Story (05)A coach,2005 and beyond

[bladescape]

3rd ODI:
The game:
0-10 overs:
We decided to go for a solid start this time,Smith was easily fitting in to the role,but Gibbs was still slashing a bit.
A very quiet first few overs with not one chance given,just to let the batsman settle.
We got 31 runs and lost no wickets.
Total:0/31

10-20:
Smith was troubled by the first over in this lot with Gillespie having an lbw appeal turned down.
Gibbs then took it to Gillespie the only ball he had strike.
Next over Smith took a swipe and was clean bowled by Franklin.1/36.

Greame Smith,bowled Franklin for 17 from 40 deliveries with 1 four.

Kallis took the first ball over the head of Franklin for four more.
A little bit later he too was dismissed.2/47.

Jaques Kallis,lbw Oram for 9 from 11 deliveries with 2 fours.

De Villiers and Gibbs easily pushed to the next lot of overs without losing another wicket.
We lost 2 important wickets and gained 43 runs.
Total:2/74

20-30:
Gibbs and De Villiers were putting me in the drivers seat,not being overly attacking but easing about six singles an over.
Gibbs soon was ecomplished enough and reached a milestone.

Herschelle Gibbs,50* from 67 deliveries.

In a flash of brilliance De Villiers brought the run rate in check with three consecutive fours.
Another flash of brilliance!
This time Gibbs loses his off stump!!!!3/130

Herschelle Gibbs,56 from 73 deliveries with 8 fours

Duminy and De Villiers played solidly until the 30th over.
We got 62 runs and lost Gibbs.
Total:3/136.

30-40:
De Villiers and Duminy are wrapping this up the first ball of the first over goes for four to bring up De Villiers 50!

A.B.De Villiers,52* from 50 deliveries.

Two other 4's were scored in the over.
A very good performance continues via AB and JP.
O'Brien finishes his spell.

Ian O'Brien,10-0-56-0

Overall we added 65 runs and lost no wickets.
Total:3/195.
Just 35 to win.

40-50:
Gillespie finishes his spell.

Mark Gillespie,10-0-44-0

At this point I'm watching on as the run amount can't really get out of hand now,but there are only enough runs for one of the batsman to get a milestone.
Duminy his fifty and De Villiers his 100.
Oram was the next to finish up his spell.

Jacob Oram,10-0-39-1

The answer to the milestone question is Duminy!

Jean-Paul Duminy,50* from 56 deliveries.

From then on it was an easy win.
Result:SA win by 7 wickets!!!:happy

Scorecard:

Bowling Card:

Summery:

 

[Jaztheman]

Brilliant victory. Duminy, De Villiers and Gibbs took contol of the batting and with their scores, you never looked like you were going to lose. The bowling was tight ontop of the good batting, so overall decent performance.

Good presentation, mate.

 

[mattfb]

Top win there. Overs 10-30 were a bit nerveracking when you lost 3 wickets buy Duminy and and De Villiers were great in the last 20 to compliment Gibbs great start. You didn't really look like losing even after losing those few quick wickets, but it was comfortable in the end.

Awesome story mate, it's great! I love the presentation. kiu!

 

[bladescape]

SA squad for the upcoming tour of Australia:
G.Smith(c):Not quite successful during the NZ tour but is the captain.
J.Kallis(vc):Performed very well in both forms of the game.
L.Klusener:Another NZ tour star.
S.Pollock:His bowling was very composed.
H.Gibbs:In the ODIs in perticular he blasted the ball.
M.Boucher:His hundred in the ODI sealed his passport!
J.P.Duminy:He wasn't so fantastic in the Tests,but he did show potential in the ODIs.
D.Steyn:His bowling was lacklustre but he showed promise in a few spells.
A.B.De Villiers:The back up keeper,he really failed in the ODIs though.
N.McKenzie:Very useful in the Tests,didn't play the ODIs.
D.Terbruggeefinatly the pick of the test bowlers,apart from Pollock.
M.Ntini:Same as Steyn,some of his spells were deadly,he just couldn't keep it consistant.
H.Amla:He didn't play the ODIs but he showed promise during the Tests,but failed to even score 50 in an innings.
N.Boje:His batting needed improvement,but his bowling was dangerous at times.
A.Hall:As of yet,untested.
J.Kemp:Same as Hall.
A.Nel:He only played the ODIs,but I'll be looking to fit him into the Test bowling line up this tour.
A.Prince:His ODI form was not inspiring,but I'll give him a go.

