India vs South Africa

So while the minnows are playing in Australia, the real marque event, no 1 vs no 2, is happening in South Africa.

RSA is a fortress, so it's a tough ask for India, but if they win, they'll certainly have earned their no 1 ranking.

So far, things have gone less than ideal for indian. They're sitting on 136/9. Epic battle between best opening bowler in the world and best opening batsman in the world all ended rather abruptly with Steyn getting Sehwag first ball. Unfortunately, the 3rd bowler (tsotsobe) for south africa is leaking runs a bit, so that'll be a worry for the second innings and for the rest of the series.

But it's shaping up to be a cracker!

Indians run like shit in SA. 3-zip to the Proteas!

I know....why dont you two just email each other instead

'Cos emailing = zero gloat factor, obviously...

Tis also 0 gloat factor when only you two nobs are reading this

I would watch this if it was televised here... >

yeah same. We never get SA/India series and I want to see for myself how India manage to get themselves dominated/bullied by SA alla time. They quit that trick vs Austrlia some time ago

Gloating over the country you love so much you stayed there through thick and thin?
... oh... right

Anyone actually watching this?

Steyn spell in India in the first test this year was something very special, seeing Morkel and Steyn ripping them apart last night was amazing. Some of the most aggresive bowling I have ever seen ... 2 of them sending balls down around the 150 clicks was

Great opening partnership by Smith and Petersen now ....

You flog the shit outta that dead horse Vadz

He does have a point in highlighting the huge discourse between how proud you safas apparently are and your utter unwillingness to even consider living in your own country again

who are you talking about? I believe only reaction has ruled out ever living in South Africa again. I thought I've always been clear about the fact that I would, and that I intend to (especially if I have children)

Another thread about the great Proteas derailed by Vadinho silliness! :>

I'm gonna blame Maestro joining in on his frustration over Black Caps running so bad lately

Boys gave it to India right up the fucken ass yesterday ....

Just causing trubble imo

Kallis. Again. is he going to retire SA greatest ever cricketer

Why cant India play well in SA though, who is watching. Are they intimidated? The gulf is too wide for it to just be the pitches

I didn't watch the indian innings, so I can't really comment. On the bowling front though, they're a little (a lot) rudderless without Zaheer Khan...

Contender for one of the greatest of all time IMO.

you are kidding right?
no batsman post 1995... bro

Maybe he can get a double this time!

AB!

yeah, fingers cross that kallis can get over the line after lunch. hopefully he can keep can during the interval and not let his head get to himself

for year and years of watching kallis, every time kallis would get past 130 I'd think maybe today he'll get his double... Well, it's finally happened! 201 not out! So happy for him!

wp Kallis

That's the thing Vads. He's not *just* a batsman is he? He's also a genuine wicket taking bowler.

Also you'll note I said "one of."

heh did anyone catch any of this on one of the streaming sites out there? de Villiers's innings was one of the best displays of batting dominance i've ever seen

So much better watching a classy batsman dominate like that compared to the horrible slashers like Gilchrist, Hayden etc.

Horrible slashers like Hayden!? Get your hand off it pal.



gc.

Hayden was a hulking brute! No class at all :>

Yeah I agree...Hayden and Gilly werent "classy" batsmen. They were both bullies and woggers.... effective ones. but I had gottan well sick of the sight of them by the time they retired. I dont think that style is particualry fun to watch or admire

If we are goign to debate "greatest of all time" (which seems geeky, but hey its raining) ....need to define what that is please. Top 10 ? In bowling/batting/mvp?

In which case Kallis dosnt make my top 10 batsmen but is way up there as MVP

For all Kallis' brilliance, he didn't win a lot of games for RSA
What I mean is that his performance was seldom the difference between success and failure - unlike, say, Steve Waugh/Richard Hadlee/Imran Khan

As for calling Hayden a slugger, you guys are idiots. Gilchrist was a cross batter but Hayden was NOTED for scoring a shedload of runs in the V. In fact his straight driving was simply magnificent. Langer on the other hand scored square.

There is only one "elegant" shot and it's the front-foot drive through midon, cover, midoff, or dead straight. Midwicket is too Oriental for my taste,

You should learn to just shutup at times Vadz, you make yourself look like a fucken idiot.

Kallis was a batsmen for SA in a time where he had to save a lot more games than win it for them and he was well noted for doing just that. Its something a lot of people looked past and called him nothing but a boring selffish batsmen worrying about nothing but his own wicket. These days he scores his 100's in the 80% strike rate because he has 6 other guys around him that can be relied on and its changed his game completely.

Hayden himself has said that he has never been an eligant batsmen with little foot movement and for that reason struggled a lot during his time. Got dropped from the Aussie team like 4 times during his career. Doesn't matter anyway, the man destroyed any attack when he was on form.

Anyway who gives a fuck ... die trane was vlak gewees gister ...

Re-action compare Kallis to Cronje.

Cronje had a MUCH lower average
But Cronje played more "important" innings

It's not anti-Jaapie bias at all. Bowlers like Steyn etc are match winners. But Kallis is a flat track bully.

Did you read my post? I guess not ....

I'm not sure any of you actually ever watched Matt Hayden bat!?

Every shot in the book, with classical elegance when needed. As Vads said (*gasp*), he was noted for playing straight, and played proper cricket shots with supreme power. Just because he hit the ball hard, doesn't make him a 'wogger' or a hacker ffs. Gilly I'll buy, for sure. But you don't become half of test match cricket's highest scoring opening partnership by being a one trick pony and hacking. Test match average of 50 opening the batting as a 'wogger'? Fix up, haters!



gc.

