South Africa beat Australia by an innings and 80 runs in the 2nd Test, take unassailable 2-0 lead

[Abdullah719]

Australia 85 & 121/2
South Africa 326

 

[Abdullah719]

Another over-turned decision. I think that is Aleem Dar's third in the match? Still not quite Dharmasena.

 

[Sachin136]

Voges is down to 62 now.

 

[Abdullah719]

So poor by Voges. He's missing West Indies.

Abbott bowling a classy spell.

 

[Sachin136]

Innings loss coming up. I didn't expect Australia to do this badly at home.

 

[Abdullah719]

Commentator saying that the Aussie batsmen should look to survive until the spinners come on... what has the world come to.

 

[Pantani]

Like I said yesterday, all South Africa had to do was break the partnership between Khawaja and Smith early in the morning, and they'd win by an innings.

Australia are like a baseball team at the moment. Three out, all out

 

[Boom boom legend]

We have nothing to fear against this Australia side. Looks an extremely weak middle order where a collapse is always around the corner.

 

[troodon]

We have nothing to fear against this Australia side. Looks an extremely weak middle order where a collapse is always around the corner.

Pakistan's best opportunity to win a series down under.

If Warner and Smith does not score a big century, this Aus batting lineup will struggle to score 300.

The only thing Pak needs to have is Yasir in top form. Pak batsman will score 300 each innings. If Yasir has a great series, Aus will struggle to score over 200.

If Aus cannot handle Abbot, Maharaj and Philander, how can they handle Amir, Yasir and Wahab? Pak's series to lose.

 

[Abdullah719]

Pakistan's best opportunity to win a series down under.

If Warner and Smith does not score a big century, this Aus batting lineup will struggle to score 300.

The only thing Pak needs to have is Yasir in top form. Pak batsman will score 300 each innings. If Yasir has a great series, Aus will struggle to score over 200.

If Aus cannot handle Abbot, Maharaj and Philander, how can they handle Amir, Yasir and Wahab? Pak's series to lose.

I think you're underrating Abbott and Philander a little. They have bowled excellent spells and are very used to exploiting conditions with a bit of help for the bowlers. Brilliant discipline.

And another goes.

 

[Pantani]

What a snorter that bouncer was. First wicket today that wasn't a result of atrocious batting

 

[Pakprideuk]

Pakistan's best opportunity to win a series down under.

If Warner and Smith does not score a big century, this Aus batting lineup will struggle to score 300.

The only thing Pak needs to have is Yasir in top form. Pak batsman will score 300 each innings. If Yasir has a great series, Aus will struggle to score over 200.

If Aus cannot handle Abbot, Maharaj and Philander, how can they handle Amir, Yasir and Wahab? Pak's series to lose.

Only difference is that where Pakistan plays and during the time of the year Pakistan play, the wickets will be extremely flat and the weather hot so the likes of Khawaja, Warner, Smith will come to the party. If the conditions remain what they are now, Pakistan would eat them alive.

 

[world cup captain]

If Smith losses form, Pakistan should destroy Australia in the test series. However, looking at the conditions, the pitches will be complete highways.

 

[world cup captain]

There goes Smith

 

[Pantani]

This will be Australia's fourth innings defeat at home this decade. Three to England over the 2010/11 Ashes.

Before that the last two times were in 1993 at the WACA against West Indies, and 1986 at the MCG against England.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Congrats Abbott. Whenever I see him play Tests cricket he delivers for South Africa

 

[OS_89]

Abbott's a class bowler. SA's pace bowling stocks are mind-boggling.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Congrats South Africa for a third series win in Australia in a row. This was easily the weakest Australian side of the 3 series but South Africa have shown their class and demolished them. Wonder what Johnson is gonna tweet now?

 

[Abdullah719]

South Africa win by an innings and 80 runs.

