Australia (218 & 35/4) defeat South Africa (152 & 99) by 6 wickets to win the 1st Test

[wrongun]

Why is Hazlewood not playing?

Been out with a side strain picked up vs WI.

To be honest Hazlewood has been class but at some point Boland will make himself undroppable the way he is going.

 

[wrongun]

Head is in just about good enough form to survive Nortje here.

I predict Oz to slowly get on top and post 290-320 here to set up the win.

I think Jansen has been underbowled. Elgar has given up the situation by not recongising quickly enough that Jansen was going to be the point of difference.

 

[Devadwal]

100 runs lead is very good on this deck

 

[Devadwal]

Now head is also gone .end is not far from here .

 

[jnaveen1980]

FIrst time i see Nortje in this test. Looks very Australian. Good old handle bar Mousch.

 

[jnaveen1980]

I like this surface. Ball is just zinging off compared to day 1. It was a touch slower y day

 

[jnaveen1980]

If West Indies had this pitch they probably would have competed against Australia. They rolled out a flat pitch against them.

 

[SamNJ]

Jansen has a strike rate of 32. Shocking He is close to 50 wickets.
South Africa are not utilising him well.

 

[jnaveen1980]

SA is bullying Australia

 

[jnaveen1980]

Now time for Aus to bully SA. Couple of peaches from Starc

 

[jnaveen1980]

That is how you appeal. Looked out in real time.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Unplayable stuff from Starc.

 

[jnaveen1980]

You can't even survive against t his type of bowling.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Congrats Starc

 

[Devadwal]

South africa 3 rus 2 wicket . Australia 3-0 series win here is good result for india as our chance of reaching WTC final will increased .

 

[Devadwal]

Game can over today itself .2 day test cricket

 

[jnaveen1980]

Game can over today itself .2 day test cricket

Every 1 run lead is massive here. They have 63 runs still. But OZ would want to make more inroads before ball gets older

 

[jnaveen1980]

Bavuma atleast has a positive body language casually chewing gum. But i am not sure that is enough here. Ball is still swinging.

 

[Suleiman]

Congrats to Starc. 300 is always a big achievement.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Gotta say Bavuma picks that inswinger from Starc better than others.

 

[jnaveen1980]

 

[jnaveen1980]

There is no way you can defend your way out here. Eventually you will get a ball with your name on it. SA has to be a bit more positive. But they are a highly negative side. They rely on tuk tuk.

 

[jnaveen1980]

What a combo Lyon & Smith

 

[jnaveen1980]

5 for 3. As much as i enjoy pace and bounce, this is very difficult for batsmen to survive

 

[Ab Fan]

South Africa are missing a world class batsman in their team.

In 2018 Sandpaper series, they had AB de Villiers who turned the complexion of the series by hitting a hundred against the unusual reverse swing achieved by the Australian pace attack in the first two tests. Luckily, it got exposed in the Cape Town Test and then they gave up that series right next day.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Bavuma is braving it out. He even looks confident.

 

[BDfanforever]

disgusting pitch, test cricket is a joke of a sport.

 

[Ab Fan]

Why are Markram and Keegan Petersen not playing? Petersen was pretty good vs India.

 

[SamNJ]

Most abrasive cricket rivalry. Firdose Moonda did a nice wordplay there

 

[Justcrazy]

Australia right on top here , do not see them setting a resonable target here

 

[Justcrazy]

SA trail by 34 runs.

 

[Justcrazy]

SA need a big partnership here

 

[jnaveen1980]

Lyon is the next big threat for them

 

[jnaveen1980]

Predictably Lyon took him out. He is a huge threat. Pace and bounce.

 

[alone1213]

Lol a 2 day test match. Hahahah.
Pathetic pitch to say the least

 

[jnaveen1980]

This could be a quick death for SA.

 

[Devadwal]

Pathetic pitch .2 day test cricket .If this happens in india all the talked about pitch only .

 

[alone1213]

This won't even last 2 days.
Pathetic display of test cricket.

 

[alone1213]

Pathetic pitch .2 day test cricket .If this happens in india all the talked about pitch only .

This pitch is on par with Indian pitches.
India produce the worst pitches and this is right up there with them.
It's a terrible pitch.

 

[jnaveen1980]

This is getting ugly.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Pathetic pitch .2 day test cricket .If this happens in india all the talked about pitch only .

Yea. Every ball became an event

 

[alone1213]

Scott the legend boland now averages 10 with ball. Ridiculous!!

 

[James]

This is going to be a 2 day Test.

Dean Elgar’s self styled “men’s environment” producing another abysmal batting collapse.

 

[James]

Scott the legend boland now averages 10 with ball. Ridiculous!!

He is some find.

 

[jnaveen1980]

This is going to be a 2 day Test.

Dean Elgar’s self styled “men’s environment” producing another abysmal batting collapse.

SA team is full of FTBs.

 

[BDfanforever]

So much for Test Cricket Zindabad. This type of wickets serves no purpose besides serving egg on the face of Test Cricket.

 

[James]

“The new England style is quite interesting,” said the South African captain. “But I don’t see that there’s longevity in brave cricket because I see things evening out over time in Test cricket. There was often parity between England and New Zealand [in the recent Test series] and had New Zealand taken their opportunities and their catches then things could have been very different. England would have come away with egg on their faces.”