My enduring memory of Hayden was him walking down the pitch and flat batting guys for six down the ground. Yeah sure it's in the v but it's about as elegant as a mallet to the head. I remember him also playing some great shots but all too often he tended to play ugly cross bat shots in an effort to put bowlers off their rhythm. He even admitted himself that he was never the most beautiful of batsmen to watch.

The mans scored 11500 runs at an average of 55!!!

You got a tough criteria bro!

It’s a really tough field. Top 10 of all time? Try rattling off guys that you cant possibly leave out and you will quickly realize that 10 isn’t very many. Kallis’s real "value rating" as a cricketer is accelerated by his bowling, which is why he would push for probably a top 3 place as MVP of all time. If he was playing for MVP on his batting alone he wouldnt be in sight of the top 20

uuurggghh a poorly constructed MOnday mornnig sentence ITT imo

Here's a list of top 20 batsman I once saw

Bradman
Lara
Viv Richards
Hobbs
Dravid
Tendulkar
Sobers
Barrington
Ponting
Chappell
Gavaskar
Everton Weekes
Hayden
Inzamam-ul-Haq
Border
Hutton
Sehwag
Headley
Kallis
Walcott

*let the arguments begin*

Link to list?

Can't believe Inzy's on that list :/

I got it from from www.thirdslip.com years and years ago. I can't find it on there any more. looks like the site hasn't been updated in ages.

Looking at that list "not within sight of the top 20" is pretty laughable. I guess he is in the top 20 or very close

Top 3 is very easy

bradman
hammond
hobbs

after that its pretty difficult.
i put sutcliffe next

richards or weekes or worrell... or even headley... difficult calls to make

the fact that list has Barrington over Compton, Hammond, and Sutcliffe is laughable

well, Zaheer Khan is fit for the next test, so it'll be interesting to see how Smith goes against him. Smith doesn't generally fair well against left arm quicks (i.e. Zak and Johnson)

Smith is the least of India's worries it seems atm. It's #3,4 & 5 that I'd be *really* worried about!



gc.

Anybody else see stories in various outlets trying to claim Tendulkar is better than Bradman?

When will they understand that VOLUME isn't the same as efficiency or effectiveness
Tendulkar wouldn't make my top 10

yeah, I saw that. It's pretty lol. Tendulkar is good, but he's no Bradman.

but if you want to go by volume then simply compare first class records

Bradman 234 games. Hs 452* Ave 95.14 100s 117
Tendulkar 278 games. Hs 248* Ave 59.86 100s 77

Bradman = fewer games but more hundreds than Tendulkar

I rate Tendulkar as the best batsman I've seen in my lifetime.

...but even then I wouldn't compare him to Bradman.

Yeah I never saw Alexander the Great but I still know he's a better general than Schwartzkopf
thats why that argument is stupid

Not trying to argue at all my son! Just out of all the batsmen I have seen, I rate Tendulkar as the best.

congrats Tendulker by the way, fitty hundreds boh!

You are such a fucking pole smoker sometimes.



gc.

Totals of 130 and 200 = big turn around on this, you Aussie-safas watching? What happened there

Nothing much, just one of this games. Pitch was playable, India was pretty good with ball and in the field. Took some ripper catches.

SA was unlucky, turning point with the Kallis run-out in the first innings. One plum LBW call when VVS just came in to bat in the 2nd innings that wasn't given and then 2 LBW calls on AB and Boucher that was some of the most shocking umpire fuckups I have seen.

SA will smash then in the 3rd, ,watch them. There is just no way India is the best int he world.

yep....lookin likea huge 3rd game and would def back the Proteas. Whats the pitch likely be?

Fuck me, this test is awesome. Second test was pretty equal as well but this one is going to be to the wire ...

SA 362
India 354

2 days left ... EPIC.

Steyn is GOD with the ball, bowling to SRT he was bowling around 130-135km/h with some major swing line and lenght giving him nothing to play with. Commentators talked about how slow he was ... SRT gets bowled by Morkel and straight away Steyn rips it into the 150km/h to the tailenders .... just awesome.

there has been some ripper Test matches lately but this one is fucken insane!!!!!!

King Kallis ...

Gonna be an *awesome* 5th day

Will take every inch of the Indian lineup's class to chase 300+ on the last day. I'm saying 80% SA, but still wouldn't put it past those Indian batsmen!



gc.

True that mate, I'm obviously hoping that SA can contain them but with that lineup anything is possible.

It's going to be up to the new ball and then Harris to since we won't have Kallis bowling. Thotshebe (however you spell it) will have to do the same level of bowling he did in the first innings. I can see them targetting him ...

Because he is Bleeck?

India vs South Africa in India = 1 all. India vs South Africa in South Africa = 1 all.

It would be nice to have a South Africa vs India series that ends with a winner, just for a change....

Pretty sure this is the 1st time India have even drawn a series in SA. They normally get spanked! :>

yeah, I think it's only the second time they've won a test in south africa, but they last time they played in south africa was like over 4 years ago (i think)

now that we move onto the ODI we'll get to see South Africas new spinners.

Imran Tahir is probably the most exciting prospect

He's a leggie that's been dominating domestic cricket

535 f/c wickets at 25 including 8 10-fors
140 one day wickets at 22

Obviously the collapse sucked but some dismissals were pretty unlucky, and Taylor and Vettori are hopelessly out of nick. Vettori is especially puzzling and cant even work out whats wrong as he doesnt bat long enough to be examined. Sure hope this is just a form blip and he is not in decline. We really dont need a misfiring captain right now

lulz maestro!

leveled imo. Filthy safa's up to your usual tricks

Imran Tahir is a great jaapie name

Well I guess with a name like yours you're lucky you were never good enough to represent NZ in any sports :>

Wrong. Dalmatians lived in NZ in the 19th century

What, just like south asians in South Africa?