 

[Hamza_]

What a joke this Aussie side is

 

[Buffet]

Fantastic bowling. There were many PPers who were 100% sure about SA not playing well in future after Kallis, Smith etc left and Steyn looked injured. I said even then that domestic strength of SA cricket is strong enough to still play good cricket. Couple of bad series hardly means that SA was going to play poorly in future, but many posters, who post long posts here, seems to fully believe that SA was done.

 

[Sachin136]

Congrats South Africa for a third series win in Australia in a row. This was easily the weakest Australian side of the 3 series but South Africa have shown their class and demolished them. Wonder what Johnson is gonna tweet now?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congrats SA too good <a href="https://twitter.com/Kyle_Abbott87">@Kyle_Abbott87</a> well bowled bud. Disappointed for AUS, time to stand by them & fight for the rest of the summer.</p>— Mitchell Johnson (@MitchJohnson398) <a href="https://twitter.com/MitchJohnson398/status/798329014091816960">November 15, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Buffet]

What a joke this Aussie side is

Well, Pakistan should whitewash this joke side. Let's see what happens.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Makes me kinda sad looking at this Aussie side. I started watching cricket in 2006 because of that Australian side and their fighting attitude. This side is nothing like that

 

[Hamza_]

Well, Pakistan should whitewash this joke side. Let's see what happens.

Alot depends on seamers if wickets are like these to exploit conditions. Rahat, Amir and Sohail as 3 seamers. Might gamble with Sharjeel at #7 to score dominantly.

 

[OS_89]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congrats SA too good <a href="https://twitter.com/Kyle_Abbott87">@Kyle_Abbott87</a> well bowled bud. Disappointed for AUS, time to stand by them & fight for the rest of the summer.</p>— Mitchell Johnson (@MitchJohnson398) <a href="https://twitter.com/MitchJohnson398/status/798329014091816960">November 15, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Classy from MJ

 

[szrana007]

Well, Pakistan should whitewash this joke side. Let's see what happens.

lol, I fear, we are gonna get whitewashed.

 

[MMHS]

Unless Aussies stop playing their Jackie Chan style batting, things won't improve. They lost 20 wickets in 93 overs against an attack without Styen!!!

This is the debt service of playing ODI cricket on absolute belters. On such wickets, with their batting depth, Aussies start to slog from ball 1 & maintain a RR over 5.5 through-out - one partnership, they are close to either side of 350. This won't work when there is something in wicket - recently SRL did realize that, but they were too inexperienced to cash on good starts, lost way in middle order. But, going forward, I see Aussies struggling big time even in ODIs on balanced wickets, where 250 is match winning.

This Gang Ho style won't work if there is some of help for the bowlers - be it spinner or pacer.
[MENTION=135134]CricketAnalyst[/MENTION] - please en-light us with your analysis regarding this Test & Warner's approach to the game. I am sure, the culprit was Smith - played almost 35% of the total balls played by his team & cost them with his defensive batting.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

Fantastic bowling. There were many PPers who were 100% sure about SA not playing well in future after Kallis, Smith etc left and Steyn looked injured. I said even then that domestic strength of SA cricket is strong enough to still play good cricket. Couple of bad series hardly means that SA was going to play poorly in future, but many posters, who post long posts here, seems to fully believe that SA was done.

Don't take them too seriously mate, being good historians and having zilch knowledge of the game is something in trend on PP these days !!

SA are a cricketing powerhouse not because they had majority white players playing; they were and are a force to reckon with because their First Class structure is, if not better, but at par with Shield and County circuits. As a matter of fact, given the current players coming from Australia I'd say they're well ahead at the moment. It is however sad to see how shield cricket has taken a serious hit after some questionable selections and policies.

A cricketing nation that breaded the likes of Amla, Ntini, Duminy etc won't just suddenly become hapless if quota policies are applied (Even though I strongly disagree with the said policy) since both White and Non White players come from the same system and are trained / compete along similar lines in their First Class.

If such a simple concept is alien to some 'Analysts' of the game then i guess they should just apply their massively superior strategy to help their own country first crawl out of minnow territory. There is a reason why some teams are considered top test playing ones while others could pass along for weak FC sides.

