South Africa in England

[Kiko_97]

After a rough few days Freddie's bowling has made me feel great.

 

[irottev]

Good to see Flintoff getting some wickets to keep England in the hunt.

Kallis has proven his worth (bad lbw decision or not) with his 3-31 and 64 runs. Good all-round contribution. South Africa will hope to squeeze another hundred runs or so out of England. Need Prince and Boucher to get the bulk.

 

[.Mob]

Well done to Prince for surviving through that tough period at the end. What an end it was to the day too, arguments here and there, I absolutely loved it. I just can't wait for Nel to get out there.

 

[WestIndian]

Its nice to see how happy Flintoff have made the English fans in here, perfect conditions for a great bowler to bowl, its ironic nevertheless that some of the very same fans, during the second test that went moaning about how England always seems to bat under clouds etc...., and SA batted in pristine conditions, today, says nothing when the fortunes are turned. Blessings:hpraise

 

[Sureshot]

Sureshot, I really don't know why you make so many of these posts where you just post the first thing that comes to your mind diminishing the credibility you have.

If you took the time to watch the replay, snicko shows a CLEAR outside edge.

The edge is very small, and AMAZINGLY picked up by Aleem Dar.

Possibly the GREATEST ever umpiring decision of the century.

On hotspot, I believe Michael Atherton said that the white spot where the ball passed the bat was the sticker.

He was completely silent, when snicko showed that when the ball went past the edge of the bat, there was a big wave.

And the bat was NOWHERE near the pad. The bat did not hit the pitch.

Conclusion? The bat was right by the ball, and at the frame, snicko showed that Michael Vaughan indeed edged the ball.

Quite unsportsmanlike to act like he never edged it, and shake his head the entire time back to the pavillion.

Aleem Dar was and is an extraordinary umpire to pick that up.

You quoted the bit where I said "Vaughan was out" but still managed to completely avoid that in your rant.

I shall repeat. Vaughan was out. But I'm not sure how the umpire gave it. Because it was only the TV aids which confirmed it was out. Umpires don't have snicko or the super slow-mo's, etc. It was the right decision, as he edged it, but Dar had to have guessed. Because there was no visible edge and the only noise was a faint one produced by the stump mic (far more sensitive that a humans ears are) when put in to the replays.

Do I need to repeat, "Vaughan was out"? I am not questioning that. Irony of you accusing me of posting without thinking will be lost on you, no doubt.

------

Onto the important bit.

It was a good day for England. It was our day I think. I reckon we just about did enough in sessions 2 & 3. Though we were poor in the morning session. Match situation still favours South Africa. Though, if we can have a deficit of only 50-60. Score 350 ourselves. Scoring 300 on this pitch towards the end won't be easy.

It really does depend on the batsman standing up, though.

 

[Simbazz]

See, even if Flintoff could only bowl on one leg, his effect would still bring wickets!

Shame for Monty, I would have liked to see less of Jimmy (Who again showed his incosistancies) and a bit more of Monty as i think had he been given a run he'd have had some success somewhere! Boucher doesnt look comfortable against a full fire Flintoff, you could argue who would? But if Bouch' goes early tomorrow and we're into a shortened tail, our boys could be in before lunch!

Needs some good Cook/Strauss batting to get us a win here, atleast a 100 partnership giving Vaughan and KP a fighting chance at playing naturally!

If the captain fails here, drop him, Shah or Bopara must be itching to have a go, and its just selection stupidity that they haven't. Both should have been in this test match in my opinion! With Virgil and Colly sitting it out.

 

[Pakistani Army]

The atmosphere was brilliant during the final overs. Thats the quality that England wanted from Flintoff. In addition, the ball that got Kallis...a jafer. Would have dismissed any World Class batsmen any day. Hats off to you Freddy :hpraise

 

[karnog]

Fantastic from Flintoff and he was well supported too- kept pressure on the other end. However i not sure if England can maintain the pressure considering the mercurial form the English batsmen are in. Early wickets are key and if Prince gets away there could be a 200 run lead. Also, Pietersen needs to make a contribution.

SA only need to put their heads down and try and score atleast 150 more runs. Their bowling are red hot in form (even without Steyn).

 

[Dare]

the teams have matched each other stroke for stroke, both had a good contribution from one of their openers, and a 50 from one of their middle order batsman. But Prince and Boucher can be the difference, they need to get SAF to a lead of about 150 to give them a chance of winnings the match.

Also both teams have had a contribution from a returning bowler.

 

[Howsie]

That was some great bowling by Fintoff, I really enjoyed watching it. Just one question, is Ryan Sidebottom still hurt, because he didn't look as fast today?

 

[Will_NA]

I think the ball swung too much for Jimmy. He started his line just outside off but, with the swing, the ball ended up a few feet wide of the batsmen.

 

[evertonfan]

But he still managed to go at an economy rate of less than 3. Very good supporting role that.

 

[aussie_ben91]

It'd be very interesting to see how good of a cricket team England would be without Kevin Pietersen & Andrew Flintoff.

 

[vaibhav mehta]

Just four overs due for New ball.Condition looks good for Bowling.
I can bet everything on Flintoff's 5 wicket haul.

 

[evertonfan]

It'd be very interesting to see how good of a cricket team England would be without Kevin Pietersen & Andrew Flintoff.

About as good as Australia are without Warne.