A pretty solid team to take on the World No.1.
We've got to prove now that we won't choke this time!!!

 

[Jaztheman]

Decents squad, hopefully you can do more than just put up a fight.

Good stuff, Shotgun.

 

[bladescape]

Warm up match,South Africa vs. New South Wales:
SA Team:
N.McKenzie
H.Gibbs
J.Kallis
A.B.De Villiers(wk)
A.Prince
N.Boje
S.Pollock(c)
A.Hall
L.Klusener
J.Kemp
D.Terbrugge


Yes,a completely odd team!!!!
No idea why,I just decided to test out some backup players.

Total match summery:
Mail and Tucker opened,and first ball of Terbrugge,Mail struck a fantastic straight drive,but Terbrugge just caught the edge of his fingers to it and he ran Tucker out without a run on the board for a diamond duck.
From then on the wickets were on steady flow,except for two parternerships:
52,Mail & Haddin
84,Haddin & Thornley

In the end,Pollock led the bowling performance,but Haddin had defied them to make 105!
We also lost an early wicket,McKenzie bowled McGrath for 10,but Gibbs and Kallis made up for it very well with a 177 run stand.
Gibbs got a hundred not out,Kallis 95 and De Villiers 35 not out.
We declared because it was only a 3 dayer,we still had a fair first innings lead.
We then proceeded to have them 8/130,only to let Bracken score 40 and make the total 192,target 148.
Easy I said to myself!
McKenzie lost his wicket early again,but it didn't bother me,as that put in Kallis to join Gibbs,the first innings highscorers.
Brett Lee then proceeded to not only take them both out,but with the help of Bracken,McGrath and Thornley,they bundled me out for just 99!!!
How humiliating!
I had it in the bag,so who stole the bag????

Scorecard:

 

[Jaztheman]

Good God, what a catastrophic second innings for you! Haddin was fantastic to put them into the position of perhaps winning, but their bowlers annihalted you in that innings. Hopefully your fortunes will change.

Loving the story, mate.

 

[bladescape]

1st Test vs. Australia,First Day:
Teams:
SA:
Greame Smith(c)
Herschelle Gibbs
Hashim Amla
Jaques Kallis
Neil McKenzie
Lance Klusener
Mark Boucher(wk)
Shaun Pollock(vc)
Dale Steyn
Makhaya Ntini
David Terbrugge

Aus:
Matthew Hayden
Justin Langer
Ricky Ponting(c)
Damien Martyn
Simon Katich
Adam Gilchrist(wk)(vc)
Micheal Clarke
Brett Lee
Shane Warne
Jason Gillespie
Glenn McGrath

Toss:
Smith calles Heads,and we win the toss.
Bowling first is the choice on a up-and-down SCG pitch.

Game:
Hayden and Langer are a formidable opening pair,and they proved it as neither Pollock,nor Terbrugge were successful.
Half way through the opening session and they still hadn't been parted,although Langer was batting slower then Hayden.
When the breakthrough finally came it was a loose drive by Langer which was eagerly snatched up by Boucher.1/81.

Justin Langer,caught Boucher bowled Ntini for 32 fro 73 deliveries with 3 fours.

Meanwhile Hayden soldiered on to his first milestone.

Matthew Hayden,50* from 89 deliveries.

Soon after it was Lunch:
Lunch Break,Australia 1/89:
Hayden 51
Ponting 4
Ntini 1/21
Kallis 0/2

Hayden and Ponting were playing extremely well,and it's looking like I'll be in for a big total.
Pollock when he came back on had Hayden prodding and missing several times,but he still didn't find the wicket.
They were cruising along,regarding every bowler but Pollock with disregard.
Their cautiousness against Pollock proved to be fatal!2/170.

