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South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 206 runs in the first Test

Abdullah719

T20I Captain
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
Runs
44,824
South Africa Squad
F du Plessis*, KJ Abbott, HM Amla, T Bavuma, SC Cook, TB de Bruyn, Q de Kock†, JP Duminy, D Elgar, KA Maharaj, WD Parnell, VD Philander, K Rabada

Sri Lanka Squad
AD Mathews*, JRMWS Bandara, PVD Chameera, LD Chandimal†, DM de Silva, ANPR Fernando, HMRKB Herath, FDM Karunaratne, CBRLS Kumara, RAS Lakmal, BKG Mendis, MDK Perera, MDKJ Perera, JK Silva, WU Tharanga

Starting time: 08:00 GMT (13:00 PST)
 
Port Elizabeth wicket is normally Sub continent type. Big chance for Sri Lanka. Also the bands and trumpets played there will make them feel at home.
 
Can't wait. I always enjoy the brass band and atmosphere of PE. Hopefully we get to see good cricket from both teams and not some one-sided affair.
 
Will Amla be able to hit those Lankan trundlers and again reclaim his downgoing legacy?
 
SA is such a beautiful place to watch cricket. Always enjoyable, regardless of the format.
 
Will Amla be able to hit those Lankan trundlers and again reclaim his downgoing legacy?
Its now a lose-lose situation for him after your post. He scores heavy , its only against Lankan trundlers. He doesn't score , can't even score against Lankan trundlers. All bases are covered.
 
This Sri Lankan bowling is useless. They basically wasting the new ball by bowling rubbish. Batsmen look untroubled by this powder puff bowling.
 
God it's so depressing to see Mathews bowling his 120k thunderbolts within the first 10 overs on a south african pitch.

Why hasn't Chameera bowled yet?
 
Outfield looks really fast and the bowlers don't look threatening

We could be in for a long, bad day ��
 
Already looking like it's going to be a long day for the Sri Lankans.

All asian teams almost inevitably get trounced in South Africa for some reason. What's more surprising is that this is not a particularly strong South African team. Hopefully we are able to do better when we land on the south african shores next year.

Vijay
Rahul
Pujara
Kohli (c)
Rahane
Parthiv (wk)
Ashwin
Pandya/Jadeja
Bhuvi/Ishant
Yadav
Shami

This team should be able to do better than the last time when our attack lacked penetration in the 2nd innings. One thing that should go in our favour is that south africa is a place where we have tended to do relatively better than in any other country outside asia in the last 10 years or so. A match at Durban will help too.
 
Lanka's attcak looks pretty doomy ,it would be disastrous if amla not score something huge here
 
Already looking like it's going to be a long day for the Sri Lankans.

All asian teams almost inevitably get trounced in South Africa for some reason. What's more surprising is that this is not a particularly strong South African team. Hopefully we are able to do better when we land on the south african shores next year.

Vijay
Rahul
Pujara
Kohli (c)
Rahane
Parthiv (wk)
Ashwin
Pandya/Jadeja
Bhuvi/Ishant
Yadav
Shami

This team should be able to do better than the last time when our attack lacked penetration in the 2nd innings. One thing that should go in our favour is that south africa is a place where we have tended to do relatively better than in any other country outside asia in the last 10 years or so. A match at Durban will help too.

Been looking at the scoredcard of previous South Africa vs India matches, they always seem to be close. Got a feeling next years series will be as well. A golden chance for India to win the series. If Indian bowling attack can fire, could be a famous series win for India.
 
Been looking at the scoredcard of previous South Africa vs India matches, they always seem to be close. Got a feeling next years series will be as well. A golden chance for India to win the series. If Indian bowling attack can fire, could be a famous series win for India.

Mainly because we have a good record at Jo'burg and we usually get a match there every time. It has always been a case of coming within sight of the finish line but not enough to get over it in South Africa for us. Won a match in 06 but lost the series then. But we were very close to winning a historic series in South Africa in 2010, only for that man Jacques Kallis again to defy us in the end. Doesn't help when our bowlers become flat when the pitch flattens out in the 2nd innings.

We will probably get served green pitches next year as SA would be itching to return the favour (as we served them rank turners last year). But honestly, I would want the pitches to be juicy ones as that will make our bowlers potent. We have always done well when the track has something in it (Perth 07, Jo'burg 06, Lords 14, etc) and we always struggle to close out sides when the pitch is a road or flattens out in the 2nd innings (Jo'burg 13 when SA nearly chased 450 in the final innings, Wellington '14 when B'Mac hit that famous triple while facing an innings defeat, Ind vs Aus series in '14 when all the pitches were pretty flat). Hopefully the helpful pitches help our bowlers. Forget about it being a famous series win, it will be a historic one as no asian side has won in South Africa ever.
 