SA have always been my favorite team watching growing up and I hope they keep their same intensity and standards in playing professional test cricket as they have had been historically.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Unless Aussies stop playing their Jackie Chan style batting, things won't improve. They lost 20 wickets in 93 overs against an attack without Styen!!!

This is the debt service of playing ODI cricket on absolute belters. On such wickets, with their batting depth, Aussies start to slog from ball 1 & maintain a RR over 5.5 through-out - one partnership, they are close to either side of 350. This won't work when there is something in wicket - recently SRL did realize that, but they were too inexperienced to cash on good starts, lost way in middle order. But, going forward, I see Aussies struggling big time even in ODIs on balanced wickets, where 250 is match winning.

This Gang Ho style won't work if there is some of help for the bowlers - be it spinner or pacer.
[MENTION=135134]CricketAnalyst[/MENTION] - please en-light us with your analysis regarding this Test & Warner's approach to the game. I am sure, the culprit was Smith - played almost 35% of the total balls played by his team & cost them with his defensive batting.

It's about skill levels too not just about intent. Look at the 2003 World Cup final. That pitch had enough in it for bowlers but despite the occasion the Aussies set India a mammoth total. You know why? Because they were a class apart.

 

[LegendAli]

SA is too good just wow.

Mind you, there was no ABD and Steyn, just insane.

 

[Anuj25]

one of the main strength of Australia WAS mental Toughness, they may believed they could win from any position.
This Australian outfit has been hammered and buried in the ground mentally.
Its A golden opportunity for Pakistan to defeat Australia in their own Backyard.

 

[MMHS]

It's about skill levels too not just about intent. Look at the 2003 World Cup final. That pitch had enough in it for bowlers but despite the occasion the Aussies set India a mammoth total. You know why? Because they were a class apart.

That's partially true, but it doesn't explain still why AUS is top ODI side (I know they lost 5-0 in SAF) & struggling big time in Spin, seem or bounce friendly wickets. But, are you sure that Jo'Burg wicket had enough? Apart from few overs with new ball, IND was matching the scoring rate ball by ball till probably 25th over (at one point, they could have won on DWL, had the rain stopped the game) - that too after losing Tendulkar in 1st over.

That was one of the best ever side, but this side is very good in ODI/T20 on absolute belters; but struggles when the wicket is more balanced. Recently they have lost to SAF chasing 190, got all-out to SAF for 167 & struggled to pass 200ish scores of SRL & lost to WI defending 260. That AUS side often bailed themselves out from disaster starts on helpful wickets (I thnk twice in that WC itself they did so).

Skill & ability is definitely a big factor, but I feel this AUS side doesn't have what it takes to grind out - most of them has only 1 gear. Think about Hayden - he was as aggressive, if not more than Warner - but he has 1 or 2 doubles in IND batting over 4 sessions & once he batted 8 hours for a hundred in UAE against PAK in 50C heat.

 

[161]

Perfect conditions for the Saffer attack.

Australia is home away from home for them.

 

[anuk]

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] is this worse than the situation australia was in the 1980s? i think people are getting overly concerned though. with australian genetics,diet and cricket structure, it won't be long before they are near the top again.

 

[Buffet]

Don't take them too seriously mate, being good historians and having zilch knowledge of the game is something in trend on PP these days !!

SA are a cricketing powerhouse not because they had majority white players playing; they were and are a force to reckon with because their First Class structure is, if not better, but at par with Shield and County circuits. As a matter of fact, given the current players coming from Australia I'd say they're well ahead at the moment. It is however sad to see how shield cricket has taken a serious hit after some questionable selections and policies.

A cricketing nation that breaded the likes of Amla, Ntini, Duminy etc won't just suddenly become hapless if quota policies are applied (Even though I strongly disagree with the said policy) since both White and Non White players come from the same system and are trained / compete along similar lines in their First Class.

If such a simple concept is alien to some 'Analysts' of the game then i guess they should just apply their massively superior strategy to help their own country first crawl out of minnow territory. There is a reason why some teams are considered top test playing ones while others could pass along for weak FC sides.

