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Post by leedsgull on Dec 30, 2015 10:50:51 GMT
I agree with your sentiments about a general levelling out of the teams hh. I think most of the top teams are much better on their own pitches. That is why I think that this win is one of England's finest complete performances for many years. The majority of the players made a meaningful contribution which is unusual.
I would leave the team unchanged. Listening to commentary Woakes bowled better than his figures suggest & Anderson could do with a match which presumably there is one before the third test.
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Post by coverpoint on Dec 30, 2015 11:33:22 GMT
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Post by fraudster on Dec 31, 2015 13:06:07 GMT
Battered em'. Looking at that chart thing, and this SA team I ask myself, why are they number one in the world? If over the course of 2015 they have won one lost four and drawn three, how can it be? Utter Pollocks.
I think Stokes, or anyone, would be more than happy to be a 'Flashy Flintoff' HH. Anyway, let's hope Taylor doesn't end up being another Brian Lara.
Anderson for the 'lucky to be there' Woakes and we're good to go.
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Post by leedsgull on Jan 2, 2016 14:36:28 GMT
England are making a real mess of this. Why are they unable to string two performances together? This South African team are there for the taking. Minimum of 450 needed on this pitch and against this attack.
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Post by coverpoint on Jan 2, 2016 14:44:32 GMT
Can't afford to lose anymore wickets today. Rabanda has been their best bowler. Too many starts not enough match winning scores though.
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Post by hhsussex on Jan 2, 2016 16:22:03 GMT
An interesting day. A good score to finish on, but how much better would it have been to have lost 3 wickets , say, with Root and Taylor both on big scores and the hitters to follow tomorrow? The stand between Stokes and Bairstow was exciting to watch and has pulled England back ahead of South Africa, but only just ahead and it could easily be 320-7 with one of Stokes, Bairstow and Moeen hoping that the tail with stay with him till 350 is up.
I agree with coverpoint that Rabada looks the pick of the SA bowlers. Not consistent yet but capable of finding the ball that disconcerts, and that is a pretty impressive gift to have. If he keeps on adding to his skills , and learning from the bad patches, he should outstrip Ntini by the time he is 25 or so.
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Post by coverpoint on Jan 2, 2016 23:02:39 GMT
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Post by hhsussex on Jan 3, 2016 8:47:56 GMT
Deeply touching to see the English players wearing black armbands today in memory of Matt Hobden. What a loss, what a negation of hope.
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Post by flashblade on Jan 3, 2016 13:28:00 GMT
I had the privilege of watching the whole of England's innings this morning. I hadn't meant to watch right through, but it was the most riveting and exhilarating performance by Stokes and Bairstow, and I couldn't tear myself away.
If you didn't see it, then the Highlights package will be something to look forward to.
Stokes in numbers - the records he broke
Fastest Test double century by an England batsman
Scored more runs (130) than any other player in a pre-lunch Test session
Highest score by an England batsman at Newlands, beating Jack Hobbs' 187 in 1910
Most sixes by an England batsman (11), beating Wally Hammond in 1933
Fastest ever 250 in Test cricket
Highest score by an England number six, surpassing Graeme Hick's 178 against India in Mumbai in 1986
Stokes and Bairstow set the fastest 300 partnership, beating India's Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid
Stokes and Bairstow now have the highest Test partnership for the sixth wicket
Wow!!
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Post by hhsussex on Jan 3, 2016 13:34:41 GMT
Absolutely agree with flashblade. Wow is all I can say for now...but I'm sure I'll think of something a bit more articulate after close of play
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Post by hhsussex on Jan 3, 2016 18:38:59 GMT
The great charm of cricket is that it can surprise you and subvert your notions of the status quo, instantly. A partnership can be settled, the fielding side seemingly listless and without imagination, bowling strenuously but without reward, conceding four an over when from some unknown area of the imagination a bowler will suddenly find a delivery that startles, disconcerts, causes the prolific batsman to mi**** and a scampering diving fieldsman pulls off a stunning catch. The partnership broken, two more wickets fall in the next 3 overs and the innings is broken-backed, the match once again in hazard. Another time it may be the reverse: the drive played fractionally too soon or to the ball that pitched a little shorter than anticipated has been the undoing of 3 of the first 5 batsmen, the catch being taken cleanly or triumphantly, but taken nonetheless, and then the same shot is played to the same, slightly imperfect delivery - imperfect from the perspective of the batsman looking for the hittable ball in the right place with the right amount of bounce - and now the ball evades the fingers, leaves the fielder looking stupid as it speeds past him to the boundary, and then it happens again, and again.
