India vs South Africa | 3rd Test | Nagpur | Nov 25-29, 2015 | Match Thread

[IndianWillow]

I was scared of this from the beginning and this is why I wanted minimum two pacers in the side at all times. SA gave adapted to spin and this has pretty much rendered Mishra and jadeja useless.

SA are rarely troubled by pace, and a batsman like Amla can play pace with eyes closed on such wickets against our trundlers. One good knock or two is to be expected from a team of SA's class, what is there to be scared of? Even in England, Australia and SA when India were getting battered, some of our batsmen always put up resistance. So why would SA go down without any fight in each and every test match? Before the tour began I did expect SA to win at least one test match, but their lack of resistance has surprised me actually. Now I see SA have redeemed their reputation a bit.

 

[MRSN]

Very well said. Less said about some of our top batsmen's (Kohli in particular) approach in this series is better.

you really need top level of patience to score here..Most Indian batsmen don't have the patience level of a test bat anymore.

 

[BaaliSoda]

Full toss followed by half tracker (gone for 4)

 

[BaaliSoda]

Mishy strikes again

Faf gone trying to play a cross batted shot of a half tracker that didn't bounce much

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Mishy Boy is a legend. Yaaaaaaaaaayyyyy

 

[MRSN]

lmao what the heck. That didn't even bounced up. What a great pitch to bat on..I'm sure [MENTION=132954]Aman[/MENTION] must be enjoying..))

 

[IndianWillow]

defending isn't the only thing..you have to score here as well which looks mission impossible on a pitch like this..I think Indian batsmen adopted the right strategy of slogging on these tracks..That's the best way to get your runs on this under prepared pitch.

Not correct. India could have reached 250 had they adopted Amla/Faf strategy and put the match beyond the wildest dreams of SA. Unless you are a Sehwag who can blaze away to a 60 off 50, slogging won't save you on this wicket. You need to be able to attack as well as defend dourly in order to get runs here.

 

[Buffet]

Full toss followed by half tracker (gone for 4)

That's part of the package with leggies, but Amla didn't agree ;(

Mishra got you guys the two set batsmen here.

 

[BaaliSoda]

you really need top level of patience to score here..Most Indian batsmen don't have the patience level of a test bat anymore.

Except Vijay at the top, i can't see any other batter in this line up putting a price on their wickets.

 

[street cricketer]

Take a bow amla and Faf. End of a fantastic partnership between the two considering the state of the pitch. Well played the two.

 

[BaaliSoda]

That's part of the package with leggies, but Amla didn't agree ;(

Mishra got you guys the two set batsmen here.

Agreed. He did get rid of both the well set batsmen in no time.

 

[BaaliSoda]

JPD living dangerously there with his foot work

 

[MRSN]

Except Vijay at the top, i can't see any other batter in this line up putting a price on their wickets.

yes Vijay or Pujara to some extent too.

 

[Adnan Siddiqui]

Take a bow amla and Faf. End of a fantastic partnership between the two considering the state of the pitch. Well played the two.

Pitch is very good. True wicket.

 

[BaaliSoda]

yes Vijay or Pujara to some extent too.

Pujara seems to have some sort of mental block these days. he looks very unconvincing and gets out in 20's and 30's frequently.

 

[Buffet]

Agreed. He did get rid of both the well set batsmen in no time.

And it was Tahir who kept the match alive after you had a lead of 200+. He was kept out of attack by Amla due to tendency of giving some freebies and came first time to bowl when you were 200+ with 7-8 wickets in hand.

Leggies are going to bowl some bad balls but they can change the game. They are not defensive bowlers so they will go for runs at times.

 

[BaaliSoda]

JPD is in aggressive mode.

Chance for getting him out is higher.

 

[BigBoy123]

Sa will get our under 170

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[MRSN]

And it was Tahir who kept the match alive after you had a lead of 200+. He was kept out of attack by Amla due to tendency of giving some freebies and came first time to bowl when you were 200+ with 7-8 wickets in hand.

Leggies are going to bowl some bad balls but they can change the game. They are not defensive bowlers so they will go for runs at times.

but I thought only offies would have been affective on this pitch when someone said Yasir would have been devastating as well?

 

[Buffet]

but I thought only offies would have been affective on this pitch when someone said Yasir would have been devastating as well?

Makes no sense for leggie to be not effective on turners.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Awful pitch and some pretty mediocre batting displays on both sides, the lack of quality cricket clearly missing in this match.

 

[#GreenRoars]

That was pathetic batting display by Amla and Faf i have ever seen.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

That was pathetic batting display by Amla and Faf i have ever seen.

What?

They were amazing. I watched them almost ball to ball.

 

[BaaliSoda]

That was an easy decision for Ump

Ashwin strikes

 

[#GreenRoars]

What?

They were amazing. I watched them almost ball to ball.

No point in blocking 200+ deliveries and don't score 60-80. At least they should have score some runs. If you block juicy full tosses, then i must say it was poor batting show. Any how you are going to lose the match, then at least try to score some runs instead of block block block.

 

[#GreenRoars]

How you leave a middle stump ball? Beyond pathetic

 

[BaaliSoda]

Another 5ver for Ash (10th of the match)

Very good catch by Saha

 

[IndianWillow]

That was pathetic batting display by Amla and Faf i have ever seen.

Great batting I would say. They showed how to bat on this wicket. Unfortunately, other batsmen did so little that their partnership will not win them the match.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

No point in blocking 200+ deliveries and don't score 60-80. At least they should have score some runs. If you block juicy full tosses, then i must say it was poor batting show. Any how you are going to lose the match, then at least try to score some runs instead of block block block.

