South African Tour of India 2010

[SaiSrini]

Superb fifty for Laxman!! The man loves Eden a lot!

O my DADA!!! Dada (Ganguly) is there present in the ground watching the game! Just imagine the roar if he had been batting in the middle. ELECTRIC! Miss him...

 

[CaptainOZ]

This crowd is great... so much more electric than the previous Test

 

[Dare]

In particular, I think all the background noise about lights being used is silly. If there are lights, you should use them. If the light gets better, turn them off or leave them on--whatever.

I agree, if there are lights then use them. The ICC is pushing for there day/night tests so they might as well make it mandatory to use stadium lights in case the light worsens. Get the full day in and maybe make up some lost time.

 

[CaptainOZ]

Yep, bad light should never stop play. Switch on the lights FFS

 

[SaiSrini]

This crowd is great... so much more electric than the previous Test

Yep. Because its Kolkata. And also, the crowd that we are witnessing here is half the capacity that Kolkata can pack in (Kolkata's original capacity is 90,000) due to renovation work.

India slowly but surely strangling the noose around SA.

 

[angryangy]

Well the pitch crumbles which gives the team bowling second more of an advantage (aids the spinners on the 5th day)

Conditions change during the day as well, it gets overcast but soon becomes sunny. The same should apply to the light.

If a pitch is perfect for batting on day 1 and impossible on day 3, I don't believe it's a good example of cricket. Crumbling pitches work if there is some hope of batting in the second innings as well. The pitch is allowed to wear, but if the ground is dangerous or has been tampered with, umpires can cancel the game; this is a very real fact.

Similarly, light is allowed to change within reason. Bad light is (or should be) when the light is too poor to be fit for match conditions. Floodlights are not a substitute for daylight, this is why no night sports use dark red balls.

 

[pcfan123]

South Africa beat India by an innings at Nagpur

India to beat SA by an innings at Kolkata

Who is the real number 1 !?

We need a third test dammit!

 

[Owzat]

Pretty interesting how the Smith/Boucher injuries have indirectly caused us to flop so badly. If Smith hadnt been injured then JP wouldnt have been in a position to drop the catch and Sehwag would have been gone and had Boucher been in the stumping would have been taken.

The saffers are struggling because they collapsed from 218/1 to 296 all out, had feck all to do with Boucher's absence or Smith's injury - they were 218/1 in spite of Smith failing.

Maybe it would be tighter if Boucher was behind the stumps, but this is getting on for 200+ lead which it wouldn't be if the saffers had scored the 400-500 you would expect from a score of 218/1. Plenty of the dismissals were tame to say the least, caught in the crease LBW, Amla playing a loose shot, De Villiers stupidly run out. Call this a par 400 pitch and South Africa were well short.

There is maybe a case for having brought in a specialist keeper, Kallis covers the fifth bowling slot so it isn't like the side needed a batsman-keeper. That's not to say you're right to blame the injuries, just that South Africa had a problem they fixed with an extreme solution that arguably wasn't necessary.

And the bigger worry is the form of Prince and Duminy with the bat, only two of the XI made more than 12 runs whereas only two of India's batsmen so far have made less than 25. England normally get roasted not making enough runs in India (,Sri Lanka, or Pakistan)

Owzat added 2 Minutes and 47 Seconds later...

Anyone explain to me how India can get slaughtered in the 1st Test yet a win here would keep them top of the rankings?!?!

 

[aditya123]

This crowd is great... so much more electric than the previous Test

Traditional Indian test venue my friend. We saw big crowds at Kanpur and Mumbai as well for that SL series (which is`nt a real big deal for Indian fans). That is why we`ve been asking people to not draw that `Test cricket is dying in India or Indians only watch T20` conclusion.

 

[AngryPixel]

^ There was considerable difference between India's points and SAF points before this match. Moreover if India win this match then Any points gained by saffers would be equalized

 

[Dare]

The saffers are struggling because they collapsed from 218/1 to 296 all out, had feck all to do with Boucher's absence or Smith's injury - they were 218/1 in spite of Smith failing

Boucher has stopped a few collapses for the Safers in his career and is the one guy on their team that can bat with the tail so he might have made a difference.

 

[MaD]

One batsman'll get out, India will fall and it'll be a draw

 

[aditya123]

Anyone explain to me how India can get slaughtered in the 1st Test yet a win here would keep them top of the rankings?!?!

Whats wrong with that? If its a 1-1 draw, both teams stay where they are in the rankings. What else would you expect from an even result like this?

aditya123 added 0 Minutes and 58 Seconds later...

I think it would be better if we get bowled out with 20-odd overs still left to play today.

 

[SaiSrini]

India's lead swell to 205 runs, and they reach 500+ now. Hope they bat until Laxman and Dhoni get centuries and then declare. Most likely, it will be adding another 60-70 runs to the total.

 

[aditya123]

Boucher has stopped a few collapses for the Safers in his career and is the one guy on their team that can bat with the tail so he might have made a difference.

We still don`t have Dravid in the side. VVS and Dravid were both injured at Nagpur. We`d be roasted if we ever brought that point up.