England v South Africa | 1st Test | The Oval | Jul 19-23, 2012

[Markhor]

Kallis does do that a lot as Mike has said. He bowls a few in the same spot and then throws one wide.

Kallis is bowling poorly with a few peach deliveries in between

Kallis is getting it to swing now - probably due to the overhead conditions and the initial lacquer has now gone off the ball.

Steyn also swinging it here.

 

[Markhor]

Very gloomy overhead conditions. Reckon there will be a big rain shower.

 

[leatherface58]

oval is a traditionally flat pitch. England would be disappointed to get less than 350 at the least, weather not withstanding

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[Bullet Drive]

Maiden.

 

[Ruri]

You have to admire the patience that Cook and Trott have and continue to do for the England top-order, but you also have to loathe the endless boredom of it!

 

[Markhor]

You have to admire the patience that Cook and Trott have and continue to do for the England top-order, but you also have to loathe the endless boredom of it!

Yeah I'm not a big fan of Cook and Trott, two very ugly and dare I say rather boring to watch. Not particularly elegant. But they need to be patient with the South African seamers and then target Imran Tahir, the weak link in this SA bowling attack.

 

[Bilal7]

Cook has left 49% of the balls he has faced today.
Surprising when you consider Philander's wicket to wicket approach and Steyn's ability to swing it big, not to mention Morkel's action which brings the ball in to the left-hander.

Oops, Dale not happy, poor fielder.

 

[Justcrazy]

60 / 1

 

[Markhor]

Six from Cook. Right off the edge of the bat.

 

[Ruri]

That is Cook's 6th Six of his career. Yeah, I know. Crazy.

 

[Robert]

Cook is the key here, if he settles down he will get a Daddy Hundred.

Steyn averages 18 against righties but 31 against lefties....

 

[Jo_Don]

Well he just hit a 6

 

[Bilal7]

That is Cook's 6th Six of his career. Yeah, I know. Crazy.

Wow, that's really surprising. He is Cook but only his sixth of his career.

 

[leatherface58]

cook has 6 sixes. trott has 0 I believe. vvs hit 5 sixes in his test career.

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[style_guru]

Trott just survived last over...

 

[Ruri]

cook has 6 sixes. trott has 0 I believe. vvs hit 5 sixes in his test career.

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Jimmy has one too. I think it was a top edge off Steyn as well, not sure.

 

[Bilal7]

Tahir coming on.

 

[Markhor]

Imran Tahir on to bowl the last over before lunch.

 

[SOSami]

This pitch is slow.

 

[Justcrazy]

69 / 1

 

[Markhor]

ENG 70-1 | 23 overs | Lunch

 

[Bilal7]

Tahir looked good. England's session in my opinion, Trott and Cook are looking comfortable against the seamers.

 

[Ruri]

70/1, honours relatively even before lunch.

 

[Robert]

cook has 6 sixes. trott has 0 I believe. vvs hit 5 sixes in his test career.

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Don Bradman never hit a six, because it involved the possibility of getting out.

 

[Markhor]

Cook and Trott have been very solid for England after the first over dismissal of Strauss. South Africa couldn't get the ball to swing as much as they would have liked to what with the overhead conditions. Steyn not quite hitting his stride, Philander was accurate, Morkel was quite wayward apart from that first over to Strauss. Michael Vaughan said that he's a bowler you can cut and work him over gully area. The batsmen should look to use his pace and let it glance off the bat. Kallis has been a mixed bag, some good deliveries followed by some short and wide freebies. England just need to be patient against the seamers and go after Imran Tahir, the weak link in this South African attack. His leg spinner does not spin as much as his googly. He will bowl bad balls so all you need to do is defend well and pick him.

 

[Justcrazy]

Lunch

England on Top

 

[Justcrazy]

Tahir is over rated.

 

[Bilal7]

Tahir is over rated.

No one really rates Tahir in these conditions. Don't know why you call him over-rated. He had a good first over though.

 

[Robert]

Sun coming out now......