They didn't block juicy full tosses. Maybe some rare exception.

Could have scored faster but they exhibited proper way to play and runs were coming. Post lunch, they slowed down too much but still they saw off the threatening spells by Ash and things looked fine before Mishra struck.

They showed more heart than anyone from either side this series.

 

[Buffet]

That was pathetic batting display by Amla and Faf i have ever seen.

That was the best partnership in this match. Only if we have seen more of this pathetic display in first inning, game may have progressed differently.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

lol Ash toying around the batsmen now.

Should have bowled around the wicket to Rabada.

Idiotic to go over the wicket.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Amla and Faf were never going to win game for S.A all they did was survive for a long period of time in context of the game, the highest score in match being 40 pretty much somes up the shambolic surface served up here.

 

[IndianWillow]

That was the best partnership in this match. Only if we have seen more of this pathetic display in first inning, game may have progressed differently.

So test cricket is seen as more or less a slogfest now. A terrific partnership is being described as pathetic. They scored slow but I think if they had not played cautiously SA would be bowled out for 100 here.

 

[BaaliSoda]

Ash gets 6th wicket of the innings

India just a wicket away from test series win against SA in a long time

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Tan Tana Tan Tan

Take a bow guys.

Yaaay. Series win.

Well played Hash and Faf.

For some reason, I feel Harmer has played Ash the best in this series. Plays him easily. lol.

 

[street cricketer]

Mr.Ravi shastri, please don't wear a tee shirt again. Coat is your best shot of hiding the beer belly.

 

[JaDed]

nice victory ,finally.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Good series win. Now crush them at the Kotla and hopefully a couple of guys will score hundreds .

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Ashwins bowling average is below 26 now I think. What a bowler

 

[battler]

Tan Tana Tan Tan

Take a bow guys.

Yaaay. Series win.

Well played Hash and Faf.

For some reason, I feel Harmer has played Ash the best in this series. Plays him easily. lol.

Sa have been defeated in an away series after 9 years

 

[IndianWillow]

Expect similar track at the Kotla.

 

[IndianWillow]

Ashwin is all set to eclipse Kumble if he continues to take 5fers like this.

 

[prtikul]

This series win is best performance by team India since WC win in 2011 (In my opinion)

I don't care about home advantage or how our batsmen struggled. It require lot of collective team effort to end second best streak of undefeated 15 away test series.

(Best streak was by West Indies team which remained undefeated for 18 away test series over period of 16 years. Probably even better than Australia's 20 year streak where they played 7 series & I guess very few opponents apart from England)

 

[Moh@n]

Kotla is going to be another rank turner.

We need to drop Ishant and play Harbhajan there

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Sa have been defeated in an away series after 9 years

Yaaaay

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Expect similar track at the Kotla.

I want a normal result oriented track in Delhi to be honest.

This is too much tension.

Plus our batsmen are phattus of the first order.

 

[prtikul]

Winning the toss & batting first is very important though. I don't think current fragile batting lineup can chase anything over 100 runs in 4th inning even if pitch is not a rank turner. Herath recently ran through our lineup few months back.

Kohli is kind of lucky to win all 3 coin toss in this series.

 

[IndianWillow]

I want a normal result oriented track in Delhi to be honest.

This is too much tension.

Plus our batsmen are phattus of the first order.

What tension? This was India's match all the way. Amla/Faf partnership never grew into a threat, it they had taken SA past 200 then Indians would have reason to become tense. Batsmen were never safe on this wicket even if they were well set, against bowlers like Ashwin and Mishra. 125 run win in a low scoring match is almost like an innings win.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

What tension? This was India's match all the way. Amla/Faf partnership never grew into a threat, it they had taken SA past 200 then Indians would have reason to become tense. Batsmen were never safe on this wicket even if they were well set, against bowlers like Ashwin and Mishra. 125 run win in a low scoring match is almost like an innings win.

Such pitches are fun but they reduce the gap imho.

Any other day,..SA wouldn't get all out for 79 in first innings.

Chasing 200 in Mohali, they could have easily been 100-2 or 100-3 in 4th innings (before the ball started viciously spinning) but they were 100-6 by that time.

Rank turners are fun but its too close for comfort. Mohali and Nagpur was enough for me (I say 1 rank turner per series). I wouldn't mind a normal Delhi track if it comes. If its raging turner, then I wouldn't complain too.

 

[IndianWillow]

Such pitches are fun but they reduce the gap imho.

Any other day,..SA wouldn't get all out for 79 in first innings.

Chasing 200 in Mohali, they could have easily been 100-2 or 100-3 in 4th innings (before the ball started viciously spinning) but they were 100-6 by that time.

Rank turners are fun but its too close for comfort. Mohali and Nagpur was enough for me (I say 1 rank turner per series). I wouldn't mind a normal Delhi track if it comes. If its raging turner, then I wouldn't complain too.

If India's batting was strong, I would have liked a slow turner where our batsmen can make 500 and put pressure on SA. But our batsmen may fail even on slow turners but then SA will hit back on such wickets. If Amla can last 167 balls on this wicket, I would be worried when he bats on better batting surfaces. India's best bet is to have raging turners.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

If India's batting was strong, I would have liked a slow turner where our batsmen can make 500 and put pressure on SA. But our batsmen may fail even on slow turners but then SA will hit back on such wickets. If Amla can last 167 balls on this wicket, I would be worried when he bats on better batting surfaces. India's best bet is to have raging turners.

You make a good point but Bangalore makles a good counter point too.

If we can't score big, then ownage will happen sooner or later. I don't think we will crumble on normal tracks.