England [269 & 391/8d] defeat South Africa [223 & 248] by 189 runs to win 2nd Test; series level 1-1

[Robert]

England [269 & 391/8d] defeat South Africa [223 & 248] by 189 runs to win 2nd Test; series level 1-1

Yikes. Bad luck for England with their competent opener Burns out of the tour, two green openers, Archer injured and Leach sick.

Crawley in (and already out), Bess in, Pope in, Bairstow out.

 

[andy0204]

Looking forward to see Pope.
Burns will be missed.

 

[sindhiboy]

rabada leaks runs and goes wicketless in his first 10 overs but somehow always ends up with 7 wickets in the match

 

[andy0204]

rabada leaks runs and goes wicketless in his first 10 overs but somehow always ends up with 7 wickets in the match

That's the reason Philander will be missed.

 

[sindhiboy]

sibley has improved his off side game alot

 

[happydavy]

England is winning this game. Bat first, get a total of 275+ in first inning and your probability of winning goes up to 60%+. Amongst competitive teams in the last 8 years, those are the stats.

 

[Robert]

Sibley seems to be going well against a very good attack. He’s now senior opener in his fourth test!

 

[sindhiboy]

And sibley is gone.
Looked really good
With crawley failing he has secured his place though.

 

[Saj]

England 67/2 at Lunch.

 

[sindhiboy]

Venomous Bowling from nortje

 

[Robert]

100-2.

This is an easy wicket and I think we need a pace option. In the absence of Archer I would have brought in Wood but maybe he is not over the Christmas lurgy.

Agh, Rooty

 

[Dark Magician]

Nortje rekindling the Mitchell Johnson era.

 

[sindhiboy]

denly looking like the pick of the english batters.

england should aim to score at least 400 as their bowling is looking pretty weak without jofra.

 

[MMHS]

The game is in perfect balance - one more wicket before Tea, SAF will be ahead. SAF didn't get many wickets with new ball, but they kept the RR in check, which will always keep them in he game. Even if they don't any further wicket with this ball, at like 201-4, with 2nd ball, they can strike back.

 

[pratiktc]

Good to see that Eng have also found their own Shan Masood in Denly!

 

[Robert]

These thirties aren’t enough. One of these two has to get a century.

Good job Bess is here, he could score test fifties.

 

[Manunited18]

These thirties aren’t enough. One of these two has to get a century.

Good job Bess is here, he could score test fifties.

Bess is very talented, burns injury was a massive blow, I reckon popes going to score significantly

 

[sindhiboy]

this might be ollie pope's year. another babar azam like player for england,

eng batting looks quality ,solid openers, denly is class, root along with stokes and pope.

Now to improve their bowling through olly stone and ben coad

 

[sindhiboy]

nortje might be safrica's most reliable bowler

stokes is a good player of spin, he will score runs freely against spinners, last game was a fluke dismissal

 

[MMHS]

Too much focus on LO cricket is killing English game and I must blame this Bayliss guy for this - 4 of the top 5 got out for 34, 35, 38 & 47 .... potentially match losing performance. But, this Test ENG is batting first, so I expect their tail to add valuable runs, which should work against this SAF team.

 

[Robert]

Too much focus on LO cricket is killing English game and I must blame this Bayliss guy for this - 4 of the top 5 got out for 34, 35, 38 & 47 .... potentially match losing performance. But, this Test ENG is batting first, so I expect their tail to add valuable runs, which should work against this SAF team.

Bayliss did have a corrosive effect but they are showing signs of improvement. The Roy expermiment is over. Bear in mind that two of those guys are green, and Root has seventeen test centures including a double two tests ago.

Stokes is only a 36 average guy so he won't score a hundred every time, maybe one every eight matches.

 

[jnaveen1980]

England will win this one. Whoever bats first will win.

 

[shah_1]

Ben Stokes is Asad Shafiq of England(Test cricket only)

Never seem to reach the next level

 

[MMHS]

Bayliss did have a corrosive effect but they are showing signs of improvement. The Roy expermiment is over. Bear in mind that two of those guys are green, and Root has seventeen test centures including a double two tests ago.

Stokes is only a 36 average guy so he won't score a hundred every time, maybe one every eight matches.

May be, they need to bring Foakes as well - Buttler should focus on the shorter game.

 

[Ab Fan]

Bayliss did have a corrosive effect but they are showing signs of improvement. The Roy expermiment is over. Bear in mind that two of those guys are green, and Root has seventeen test centures including a double two tests ago.

Stokes is only a 36 average guy so he won't score a hundred every time, maybe one every eight matches.

