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[RicePlateReddy]

I don't think this Jo'burg match is a flash in the pan. It will be indicative of the new approach of teams from now on. A runrate of 7 is going to substitute a run rate of 6 as the norm on a good batting track.

Three thoughts after reading about the Johannesburg run fest.

1. Greg got it right when focusing on building a pool of 20 highly fit, highly superior fielding guys with tons of energy and a 100% positive attitude. There is something to be said about the brashness of youth that causes a young person to earnestly believe that nothing is ever impossible. It seems a good idea to build the philosophy of a team around that. India now are already equipped to come to grips with the new level that ODI cricket has been taken to.

2.  With Australia and SA moving it up a notch and setting scores that were a good 100 runs greater than the 330s we are satisfied with, I think we will see:
- more scores that flirt with or exceed 400 very soon
- a double century or two before the year is out
I think that by the time the year is out, we will see Dhoni and Pathan playing for India in the top of the order. No complaints there!

3. Ricky Ponting is the greatest batsmen since Viv Richards. Not Tendulkar, not Lara. This man is going to finish with an average greater than 60 in tests and well above 45 in ODIs. Can someone post his record in both forms of the game since 2002?

[dextrous]

Okay...all that youth stuff is nice, but Ponting and Gibbs are both 30+. Not sure what youth had absolutely anything to do with game.

[atalbehari]

I think twenty20 should get some of the credit for these kinds of scores. Also, I doubt we are ever going to see a match like this in the near future... Two 400+ scores in the same innings is going to be around for a while...I cant wait to see the video of this match!!

BTW, kingofprussia...you happen to live in the KOP area, I visit that area on business pretty often..

[justforkix]

kingofprussia : what does youth have to do with this match ? Other than SMith, all 5 other significant contributors are 29+ (Boucher, Ponting, Gibbs, Hussey, Gilly, Katich) !!!

I think this was more to do with both teams actively playing 20/20 and pretty ordinary bowling and captaincy. IMO, there will not be a repeat of 400+ for quite some time.

[bala]

Also the track...it was an absolute belter. NOTHING in it for the bowlers.
The short boundaries helped too.

Nevertheless an outstanding effort by both the teams

[cricinfo]

dextrous , what kingofprussia meant is if you have super fit superman's in the team ...they will jump 20 feet to get the catches and they will bowl at speed of 200 kph ....so you will not see such scores  .....

i think lets legalize use of drugs and we might have such super atheletes  ....kidding

[senthilpeter]

Fitness always helps in ODIs but not sure if that is the only thing involved in getting such scores.

As for 400 scores, I was waiting for this to happen for a year or two now. And I dont think it will be as long before other teams do this too. Maybe not having teams chase such totals successfully, but having one team set such a score. Basically, mental attitudes are altered, more batsmen bat aggressively, ODI cricket tailormade for batting, teams seem to back themselves to be uptempo all the time. If you think about it, too often these days, teams get to about 250 by the 35-37the overs. Only they may have lost wickets or firepower while this happens and add only another 100 at most. Soon this will be more charted territory and some Paki style hitting at the death thruought will push the 350s towards 400.

Only antidote: McGrath, Pollock, Akram, Kumble-in-prime type bowlers who just cannot be hit for much no matter what you try.

[dextrous]

Also, keep in mind, this score was produced @ 20 over restriction, as opposed to 15 before that ... and none much earlier.

If we are to keep bowler's a part of the equation in ODI, then field restrictions need to be reduced. Wickets shouldn't just always be coming when a catch is looped up and caught near the boundry.

[keep-it-cool]

I think it was a freak match ... great to watch obviously ... but really, an absolute belter of a track and the small boundaries helped too ... I mean symonds one handed a shot for four (just to name one). I doubt this would be a regular feature ... play them on any of the aussie grounds or, say, Mohali ... a lot of the sixes would be caught ...

Having said that, great batting from both sides ... especially SA who chased that mountain down

[RicePlateReddy]

Guys, I was aware of the age of the SA and Australian teams when I posted this.

I am not saying that this happened because of the youth in the Australian (or SA team). I extrapolated what it would take to achieve that kind of performance from the Indian team -- and I stated that the best strategy seems to be in building the team around younger folks (Yuvraj etc.) with tons of positive attitude and enormous courage. Not to ding the great seniors in the team - I  feel the Indian ODI team is as good as it gets at the moment. And that is perhaps because of the preference for youth whenever possible.

You guys who point out the 20-20 influence are spot on.

(atalbehari ji, I don't live in KOP. Visited it many times too and had find memories, hence the moniker).