New Zealand in South Africa

[James219]

Whoa! Cricinfo is slow....It reads McCullum as 18*. Anyway, I'm using cricbuzz now.
I can't actually see the match, but the current circumstances obviously suggest life in the wicket. Having said that, McCullum should be able to recognize that, the situation the side is in and then adapt by changing his game into a slightly more responsible mould, and atleast give Oram a good support basis in which he can score from with confidence.
NZ have a relatively long line-up, Vettori is more than capable with the bat as he's demonstrated on numerous occasions, and Franklin can be a quality player at times. Still, plenty of building to be done from the two currently at the crease....

 

[irottev]

Great partnership rolling along with Vettori and Oram.

 

[irottev]

For some strange reason, the pitch has improved a hell of a lot. Much less balls keeping low and movement is now totally gone.

Absolutly AMAZING!!!! century from Jacob Oram. Was fantastic to watch. Meant a lot to him too after injury.

We were 45/5 and now 270/6, unbelivable.

McCullum played a nice cameo and now Vettori in the 80's and Oram just on 100 and their 150+ partnership has saved us and actually almost gotten us to a lead.



I knew the South African's didn't have enough bowling options. The bowlers for them have been far too expensive. Smith actually managed to bowl though, I was wrong about that. He bowled right handed.

Vettori gone top edge. He goes for 81. Fantastic innings from him. Great to watch. What a handy player to have down the order. He almost deserves a 100 I feel. But hes gone. Ntini gets it.

Franklin, Mills and Martin still to bat with Oram. If we could get a nice 100 odd lead, that would really kick some ass. It will take lots of skill from these players though and good attacking from Oram if they start to fall.

 

[BigCrickNan]

Woah, some awesome batting by Oram and Vettori. It's important they keep scoring quickly like they are though for momentum.

 

[puddleduck]

Good stuff from the New Zealanders.

Looks like the long batting lineup is paying dividends, whilst you were right about the Saffers bowling attack. Might have gotten away with it if Nel had been playing, but as I said if they could get after Boje or Steyn, seems like they have done so for Steyn and Kallis, then it makes things very difficult for the Saffers.

The key is Vettori can tie up and end and take wickets, whilst Boje can only really do one of those

 

[ZexyZahid]

Wow! Oram just hit Ntini for 20 runs in an over. He is five runs away from his best ever score.

 

[tsyrmas]

i just realised Rudolpg isn't playing. that's so harsh on the kid considering AB De Villiers had a pretty poor series against us and Rudolph scored a very well composed ton in perth. even thought it was a long time ago, RUdolph looks to be more of a class act the AB.

is nel injured or did the SA selctors realise it was time to send him off to an acting academy?

 

[puddleduck]

Nels injured I believe.

Think it's pretty tight between Rudolph and Ab, in South Africa they rate AB very highly, consider him to be their next key batsman. He's a fantastic fielder on top of that.

 

[irottev]

Nel failed a fitness test.

Innings over. We have a lead of 51 runs. Fantastic effort. Oram ended up hitting out once Chris Martin came to the crease.

Ntini got 5, though 1 was a shocker, but he did go for a hell of a lot of runs really. Too many bad balls. Steyn sucks to be honest. Half volleys all over the show. Pollock wasn't used enough but had a bad no-ball problem. Kallis was ok but expensive and Boje was pretty expensive too.

I hope that our bowlers can make early breakthroughs with this new ball. Crucial period here for us. 51 runs is a very nice lead. Much needed since we will be batting last. Good test match set up here. Fantastic Oram innings.

 

[ZexyZahid]

I didn't know it either, till I read this earlier. Now you guys are saying the same. It's at the end of the article.

'Steyn - replacing the injured Andre Nel - bowled with genuine fire'

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/rsavnz/content/current/story/244507.html

 

[puddleduck]

Sounds like Vettori being dropped on 33 was a key moment, what was the chance like Irottev? Should Dippenaar have taken it?

 

[alfa_beta]

I thought Oram, not Vettori, was dropped on 33. By the way have you noticed how SA are made to pay for dropping catches recently? They dropped Hussey and Ponting twice in their matches against Aus (home & away) and on all those occasions, the batsman went on to score a big hundred!

Surely saffers have themselves to blame for landing in a tough situation. However, I feel that SA will win the match as batting last on the pitch is going to be tough. A chase over 250 is going to be tough for NZ.

Sounds like Vettori being dropped on 33 was a key moment, what was the chance like Irottev? Should Dippenaar have taken it?

 

[puddleduck]

I thought Oram, not Vettori, was dropped on 33. By the way have you noticed how SA are made to pay for dropping catches recently? They dropped Hussey and Ponting twice in their matches against Aus (home & away) and on all those occasions, the batsman went on to score a big hundred!

Surely saffers have themselves to blame for landing in a tough situation.

Almost certainly have themselves to blame. Seems to be their main problem area lately is letting very good positions slip away. It could be because their spinner is just not up to international standard. As they start well with the newer ball, but seem to really struggle once the ball gets a bit older. Also a sign that Pollock is getting on a bit nowadays.

If you go back 10 years ago the Saffers were awesome in the field, rarely dropped a thing and took some that should never have been caught, but these days they seem to drop at least 1-3 important catches a match.

Definately an area they are going to need to improve on. As well as finding one or two more quality bowlers to compliment Ntini and at some stage replace Pollock (although he is almost impossible to replace).

When I read the cricinfo commentary it said Vettori was dropped on 33, does not however mean it was correct If it was Oram, that is an even bigger drop.

 

[alfa_beta]

I might be wrong about Oram as I read a report on a web-site and didn't watch the match. Saffers need to pull up their socks and work on their fielding. They are dropping crucial catches every match and the resulting blunder is costing them more than a 100 runs every match! Surely, they can't afford such luxuries as they only have a single decent strike bowler in the form of Ntini. I agree that Pollock's not a force he once was and SA bowling attack looks a bit toothless these days.

Almost certainly have themselves to blame. Seems to be their main problem area lately is letting very good positions slip away. It could be because their spinner is just not up to international standard. As they start well with the newer ball, but seem to really struggle once the ball gets a bit older. Also a sign that Pollock is getting on a bit nowadays.

If you go back 10 years ago the Saffers were awesome in the field, rarely dropped a thing and took some that should never have been caught, but these days they seem to drop at least 1-3 important catches a match.

Definately an area they are going to need to improve on. As well as finding one or two more quality bowlers to compliment Ntini and at some stage replace Pollock (although he is almost impossible to replace).

When I read the cricinfo commentary it said Vettori was dropped on 33, does not however mean it was correct If it was Oram, that is an even bigger drop.

 

[aussie1st]

Good batting by Oram, hes developing his batting part of the game really well. His bowling was right up there before his injury too. If he can regain that form he would be one of the best all rounders going around.