 

[Justcrazy]

England should win this here.......

 

[Justcrazy]

England have a ruthless team as far as Test Matches are concerned

 

[Jo_Don]

England should win this here.......

You get that from one session?

 

[talha3]

Very good comeback from these two, have looked relatively untroubled.

 

[style_guru]

You get that from one session?

A lot of wrist slitters here, mate.

@ Topic:- The session belonged to England, no doubt. But we all know that SA can bounce back big time. Let's see what Steyn & co. are made of...

 

[Bullet Drive]

lol @ people saying England have won already. You guys don't know how much difference an over can make.

 

[Strike!]

Not to take anything away from these two but it's sad how flat the Lords pitch has become over the years.

 

[Cricfan4eva]

^The match is being played at The Oval. Which has always been a bit flat and spin friendly.

 

[Markhor]

Afternoon session commences.

 

[Faisalabad]

No one really rates Tahir in these conditions. Don't know why you call him over-rated. He had a good first over though.

on TMS said i can go and face him now..the guy is average!! lol

 

[Shayan]

David Lloyd just tweeted that no-one has clocked 90mph yet.

 

[Random Aussie]

David Lloyd just tweeted that no-one has clocked 90mph yet.

Wait until England bowl and they crank it up.

Good start from England, exhibit A why SA are always second they bowl Steyn first change. SA just don't get intuitive things like have your best bowler on straight away.

 

[Amjid Javed]

I think if you really bend your back on this surface you can get something out of this. I think the main thing S.A have struggled with is the length. England batsmen have been either allowed to leave the ball easily of its been a ball that can be put away. S.A should maybe be trying to see of they can dry runs up for a while and force a mistake. Also Bowlers should be looking to use the crease more and try slightly varying the angles of attack.

 

[Amjid Javed]

I reckon Broad will bowl well on here. You pretty much need to be looking to bowl around back of a length around off-stick and bounce in surface will bring fielders into play then.

 

[PakFan2010]

Tahir is not a bad bowler but he doesn't know his role in the team, Is it to contain or attack.

Leg spinners always give 1 or 2 bad deliveries and at test level, You get punished

 

[Lara400]

Tahir has a lot to prove this series. He is good at mopping up the tailenders but not that effective against the top order. Looks ordinay at the minute.

 

[IAJ]

The wicket of Strauss seems ages away now.

A couple of quick wickets and SA are back in the game.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Wonder wether would be worth giving Duminy or Even Graeme smith bowling an odd over just to see if they can sneak something here.

 

[Amjid Javed]

S.A continue to struggle to string 2/3 decent deliveries together and that is main reason england batsmen are finding it so easy here.

 

[PakFan2010]

Tahir is improving.
He is a good bowler.

Edit: Trott was out, Hitting the stumps.

 

[leatherface58]

Tahir reminds me of Indian leggie Mishra. Mishra has a better leg break but both are domestic beasts but are unable to succeed at the highest level. to be fair Tahir doesn't have any competition for the spinner's spot unlike Mishra who had to make way for a more mediocre bowler in Harbhajan



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[Strike!]

^The match is being played at The Oval. Which has always been a bit flat and spin friendly.

Ah that explains it, Oval has always been the flattest pitch in England.

 

[Ruri]

Tahir is improving.
He is a good bowler.

Edit: Trott was out, Hitting the stumps.

Looking through cricinfo, apparently was umpire's call.


Anyways, just came back home from lunch, half expecting a huge England collapse in the hour that I had missed. Relatively happy to see 123-1, now camped out in front of the massive TV, Dragon Age II on for when Trott is batting/any rain later, a glass of mango juice and some pastries right next to me. #AllIneed.

 

[Ruri]

And Morkel is positively Finn-like with that little tumble over himself on the follow through.

 

[PakFan2010]

England will score around 400
South Africa all out for 350
England all out for 43
South africa 71 allout.

 

[Ironcat]

These two are the most in-form batsmen at the moment for England, so a wicket here could expose a couple more in a short order.

