

Only 3 games = fewer chances of choking

Though going 1-up means that the odds are now stacked against them