Matthew Hayden,caught & bowled Pollock for 88 from 174 deliveries with 10 fours.

Ponting was joined by Martyn,who I was more hopeful to get out then Ponting himself!!
He proved that point easily enough.

Ricky Ponting,50* from 99 deliveries.

Next up was tea,and no chances anywhere now!!!

Tea Break,Australia 2/197:
Ponting 55
Martyn 14
Ntini 1/35
Pollock 1/41

Ntini had something good for tea and had Ponting and Martyn hopping about their creases.
Ponting couldn't stand it,and was bowled.3/212.

Ricky Ponting,bowled Ntini for 68 from 132 deliveries with 5 fours.

Katich and Martyn now,not as established as good batsman in the world of cricket like Ponting,Hayden and Langer are.
Terbrugge and co. now seemed to have no worries about who their bowling too and Katich learnt quickly what Terbrugge was capable of!4/214.

Simon Katich,bowled Terbrugge for 1 from 11 deliveries.

Gilchrist got Australia going again after Smith put him down when he was on a duck,off Klusener.
Martyn was going strong too,until Pollock arrived!5/241.

Damien Martyn,caught G.Smith bowled Pollock for 28 from 58 deliveries with 4 fours.

Clarke however allowed Australia to get to stumps without trouble.

Stumps,Australia 5/285:
Gilchrist 31
Clarke 28
Ntini 2/45
Pollock 2/61

 

[Jaztheman]

Mixed day to be honest, a day which you thought hard to not lose the Test on the first day. It's going to be hard to get Australia out for 400 and if they get over that then you can almost rule out a draw, as they could easily get that again.

Really not looking good for you in this Test, what with their menacing bowling attack, but if they can score big, so can you. Great stuff mate.

 

[bladescape]

1st Test vs. Australia,Second Day:
Forecast:
It's going to be really sunny to start off with but will cool down later,looks to be a long day in the field for Aus if I can dismiss them early now.

Pitch:
Already starting to crack,this isn't looking good for me,batting last and all.

Game:
Klusener and Terbrugge were the ones Smith handed the ball to at the start of play.
The Australian batsman,Gilchrist and Clarke,quickly were on the front foot.
The first over of the day from Klusener was economical and a good line and length.
Terbrugge then started struggling for his own accuracy and sprayed the balls about,Klusener quickly went on making-up-for-lost-ground mode,and Clarkey suffered for it.6/317.

Micheal Clarke,bowled Klusener for 49 from 74 deliveries with 7 fours.

Brett Lee came on and we had decided to treat him to some real bowling....Bouncers!!!!
He was dodging and ducking the first few balls,and had trouble getting his bat on the flying piece of leather.
Gilly down the other end was eyeing a 50,but he had little support.7/329.

Brett Lee,bowler Klusener for 7 from 13 deliveries with 1 four.

Klusener ran out of energy,and Gilchrist took his chance with both hands.

Adam Gilchrist,51* from 95 deliveries.

Warne wasn't showing too many signs of being a danger,but Gilchrist was,and boy was he in our face!!!
Steyn was operating now,he had some signs of bowling well(finally!!!) but he didn't have to much to show for it.
He was wicketless,Gilly decided to give him a present....a ball smashed right back at Steyn,no chance of catching it,but it almost took off Steyn's head!!!!
Warne followed suit,except he just didn't have enough class.8/369.

Shane Warne,bowled Steyn for 6 from 16 deliveries.

Gillespie looked like more of a problem,but our options were running out and Gilchrist didn't even seem slightly loose!!!

Lunch Break,Australia 8/402:
Gilchrist 92
Gillespie 15
Ntini 2/58
Klusener 2/59

Klusener was given the ball after lunch,with Ntini,as they were the most successful bowlers.
They at least had Gilly finally prodding and missing,for the first time.
The wicket of Gillespie was the target,and Klusener just wasn't in the mood for failing today.9/407.