SA have always been my favorite team watching growing up and I hope they keep their same intensity and standards in playing professional test cricket as they have had been historically.

Endless talk about quota making SA useless in recent months got to my nerve otherwise I refrain from criticizing anyone much. Sure, transition may result in some weakness, but it's not going to make SA permanently a useless team. We may not dominate that much, but then any team doesn't keep dominating forever. SA was never going to come down at WI level overnight due to quota. I personally don't support quota, but I can see why it's being done. Impact of quota was way overblown. It may dilute quality a bit, but not to an extent that SA will be permanently ranked at 6-7.

 

[street cricketer]

Congrats South Africa. They have a knack of winning in Australia.

Oh dear Australia. This team will be their worst ever team in their history if they don't turn the tide soon. The only way I see Pakistan not winning the series is if the wickets are flat when they come to play.

 

[Junaids]

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] is this worse than the situation australia was in the 1980s? i think people are getting overly concerned though. with australian genetics,diet and cricket structure, it won't be long before they are near the top again.

I'm going to post a thread on this after work!

Short answer: emerging batting even worse this time: last time there were two Waughs, Dean Jones, Mark Taylor and David Boon emerging.

There are good quicks coming through though: Starc and Hazlewood are excellent, but Cummins and Pattinson are too. If they can ever get fit.

 

[Aman]

SA really are something else.

Fearsome pace attack, quality spinners, excellent batsmen and SA Gilly

 

[MMHS]

Congrats South Africa. They have a knack of winning in Australia.

Oh dear Australia. This team will be their worst ever team in their history if they don't turn the tide soon. The only way I see Pakistan not winning the series is if the wickets are flat when they come to play.

Was this wicket really a mine field? Rain had a bit in it, & a good part of the match was played under lights; but is this really a wicket for 190 overs Test? This game is finished before 1st drinks on Day 3, effectively - and SAF was missing the best bowler for such conditions (Abott did make up that loss more than it's share, but I believe had Styen been fit, SAF would have gone with 4 pacers - they opted to bowl first as well).

There were some absolute unplayable ball on Day 1 by SAF, but these collapse (by both teams) were endorsed by some really poor shots, I can add Bavuma as well. Take about AUS's 1st innings - Warner & Ferguson were gifted wickets in 1st innings. Amla played a horrible shot at wrong time after being well set. In 2nd innings, Warner, Burns, Khawaja, Voges & Ferguson were out to shots that you don't play facing 241 deficit & series at stake.

Nothing taken away from SAF or Hazlewood/Starc, but I think, this was more than a good wicket for this match to go to double distance.

 

[troodon]

SA destroy Aus yet again without Steyn and AB.

Aus have hit rock bottom. Confidence at an all time low.

 

[street cricketer]

Was this wicket really a mine field? Rain had a bit in it, & a good part of the match was played under lights; but is this really a wicket for 190 overs Test? This game is finished before 1st drinks on Day 3, effectively - and SAF was missing the best bowler for such conditions (Abott did make up that loss more than it's share, but I believe had Styen been fit, SAF would have gone with 4 pacers - they opted to bowl first as well).

There were some absolute unplayable ball on Day 1 by SAF, but these collapse (by both teams) were endorsed by some really poor shots, I can add Bavuma as well. Take about AUS's 1st innings - Warner & Ferguson were gifted wickets in 1st innings. Amla played a horrible shot at wrong time after being well set. In 2nd innings, Warner, Burns, Khawaja, Voges & Ferguson were out to shots that you don't play facing 241 deficit & series at stake.

Nothing taken away from SAF or Hazlewood/Starc, but I think, this was more than a good wicket for this match to go to double distance.

The ball moved around in the first day. And Australian line up collapsed like a pack of cards. The thing with this Aussie line up is that they don't know to play time during dry periods of run scoring. They don't have the patience or discipline to not play loose shots over a long time. So as soon as they collapsed in the first day, even with a day washed out, they were never going to survive under pressure for more than a day when run scoring was made difficult by the good bowling of the Saffers.

