New Zealand in South Africa

[Cricket_60]

Seem's like you're right Aussie1st. Papps and Fulton are scoring pretty quickly now and all the luck seems to be with them.

 

[irottev]

NZ always seem to lose important tosses

Luckily Smith decided to bowl. So both camps will be happy.

Its good to see a good start from us. 50 partnership. This pitch will only get better to bat on from here on you would think. Later on it will become harder probably though.

 

[aussie1st]

Well Papps is out, in comes Mr Captain. Hasn't been in good form but if he is to return to form this would be the pitch to do so.

 

[irottev]

Damn, that one moved in real sharp. Nice bowling from Nel. We woulda taken 50-1 after being put in

 

[James219]

Well not a bad opportunity for Fleming to establish himself at the crease with confidence and hopefully construct a decent innings, seeing as Fulton is picking up the ball well now and can, as a result, take the pressure off his captain; a little.

 

[irottev]

I have a problem with the way Ntini bowls. He is pretty much impossible for the batsmen to play when he bowls from that wide and short. it is also a danger to the batsmen, there is no way for them to avoid the delivery. He has hit someone in every innings recently. Its quite dangerous, on wickets like this especially.

All props to him for it, but really, its not a nice way to bowl. The batsmen have no chance to get out of the balls way.

 

[genghis_khan]

i dont have a problem with how he bowls

hmmm the game is pretty even at the moment, one more wicket or a strong partnership could swing the momentum either way though...at least NZ have their two best bats in the middle.

 

[irottev]

Poor umpiring decision there. And I don't appreciate the excessive swearing through the microphones either.

Its about time you guys get a bad decision, we had a few in the first test. Luck is with us this time.

 

[ZexyZahid]

Fleming is about to get another century. He is currently on 97 runs. It's 242/5 for New Zealand now. Pretty balanced now. But if New Zealand manages to make 400 runs they will be in a strong position.

 

[irottev]

Astle got a harsh one for LBW, but I guess he was lucky to still be out there anyway. The ball to McCullum was a beauty. He just hit about the only spot he can possibly get an LBW from.

The Fleming 100 was brilliant. It was a shame we lost Oram and McCullum late or we would of been in even better shape. THanks Smithy for letting us bat first

400 would be nice. Hopefully Fleming can go on to 150+ That would be fantastic. A nice little innings from Vettori and Franklin is probably about due for a 30+ score.

Nice to get 100 in your 101st match. Depending how you look at it, it can mean just as much as one in your hundredth. Its like a fresh start almost.

 

[James219]

Well, finally Fleming converts a start to a score, and it's good to see him taking the responsibility through actions. He'll now feel much more secure in the side; a burden off his captaincy and that should have a ripple effect upon his players when leading from the front. However, the job's nowhere near finished and he has to steer the lower-order well in order to post a decent first innings total, and hence have the flexibility of options when attacking SA. A late surge from the Africans pretty much balanced the first day honours, and now both sides have the opportunity to take the initiative.
By the way, I hope Smith gets a century....

 

[irottev]

If Fleming ends up batting with Patel and Martin, tune in. Him on the attack is one of the most fantastic things you will see in cricket. Especialy against spin.

 

[Greenidge]

Great effort from Fleming. Be great to see him convert this hundred into a really big one. We need Vettori to continue his good batting form and help get us up to 400. That will give our bowlers a good score to defend.

Fleming teeing off against spin. I can't help but think of that innings in Christchurch where he took Murali apart.

 

[aussie1st]

Well they will need 400 minimum on this wicket. It took the brillance of Ntini to put SA back into it. NZ don't really have a Ntini floating about so they will need as many runs as they can get.

 

[Greenidge]

Very true. Our bowling attack isn't as good as South Africa's. But we do have the advantage of bowling last on what could be a turning wicket and we've got a couple of good spinners. If we've got a good second innings lead then we are every chance.

And we've got a Pig Styris. Hopefully he'll produce some magic with the ball. He should bring back the one arm delivery