Jason Gillespie,caught Boucher bowled Klusener for 17 from 28 deliveries with 3 fours.

McGrath was the least worrisome of their batsman,but Gilchrist I was still worried about,currently on 96*.
The first two balls McGrath survived without incident,but the third went straight through him.
The fourth went one better,it took the edge of the bat on the way through.407.

Glenn McGrath,caught Boucher bowled Klusener for 0 from 4 deliveries.

I feel slightly sorry for Gilly,stranded on 96*,but only slightly!!

Scorecard:

Bowling Card:

Lee was the bowler to get the ball rolling,and he did it in style:
A close LBW appeal against Smith on ball 2,and a blistering cut for four in reply on ball 3!
Gillespie down the other end was bowling a little more contain,just bearly.
Smith wasn't in a patient mood,and while Gibbs wasn't as steady,he still boasted a slashing blade.
McGrath gave what was expected of him,some brilliant line and length bowling,but still Gibbs and Smith made no deadly mistake.
Martyn rolling his arm over at the other end held little exitement too,as neither were feeling like they were allowed to fail.
Warne's inclusion to replace a quickly erratic Martyn was cause for some slow as neither of the openers were interested at the floated up spinners from Warne.
The two,now not offering a shot to quite a few deliveries outside off,took a liking to Gillespie and as soon as he was brought on,he went for 6 off the over,and was taken off immediattely.
The Aussie could do nothing as the batsman reached tea without trouble.

Tea Break,SAfrica 0/61:
G.Smith 38
Gibbs 21
Warne 0/3
McGrath 0/8

The first event after tea was another one over spell from Gillespie,this time conceding 7 of the over.
Lee easily made up for it a few seconds later with a sharp bouncer which kissed the top edge of Gibbs attempted hook and went through to Gilly.1/71

Herschelle Gibbs,caught Gilchrist bowled Lee for 23 from 66 deliveries with 2 fours.

Smith seemed unperturbed that his batting parterner was now Hashim Amla.
He sliced a beautifly timed cover drive for four to bring up 50 on his return test after being injured.

Greame Smith,51* from 93 deliveries

Amla was being a slow coach again,until Warne came onto the attack,when Amla played more in the average test innings,not stodgy like the other had played Warne,but with a flowing grace I hadn't seen before from him.
McGrath wasn't allowing even Amla's grace to get free,and as a result,he bowled Amla straight through.2/101.

Hashim Amla,bowled McGrath for 15 from 30 deliveries with 2 fours.(The fours are both of Warne,incidently!!!)

Warne greeted the new batsman with a beauty,and next over followed it up with another,but with more success.3/102.

Jaques Kallis,caught Clarke bowled Warne for 1 from 3 deliveries.

Warne was on song again and it wasn't long before he claimed another wicket.4/121.

Greame Smith,caught Gilchrist bowled Warne for 66 from 136 deliveries with 9 fours.

McKenzie and Klusener started building back and payed little regard for Warne or McGrath.
To epitomise this,McKenzie charged McGrath,and smashed him over 3rd man for maximum!
Despite that neither was going at a perticularly fast pace.
Another blow was Klusener casually slashing Gillespie over point for 6 more.
Controversially,McKenzie and Klusener played 6 maidens to end the days play.

Stumps,SAftrica 4/158:
McKenzie 28
Klusener 18
Warne 2/29
McGrath 1/29

 

[Jaztheman]

Some good bowling in the end, just because Glichrist couldn't get his 100.

You haven't started well and need to avoid the follow on, to be fair. McKenzie and Klusener could both score big but I'm not sure. Klusener was immense with the ball but I feel he'll get out early tomorrow.

Great stuff.

 

[bladescape]

1st Test vs. Australia,Third Day:
Forecast:
It'll start off sunny with some clouds later on today.

Pitch:
The pitch now looks pretty bad for batting with a big crack,however it still isn't too bad and I'm hoping we can get at least 100 or so more runs in the first innings.

Game:
The day's play started rather quietly,with both Klusener and McKenzie not playing too many shots at balls outside the offstump.
Then all of a sudden,Lee hit Klusener on the head,and he went off injured,with a fracture to the jaw bone.

