Australia v South Africa

bush doctor

Thought I'd get something up and running on this.

Didn't see any of the action last night but if it's anything to go by the series should be a cracker.

First test at Perth.

Day one

Australia 258 all out

South Africa 38/0

Ntini awesome with a five-for.

Could be a long hot summer for the aussies with all the sh*t going on in Sydney.

COME ON THE BOYS!

mikeruurds

C'mon South Africa! I managed to pick up one of those new Test cricket shirts when I was home for a visit

Let's hope that we win this one in Perth as Melbourne and Sydney are gonna be rough.

JacksonHeightsOwn

great bowling by ntini, that fella really is something

delighted for that big smart arse Haydon for going for a duck, wasnt he having a war of words with Graeme smith, over what i dont know, but good to see he got his beak buttoned

hopefully the south africans will put in nice innings now tomorrow, really but the aussies under pressure

DMC

This could be a very intriguing test match.

Close: Day 2..

Australia 258 & 38/1 (11.0 ov)
South Africa 296

And thats scores level.

Brett Lee matched Ntini's 5-fer, but not before SK Warne got Ashwell Prince, his 86th wicket in 2005, which past Dennis Lillee's record for the most wickets in a calendar year, of 85, set in 1981 (also an Ashes year in England) Boucher and de Villiers both getting to 60.

Hayden is the man out, Lee in as nightwatchman.

bush doctor

Good fightback from the aussies. Hard to see the proteas getting a result now after a strong partnership from Hodge (91no) and Hussey (54no). Another drop by Kemp off Hodge early on and a bad umpiring decision saving Ponting - things aren't going our way :mad:

Day 3

Australia 258 & 310/4
South Africa 296

Australia lead by 272

mikeruurds

Hopefully we can put in a decent second innings and squeeze out a result, but it's not looking too good at the moment.

*crosses fingers*

Endurance Man

Nice to see some support for SA here , i didnt get to watch very much of the match . Ill try get a few hours in tommorow, see how the boys are doing .

mikeruurds

Not too well I'm afraid... it looks like we're going to struggle to nurdle a draw

bush doctor

Jo! It's gonna have to be epic from Herschelle to save this one.
Fair play to Hodge though, 203* for a maiden century in only his third test. Lets hope Ricky left him out there too long

mikeruurds

Excellent! We salvaged a draw. Now all we have to do is figure out a plan to survive McGill and Warne bowling in tandem at Melbourne and Sydney

county

south africans were top class today,fully deserved the draw

Endurance Man

county wrote:

south africans were top class today,fully deserved the draw

Yay , so pissed i didnt get to watch any of this, worked 8 days in a row now . Our team always performs well under pressure, oh how i miss those Lance Klusner sessions, that man was a machine .

bush doctor

Great spirit shown today - any chance of Rudolph keeping his place if Kallis is fit and drop Prince :rolleyes:

Harry2001

Nice one SA

I thought this was going to be a another stroll home for the Aussies, some great batting on the last day

mikeruurds

bush doctor wrote:

Great spirit shown today - any chance of Rudolph keeping his place if Kallis is fit and drop Prince :rolleyes:

I hope they do that too. I'm a little more concerned about our bowling though. We surely can't expect Makhaya and Shaun to get all the wickets. Our attack seems a little more one-paced than usual. Hopefully Nicky will pitch in and get a fistful of wickets.

The Aussies always seem to be better at preparing pitches that favour their attack (MCG + SCG). We're really going to have to play out of our skins to beat them in the next two tests. Hopfully we win the toss in Melbourne and put some serious runs on the board in the first innings.

C'mon the boys!

JacksonHeightsOwn

it was a great performance by south africa

how the hell justin kemp kept his cool under that pressure from warne and the ****ED up wicket ill never know, well, i guess thats why he`sa pro and we watch the game

should be an interesting test now, the south afriacans certainly arent pushovers

mikeruurds

Looks like it's going to be another cracker!

Aus 239/8 at the ned of the first day's play after Aus worked their way carefully to 158/1 before another collapse similar to the first day in Perth.

Hopefully we'll skittle the last two early on the second day at put on +400 runs!

mikeruurds

Mike Hussey is a genius... 122 runs of which 95 came from the 10th wicket partnership with Glen McGrath...

End of Day 2 = the match is evenly poised.

Aus 355 all out
SA 169/2

JacksonHeightsOwn

that was some fantastic batting by Hussey, and all credit to mcGrath for keeping his cool as well

although, some of the fielding from the south africans leaves alot to be desired, but they still did well for getting the aussies out at that score

as for the south africans batting, not bad at all, Gibbs has gone by his bogey number, and Kallis seemed content at the creese

i seen once Gibbs gets to 50, his average from there is 120 :eek: , if he gets that, and you`d expect a hefty enough total Kallis then the aussies could be under the cosh

im still routing for the south africans anyway

Endurance Man

If Kallis and Gibbs get into there stride its gonna be a tough day for the Aussises .