There is no clear, no logical way to explain why Ben Stokes, and to a lesser extent Jonny Bairstow, should have been averaging in the upper 20s for a 20 Test career before this match, and today joined together to break a whole succession of records and set England on course for a second successive Test win in South Africa. Both of them are players of potential and promise, both of them have known some success, but more failure. Last night they played very well but what they did throughout the morning and into the afternoon was quite exceptional. It was not so much the riding of luck - a certain amount of that is inevitable with any strokeplayers - but the rapid accumulation of runs so as to ensure that bowlers and fieldsmen felt from the start of a very hot day that the odds were against them, that theirs was simply to pitch the ball up and then chase it, or watch it sail over their heads. Both batsmen played their roles well: Stokes as the arch assaulter, constantly battering, never allowing the bowler any credit for his wiles, and Bairstow patient in comparison, taking the chances he was given to unfold glorious strokes in a rippling glissando, right until the time he reached his own hundred whereupon he joined Stokes in battering, though never brutally.
Both of them will fail, though Bairstow probably less frequently than Stokes. It may be we will have to accept that Stokes will make a once-a-series contribution with the bat, and his bowling will come under more scrutiny, but not until we have unearthed another all-rounder of anything like his potential - and that seems a long way off. For now, let us just enjoy what we have, revel in the surprise factor, and rejoice that we were able to see this, or hear it, or read about it today.
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Post by leedsgull on Jan 4, 2016 16:03:52 GMT
This match has gone from breathtaking to tedious in less than a day. Sadly the only winner will be the pitch. Wickets must give some help to the bowlers or there is no point. I know England missed a couple of chances but Boycott summed it up by saying even his mum with a stick of rhubarb could survive on that track.
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Post by hhsussex on Jan 4, 2016 16:23:41 GMT
This match has gone from breathtaking to tedious in less than a day. Sadly the only winner will be the pitch. Wickets must give some help to the bowlers or there is no point. I know England missed a couple of chances but Boycott summed it up by saying even his mum with a stick of rhubarb could survive on that track. I agree. The only redeeming feature of the day for me, following today by radio and occasional glimpses at the score was the cricinfo commentary on the first Alex Hales over
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Post by flashblade on Jan 4, 2016 18:01:05 GMT
This match has gone from breathtaking to tedious in less than a day. Sadly the only winner will be the pitch. Wickets must give some help to the bowlers or there is no point. I know England missed a couple of chances but Boycott summed it up by saying even his mum with a stick of rhubarb could survive on that track. I agree. The only redeeming feature of the day for me, following today by radio and occasional glimpses at the score was the cricinfo commentary on the first Alex Hales over Brilliant commentary! I gather Mikey Holding described Hales' bowling as "right arm optimistic" !!
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Post by fraudster on Jan 5, 2016 15:22:10 GMT
This has been a snooze-fest but that's the teams' fault, not the track, for what it's worth. Why SA are still batting 15 behind is beyond me. Should have declared an hour ago - nothing to lose, everything to gain. Never mind a man's ton.
As for England, around about ten drops has done for them. Amongst the easiest, AB on five and Amla on 70 odd. Pitch is definitely pretty batsman friendly but England can't look past themselves on this one. Cook's mixed it up well, maybe too well, but he's been too defensive again given our mammoth lead, especially at the new ball, at least the last two.
Now they're still batting after the lad's got his ton - unbelievable.
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