South Africa in Australia Dec 2008-Jan 2009

[aussie1st]

Does Siddle have an injury? He hasn't looked close to touching 150km/h since his great bowling effort in the 1st inns.

 

[Cricketdude]

Brilliant performance from the boys. Now for Mac to use his bit of luck and get some runs.

For those complaining about the hussey dismissal, the same type of thing happened to Duminy in his first test innings. Its pretty even as far as unfair decisions goes this series.

Duminy's was worse because it least it hit him on the arm. Also Hayden got out off his pad earlier. I dont think there has been any other bad decisions though.

 

[srikarr12]

Looks like ponting didn't take his Swiss Ultivites when he was 99 not out.

 

[mattfb]

Brilliant performance from the boys. Now for Mac to use his bit of luck and get some runs.

For those complaining about the hussey dismissal, the same type of thing happened to Duminy in his first test innings. Its pretty even as far as unfair decisions goes this series.

Duminy's was worse because it least it hit him on the arm. Also Hayden got out off his pad earlier. I dont think there has been any other bad decisions though.

Hussey also got a dud decision when he didn't hit it and got given out caught behind. Duminys wasn't that bad because it was about 1cm away from the glove. I only saw a replay of Husseys in full speed so I don't know how close his was to the glove.

Looks like ponting didn't take his Swiss Ultivites when he was 99 not out.

LOL!

 

[Yogy]

This has been a fascinating day of cricket with the South Africans coming up trumps and once again setting their eyes on trampling over the Australians in another rivetting contest. It all started off with their bowlers calling the shots and pushing the Australians back against the wall, it was only Ponting who looked pretty comfortable and then Johnson joined in later in the day to increase the lead. Despite all the fighting efforts, this is still a low total. Smith has started off in the right manner. Standing on the brink of the final day, the South Africans are the obvious favourites.

 

[IloveGilly]

Anything under a 300 run lead was going to be a disaster. How Steyn has changed this game! Can't see South Africa even getting touched reaching this total. The Cricketing Gods clearly want SA to take over the Cricketing world.

 

[mattfb]

Our players that retired after the Ashes and Gilly really were born just about 3 years too early. Why couldn't they be 3 years younger and be able to play India at home, India away and SA at home then SA away!

 

[Mr.Cricket]

Well played Steyn. Well played South Africa.

They are just a better team than us atm. Look like they will go to Sydney 2-0 up. Well they deserve everything they have achieved so far. Are they the number 1 team in world ? I dunno but they are a bloody good team.

Our batting disappointing yet again. Sure they got a world class attack and had us under pressure all the time but I am sick of our batsmen throwing their wickets away (hayden , Katich, pup and Haddin). Its also annoying that we keep losing wickets just before a break.......ah well as long as we learn from our mistakes.

Ponting played like a true champion today. Its a shame he couldn't get the ton coz he truly deserved it. Just hope the boys draw some inspiration from his batting and do better in Sydeny.

Now all we need is some thunderstorms tomorrow......... :upray

 

[the_mole]

And creeping up on the side came England......

Our players that retired after the Ashes and Gilly really were born just about 3 years too early. Why couldn't they be 3 years younger and be able to play India at home, India away and SA at home then SA away!

Not looking too good for defending the Ashes next summer either................

Oh how we have waited for this moment!

Barmy Army rules!:upray

 

[aussie_ben91]

Hayden to retire after this Test.

No announcement as of yet but did you see Hayden talking to Ponting towards the end of the day at slip? Ponting had a look of disbelief and sadness written all over his face.

I have a feeling Hayden knew before the day started that it would be his last innings in Test Cricket. The commentators were speaking about how calm and collected he was before the start of the day's play during his innings and you could tell by the way he played, he knew it would be his last innings in Test Cricket. He was probably hoping to go off with a bang, considering his made so many 100's at the MCG in the past. The decision was probably made last night with family, especially seeing as Hayden was 1 n/o and couldn't make a duck.

I called it.

 

[manee]

Does Siddle have an injury? He hasn't looked close to touching 150km/h since his great bowling effort in the 1st inns.

He didn't look close to touching 150km/h prior to the 1st innings in his short Test career so far, it is possible that it was merely a one-off (so to speak) spell of fantastic rhythm.

 

[aussie1st]

I saw one of the A matches in India where he touched 148km/h, he certainly can get the odd one up there. But after seeing that spell I thought that was his usual speed. If what we are seeing is his usual pace though I wonder if he will be able to have the same impact.

Hopefully Hayden does call it a day would give us a good chance to blood someone, not the way I saw him going out but looked like he left his decision a bit too late to get that farewell.

 

[aditya123]

There are 2 ways by which the Aussies can still win this one.The first one is to bring Warnie back and the second one is if the SA side gets back to the C-mode (read `the chokers`).Neither of them seem very possible at the moment.Sadly, Warne has retired and SA very seldom choke these days. If they do choke now, do not blame me

aditya123 added 7 Minutes and 48 Seconds later...

Hayden to retire after this Test.

No announcement as of yet but did you see Hayden talking to Ponting towards the end of the day at slip? Ponting had a look of disbelief and sadness written all over his face.

I have a feeling Hayden knew before the day started that it would be his last innings in Test Cricket. The commentators were speaking about how calm and collected he was before the start of the day's play during his innings and you could tell by the way he played, he knew it would be his last innings in Test Cricket. He was probably hoping to go off with a bang, considering his made so many 100's at the MCG in the past. The decision was probably made last night with family, especially seeing as Hayden was 1 n/o and couldn't make a duck.

I called it.

Would be really sad to see him bow out on such a low not.But having said that, not all sportsmen get the perfect farewell.That is why Langer,Martyn,McGrath,Warne,Ganguly and Kumble must consider themselves really lucky.They all bid farewell to the game in a high-profile series win at home.

aditya123 added 4 Minutes and 41 Seconds later...

Well played Steyn. Well played South Africa.

They are just a better team than us atm. Look like they will go to Sydney 2-0 up. Well they deserve everything they have achieved so far. Are they the number 1 team in world ? I dunno but they are a bloody good team.

Our batting disappointing yet again. Sure they got a world class attack and had us under pressure all the time but I am sick of our batsmen throwing their wickets away (hayden , Katich, pup and Haddin). Its also annoying that we keep losing wickets just before a break.......ah well as long as we learn from our mistakes.

Ponting played like a true champion today. Its a shame he couldn't get the ton coz he truly deserved it. Just hope the boys draw some inspiration from his batting and do better in Sydeny.

Now all we need is some thunderstorms tomorrow......... :upray

Ave you given up so early ? You could still pull it off. 153 runs to get is still a lot if there is a batting collapse.

 

[IloveGilly]

I'm going to be really irritated with Hayden if he leaves on such a low note. One of my other favorite players were Martyn. Can't forgive him for the way he bowed out of the game.

And there is actually a slight chance of rain tomorrow morning. But otherwise a sunny day. It won't really help SA at all if it rains, but nor will it suit Australia's pace attack.

 

[King Pietersen]

Man, I really love watching Dale Steyn bowl. He's got everything, fantastic pace, swing, bounce and he takes wickets. Anyone doubting his talents before this series must be surely taking it back now. He's really proven himself to the world, been a fantastic performance in this Test. His stats are fantastic, 140 Test wickets at an average of 23.18 and a strike rate of 38, they're magnificent stats. Wickets against everyone, awesome bowler.