Pakistan have that in abundance and that will probably be the difference between the two sides when they meet soon.

 

[soso_killer]

Just woke up to prep for work, 4:30 AM over here.
Was expecting Aus to be at 300/3.

Three series wins in a row down under is monumental, especially with the injuries we've been hampered with.

The magnitude of this result will be put into perspective by how Pakistan perform over there.

 

[Protea Fan]

I know Faf is getting major points for his captaincy deservedly and that means we have stopped talking about Faf the batsman. So when AB comes back, and Faf's lack of runs, and the quota system, I wonder how that would play out.

Faf the batsman has been disappointing though. He's been playing for 4 years now and still has under 2K test runs after that gigantic start

 

[MMHS]

The ball moved around in the first day. And Australian line up collapsed like a pack of cards. The thing with this Aussie line up is that they don't know to play time during dry periods of run scoring. They don't have the patience or discipline to not play loose shots over a long time. So as soon as they collapsed in the first day, even with a day washed out, they were never going to survive under pressure for more than a day when run scoring was made difficult by the good bowling of the Saffers.

Pakistan have that in abundance and that will probably be the difference between the two sides when they meet soon.

PAK (for that matter any team, may be apart from ENG for their depth), won't do much better against that bowling effort on Day 1 - it was simply awesome. But, 85 is ... you know.

I think, apart from temperament, another major issue is the limitation of AUS batting, when it comes to shot making or diversity of strokes against different type of bowlers. Most of the Aussie batsmen are very good in their particular game - Warner in Cut, Khawaja on driving on the rise .... But, they don't have the diversity of strokes to bail out time - add to that lack of temperament to buy out time. Think about Steve - he was a poor strater with very few shots at start, but, he would survive 1st hour ugly & then cash later. Current AUS team is very good in executing attacking shot on belters, but well-planned teams can choke them & then on helpful condition, their release shot is producing lots of wickets (but, that's not exposed in 330 per ODI tracks). For example, Warner's strongest shot is cut - and he gets out to that shot most times. This may be common for many other greats as well, but Warner's time of dismissal is horrible - he doesn't know when to restrain to survive.

PAK should do well this time, but question is which PAK will turn out - a side that finished English Tour 2-2 with a 10 wicket win at Oval or the side that lost to WI at Sharjah like a novice.

 

[soso_killer]

I know Faf is getting major points for his captaincy deservedly and that means we have stopped talking about Faf the batsman. So when AB comes back, and Faf's lack of runs, and the quota system, I wonder how that would play out.

Faf the batsman has been disappointing though. He's been playing for 4 years now and still has under 2K test runs after that gigantic start

Quotas have nothing to do with.
To be captain of this great country of ours one has to be good enough primarily as a bat or as bowler.
Faf isn't doing much in either, he makes way for AB finish and klaar.

 

[Buffet]

The magnitude of this result will be put into perspective by how Pakistan perform over there.

I will be waiting for that as well. It will tell us a lot. Anyway, win is a win.

 

[MMHS]

I know Faf is getting major points for his captaincy deservedly and that means we have stopped talking about Faf the batsman. So when AB comes back, and Faf's lack of runs, and the quota system, I wonder how that would play out.

Faf the batsman has been disappointing though. He's been playing for 4 years now and still has under 2K test runs after that gigantic start

I don't think, that's going to be a big problem. What I have seen, Bauma is quite good with his judgement & technique against pace & new ball. SAF can drop that wastage of space Cook & open with Bavuma. I think, bigger problem will be to accommodate Abbott - SAF needs a spinner in playing XI, but if they decide to go with 4 pacers, then the quota (if strictly applicable) comes in to equation.

Bavuma, Elgar
Amla, JP, AB, FaF, DKok
VP, Maharaj/Shamshi/Peidt, Styen, Rabada.