Stokes should bat at 6 and be given the responsibility of genuine all-rounder. He is a man for big moments but he will never be the Mr consistent guy for England which is why I don't think he will ever average over 40 with the bat, should revert back to what his role was before 2019.

 

[sindhiboy]

Stokes should bat at 6 and be given the responsibility of genuine all-rounder. He is a man for big moments but he will never be the Mr consistent guy for England which is why I don't think he will ever average over 40 with the bat, should revert back to what his role was before 2019.

stokes was one of eng's most effective bowlers in india series 2018 first few tests, he is a good bowler in south africa as he has pace and bounce, should b utilized properly by root.

 

[sindhiboy]

this is why ben foakes is needed, he stabilizes the lower order, butler bats well with the tail, but is constantly throwing is wicket away

curran also bats well with the taik but also threw his wicket away.

 

[praveen]

England should declare after 9 wickets down. No point in making Stuart Broad bat anymore.

 

[Saj]

Lovely bowling from the South Africans.

Another day, another England collapse.

 

[andy0204]

England will win this one. Whoever bats first will win.

Do you think England will win,a bowling attack consits of a veteran and a teenager

 

[sindhiboy]

pope is englnd's future, a very needed class batsman to join labuschagne and babar azam

 

[andy0204]

English selectors are stupid,instead of picking bowledstow in first test why didn't they pick pope?

 

[HitWicket]

English selectors are stupid,instead of picking bowledstow in first test why didn't they pick pope?

Because he was quarantined in his hotel room with illness.

 

[praveen]

how is ICC going to stop this no-ball menace? umpires miss huge easy to spot no balls and gives the bowler false confidence only to be brought back to reality when wicket falls

 

[MMHS]

Valuable runs added for the last pair, could be crucial. I think, anything over 250 these days in first innings is handy for Tests, where contest is even.

 

[Ab Fan]

England will win this test unless de Kock, the best under 50-test match batsmen in the world right now, again plays a game changing knock with the bat.

 

[jnaveen1980]

how is ICC going to stop this no-ball menace? umpires miss huge easy to spot no balls and gives the bowler false confidence only to be brought back to reality when wicket falls

They should start experimenting auto call.

 

[Robert]

English selectors are stupid,instead of picking bowledstow in first test why didn't they pick pope?

Pope was down with the virus in the first test. I am glad he got some runs today.

Now an old and creaky England have to bowl. Nobody to bowl aggressive and fast. Could be curtains.

 

[MenInG]

ANRICH NORTJE continued the impressive start he has made to his home Test career by claiming the key wickets of Joe Root and Ben Stokes on the opening day of the second Test match against England at Newlands today.

It was a good start to the new year for the Standard Bank Proteas as they came within one wicket of bowling England out for a modest total after the visitors had won the toss for the second time in the series.

Although there was good bounce and carry, particularly for the bowlers operating from the Wynberg end, this was still a very good batting surface and the Proteas can feel well satisfied to restrict England to 262/9 with the wickets largely being shared around by the four seamers who took four wickets each.

Nortje showed again that there is no substitute for sustained straight bowling at fast pace. He, in fact, almost had Root twice in the space of three balls as a catch first went astray in the slips and then he had him caught behind for one of Quinton de Kock’s five catches. The keeper now has 13 dismissals from three innings in the series.

It was a fine team bowling effort by the Proteas once again with Dwaine Pretorius taking two wickets in four overs in an important spell leading up to the second new ball and Keshav Maharaj effectively blocking up one end for much of the day. He was not without reward either as he bowled another key batsman, Joe Denly, while the top scorer of the day, Ollie Pope (56 not out off 132 balls, 7 fours), needed an umpire’s call to survive a South African decision review.

The first two sessions were shared as England scored 67/2 before lunch and 72/2 in the second before the Proteas hard work paid off with 5/113 in the final session.

Pieter Malan became the Proteas 108th Test cap and will get his chance to show his worth on day two.

The Sunfoil Education Trust (SET) which benefits from boundaries and sixes hit and wickets taken by the two sides gained R62 500 from the day’s play to take the series total past the R300 000 mark.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Difficult to gauge what sort of total england have here with SA batting been so weak. I think if england bowl well on day 2 then could wreck so havoc.

 

[tyron_woodley]

players: first class avg
Pieter Malan/Keegan pietersen 45.1/43
janneman Malan 52
zubair hamza 50.1
kyle verrynne/markram 52.3/41
van der dussen 44
QDK 38
pretorius/wiann Mulder 38.5

I used their international averages for established players like ask and markram.
That's a lot of talent there. Plenty of good players.

as for the bowling it has always been pheonemanl.

mahraj
ngidi
rabada
nortje

backups are burger, cooetze etc.

south africa will always be strong. Atleast at home.