JacksonHeightsOwn

ive just watched the highlights again on sky, i had only caught the south africans earlier

that wasnt just a great knock from Hussey, that was out of this ****ing world :eek: phenomanal cricket

only downside was he got out when McGrath was set for a century

RuggieBear

i'm so annoyed i can't see this test match at the moment:(

DMC

Day 3: Close

Australia 355 & 110/2 (37.0 ov)
South Africa 311

Australia lead by 154 runs with 8 wickets remaining

Good to see Symonds get 3 wickets, Lee bowled really hard and fast at Kallis, brilliant stuff. He softened him with a bouncer to the side of the head, next ball, yorked 'im. Ashwell Prince is Warne's bunny, the man will never get out to any other Aussie .

1st innings lead of 44. Now you can see the value of Hussey and McGrath's last man stand. SA's ray of hope is that Ponting was out cheaply. But Ponting wont let this 2nd innings go on for as long as he let the Perth one go.

mikeruurds

I'm so depressed now... come on SA! Looks like the best we can get out of this will be a draw.

JacksonHeightsOwn

i stayed up until the lunch time break,

first off, the aussie attack was FANTASTIC, i thought Lee was especially good, he kept his cool well, because we all know what a hot head he is, Kallis should be wiley enough not to get out that way, i wasnt too impressed with him, in fact, Gibbs was getting the harder time from the bowlers and he didnt bottle it, impressed with his patince, because we know what kinda attacking player he is

as for Prince, he wanted out, he didnt even put up a fight, if i was Graeme Smith id have given him a right kick in the rocks, Rudolph was looking tasty when he came on, the south africans where racking a few runs together, but an absolutly stunning ball from Lee got him ,there was nothing he could do about it to be honest

it aint over yet, im still pulling for the south africans, especially since i found out Ponting isnt even an aussie, he`s bloody tasmanian, its funny, because after they lost the ashes ,thats what they kept slaging the english over that their team was made of non poms

god i hope they bottle it, but they won

1 thing that i think we can all say though,is that the aussies arent that impregnable team they where last year, they are beatable

DMC

Day 4: Close

Australia 355 & 321/7d
South Africa 311 & 99/6 (42.0 ov)

Hayden amongst the runs again, making 137, with help from Symonds (72, runs he needed) a stand of 124 helping Australia from 193/4 to 317/5.

Kallis took Symonds and Gilchrist (failed again) in consecutive balls, and, cheekily, Ponting declared as Warne was about to come out

So the lead was 365, and the Proteas are wobbling, to say the least. Warne and Symonds taking 3 and 2 respectively, and really.... even after the heroics at Perth, they cant dig themselves out of this one. Prince is still there, but Warne will get him and that tail won't wag much.

Bigger news is that Makhaya Ntini's left knee is crocked, he'll need to go back home with a torn medial ligament, as bad as they come. He'll bat if needed (likely, but pointless)

JacksonHeightsOwn

1 thing that i think we can all say though,is that the aussies arent that impregnable team they where last year, they are beatable

do i have to eat them words or what

DMC

Meh, not as much humble pie as I ate after slagging Kevin Pietersen off, on Day 4 of the 5th Ashes test... on national radio!

county

DMC wrote:

Meh, not as much humble pie as I ate after slagging Kevin Pietersen off, on Day 4 of the 5th Ashes test... on national radio!

?

DMC

Aye....

JacksonHeightsOwn

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=3339555&postcount=48

bush doctor

God damn that's some turn around by the Aussies from the first day.

Symmo looks like he's finally come good and that middle order ain't lookin that weak now. Ntini's absense doesn't bode well for Sydney and the one-dayers either. :mad: :mad: :mad:

county

DMC wrote:

Aye....

felt a bit of a tit the next day i guess:D

DMC

I blame the Guinness...

Play in 20 minutes... Sky Sports are showing a profile of Graeme Pollock... I'm sure the Proteas would like him batting at No. 7 now.....

DMC

Day 5: Australia won by 184 runs

Took them until the over after lunch, mainly becasue of Shaun Pollock's 67*
Prince, as predicted, fell to Warne, though how the umpire Rauf gave it out is beyond me.... completely unsighted, as the batsman was turned away, he couldnt be totally sure where it came off.. McGrath and MacGill mopping up the tail, Ntini did bat, for 6 balls, scoring 2, but was it worth it chancing his injury...

Onwards to Sydney for January 2nd so...

Iago

bad tactical move by Pollock taking that single in the first ball of the last over before lunch.

He should have played defensively for the first 3-4 and then tried for a single before the end of the over.

Psychologically it would have been a big improvement for SA.

