Board president XI vs South Africa - 2nd Feb to 3rd Feb -Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur

[CG]

^ On a green pitch the match could be lost in the first 15 overs like what happened in Ahmedabad 2008. No more such gifts for the visitors please.

green picthes in india are lotteries as after 1st session they dry out and become batting friendly if it was southafrica i would have agreed for a green pitch as it stays bowler freindly right through remember joberg test 2006.

[Chandan]

Here is the analysis of Day two from Tristan Holmer, strictly from south africans point of view: Wessels content with batting preparation Wednesday 03-February-2010 11:50 Botha - in the running for a Test berth. South Africa's new batting coach Kepler Wessels insisted he was happy with preparations for the first Test after the top six all enjoyed time in the middle against the Indian Board President's XI in Nagpur. The Proteas racked up 354 runs in their innings, with Jacques Kallis (63) and Hashim Amla (72) both retiring after dominating the opposition's attack. While Ashwell Prince was less than fluid in his 42, he at least managed to scratch his way back into some sort of form while JP Duminy - the other batsmen who struggled during the series against England - scored 39. The one concern for South Africa was the success of spinners Piyush Chawla and R Ashwin, who shared seven of the eight wickets to fall. Although they had little success while Kallis and Amla were at the wicket, they ran through the lower order as the Proteas crumbled from 283 for four (including the two retirements) to 354 all out. Dale Steyn did his best to put a dampener on the spin duo's outing, hitting Ashwin for three towering sixes in one over. "The good thing is that our top six all had valuable time in the middle so they got enough time against the seamers and some good practice against the spinners as well, which is ideal for us. On the whole we're very happy with the outcome," said Wessels. "Ashwell looked good. Pretty solid in his technique and also his focus in the last couple of weeks has been good. He did well in the domestic stuff and carried that on today so that's good. The thing with JP was that he came in when the spinners were on - which he'll probably do in the Test - with a close in field and he handled it pretty well. So that was the biggest plus out of the day." Wessels was not concerned that his line-up may be frail against spin bowling, and pointed out that it was largely the tail enders who had perished easily to Ashwin (3 for 96) and Chawla (4 for 88). "It's always a concern when that happens but in this particular instance we've got to remember that two of our guys retired when they probably would have just carried on batting - they were in no trouble at all," he said. "The only real problems (the spinners) caused was right at the end with the tail, which can happen. You never want anyone to do well against you but clearly it's not as big an issue as it could have been had they taken out the top order." Most interesting was the decision to send out Johan Botha to bat at number eight, leaving Paul Harris to watch on from the sidelines. Although neither enjoyed particular success with the ball on Tuesday, Harris endured a wretched time, leaving doubts over his selection for the first Test on Saturday. Wessels insisted there wasn't too much to be read into the fact that Botha had been sent in instead of Harris, but did suggest that Botha's name will be in the frame when the selectors sit down to pick the side. "Johan Botha for us is always an option - as a package he's a good player," said Wessels. "We haven't got round to sitting down and thinking about final selection at all. A lot of that will be depending on the conditions. Corrie (van Zyl) went and had a look at that today so we got a fair idea of what to expect, but we'll only really start putting that together from tomorrow onwards." Van Zyl made a special trip out to the new VCA Ground to have a look at the pitch on Wednesday, and Wessels admitted that South Africa are not expecting the sort of green wicket they enjoyed at the old VCA Stadium in this match. "This pitch was a good one from a practice point of view," he said. "You got some good bounce and a bit of seam movement. We're expecting something that's a bit slower and lower than this, and definitely something that will aid spin." The final wicket fell with almost an hour and a half remaining in the day, but South Africa opted against coming out to field again. An enthusiastic football match, in which the players suggested their skills are improving rapidly, was instead the order of the afternoon. Having just come out of a four-Test series against England, the management team feels they will be well prepared by the time Saturday comes around. "It flows into it," said Wessels of the recent series in terms of this preparation," but I don't feel so concerned after the practice we had on Monday, the two days we've had here and the two days we've got coming up. "I think that by the time the first Test starts it will be enough, given that they came out of a tough series so it's just really a case of adapting to conditions and it's going to be enough." Tristan Holme in Nagpur

[Lord]

The one concern for South Africa was the success of spinners Piyush Chawla and R Ashwin, who shared seven of the eight wickets to fall.

this should be enuf indications on wat type of wickets to prepare

[jusarrived]

^ On a green pitch the match could be lost in the first 15 overs like what happened in Ahmedabad 2008. No more such gifts for the visitors please.

nah , not A'bad type ...if we can manage a pitch like Mysore one , India will win easily !

[Riley's Girl]

As Kepler said, Prince did well in the domestic games. He hit 128 (his maiden century in limited overs cricket) off just 96 balls in the MTN40 final between the Warriors and the Dolphins last Friday. In the same match (the Warriors won by 71 runs) teammate Jacques Kallis scored 87 off 57 balls. Lonwabo Tsotsobe took 3 wickets, conceding 53 runs and Wayne Parnell took 3 for 27. Hashim Amla, the only player from the Dolphins in the current Proteas squad, scored 68 runs. Don't have stats on hand, but imo Duminy performs better in India than on home soil.

[Lord]

As Kepler said, Prince did well in the domestic games. He hit 128 (his maiden century in limited overs cricket) off just 96 balls in the MTN40 final between the Warriors and the Dolphins last Friday. In the same match (the Warriors won by 71 runs) teammate Jacques Kallis scored 87 off 57 balls. Lonwabo Tsotsobe took 3 wickets, conceding 53 runs and Wayne Parnell took 3 for 27. Hashim Amla, the only player from the Dolphins in the current Proteas squad, scored 68 runs. Don't have stats on hand, but imo Duminy performs better in India than on home soil.

Duminy hasnt yet played in India(apart from the warmup game ofcourse)

[Riley's Girl]

Duminy hasnt yet played in India(apart from the warmup game ofcourse)

Epic :fail: on my part.

[Prudent]

http://www.cricket.co.za/kallis-amla-do-some-fine-tuning.html?directory=43