 

[James]

The BBC and Aggers seem to have all but written off the whole series after yesterday’s batting display. I’m not saying they are wrong but it seems a bit premature. Got to see how England bowl on this surface first. If they can keep SA to 300 or below then it’s game on.

 

[Boi]

Ben Stokes is Asad Shafiq of England(Test cricket only)

Never seem to reach the next level

lolwut. Stokes has played many impactful Test knocks, whereas Shafiq’s only 2 MoMs in Tests have come in losses .
Yes Stokes’ average could be higher but this is an awful comparison.

 

[Ab Fan]

Where does England playing XI stand right now? They keep on changing from here and there but yet to find a strong combination. Rory Burns has definitely solved a lot of problems.

Burns
Sibley
Denly
Root
Stokes
Pope
Buttler(wkt)
Curran/Woakes
Archer
Leach
Broad

 

[Ozymandiasza]

The BBC and Aggers seem to have all but written off the whole series after yesterday’s batting display. I’m not saying they are wrong but it seems a bit premature. Got to see how England bowl on this surface first. If they can keep SA to 300 or below then it’s game on.

I agree, 4 days of cricket left. This will be a close game.

 

[Manunited18]

This is a poor and inexperienced south african batting line up, England are well and truly still in the game even with their inept showing with the bat

 

[Ozymandiasza]

How has the umpiring been? The last game was horrible. The players would have done a better job themselves.

 

[HitWicket]

How has the umpiring been? The last game was horrible. The players would have done a better job themselves.

Can't think of any obvious errors yesterday. The umpires went upstairs for the Rabada 'wicket' yesterday and found it to be a no ball and it turned out the previous ball was an overstep as well.

 

[Abdullah719]

England bowled out for 269.

 

[Robert]

Where does England playing XI stand right now? They keep on changing from here and there but yet to find a strong combination. Rory Burns has definitely solved a lot of problems.

Burns
Sibley
Denly
Root
Stokes
Pope
Buttler(wkt)
Curran/Woakes
Archer
Leach
Broad

Lots of sickness and injuries at present.

I would keep your side but bring in Woakes for Buttler who is not quite good enough for tests.

 

[Manunited18]

Burns/c
Sibley/haseeb hameed
Denley
Root
Stokes
Pope
Foakes
Moin
Archer
Broad
Olly stones

I'd go for burns as captain and let root concentrate to bat big scores to enable to make good scores

Also haseeb hameed whose moved to Notts, far to talented, a good first class season at Notts will fast track him in to national recognition as he was having confidence issues at lancs after a bad injury

Moin needs to be backed, his stats as a spinner are decent compared to what we have and has multiple test hundreds with the bat

A seam attack broad stones archer and supported by stokes has all bases covered in most conditions

 

[Ab Fan]

Lots of sickness and injuries at present.

I would keep your side but bring in Woakes for Buttler who is not quite good enough for tests.

Woakes already there in my side. Or do you mean a 'F' instead of 'W'?

 

[Manunited18]

Broad been brilliant, bowling with good heat

 

[Robert]

Broad is so good in SA. Anderson is not. Why is he there?

 

[Robert]

Woakes already there in my side. Or do you mean a 'F' instead of 'W'?

Darned autocorrect. Yeah, the Surrey keeper.

 

[Ozymandiasza]

Faf out

 

[Ab Fan]

This South African side batting is so weak. Faf is nowhere near the class of Kallis, Smith, de Villiers, Amla and Kirsten.

 

[Robert]

40-3, come on the Ingerlund.

 

[Manunited18]

England s slips been brilliant

 

[andy0204]

This South African side batting is so weak. Faf is nowhere near the class of Kallis, Smith, de Villiers, Amla and Kirsten.

Add Daryll Cullinan on the list as well.

 

[Ozymandiasza]

This South African side batting is so weak. Faf is nowhere near the class of Kallis, Smith, de Villiers, Amla and Kirsten.

He was very good in his day. He's obviously well past his prime.

 

[Ab Fan]

He was very good in his day. He's obviously well past his prime.

Inconsistent back then also. His century in Adelaide was an ATG knock but he was never a prolific scorer, not even a purple patch.

Very good ODI batsmen nevertheless. But an average test batsmen.

 

[Ozymandiasza]

Inconsistent back then also. His century in Adelaide was an ATG knock but he was never a prolific scorer, not even a purple patch.

Very good ODI batsmen nevertheless. But an average test batsmen.