JacksonHeightsOwn

the biggest mistake i thought was in the first innings when Hussey and mcgrath where on

what i didnt understand was when hussey went for a sungle on the last ball of the over and hit it fairly hard, why didnt he let the ball run for 4 keeping hussey from going up the other end, ok, you`re sacrificing 3 runs, but id rather ntini have at least a chance of throwing 6 at McGrath than 1,

ok, in hindsight its pretty irrevelant now, hmm

what do we know

JacksonHeightsOwn

just a quick question

Graeme smith bats as a left hander, but if im not mistaken ,wasnt he bowling with his right hand?

weird or what, i know my dad plays golf like a lefty, but he`s right handed, hmmm, did i imagine it

DMC

From his Cricinfo page...

Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak

Royale with Cheese

chrisbonnie wrote:

just a quick question

Graeme smith bats as a left hander, but if im not mistaken ,wasnt he bowling with his right hand?

weird or what, i know my dad plays golf like a lefty, but he`s right handed, hmmm, did i imagine it

There are plenty of players who bowl with one arm and bat with the other, Simon Jones and Ashely Giles spring to mind. People do it (are taught at a young age to do it) so that your strongest hand is the top hand on the bat and not the bottom. Playing a shot with your bottom hand gives you power but not alot of control. People have the tendency to just bat with their strongest hand when they are young. This meaning a right handed person will bat more with their right (bottom) hand.. Thus they are taught to bat the other way around to stop them from playing the ball in the air so much. The top hand is the hand used for shots like the drive, playing a drive with your bottom hand isn't a good idea. It's something like that I think.

I'm sure there are plenty more specialist batsmen like Graeme Smith who do this. I think it's 1 in 10 people are left handed, but there are far more than 1 in 10 batsmen who bat left handed.

JacksonHeightsOwn

just after watching the 1st innings from the SCG, Hussey does the same, he bowled 2 overs right handed

anyway, enough about the funny handed batsmen, the south africans are back in the game Sotuh Africa 230/3 close of play, Kallis at 80 n.o and Prince 62

they`ve really pulled the south africans back into it, they where on the ropes for 86/3 but fairplay to kallis and Prince, some lovely shots and dare i say it, knocking Warne and McGill like they where Ashley Giles

have to admit im looking forward to seeing this young lad brought into the side, Johan Botha, a mustery bowler, or spinner even, should be interesting how he takes to the SCG

county

south africa 451-9 dec
and 4-1
aussies 359
good come back from the aussies with ponting getting 120,i can see a draw a mile away but SA need to win to draw the series

DMC

Forecast is for frequent showers for the next two days.

JacksonHeightsOwn

i knew them aussies would get the luck

and the mad thing is its been unhumanly hot over there the last few weeks, an australian friend of mine went back to sydney for the christmas and she was aying its been about 40 degrees every day, then when the cricket is on and the aussies are under the cosh, they get bad weather, whats the bloody chances of that

cgf

chrisbonnie wrote:

just after watching the 1st innings from the SCG, Hussey does the same, he bowled 2 overs right handed

anyway, enough about the funny handed batsmen, the south africans are back in the game Sotuh Africa 230/3 close of play, Kallis at 80 n.o and Prince 62

they`ve really pulled the south africans back into it, they where on the ropes for 86/3 but fairplay to kallis and Prince, some lovely shots and dare i say it, knocking Warne and McGill like they where Ashley Giles

have to admit im looking forward to seeing this young lad brought into the side, Johan Botha, a mustery bowler, or spinner even, should be interesting how he takes to the SCG

Apparently Johan Botha played for Malahide & Ireland last summer

http://www.ecb.co.uk/stats/fixtures/ireland-v-yorkshire-3-5-05,1602,FF.html

It's mad the amount of overseas players that have played in Ireland as club pros and then gone onto to play test cricket. It can only be good for the game here.

JacksonHeightsOwn

cgf wrote:

Apparently Johan Botha played for Malahide & Ireland last summer

http://www.ecb.co.uk/stats/fixtures/ireland-v-yorkshire-3-5-05,1602,FF.html

It's mad the amount of overseas players that have played in Ireland as club pros and then gone onto to play test cricket. It can only be good for the game here.

thats mad, but i still dont agree with that residency rule thingy, you should only be able to play for 1 country

county

play due to start midnight gmt

DMC

Day 4: Close

South Africa 451/9d & 94/3 (22.0 ov)
Australia 359

They lost the first session, and play ended early due to bad light, then the rain came.

DMC

Day 5: Australia won by 8 wickets

South Africa 451/9d & 194/6d
Australia 359 & 288/2 (60.3 ov)

That was mighty generous by Smith..... 287 to win off 70-odd overs.... Ponting made light work of it... 143 off 159 balls. Some records broken along the way, the biggest chase in Sydney, and Ponting scoring two hundreds in his 100th test.

I'd like to know what Smith said to Kallis later.....

county

what test series is next for the aussies?

cgf

This link will give you the full list of international fixtures thru to the World Cup next year.

http://www.cricinfo.com/db/FORTHCOMING/YEARLY_CRICKET_CALENDAR.html