Story SouthAfrica's International Diary(ICC CT 2009) - Boucher tries to Steady the Ship

[Jaztheman]

Q1:Who will win the toss?
a)Australia
b)South Africa

Q2:How many wickets will fall on day one?
a)0-3
b)4-7
c)8-10

Brilliant update there, Shan. Pollock seems quite confident as I said earlier and with Clark doubtful for the first match, they may have a chance. Ashwell will hopefully pass the late fitness test and if he does, I can see South Africa winning. Despite that, I can't bet against the Aussies.

 

[Kiko_97]

Q1:Who will win the toss?
b)South Africa

Q2:How many wickets will fall on day one?
c)8-10

 

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

Q1:Who will win the toss?
a)Australia
b)South Africa

Q2:How many wickets will fall on day one?
a)0-3
b)4-7
c)8-10

 

[shubhrayu]

Q1:Who will win the toss?

Australia

Q2:How many wickets will fall on day one?
8-10

 

[shantanu_rooney]

The Cricket Show - Pitch Report and Toss

: Welcome back to "The Cricket Show", now its time to go down to Mark Taylor who has for us the weather report.

: Thanks Simon, weather conditions are great for the start of the first test match. There is bright sunshine and maximum temperature is something about 28 degree Celsius which is perfect for test cricket. But as the day progresses the light is set to deteriorate and overcast conditions are predicted during the evening so we might just lose some 2-3 overs due to bad light. Otherwise these are perfect conditions for start of a tough and entertaining series.

: Thanks Mark, great conditions for the start of the match but now lets go down for the pitch report with Geoffrey Boycott.

: Thanks Simon, this is a good pitch for the start of the first test match. The bowlers will be happy after seeing this pitch as there is lot of grass on the pitch which will help the fast bowlers as they will get some swing and bounce with the new ball. The first session is going to be crucial for the batting side, they have to make sure they don't lose many wickets in that session as the ball will be doing a lot in the air. Spinners will come into the play late in the match as the pitch will deteriorate on 4th and 5th day so I feel spinners wont have a lot to do on this pitch. The team wining the toss should bowl first and get some quick wickets which can really create a lot of pressure on the batting side. Back to you Simon.

: Geoffrey Boycott with the pitch report saying the bowlers will be benefited the most from this pitch but lets see who bowls first as we join Tony Grieg for the toss.

: Welcome ladies and gentlemen for the start of the first test between Australia and South. With me I have the two captain Ricky Ponting of Australia and Graeme Smith of South Africa along with the match referee Chris Broad. Ricky will toss the coin.

: Heads!

Tony Grieg: Heads is the call and it has come down as Tails. Congratulation Ricky on winning the toss. So what have you decided?

: Will will bowl first. The pitch has grass on it and will help our quick bowlers a lot. So we will try to get some quick wickets and restrict them below 250.

: What about your team?

: Unfortunately Stuart Clark didn't make it through the late fitness test so he is missing and Peter Siddle comes in. Jason Krejza the offspinner makes his home debut which means Shane Watson is the 12th man. Otherwise its the same side which we had against the Kiwis.

: Well then good luck for the match, Ricky.

: Thanks mate.

: Well Graeme lost the toss disappointed with that?

: Yeah, the pitch is green and will support the quick bowlers and we have good fast bowlers in our side so they would have loved to bowl first on this wickets.

: So what about your side?

: Prince passes the late fitness test and he makes it to the starting eleven. We go with one spinner and three quick bowlers. Its the same side that we used in the last test match.

: Ok, Good luck for the match Graeme.

: Thanks, Cheers mate.

: So the news from the center is that Ricky Ponting have won the toss and Australia will field first. Back to you Simon.

: Thanks Tony, not a tough decision at all for Ricky to bowl first on a green pitch. But now lets have a look at the two lineups.

Australia: 1)Matthew Hayden 2)Simon Katich 3)Ricky Ponting(c) 4)Michael Hussey 5)Michael Clarke 6)Andrew Symonds 7)Brad Haddin(wk) 8)Brett Lee 9)Mitchell Johnson 10)Jason Krejza 11)Peter Siddle.