 

[shah_1]

England is going to win by 3-0. Smith is a way too defensive captain that why SA have never been no 1 and never will be.

 

[Ruri]

50 for Trott from the usually million and half balls.

 

[leatherface58]

actually South Africa have been number 1. for just 4 months i presume. besides how do you determine how a series will go before the first test is over?

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[shah_1]

I wish pakistan had a player like Cook

 

[malakian]

These two are the most in-form batsmen at the moment for England, so a wicket here could expose a couple more in a short order.

KP in fine form as well, smacked a double century the other day, t'was apparently the best innings played in CC this year.

 

[leatherface58]

Bell also scores a lot of runs when team is 200+ for loss of just few wickets

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[Robert]

Ah that explains it, Oval has always been the flattest pitch in England.

Not true. In the fifties it was a raging bunsen - Surrey always fielded three spinners!

In the eighties it had turned into a bouncy track which helped fast bowlers and the better batsmen too, because of the trueness of the bounce.

Now it is a bit more like it was in the fifties, only with far less turn.

 

[Sunny786]

I wish pakistan had a player like Cook

 

[Space Cat]

Oh Bumble. You amuse me greatly.

 

[shah_1]

I talking about an solid opener unfortunately we don't have one . Azhar ali is more like Trott

 

[PakFan2010]

BORING BORING BORING

Not watching it anymore, Was excited about this series before I found out about the pitch for the first test. FLAT FLAT FLAT PANCAKE

This is like Sub-continent test matches.

The three test matches should be at Headingly,Trent Bridge and Lords.

 

[truthseer]

Little seam movement, little swing, is this England?

 

[Robert]

BORING BORING BORING

Not watching it anymore, Was excited about this series before I found out about the pitch for the first test. FLAT FLAT FLAT PANCAKE

It's a marathon not a sprint.

I bet it will be turning on Sunday and Monday. Then Swann could clean up.

 

[mithun_minhas]

South Africa might suffer the same fate as Indians.

English are too strong for any team on their turf.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Lame test match cricket so far. Fair enough the pitch is flat for South African bowlers but England batsmen nudging and nurdling as if it's a green top? lol

It's all good and well saying it's going to spin on day 4 and day 5 but if both teams score huge first innings score there won't be enough time for the second innings.

Saffers need to come out aggressive, target the English throat of Cook and the South African throat of Trott. England could still lose a few wickets in a bunch.

 

[truthseer]

It's a marathon not a sprint.

I bet it will be turning on Sunday and Monday. Then Swann could clean up.

Or Tahir?
Also don't forget that the best players of spin for the Saffers are right handers. Swann will have a hard time of it there, hopefully

 

[KingKhanWC]

South Africa might suffer the same fate as Indians.

English are too strong for any team on their turf.

) Indian fan trying to making last years humiliation feel better after two sessions of the series here.

South Africa are no India - no whitewash here.

 

[PakFan2010]

South Africa will rack up plenty here.

Amla,Smith,Kallis and De Villiers are just awesome.

 

[Luton Bad Boy]

The test is meandering along at a snail's pace....much like how a test match should be..

Why is it when I think of England...I get flashbacks of their performance in the UAE vs Pakistan (in tests)

South Africa appear to be looking like Bangladesh at the moment, but, never rule them out...

 

[Jo_Don]

What a snooze-fest from these two. 69(158) and 71(176)

 

[Ruri]

What a snooze-fest from these two. 69(158) and 71(176)

I agree. SA isn't doing any favours by bowling well wide of the off stump letting in as many leaves as Trott and Cook want to a defensive field.

 

[Ruri]

There! Thank god, Trott out, finally we will have some action.

 

[Jo_Don]

Woop woop, Morne!! Bring on KP, one way or another there'll be some entertainment now that Trott's gone.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Even Trott was bored of this, lost his concentration. Morkel delighted.

Now things should improve, KP in next, wonder what reception he will get?

 

[velu]

England is killing test cricket