Lance Klusener,retired hurt for 21 from 64 deliveries with 1 four and 1 six.

With the situation now ready to collapse,still 200+ in arrears,Boucher took it too Lee,cutting him for consecutive fours.
After that both batsman seemed to shut up shop again,as Warne and McGrath were brought on.
McGrath found McKenzie suddenly smash a length ball through the offside for four,as the runs started flowing more easily.
Even Warne couldn't keep them down for long,the parternership got them past the chance of a follow on,and after that chance was dismissed,McKenzie finally reached a rather slow milestone.

Neil McKenzie,50* from 120 deliveries

The South African batsman now started to accelerate,with Boucher leading the charge.
The Australian mood at this 100 parternership was disarray,it showed in Ponting's choice to bring Hayden into the attack,which didn't last long,because he went for 16 runs in 1 over!
The easily approached the lunch break with no fear,and The final over was to be bowled by Lee.
The first ball was a fast bouncer that McKenzie just couldn't get bat on.
The second was another short delivery,this time on off stump,which McKenzie smashed through cover for four.
The third was a length ball just outside offstump,it took the edge of McKenzie's bat and was caught at third slip!!5/263.

Neil McKenzie,caught Clarke bowled Lee for 77 from 141 deliveries with 9 fours and 1 six.

Pollock saw through the rest of the over without trouble.

Lunch Break,SAfrica 5/264:
Boucher 48
Pollock 1
Lee 2/53
Warne 2/54

Just after Lunch,Boucher reached 50.

Mark Boucher,50* from 100 deliveries.

Boucher started batting at about 1 run per 2 balls,then again,that's what he'd been batting the whole time!!!
Pollock was a lot slower,and the spell here was slightly hilarious:
First highlight,Lee hit's Pollock,but Pollock stays on.
Second,Lee tries the bouncer again,but Polly misses it and so does Gilly,4 byes.
Third,Lee tries the yorker,Polly misses it but the yorker was sliding down leg and went for four leg byes!!!
The breakthrough was only found by the terrible duo,McGrath and Warne.6/307.

Shaun Pollock,caught Clarke bowled McGrath for 17 from 43 deliveries with 3 fours.

Then Warne's turn.7/311.

Mark Boucher,caught Clarke bowled Warne for 66 from 135 deliveries with 7 fours.

Warne again.8/312.

Dale Steyn,caught Gilchrist bowled Warne for 1 from 12 deliveries.

Ntini then showed some disregard for them both,and got away with it.
Warne still didn't stop though.322.

David Terbrugge,caught & bowled Warne for 1 from 17 deliveries.

Scorecard:

Bowling Card:

As always Hayden and Langer come out to bat.
Langer was at the opening bowlers early,so was Hayden,but Pollock soon had them prodding and poking.
Langer wasn't happy with this turn of events so he tried the traditional trick of smashing the ball over the bowlers head.
The only thing it went too was Pollock himself.1/18.

Justin Langer,caught & bowled Pollock for 8 from 20 deliveries with 1 four.

And that my dear sirs,was tea.

Tea Break,Australia 1/18:
Hayden 9
Ponting 0
Pollock 1/11
Terbrugge 0/7

Ponting came out for tea and if it wasn't for a fumble by Boucher,he would have gone back to the pavilion for a duck.
Not only did he get away with that but Pollock bowled him off a no-ball too!!!
As it was the clouds were now clearing and neither off the batsman were at all perturbed with the bowling.
Stumps was summerily reached without further ado.

Stumps,Australia 1/120:
Hayden 62
Ponting 41
Pollock 1/29
Kallis 0/11

 

[Jaztheman]

Your team must be in dismay after Klusener got injured and continued to bowl poorly. It was a decent batting effort and if Australia bat till around Dinner on Day four then it could end up being a draw. Could go either way, but I'm warming towards Aus as Klusener is a big player in my eyes.

 

[bladescape]

Too true,Klusener will be a big blow.

bladescape added 16 Minutes and 1 Seconds later...