Mainly because we have a good record at Jo'burg and we usually get a match there every time. It has always been a case of coming within sight of the finish line but not enough to get over it in South Africa for us. Won a match in 06 but lost the series then. But we were very close to winning a historic series in South Africa in 2010, only for that man Jacques Kallis again to defy us in the end. Doesn't help when our bowlers become flat when the pitch flattens out in the 2nd innings.

We will probably get served green pitches next year as SA would be itching to return the favour (as we served them rank turners last year). But honestly, I would want the pitches to be juicy ones as that will make our bowlers potent. We have always done well when the track has something in it (Perth 07, Jo'burg 06, Lords 14, etc) and we always struggle to close out sides when the pitch is a road or flattens out in the 2nd innings (Jo'burg 13 when SA nearly chased 450 in the final innings, Wellington '14 when B'Mac hit that famous triple while facing an innings defeat, Ind vs Aus series in '14 when all the pitches were pretty flat). Hopefully the helpful pitches help our bowlers. Forget about it being a famous series win, it will be a historic one as no asian side has won in South Africa ever.

India and Pakistan seem to do ok in South Africa but than will just collapse out of nowhere.

I agree with what you have said about the pitches, I think if them type of pitches were produced there would almost certainly be a result in the game. Steyn and Rabada will love those conditions so wouldn't be easy for your batters. But I think they are capable of scoring runs in such conditions.
 
Amla clearly short of confidence and worrying about his wicket, but a player of his caliber will make the opposition pay if they don't dismiss him while he is at his most vulnerable.
 
Sri Lanka need a big final session today otherwise South Africa are going to run away with this and post a huge total.

Duminy is looking in good touch.
 
India and Pakistan seem to do ok in South Africa but than will just collapse out of nowhere.

I agree with what you have said about the pitches, I think if them type of pitches were produced there would almost certainly be a result in the game. Steyn and Rabada will love those conditions so wouldn't be easy for your batters. But I think they are capable of scoring runs in such conditions.

It's pretty simple. We are a batting oriented team. So we will draw more matches on flat tracks (like in the Ind vs Aus series) but won't win a match because our bowlers aren't the greatest on placid tracks. However green tracks will definitely be difficult for our batsmen, but they give us the best chance of winning matches just like rank turners give the non asian sides the best chance of winning a match in asia.

Definitely facing a Steyn (however old he maybe) and Rabada on a green track will be one of the most difficult tasks in the world. But I will expect at least one out of Vijay, Rahul, Pujara, Kohli and Rahane to fire on a green track. But I don't have the same trust on our bowlers of picking 20 wickets on a flat track.
 
Its so weird, having watched the Pak Aus test during the night, i saw so much carry and here the ball is barely carrying to knee height.
 
Amla is finished.

Can't even score against trundlers like Lakmal.
 
Huge wicket of Duminy, he was looking well set. Sri Lanka would love to grab another one or two with the second new ball coming up soon.

Its so weird, having watched the Pak Aus test during the night, i saw so much carry and here the ball is barely carrying to knee height.

Port Elizabeth is one of the slower and lower pitches in South Africa. Best place for Sri Lanka to start the series.
 
Oh he's out ! I thought this was going down leg or was too high but the decision's been overturned on review

Herath himself didn't seem to fancy it.

Great review and SL have now got SA under some pressure.
 
Credit to Herath, he's still manages to be a threat in unfavourable conditions outside Asia even on a Day 1 pitch.

2 wickets for him so far.
 
Come on lanka! where are you [MENTION=132270]SL_Fan[/MENTION] [MENTION=134867]Kiri[/MENTION] !
 
South Africa were looking very comfortable and heading for a 400+ score. Now they've been pegged back.

Quinton de Kock is capable of a swift counterattack. He is a dangerous player, SL need to remove him and get into the tail. They'll be happy if they can restrict SA to around 300-320 on a good batting wicket.

This period at the end of today's play with the second new ball is going to be crucial. South Africa need a big partnership between these two of Du Plessis and de Kock.
 
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It's pretty simple. We are a batting oriented team. So we will draw more matches on flat tracks (like in the Ind vs Aus series) but won't win a match because our bowlers aren't the greatest on placid tracks. However green tracks will definitely be difficult for our batsmen, but they give us the best chance of winning matches just like rank turners give the non asian sides the best chance of winning a match in asia.

Definitely facing a Steyn (however old he maybe) and Rabada on a green track will be one of the most difficult tasks in the world. But I will expect at least one out of Vijay, Rahul, Pujara, Kohli and Rahane to fire on a green track. But I don't have the same trust on our bowlers of picking 20 wickets on a flat track.

Kohli and co will take a green track any day. Saw the recent Ashwin/Ganguly interview and Ashwin mentioned again how the fast bowlers need to be able to bowl long consistent spells if they are to win on flat/sporting tracks away from home. That would also explain why Umesh bowled a lot in the last series.