Not to mention the crazy runouts. Better times

 

[Ab Fan]

Both teams have batted poorly. Root and Stokes have bigger stature than de Kock, Faf and Elgar and should perform with the bat to have a chance of winning this series. England have the team to win matches in this tour and they should. SA are currently in a huge transition and this will take a lot of time.

 

[Ab Fan]

Not to mention the crazy runouts. Better times

Haha, I loved the Faf-AB combination except their bizzare run-out part.

Faf's game awareness coupled with the genius of AB was a deadly combo. Sad they didn't utilize that fully.

 

[Ozymandiasza]

Lunch.

England will probably have a 100 - 150 lead after the SA innings.

 

[Mamoon]

Faf is on the brink of retirement. Time to make De Kock the captain across all formats with Van Dussen as his deputy.

Markram has been earmarked as the next long-term captain but he needs to find his feet at this level first.

 

[Mamoon]

England have become a very resilient cricket nation. They are no long chokers/bottlers.

They keep finding ways of not losing big series and what they did at the back end of the World Cup was the stuff of gods.

Bayliss may have ruined their batting techniques and temperament but he has still instilled a lot of fight in them.

 

[MenInG]

ENG 269
RSA 60/3 (22.0) CRR: 2.73
Day 2: Lunch Break - South Africa trail by 209 runs

 

[Manunited18]

Both teams have batted poorly. Root and Stokes have bigger stature than de Kock, Faf and Elgar and should perform with the bat to have a chance of winning this series. England have the team to win matches in this tour and they should. SA are currently in a huge transition and this will take a lot of time.

England have not won a test series in a full calender year and are also facing similar issues to south africa where experienced players are not performing with the bat

 

[Nikhil_cric]

England have become a very resilient cricket nation. They are no long chokers/bottlers.

They keep finding ways of not losing big series and what they did at the back end of the World Cup was the stuff of gods.

Bayliss may have ruined their batting techniques and temperament but he has still instilled a lot of fight in them.

True for ODIs but I'm not sure of this applies to tests. 2019 was their worst year in test cricket since 1999.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Inconsistent back then also. His century in Adelaide was an ATG knock but he was never a prolific scorer, not even a purple patch.

Very good ODI batsmen nevertheless. But an average test batsmen.

Faf is decent, the other batsmen except Elgar and De Kock are mediocre.

 

[Ab Fan]

England have become a very resilient cricket nation. They are no long chokers/bottlers.

They keep finding ways of not losing big series and what they did at the back end of the World Cup was the stuff of gods.

Bayliss may have ruined their batting techniques and temperament but he has still instilled a lot of fight in them.

Nope. They just got lucky with you finding the Aladdin Ka Chirag and wishing for last laugh.

 

[Ab Fan]

Faf is decent, the other batsmen except Elgar and De Kock are mediocre.

de Kock is world class but he has the job of gloves as well which will restrict his batting. At 7, you really won't be able to make huge impact everytime you go to bat, even if your nature of batting is aggressive.

Faf and Elgar are good batsmen, that's it. Rest are yet to find their feat.

 

[Ab Fan]

England have not won a test series in a full calender year and are also facing similar issues to south africa where experienced players are not performing with the bat

England atleast have Root and Stokes, although the former hasn't been able to resolve his concentration issue yet, he still walks into SA team as their best bat at 4. Regarding Stokes, I don't think he will become that Mr Consistent guy for England ever, he is a man for big moments but he is not the guy who will contribute heavily on a consistent basis in his primary suit.

In contrast, SA don't have anyone with pedigree as these two, with de Kock being their best player in the top 7 but he has to keep gloves as well.

 

[Amjid Javed]

As expected SA top and early middle order been exposed as usual. Unless Dekock fires then england will gain a match winning lead

 

[Manunited18]

England atleast have Root and Stokes, although the former hasn't been able to resolve his concentration issue yet, he still walks into SA team as their best bat at 4. Regarding Stokes, I don't think he will become that Mr Consistent guy for England ever, he is a man for big moments but he is not the guy who will contribute heavily on a consistent basis in his primary suit.

In contrast, SA don't have anyone with pedigree as these two, with de Kock being their best player in the top 7 but he has to keep gloves as well.

Roots performances with the bat are also questionable at the moment but it's mainly down to the extra burden of captaincy and the team not performing well at all

As for Ben stokes, undeniably awesome talented, but hes a 3 format cricketer which definetlyvhas a effect on both the physical side and mental side of the game as a allrounder, so this could hinder his upward curve

 

[sindhiboy]

Broad for some reason is very good in south africa

 

[sindhiboy]

think parkinson is a better spinner than bess

 

[Amjid Javed]

Broad for some reason is very good in south africa

His bowling style of kissing the pitch with the seam and suttle movement will always do well in South Africa.