…

“We play the game hard,” Elgar said after that encounter, “and if anything we were just giving back what we were getting when we were batting. It is Test cricket. It’s a man’s environment when it comes to playing at this level, and I intend to play the game hard.”


)

 

[Devadwal]

Winning at gabba is not everyone cup of tea

 

[jnaveen1980]

SA has to induct that Brewis guy somehow into the test side. He may become another ABDV with X factor. These defensive players are crap. Where is Markram?

 

[jnaveen1980]

I don't know what is Par first class average for a batsman in SA. This Zondo has played 146 matches scored 6322 runs at an average of 31. He is 32 years old playing his 2nd test. How did he get picked?

 

[jnaveen1980]

No wonder guys like kevin pietersen fled SA.

 

[Sachin136]

How did we beat these guys three series in a row?

 

[jnaveen1980]

Klassen averages 180 this season in 2 games with a highest score of 292. His first class average is 48. But this zondo guy is playing

 

[jnaveen1980]

Toughest job for batsman in this match is to find where the pitch is lol

 

[Kianig89]

Ridiculous cricket

 

[dildilpak]

This pitch surely deserves some demerit points. If an Asian team had given a similar spinning version of the pitch, the commentators would have hopped mad over the pitch.

 

[Mahee]

How did we beat these guys three series in a row?

because we are Asia’s GOAT test team and also the best test team after the legendary Aussie team of 2000s

 

[Gilly]

This pitch surely deserves some demerit points. If an Asian team had given a similar spinning version of the pitch, the commentators would have hopped mad over the pitch.

I don't think that SA will like to use the pitch as an excuse for their batting.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

I don't think that SA will like to use the pitch as an excuse for their batting.

Rating a pitch should be independent of the opposition's views on the matter.

 

[Gilly]

Rating a pitch should be independent of the opposition's views on the matter.

Captains report on the match is used in the match review.

 

[dildilpak]

I don't think that SA will like to use the pitch as an excuse for their batting.

Yes but 15 wickets on day 1 & 12 & counting on day 2 surely tells a story. If a generally no-result pitch like Rawalpindi deserves demerit points, so do green mambas like these which decide a match in 2 days.

 

[jnaveen1980]

There is no doubt this pitch will be analyzed by all over the world - Gilly in the commentary box.

This is not no.10 ranked side playing no.1 ranked side. This is no.1 playing no.2 - another commie

Definitely will be a subject of discussion

 

[alone1213]

Ridiculous pitch.
It's unplayable pitch.
Travis head played an ATG knock.

 

[Ab Fan]

Winning in Gabba and scoring a match winning 89* on final day while chasing 328 vs a full strength Australia side is not everyone's cup of tea.

There is a reason why Gabba used to be considered a fortress for Australia for so many decades before a certain player helped his team breached the fortress.

 

[cricketjoshila]

A 2 day test match. I really want to read the match refree's report of this pitch.

On one side we had the Rawalpindi pitch and now we have this Gabba pitch.

 

[Ab Fan]

because we are Asia’s GOAT test team and also the best test team after the legendary Aussie team of 2000s

Undoubtedly the GOAT Asian test team led under Kohli with 38?? test wins. I think [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] could give us exact figure, he used to update that number continuously on a certain thread.

 

[dildilpak]

Winning in Gabba and scoring a match winning 89* on final day while chasing 328 vs a full strength Australia side is not everyone's cup of tea.

There is a reason why Gabba used to be considered a fortress for Australia for so many decades before a certain player helped his team breached the fortress.

Tbh, this pitch is way spicier than the one offered to India. It’s like insane, unplayable variable bounce - dont think any visiting team including India could have survived such a pitch. It looks like the curator took the fortress breach too much to heart & prepared a truly unplayable pitch.

 

[jnaveen1980]

A 2 day test match. I really want to read the match refree's report of this pitch.

On one side we had the Rawalpindi pitch and now we have this Gabba pitch.

I am not sure one call this as pitch given the excessive grass covering.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Gilchrist is discussing elaborately about all the accusations that are going to come up already.

 

[jnaveen1980]

zondo is throwing bat at everything with attacking field set.

 

[jnaveen1980]

I think Gilly is right about "What if Australia had to chase 100 here". SA totally bottled it.

 

[Ab Fan]

Tbh, this pitch is way spicier than the one offered to India. It’s like insane, unplayable variable bounce - dont think any visiting team including India could have survived such a pitch. It looks like the curator took the fortress breach too much to heart & prepared a truly unplayable pitch.

Yes, on Day 1 it did looked like the curators forgot to cut the grass from the pitch. But then let's not forget who breached the fortress forcing Australia to turn on to these uneven bat-bowl contest pitches.

Let's see what the foul mouth Dean Elgar has to say about the pitch here.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Starc's pitch map looks like modern art.

 

[jnaveen1980]

There should be demerit points for this pitch definitely.

 

[Ab Fan]

SA 99 all-out

Zondo 36*

 

[jnaveen1980]

Travis head. what a great innings. He should be MOM. No bowler's name should come up for man of the match discussion

 

[jnaveen1980]

A guy like Cummins can be effective even on true wickets not just these green wickets. Relentless consistency.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Best back of the length bowler in the world

 

[Blackbradman]

Atrocious pitch

 

[jnaveen1980]

Pollock is not being direct about pitch. Deep down he knows how SA consistently offered overly helpful pitch for SA bowlers when they faced Subcontinent teams. This still deserves demerit points. But SA was guilty of this as well.