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[ganavk]

No thread on one of the most important matches of this year ? If SA can win this then Aus have truly gone down for sure. May be we can even see RP sacked at the end of the series. if wishes were horses...


Hayden gone early....
Aus winning the toss and batting 28/1 in 12 Over

[poondu]

No thread on one of the most important matches of this year ? If SA can win this then Aus have truly gone down for sure. May be we can even see RP sacked at the end of the series. if wishes were horses...


Hayden gone early....
Aus winning the toss and batting 28/1 in 12 Over

That will be great...

[ganavk]

No thread on one of the most important matches of this year ? If SA can win this then Aus have truly gone down for sure. May be we can even see RP sacked at the end of the series. if wishes were horses...


Hayden gone early....
Aus winning the toss and batting 28/1 in 12 Over

surely that is not going to happen even if they lose after this already brilliant innings ....What a big miss by McKenzie

That will be great...

[ramshorns]

Ponting completes century.  Some great strokes on display.  He survived a straight forward chance very early in the innings and like most great players he makes SA pay for the lapse with a brisk hundred.

[ramshorns]

Ponting completes century.  Some great strokes on display.  He survived a straight forward chance very early in the innings and like most great players he makes SA pay for the lapse with a brisk hundred.

Ponting falls immediately after 100.  A tame dismissal.

[ganavk]

Steyn is bowling great..

[keep-it-cool]

Symonds playing his natural game. But if he can't bowl, wouldn't Watson have been a better option?

And, I don't believe the only bowling change they made was Hauritz for Krejza!!! They still have no one who can swing the ball.

[broadbat]

Well they just don't want to or are unable to reconcile themselves to the fact that Lee is finished as their premier strike bowler. They are playing him on the assumption that the big match winning spell is around the corner.

[keep-it-cool]

What a catch by Kallis to dismiss Symonds. An excellent phase of bowling by SA led to that wicket. Excellent Test Cricket yet again.

[broadbat]

You have to go back more than a year to find out when Australia managed a score in excess of 500, was against SL in Nov 2007. This a far cry from their halcyon days.

[broadbat]

So Haddin's had it. Falls to Ntini.

[keep-it-cool]

Ntini gets Haddin. Another great slip catch - this time by Smith.

This evens the day up. Another wicket and SA on top!!!

[keep-it-cool]

Aussies end at 280-6. Good hard fought day of cricket. While Ponting was the star for Australia, Steyn, Ntini and Harris bowled very well and kept SA in the game right through. Clarke is still there but he has struggled big time ...looked even more strokeless than the RD of recent times.

[WicketView]

Interestingly Michael Hussey's third consecutive zero in a test match where he batted twice.

[keep-it-cool]

Excellent rearguard action by the Aussies with Clarke carrying his bat through.

394 is a solid score!

[WicketView]

Excellent rearguard action by the Aussies with Clarke carrying his bat through.

394 is a solid score!

Yes, high enough score to put pressure ... and one is down as early as the second over.

[keep-it-cool]

Lee continuing with his pie-throwing ways. He needs to sort out for himself what kind of bowler he wants to be - one who bowls in the 130-140 range or at higher pace. His current repertoire is useless unless he bowls in the high 140s. If he wants to build a career at a lower pace range, he needs to add some variety.

[ganavk]

..and Hashim Amla goes now.

[keep-it-cool]

Is anyone watching? I am just following the score on the net. How is Lee bowling? Is he trying to go all out or still in the 130-140 range?

[broadbat]

Is anyone watching? I am just following the score on the net. How is Lee bowling? Is he trying to go all out or still in the 130-140 range?

Lee is all over the place and expensive. Though Haddin did drop Kallis of Lee, let us see how expensive it proves?
Something with the speed gun? Everyone is bowling in the high 146-150 range. Siddle had a delivery clocked at 150.

[broadbat]

Did not prove very expensive after all. Kallis caught by Haddin of Hauritz for 26.

[keep-it-cool]

Can the Aussies drive this advantage home? I think this session will be very crucial for the series.

[ganavk]

Oh..boy. SA is sliding down here.  If SA loses this series then that will be another glorious chapter to the
choking pages of SA cricket history.

[keep-it-cool]

Well they conceded a big lead in the first test too. But, yeah, it may be difficult to conjure up a miracle twice in quick succession

[broadbat]

Do not see any light at the end of the tunnel in this one for SA. Six down now next to nothing.

[broadbat]

Point to be noted is that while the others are amongst the wickets Lee continues his slide!

[broadbat]

Lee 0-59 of 11 overs.

[keep-it-cool]

No wonder these two have put on 40 odd in very quick time!!

[broadbat]

SA 186-7. Mitch gets Morkel.

[broadbat]

Right then, so one decision out of Punter's hand. The follow on.

[broadbat]

SA's day! Err if the idea was to save the follow on.    Otherwise staring down the barrel.

[WicketView]

Duminy does not seem to be much into protecting the tail-ender. Australia looking to slice out a significant lead here ... definitely trying to get Steyn with the new ball. 

[WicketView]

Deficit below 100 now.

[WicketView]

First session to SAF. Australia seem to have bowled pretty badly ... Lee was away (not that there is clear evidence that he would have made a difference). 2nd New ball has been bowled for about 14 overs ... some deliveries that could well have picked out Steyn but did not. They were probably trying to bounce the tailender, and that did not help so far. Australia are still in a good position to win, if they can get the remaining two fairly quickly.

[kingcool1432]

Great match though! Literally each session in this match has seen the momentum wildly see-sawing towards either side.

And Duminy 

[WicketView]

Great match though! Literally each session in this match has seen the momentum wildly see-sawing towards either side.

And Duminy 

Right ... so far, it has not been a series between a giant and a weakling. Both sides have been competitive. And Duminy has been having an excellent debut  series in Australia ... an unbeaten 50 in the 4th innings of the debut to take his team to a victory, and a resolute knock here.

[kingcool1432]

The score as 304/8 at lunch. Now CI shows South Africa 309/8 (95.3 overs) but no-one appears to have scored anything?

[kingcool1432]

The score as 304/8 at lunch. Now CI shows South Africa 309/8 (95.3 overs) but no-one appears to have scored anything?

nvm, penalty runs.

Hauritz to Duminy, no run, oh that's hit the helmet! Duminy let the ball go outside off and it shot between Haddin's pads and hit the helmet placed behind the wicketkeeper

[WicketView]

The score as 304/8 at lunch. Now CI shows South Africa 309/8 (95.3 overs) but no-one appears to have scored anything?

nvm, penalty runs.

Hauritz to Duminy, no run, oh that's hit the helmet! Duminy let the ball go outside off and it shot between Haddin's pads and hit the helmet placed behind the wicketkeeper

This Haddin is not at all impressive. Wonder if he will improve, or if Australia are planning a replacement.

[WicketView]

102.3     Hauritz to Steyn, 2 runs, dropped!!, what on earth happened there? Steyn slogged wildly at a flighted delivery and mis-hit the ball high in the air towards mid-on, Hussey got under the ball but the sun was in his eyes, he tried shielding his eyes with his hands, he even had sunglasses on, he kept moving around trying to spot the ball and in the end he lost it completely, it fell behind him

72 now.