Assuming it is not the end of a long tour, India have a very good record if it is a 250 par track.

Rank turners take away the quality of the spinners and make it a matchup of the batting quality against spinners.

Seamers take away the quality of the pacers and make it a matchup of the batting quality against pacers.

With Alma on the decline, no AB or Kallis, I think all of us will take the latter.


Funny thing is that rank turners kept SA in those matches. Both Ind and Aus are unbeatable at home on flat tracks.
 
Asian sides struggle because of having useless fast bowlers. They look meak and uninterested. There's a reason Pakistan used to be considered a threat in foreign conditions and that's because they had an attack that could blast out teams. I remember first time seeing Shoaib in Durban and he was quick. Blasted us out using sheer pace. Their other fast bowlers were also aggressive and looked threatening. Contrast this with the body language of the Sri Lankan fast bowlers. Just not good enough.
 
Chameera is supposed to be the future of Sri Lankan fast bowling but he looks like he does not believe he deserves to be there.
 
Chameera is supposed to be the future of Sri Lankan fast bowling but he looks like he does not believe he deserves to be there.

His pace is down and he's bowling in early 130s. He bowled at 150kmph on his debut. He's either not 100% yet or the stress fracture is playing on his mind.
 
Do my eyes deceive me?

Lakmal picking up a 4fer?

Seriously!
 
Philander and Rabada will destroy the Sri Lankan top order with the new ball.

Expect Sri Lanka to be 40-5 in the first hour.
 
Kohli and co will take a green track any day. Saw the recent Ashwin/Ganguly interview and Ashwin mentioned again how the fast bowlers need to be able to bowl long consistent spells if they are to win on flat/sporting tracks away from home. That would also explain why Umesh bowled a lot in the last series.

Assuming it is not the end of a long tour, India have a very good record if it is a 250 par track.

Rank turners take away the quality of the spinners and make it a matchup of the batting quality against spinners.

Seamers take away the quality of the pacers and make it a matchup of the batting quality against pacers.

With Alma on the decline, no AB or Kallis, I think all of us will take the latter.


Funny thing is that rank turners kept SA in those matches. Both Ind and Aus are unbeatable at home on flat tracks.

Yup. A few months back, I had Ishant ahead of Yadav as the former was more consistent in his line and length while Yadav was a spray gun. But he has made massive improvements since the WI series and is probably our 2nd best pacer - high on pace, is much more consistent and threatening with his line and length and is very good with the reverse.

Have high hopes on him, Shami and Bhuvi in our overseas tours.
 
It's pretty simple. We are a batting oriented team. So we will draw more matches on flat tracks (like in the Ind vs Aus series) but won't win a match because our bowlers aren't the greatest on placid tracks. However green tracks will definitely be difficult for our batsmen, but they give us the best chance of winning matches just like rank turners give the non asian sides the best chance of winning a match in asia.

Definitely facing a Steyn (however old he maybe) and Rabada on a green track will be one of the most difficult tasks in the world. But I will expect at least one out of Vijay, Rahul, Pujara, Kohli and Rahane to fire on a green track. But I don't have the same trust on our bowlers of picking 20 wickets on a flat track.

Also a result pitch will make for better viewing, sick of seeing these roads for 5 days. Green track at least keeps Indian seamers in the game. Only disadvantage is I don't think Ashwin will be useful on such pitches. So that would leave a selection dilemma for Kumble and Kohli.
 
Chameera is supposed to be the future of Sri Lankan fast bowling but he looks like he does not believe he deserves to be there.

Chameera's not ready IMO to come back after that long layoff due to a stress fracture. He's been erratic today.
 
Lankans day for me. If they can dismiss South Africa for less than 350, they are in the game.
 
Fine job to have them 6/260, when South Africa were 0/100 I would have bitten your hands off if you offered me 4/350 at stumps, but full credit to the bowlers for keeping the runs down and taking wickets. Everyone (except Chameera) bowled with good control and discipline
 
This is similar to Lankan conditions.

No it's not, the pitch has so much grass on it. If it was similar to Sri Lankan conditions then Chameera wouldn't be in the side, it would be another spinner.

Herath is actually pretty good in Australia and South Africa last time he bowled Sri Lanka to a win in South Africa taking nine in the match.
 
SA are ahead in this match even though they lost 6 wickets.De Kock and co can take the score to 350 from here.

I dont expect big score from SL here. Their players are young and need a bit of time before they get settled to these conditions even though the pitch is best suited to Asian teams relative to other pitches in the country.

Duminy and Cook have again scored runs with the bat while Faf missed out.
The question is who will be shown doars when AB gets fit and come back in the team?Its to be seen how does AB perform when he comes back.