South Africa: 1)Graeme Smith(c) 2)Niel McKenzie 3)Hashim Amla 4)Jacques Kallis 5)Ashwell Prince 6)AB de Villiers 7)Mark Boucher(wk) 8)Morne Morkel 9)Paul Harris 10)Dale Steyn 11)Makhaya Ntini.

: So that all from "The Cricket Show" we will slip into a short break but on the other side we have the live action. So stay tuned to Channel Nine.

 

[Pakistani Army]

That Weather Forecast looks absoloutly fantastic aswell as the pitch report! Great works
Regarding the toss, Ponting has done correctly as Lee & Johnson will get the swing on and off the pitch. This is where Australia will definatly miss Stuart Clark.

 

[Ollie_H]

Another top start from you shan! Lets just hope you can keep this going for a long period of time!

 

[Jaztheman]

Great presentation and nice to see I have the first part of the predicta right. I would of done the same thing If I had won the toss and was in Ricky's shoes.

Good luck.

 

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

LOl ........... Krejza in team a huge gamble. Other than Krejza and Sidlle we have strong lineups. Proteas have experienced Kallis and inform batsmen Amla.It should be a good contest. Nice presentation Shan

 

[surendar]

Since it's a green pitch i think around 4- 7 wickets will fall on Day 1 assuming that SA do put up a good fight

The presentation is fantastic.. but i never realized that you came back from the combo-story to individual story. Keep this one going!

surendar added 0 Minutes and 15 Seconds later...

Since it's a green pitch i think around 4- 7 wickets will fall on Day 1 assuming that SA do put up a good fight

The presentation is fantastic.. but i never realized that you came back from the combo-story to individual story. Keep this one going!

 

[Zohaib]

good going

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Aussies strike First Blood​

There was a huge cheers when the crowd at WACA saw the Australian team following the two umpires and followed by the two South African openers. Graeme Smith and Niel McKenzie had recently had set the highest partnership for the first wicket against Bangladesh and they would be hoping to get of to a good start. Graeme Smith the skipper took strike while Niel McKenzie was at the other end.

As expected Ricky Ponting had turned to his lethal weapon Brett Lee to bowl the first over of the match. Brett Lee has so far taken 57 wickets in this year and hoping to take more.

Lee started of the game with a brilliant first over just giving one run of it. But the main thing was the swing he was getting. He was getting the ball to come in to the left handed Smith and that had almost got him leg before but the inside edge saved him. It was Mitchell Johnson given the new ball along with Lee from the other end and like Lee, Johnson also had a great 2008 so far.

Mitchell Johnson didn't get the best start as he would have expected and was hit down the ground for four by Niel McKenzie and went for six of his first over. Lee continued from from the pavilion end again bowled a impressive over just giving one of it. Skipper Ponting had gone with three slips and gully and was hoping for a early breakthrough and it worked. Lee pitched it short and outside off stump and tempted McKenzie to play the square cut and the plan was executed. McKeznie played the cut but was caught by Michael Hussey at Gully. Aussies struck first blood as McKenzie departed for 8 of 15 balls.

Hashim Amla was the next man to replace Niel McKenzie and like Graeme Smith, Amla has scored over 1000 runs in this calender year and would like to add more as he played the remaining Lee over carefully.

There was a huge cheer by the crowd as Lee finished the a successful over and was congratulated by his team-mates.


South Africa: 13/1( 5 Overs, 1st Innings)
G.Smith: 2(10)
H.Amla: 0(5)
Extras: 3

Last Wicket
N.McKenzie c Hussey b Lee 8(15)

 

[Jaztheman]

Good update, Shantanu. South Africa have had a poor start and Australia are in the prime position. South Africa still have some talent to get their run score up and to post a good total. They need to tame bowlers such as Lee to get the score they want though. Players such as Smith and Amla will be indispensable to the team on their search for a great total.

Great graphics and presentation Shan, keep it up. The writing is also top notch.

 

[saladguy]

Yeah very bad start for the Proteas, they need a good partnership to build a strong first innings lead. It looks like they may have a lot of work to do! Nice presentation Shan, brilliant graphics and text.

BTW, is this on C07 or C05???

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Thanks for the replies guys. It is Cricket 2005.