That's a damn good team for most conditions, and they can drop Vernon for 2nd spinner, if required. Only problem will be on green tops - if they want to go with 4 pacers & Abbott being the 4th one. In that case, probably Elgar has to make way for a non white batsman & Abbott replacing the spinner - but that's only if 6 player quota is strictly applied.

 

[soso_killer]

I will be waiting for that as well. It will tell us a lot. Anyway, win is a win.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to the day/night Test.
That's the only Test i expected us to win under our current circumstances.
Australia ate very vulnerable against the moving ball.
What an opportunity to make it 3-0, that would be monumental irrespective of how Pakistan perform.
Whitewashing Australia in their backyard is rare.
The Windies also won 3 series in a row there, did they whitewash Australia at any stage?

 

[spade]

What a shame really wanted Aussies to atleast make SA bat again, but this is pure capitulation. Disappointed to witness such a poor performance on home turf. World cricket standards are at an all time low. The best teams have at best average skill set the likes of India, Pakistan and South Africa. Australia seriously need to find an answer.

 

[soso_killer]

I don't think, that's going to be a big problem. What I have seen, Bauma is quite good with his judgement & technique against pace & new ball. SAF can drop that wastage of space Cook & open with Bavuma. I think, bigger problem will be to accommodate Abbott - SAF needs a spinner in playing XI, but if they decide to go with 4 pacers, then the quota (if strictly applicable) comes in to equation.

Bavuma, Elgar
Amla, JP, AB, FaF, DKok
VP, Maharaj/Shamshi/Peidt, Styen, Rabada.

That's a damn good team for most conditions, and they can drop Vernon for 2nd spinner, if required. Only problem will be on green tops - if they want to go with 4 pacers & Abbott being the 4th one. In that case, probably Elgar has to make way for a non white batsman & Abbott replacing the spinner - but that's only if 6 player quota is strictly applied.

No, why would we create another Van Zyl episode?
The guy was a number 3/4 batsman, in anticipation of Pieterson decline and retirement, CSA requested the Cobras to make him open the batting two seasons prior to his selection
It failed miserably, despite opening for two seasons.

Bavuma has never batted higher than 4th, why would he work out? He's fine where he is.
Cook must be given an extended run until a specialist young opener pops up.

 

[Junaids]

I know Faf is getting major points for his captaincy deservedly and that means we have stopped talking about Faf the batsman. So when AB comes back, and Faf's lack of runs, and the quota system, I wonder how that would play out.

Faf the batsman has been disappointing though. He's been playing for 4 years now and still has under 2K test runs after that gigantic start

FAF will not fit into the white quota when AB is fit.

They will have to drop Cook to keep him within the "five whites" cap, because they can't drop Elgar or De Villiers or De Kock or Steyn/Abbott.

 

[MMHS]

No, why would we create another Van Zyl episode?
The guy was a number 3/4 batsman, in anticipation of Pieterson decline and retirement, CSA requested the Cobras to make him open the batting two seasons prior to his selection
It failed miserably, despite opening for two seasons.

Bavuma has never batted higher than 4th, why would he work out? He's fine where he is.
Cook must be given an extended run until a specialist young opener pops up.

You didn't understand my point.

If AB comes back, either they have to drop FaF for him or Cook (As I said if 6 quota is strictly applied). In hat case, SAF can open with Amla & Elgar - which is obvious. I posted Bavuma as opener as the 2nd thought, in case if they don't move Amla. D Kok is batting so well at 7 that I'll never move him from there - so it's a choice of dropping FaF for AB, or play a make shift opener (Bavuma) or relax on 6 racial quota (AB for Bavuma, while FaF retained as Captain).

 

[Buffet]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to the day/night Test.
That's the only Test i expected us to win under our current circumstances.
Australia ate very vulnerable against the moving ball.
What an opportunity to make it 3-0, that would be monumental irrespective of how Pakistan perform.
Whitewashing Australia in their backyard is rare.
The Windies also won 3 series in a row there, did they whitewash Australia at any stage?

Nope, I don't think that Aus got whitewashed by WI.

 

[Ashraful_Rox]

South Africa is the best team at the moment, they just need to win a world cup.