Amla is out of form and is having a lean patch but given the class of the player he has the ability to single handedly win a match for SA on his day.I dont think his form is much of an issue till the younger guns keep contributing.
 
Do my eyes deceive me?

Lakmal picking up a 4fer?

Seriously!

He is a decent bowler but very inconsistent, today he was bowling at mid to late 120s rather than his usual speed which would be 135 to 139. He was swinging more and was more accurate. He also didn't put much effort as he would normally do.
 
Chameera is supposed to be the future of Sri Lankan fast bowling but he looks like he does not believe he deserves to be there.

LOL no one has said that ever. Chameera doesn't even hit 150s like Tino Best or Varun Aaron. Speed is nothing when you don't have accuracy. He is not expected to be the future of SL fast bowling.
 
Haven't been able to watch this but seems like good counterattack from Lanka
 
de Kock and Philander hold key to big first innings

The Standard Bank Proteas will be banking on the seventh-wicket partnership between Quinton de Kock (25 not out) and Vernon Philander (6 not out) to take back the advantage in the first Sunfoil Test match against Sri Lanka at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth. The Proteas surrendered a solid start with a burst of wickets late on the opening day, a disappointing finish after the majority of the batsmen made promising starts.

Proteas all-rounder, JP Duminy, who was the top-scorer of the day with a brisk 63, feels the partnership between the last two remaining specialist batsmen will be a big factor given the challenging conditions.

“With the start that we had today, it was a bold move to bat first on the wicket that we got today, I thought it was a positive one,” he said after the day’s play. “The way that Dean (Elgar) and Stephen (Cook) started was exceptional. Unfortunately we didn’t capitalise on it, some of us got starts but nobody got a hundred, we will be disappointed with that. We are six down, probably two too many there at the end of the day’s play, but we have two quality batters out there that can potentially get us over that 350 mark.

“If we can battle our way to 400 that will stand us in good stead going forward,” he said of a par first innings score. “It’s the type of wicket where there is a bit of grass and as the Test goes on it can create some divots in the pitch which can create some variable bounce on day three and four. A big first innings total is crucial in this Test match.”

Duminy has taken charge of his promotion to number four, and played with authority and confidence on his way to 63, which include 10 boundaries. He gave credit to fellow batsman, Hashim Amla, during their important third-wicket partnership of 73, which anchored the innings after the successive dismissals of Elgar (45) and Cook (59) after lunch.

“You can get ahead of yourself,” he said of his quick start. “There were a few half-volley’s there to put away and you can get ahead of yourself. I needed to come back and focus on each ball. What was good for me was Hash (Amla) at the other side. He kept reminding me to focus on the next ball, that is the positive thing about the partnership we created out there. Yes, he potentially didn’t add too many (runs) to the partnership but he added a lot of value to my innings.”
 
No it's not, the pitch has so much grass on it. If it was similar to Sri Lankan conditions then Chameera wouldn't be in the side, it would be another spinner.

Herath is actually pretty good in Australia and South Africa last time he bowled Sri Lanka to a win in South Africa taking nine in the match.

No, he was poor the last time he toured SA.
He picked 10 wickets in Durban out of the 11 he took in that series.
Was poor in Cape Town and Joburg.
 
This is a good wicket and I feel Sri Lanka are slightly behind. They bowled very poor in the first session and even though they showed better application in the second, they still weren't penetrative enough.
The 100 opening stand has given SA the buffer and has minimised the late collapse. This is not the normal St. Georges track, 320+ would be a big total. QdK has a huge role to play tomorrow.

But both teams should bat first before assessing the conditions. However I feel SA are slightly ahead thanks to the 100 opening stand which Sri Lanka should never have aloud when taking into account the swing on offer. As a result they are playing catch up despite taking 6 wickets. A few cameos by the lower order will take the total towards 300. So they must utilise the new ball tomorrow morning.
 
Great comeback from Sri Lanka after a flat first session. Like I said, this is not a particularly good South African side. De Kock looks a fantastic prospect, but apart from him, there aren't too many world class batsmen barring Amla who is in the worst form of his career. AB is out injured, while the likes of Elgar and Faf while being gritty, are not world beaters. Duminy and Bavuma are decent. The side is still finding its feet after losing its past greats.

However the problem is that they have a very good bowling attack (probably the best pace arsenal in the world) and 300 might just be enough for them to skittle the Lankans.
 
What's up with the Sri Lankan bowlers averages? Apart from Chameera, it's... not normal.
 
Man SA fast bowlers are blessed. Who wouldn't wanna bowl in these conditions? Swing, seam, spongy bounce.
 
Looks like an "overconfident SA brought down to earth" episode. Suppose we'll see.

Apart from the dropped catch and that first session, SL has looked quite good.
 
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Lmao it's swinging and seaming like crazy.

This could get ugly for the Lankans. Mathews need to contribute here.
 
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