4th Test: India v South Africa at Delhi

so!  the beard is going to to block for the next 5 hours to save a test match ::confused:: ::confused:: ::confused::

not likely. he better get ready for an ordinary life on the team.  who is to be the next Saffy captain ::confused::

its time to revolutionize Saffy cricket or a west indian tale will unfold as their story.  a downturn looms.  they better use it right..as opportunity to set up their cricket on a broader more inclusive basis.  time to kick Haroon Lorgat to the curb...to move on to younger more nationalistic oriented administration.

race-based elitist ethnocentrism will no longer cut it for the Saffies.  they will have to get to a broader talent feed or their cricket will die.  just like west indies

That is a brilliant display of Crease Occupation and situational cricket

Straight out of the Playbook  8)

         

Quote:That is a brilliant display of Crease Occupation. Straight out of the Playbook 

Ironic for Amla, it's the Israeli playbook.

South Africa's resolute resistance and block-a-thon continued throughout the morning session - scoring just 22 runs in 35 overs though they did lose the wicket of Amla, departing for 25 from an epic 244 balls.

Jadeja bowled 12 overs without yielding a run all morning and now has figures of 1/10 from his 35 overs. You gotta give credit to South Africa for having a gameplan and sticking to it. It's not pretty, but they are a third of the way through the day and still have 7 wickets remaining.

As is seemingly almost always the case in cricket, one wicket leads to two and suddenly South Africa are now 5 down with still 40 minutes left before tea. AB is still at the crease but is looking to be in some pain after taking a few nasty blows. South Africa really can't afford to lose another wicket before tea. The match is deliciously poised right now.

South Africa make it to tea with 5 wickets down, setting up a tremendously tense final session of play.

AB has faced 296 deliveries for his 43. I was curious to see what is the fewest runs scored by a batsman facing a minimum of 300 deliveries. That record belongs to Trevor Bailey, who once scored 68 runs from 427 deliveries at a strike rate of 15.92. AB's current strike rate is 14.52 - the polar opposite to Virender Sehwag's 319 from 304 balls against South Africa in India back in 2008.

I was please to see our team finally put up some fight. It's just a shame that in recent times our lower order don't seem to be able to contribute much with the bat. It was inevitable that once AB and Dane Vilas were separated, there would be a big collapse.

[quote author=Gina145 link=topic=101666.msg667856#msg667856 date=1449577638]
I was please to see our team finally put up some fight. It's just a shame that in recent times our lower order don't seem to be able to contribute much with the bat. It was inevitable that once AB and Dane Vilas were separated, there would be a big collapse.
[/quote]

Gina G,

A fight? Seriously? That was like Chanderpaul in headlights....quite appalling in my view.

Amla fails then SA fails....

abysmal.com/gina

[quote author=Gina145 link=topic=101666.msg667521#msg667521 date=1449271370]
I hope you're right that it's only a blip on the radar.

As for the opening batsmen, I think that Dean Elgar will probably keep his place for the time being as he's done better than some of the other batsmen, so it's more a question of who has partner will be. I don't think that either of his partners during this series are openers at domestic level, so that could be part of the problem. However the selectors like to give a player a few games to prove themselves (hence the fact that Dane Vilas is there ahead of Quinton de Kock), so it's possible that they'll persist with Temba Bavuma.

The middle order is a concern too, and I'm particularly worried about Hashim Amla's form. As I said before, it's possible that the captaincy is hurting his personal performance.

I can't see major changes in the bowling line-up though, but I'm not sure which spinner will play in the home series. And I do expect to see de Kock back behind the stumps.
[/quote]

Firdose Moonda wrote an interesting column today outlining the obstacles South Africa face when it comes to team selection and ensuring that there are at least four players of colour of which one is black African. This was a timely article as it ties in nicely with our recent conversation about who will open the batting for South Africa in the upcoming series against England.

Quote:It makes picking a side difficult because although there are enough players of colour coming through - the franchises have their own transformation requirements of five players of colour with two black Africans, which they are meeting - finding the right players in the right positions is not as simple as colouring by numbers.

Currently, the options available in terms of black African players in the Test are Kagiso Rabada, who played all but one match on the India tour, and Temba Bavuma, who played when Rabada did not. Both had strong showings and demonstrated the success of the transformation plan - it's not about picking players who are not good enough to fill a quota but it about how you decide between players who are good enough. In some countries that decision is made on something as subjective as which player the chief selector or the captain feels has more potential. In South Africa part of that decision is made with transformation guidelines in mind.

At this point it means that when both Philander and Steyn are fit again to play alongside Morkel, Rabada may be left out unless South Africa play four quicks, and there will be no space for Kyle Abbott at all. That will also mean Bavuma will start, but since there is no space for him in his regular spot in the middle order, he will have to open. Luckily for South Africa, Bavuma showed that he could.

He seemed more assured than the man he replaced, van Zyl, but it is not known how he will fare at home on what are bound to be spicy pitches against the England attack. Given that neither van Zyl nor Bavuma is actually an opener, South Africa may want to pick someone more accustomed to the role.

If they do that, their choices are limited to Stephen Cook or Andrew Puttick, and so far, the selectors have said age is the main obstacle to their selection. Cook is 33 and Puttick 34 so the suits have a point, but Cook topped the first-class batting charts last season, Puttick was the fifth-highest run-getter the season before, both average over 40, and between them have played 310 first-class games. That kind of experience should not be scoffed at.

Both Cook and Puttick are white so including one of them would mean re-looking at balance either by making a space for Bavuma lower down, possibly putting JP Duminy's spot at risk, or including Rabada by breaking up the Steyn-Morkel-Philander triumvirate. Whichever way you look at it, it leaves South Africa in a tricky situation and the players know it.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-sout...49931.html