 

[The_Odd_One]

I have never seen a more hopeless Australian team.

SA won the series despite AB not playing, Amla not in form, and Faf completely forgetting how to bat.

 

[ShoonyaSifar]

5 test losses on the bounce for Aus. Even we did not lose 5 tests on the trot under Dhoni, its that bad.

I do hope SA go onto whitewash the Aussies, will be fun.

 

[Buffet]

I have never seen a more hopeless Australian team.

SA won the series despite AB not playing, Amla not in form, and Faf completely forgetting how to bat.

To add , Steyn not being there.

 

[Suleiman]

No Steyn, no ABD, Morkel didn't get a game, but they still won especially considering 80-90% of folks here thought they'd get blanked.

I think [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] said this in another thread, but after a great era for a team there comes a generation gap where the greats retire and the newcomers take time to adjust and the team as a whole takes a slight dip in wins, think 2015 was that dip, but SAF are recovering now with guys like QdK, Bavuma, Abbott and Rabada stepping up to the plate.

People give test cricket a lot of flak that it's gonna die or whatever, but for me personally this era of test cricket is more exciting than mid 2000s because there's no 1 great team, every team in the top 5 more or less are on equal level and it makes the contests more exciting.

 

[jeetu]

ABBOTT, RABADA ROUT AUSTRALIA FOR SERIES VICTORY

THE Standard Bank Proteas routed Australia on the fourth morning of the second Test at Hobart to claim an emphatic series win with more than a day and two sessions to spare. It was their third successive series win in Australia following similar triumphs in 2008 and 2012.

The winning margin was an innings and 80 runs with Australia suffering an even worse collapse than in the first innings, losing 8 wickets for 32 runs to the combined onslaught from Man of the Match Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander.

The match was actually all over in less than seven sessions, taking into account the loss of the full second day on Sunday.

Although the wickets today were shared by Abbott and Radada, Philander deserves equal credit for the way he also built pressure, bowling one dot ball after another of precision line and length. He bowled 31 balls before he conceded a run on the morning with Australian captain Steve Smith taking 40 minutes to get off the mark.

It was this pressure that caused the devastating collapse that was to follow.

Abbott made the initial breakthroughs to get rid of Usman Khawaja and Adam Voges, then Rabada swept the middle and lower order away with a display of hostility and pace that was far too good for his opponents before Abbott wrapped up the tail.

Abbott took 6/77 in 23.1 overs to finish with a match return of 9/118.

Rabad took 4/9 in his spell and has clearly introduced a fear factor that the Australian batsmen have been unable to overcome.

As for Abbott, as the replacement for Dale Steyn he could not have done a better job.

This is certainly the Proteas most devastating win ever over Australia on Australian soil which is saying a lot considering some of the memorable moments that have occurred in the past. It includes matching the performances of the great West Indies side of the late 1980s and early 1990s of winning three series in a row in Australia.

The opportunity is now there in the day/night Test at Adelaide to complete a first ever clean sweep on Australian soil. This victory comes the day after the 25th anniversary of the Proteas first ever international victory in the third ODI of the 1991 series in India at Delhi.

 

[AlphaFighter]

This is Pakistan's best chance to make history.

 

[Slog]

I have never seen a more hopeless Australian team.

SA won the series despite AB not playing, Amla not in form, and Faf completely forgetting how to bat.

dont worry

we will make them look unbeatable in a month

 

[Saffer_XIII]

What happens to Cook? He's like a less impressive version of Voges. Old man who started well but has gone to the dogs

 

[JaDed]

Congrats to the team,remarkable really now all that is remaining is Saffers getting Alastair Cook to retire the token English captain retirement when they tour next year for 4 tests.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Congrats to S.A on 3rd series win in a Row in Australia what an achievement and that without their best two players. Also well done Faf for being such a good captain and bring the best out of the current S.A team.

 

[osee_bhai]

Absolute domination. At home, without the two best oppo players, and you serve up that? SA were really good, especially in those conditions, but this was very poor. If we lost by an innings at home in two and a half days in that manner, there would be a riot.

