South Africa's tour of India - October/December 2015

[LiveLoveABD]

South Africa are so out of their depth, it's getting comical. I think, SA are realising the precious value of G Smith. I don't just mean his batting but also his leadership. To be honest, I'm a fan of Abbott but this wasn't the test to play him. They should have played another spinner. Harmer is alright, but I don't know where Piedt is. Also, what's the point of de Villiers at 5? He's not keeping. I can't for the life of me understand why he won't bat at 3/4. Faf at 5. Pretty sure de Kock would have been a better bet than Vilas. Strange.

India playing Binny! Superb selection!

 

[PokerAce]

Its been a good crowd today, and tomorrow being a Sunday and India batting should be an even bigger crowd.

 

[PokerAce]

In cricketing terms day 1 was a no contest really. India dominated all the way through. Kohli can be said to have gotten very lucky though. When he won toss, having played the extra seamer, and elected to bowl, counting on the dampness on the surface, he would have expected his seamers to deliver the wickets for him. However barring the beauty Varun Aaron bowled to Amla, the seamers were ineffective. SA should really have made this count, but once again they just played rash shots to get out to the spinners or there were just soft dismissals.

Van Zyl again missed a straight one to be plumb LBW, Elgar again a soft dismissal, Duminy same, Vilas same and the same is true of all the bowlers. Barring Faf, Amla, and ABD, all the other wickets were freebies really. SA should have made Kohli regret his misreading of the pitch.

Dhawan and Vijay were just solid, and barring the Tahir brainfreeze to drop a sitter off Vijay, they were untroubled. I think the catching has stood out for India, and Amla drop in comparison really stands out. The worst part was that there was no reaction whatsoever to the drop, and that body language will not please any SA fans.

 

[grkrama]

nice read on ABD

Jarrod Kimber: AB de Villiers, the beast from Pretoria | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[stefan]

Kohli got very lucky here, if SA batsman applied themselves he could have been looking at a big mistake.

Very very disappointing batting once again except Amla who got a great deliver and abdv ( don't think he hit the ball...) all the other batters threw their wickets way.

Might be time to rethink this idea of faf at 3, might be better suited with amla back at 3 and abdv at 4 with faf at 5. I know he moved himself to 4 in order to have some breathing room after captaining an innings but punter managed to captain and bat at 3 so it should be doable.

 

[Aravind.]

India should get at least 500 from now.

 

[PokerAce]

In all the rain waiting I found this tour diary thing SA cricket are doing while they are in India. Have posted the link to episode 1. The rest of the episodes can be found through this vid.

 

[greymatter776]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1029525777069115

If anyone missed it,here is the SA wickets to fall on day 1.
Really loved the way Aaron got Amla out.

 

[stefan]

Rain has come at a good time as far as SA is concerned. After that first innings we were in serious trouble, going down 2 would have been very very hard to come back from. This match ending in a draw gives the chance for the batsman to get their act together and for us to hopefully have steyn back for the final 2 tests.

 

[zwarrior]

This match is surely ending in a draw. Heavy rains are expected even tomorrow. Indians were in a good position. Tough luck.

 

[PokerAce]

With due respect India need 2 days and 2 sessions to win. SA have shown little resistance with the bat, and India need not more than 60 overs to dismiss them in the second innings. So if somehow India can get even 40 overs tomorrow, the extra 20 overs can be made up on the final day, which naturally is going to be a longer than usual day, to make up whatever overs are required.

I know its much easier said than done, but one can always ... you know.

 

[Markkkkk]

Sadly I agree with you, we've been beyond disapointing...

 

[aditya123]

I feel that this could just be the point where the series turns around for SA. If they can survive here which seems likely with the chances of any play in this test very low, they could pull off a special at Nagpur with Steyn back. What I feel most saddened by is the fact that Bangalore was the only regular test venue for this series and as evident from the first day, the only test match which could`ve got huge crowds. In fact the first two days had both sold 25k tickets each which says a lot. Sadly, we will have to contend with the crappy Nagpur and Delhi tests which have appalling crowds and pitches.

 

[zwarrior]

I don't think we will be able to see any action tomorrow. As per weather reports, rain will be more heavier tomorrow than it was today. But, I hope some miracle happens and it won't rain tomorrow. As rain will affect the match and also make my transportation difficult :c My office is just 2km away from the stadium.

 

[stefan]

With due respect India need 2 days and 2 sessions to win. SA have shown little resistance with the bat, and India need not more than 60 overs to dismiss them in the second innings. So if somehow India can get even 40 overs tomorrow, the extra 20 overs can be made up on the final day, which naturally is going to be a longer than usual day, to make up whatever overs are required.

I know its much easier said than done, but one can always ... you know.

Its possible but India will need to go at a good pace in order to set a target. I don't think SA will continue to bat as badly as they have done in these first 3 innings either, they are better then what they have shown so far.

Think there is too much time lost for a result.