1st Test vs. Australia,Third Day:
Forecast:
It'll be somewhat cloudy during the day.

Pitch:
The pitch is looking bad,but with the way batsman are playing,looks seem to be decieving.

Game:
Hayden and Ponting continued where they left off,except for a inside edge past the stumps of Hayden.
Ponting didn't even blink and made good progress,but essentially it was a slow steady innings.

Ricky Ponting,50* from 135 deliveries.

With the opening pacemen having little effect,the choice was the excessive angle of Ntini.
His opening overs were anything but encouraging,and Steyn at the other end was being slashed around the park!!!
The next exciting thing to happen was Hayden slashing Ntini through the covers for four,this is getting really depressing!!!
Next ball the day was brightened for me with a stunning seaming delivery that bowled Hayden all ends up!2/173.

Matthew Hayden,bowled Ntini for 89 from 183 deliveries with 9 fours.

We really needed to push on and pick up a few quick wickets.
Martyn was the target.
Ponting again took Steyn around,but Ntini struck again next over.3/185.

Ricky Ponting,caught Boucher bowled Ntini for 71 from 166 deliveries with 9 fours.

And another one!4/185.

Simon Katich,bowled Ntini for 0 from 2 deliveries.

Gilly was next,and he easily broke the wicket trend with a blistering knock to take them to lunch.
Overall,I'm happy with the session as I pulled back a runaway cart,that goes by the name:Australia.

Lunch Break,Australia 4/214:
Martyn 15
Gilchrist 21
Ntini 3/44
Pollock 1/43

After lunch,Martyn and Gilly went back a gear into watchful mode,as neither seemed perticularly eager to hit anymore.
The new ball was taken,and the first over from Pollock with it had Gilly dropped first at slip by Smith,then by Boucher behing the stumps!!!
The runs just flowed now,with both batsman playing shots to balls,with a few heart in mouth moment for them,but unfortunantly for us,the didn't go to hand properly.
It was Pollocks second spell that gave us another break.5/276.

Adam Gilchrist,bowled Pollock for 60 from 112 deliveries with 7 fours.

Oops,just noticed,forgot to note Gilly's 50!!!
Clarke now comes in and one more wicket gets me into the tail.
Smith bowling a few part timers,and Clarke knicked a straighter delivery,only for it to bounce infront of the keeper.
The tea break arrives and it's looking more and more like a draw or a major loss for SA now!

Tea Break,Australia 5/294:
Martyn 44
Clarke 7
Ntini 3/55
Pollock 2/58

Tea break didn't seem to change much as Martyn registers 50.

Damien Martyn,50* from 111 deliveries.

I now needed to dismiss someone quickly before the target total got out of hand.
My prayer was answered,by Ntini!6/310.

Damien Martyn,bowled Ntini for 50 from 114 deliveries with 6 fours.

Pollock got into the action now.7/319.

Micheal Clarke,caught Boucher bowled Pollock for 20 from 33 deliveries with 3 fours.

Ntini again.8/319.

Brett Lee,caught Pollock bowled Ntini for 4 from 7 deliveries.

With that Ntini got 5-for.

Makhaya Ntini,19.2-1-67-5.

Soon after,Australia declared.
Scorecard:

Bowling Card:

Gibbs and Smith needed a good start,quite the opposite of what we got.1/4.

Herschelle Gibbs,caught & bowled Lee for 0 from 5 deliveries.

Smith was the only solid batsman as another fell.2/7.

Hashim Amla,lbw Lee for 0 from 5 deliveries.

Kallis is a veteran and unlike the rest he stayed with Smith till stumps,a bad end to a more successful day in bowling then usual against Aus,still not good enough.

Stumps,Australia 2/39:
G.Smith 25
Kallis 11
Lee 2/7
Martyn 0/5

 

[Jaztheman]

You posted the update twice.

Very good bowling in places to restrict their scor but the victory is not in your reach now with the early wickets. You need to hope for a draw but I can't see that coming either. Ntini was awesome for the Proteas.

Keep up this quality work mate.