 

[MMHS]

No Steyn, no ABD, Morkel didn't get a game, but they still won especially considering 80-90% of folks here thought they'd get blanked.

I think [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] said this in another thread, but after a great era for a team there comes a generation gap where the greats retire and the newcomers take time to adjust and the team as a whole takes a slight dip in wins, think 2015 was that dip, but SAF are recovering now with guys like QdK, Bavuma, Abbott and Rabada stepping up to the plate.

People give test cricket a lot of flak that it's gonna die or whatever, but for me personally this era of test cricket is more exciting than mid 2000s because there's no 1 great team, every team in the top 5 more or less are on equal level and it makes the contests more exciting.

That's one part - transition from a great generation, which had to cost SAF some years. Also, the 2nd part is raising your game (for seniors still there) to guide the young team. I give two classic examples - AUS lost 3/4 of their ATGs in early 80s - that rebuilding Aussie team had some of the best youngsters, but more than that, they had AB - Border raised his game to a father figure level between 1984 to 1988, before the Boons, Marsh, Waughs & Jones took over. Almost similar role was played by Javed when PAK lost about 5/6 stalwarts in 2/3 years time. Here, I am a bit disappointed that 2 of the ATGs in SAF (AB & Amla), didn't raise to the occasion to cover for Smith & Jaques, particularly in tougher assignments.

I am not someone who'll support to the racial quota - but, in longer run, I am sure this 'll help SAF Cricket. For a country with multi racial people, a dying sports can't survive without making it popular among the majority (here almost 90%). That racial quota had to be implemented at some point to make Cricket a global game (in SAF demographic context). SAF has a fantastic domestic system, even from the Apartheid era (Transvaal at one point was the best FC team in world), but you need mass people to follow the game, for that system to nurture the best talents across the entire population base, for next generation.

It was given that there will be 6 non white players - we might not like that, but that's reality (& to a certain extent logical as well - it covers over 85% people). What made possible for SAF to such a great turn around is that their non white players raised their game & make the XI on proper merit. SAF was always a good team - even after 20 years of isolation, their domestic system kept them at the highest level of the game. Now they are going in to another phase - bringing deprived majority in to some sort of parity. To their credit, Amla, JP, Bavuma, Vernon, Rabada & Maharaj proved that, even without any quota, they are good enough make the team at highest level. Here the transition is not about Smith/Kallis/Pollock/Styen/Morkel to next generation only; it's also about the non white players raising their game to highest level.

I attribute this quick turn around of SAF cricket (add that 5-0 in ODI as well) entirely to their non white players. Unless there are a better non white players, even with an average of 25-30 JP & Bavuma would have made the team; Rabada & Phillander would have played every match had they been our Shafiul & India's Pandeya - but, they are good, exceptionally good - that's the main reason of this quick turn around, otherwise it could have taken a decade.

 

[Barragan]

What a thumping by SA and to do it without Steyn is an incredible achievement.

 

[Slog]

Fantastic bowling. There were many PPers who were 100% sure about SA not playing well in future after Kallis, Smith etc left and Steyn looked injured. I said even then that domestic strength of SA cricket is strong enough to still play good cricket. Couple of bad series hardly means that SA was going to play poorly in future, but many posters, who post long posts here, seems to fully believe that SA was done.

Oh savage post

'Many posters, who post long posts here" )

Congrats on series win man!

 

[Buffet]

Oh savage post

'Many posters, who post long posts here" )

Congrats on series win man!

Thanks. I was just fed up with all talk about quota and labeling Vern as a quota player as if he was good for nothing bowler. I had a go at it few months back, but then gave up. My post was just due to frustration.

 

[Adil_94]

great win by SA. Comprehensively outplayed the Aussies and bullied them in this series. Since Day 1 of the 1st Test. The Saffers have outplayed them in 9 days of Cricket in a row that takes something special. Rabada is like a rolls royce he looks like a mainstay for the next decade. Abbott looked very impressive.