Smith at it again.

[Guest Hiten.]

Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, has said their batting, particularly on the second day, cost them victory in the second Test against India in Durban. "We probably lost the Test match on day two. I don't think it was a 131 wicket. Getting bowled out for that just wasn't good enough," Smith said. South Africa bowled India out for 205 in the first innings, on a lively pitch at Kingsmead, before being shot out for 131. The 74-run deficit South Africa incurred proved crucial to India gaining a significant advantage leading up to the second innings. Smith didn't think India's batting was necessarily better than South Africa's. "It's not like India's batting set the house on fire," Smith said. India were bowled out for 228 in their second innings, just 13 runs more than what South Africa managed in their second attempt. "They got slightly more runs than us, and I guess that's what's needed in Test match cricket." South Africa went in to the fourth day needing 192 runs to win the match, with seven wickets in hand, a task that did not seem improbable because conditions were getting slightly better for the batsmen. The game was in the balance for most of the match, something that even Smith, who ended up on the losing side, appreciated. "It was tight going into today, and every day the game swung and was tense. That's what people want to see. Nobody wants pounded-out draws." The closely-contested nature of the match may be why Smith showed few signs of distress after the defeat. He appeared to take heart from the fact that South Africa did not lose by an embarrassing margin. "They did slightly better than us at the key moments, and they won this Test match. We haven't played terribly, but we haven't played to our ability," he said. South Africa have come under fire for underestimating India after they thrashed the visitors by an innings and 25 runs in Centurion and showed vulnerability on a sporting wicket. Smith dismissed those criticisms, saying his men were prepared for a fight back. "They're a very experienced team. We expected them to bounce back and they have. They played well." He also denied that South Africa were over-reliant on responsive pitches and the toss going the right way. "We hoped for wickets with pace and bounce. That's what we've grown up on. We haven't specifically requested anything." Smith was not panicking ahead of the series decider which starts in four days time in Cape Town. "It's important not to get too emotional about things. We've played well for a period of time." South Africa have a proud record at Newlands, with nine wins in 14 games since 2000, and Smith was looking forward to the contest. "It's always a great Test match to play in, and being one-all in the series it's going to be even bigger now."

Zero credit to the opponents. And who is he kidding with "we didn't order green track" ? You certainly did you buffoon and it has terribly backfired. Unlike you and Arthur, India won't be filing a case for ordering an "unsporting" wicket :giggle:

[gaurav92]

LOL There is always a problem in the pitch when they lose, and they always play good cricket when they win :P

[Ram]

I love the change of tone from the press-conference after the first test…. From ‘Oh look at us, we thrashed ‘em on a green-top..’ to ‘hmmm..errr..We..err.lost.. but..err… didn’t really play that badly..er..’ :hysterical:

[HowardRoark]

If not for the difference in their skin colours which is as different as milk and black coffee, I would tend to think Smith and Sangakara are brothers. Their thinking and reaction are the same after losing a match to better opponents.

[saneindian]

Haha. What an arrogant SOB. Did someone ask him what kind of a pitch he wants at Capetown?

[gaurav92]

^Well but Sanga has the edge clearly due to his all round role as a whiner (in between a match, as a wicket keeper) where Smith, (although he wants to) , can't really do the honours :(

[jf1gp_1]

Z"They did slightly better than us at the key moments' date=' and they won this Test match. We haven't played terribly, but we haven't played to our ability," he said. :[/quote'] 1st test 1st innings when India were 139 AO these guys were saying Indians cant bat on green wickets but after getting 131 ao they didnt play terribly

[gaurav92]

Haha. What an arrogant SOB. Did someone ask him what kind of a pitch he wants at Capetown?

A Pancake so that they don't lose once again, and manage a draw to save this series defeat :P.As we all know, MSD is due for a win (Toss) :D

[gaurav92]

1st test 1st innings when India were 139 AO these guys were saying Indians cant bat on green wickets but after getting 131 ao they didnt play terribly

Exactly.Double Standards galore !

[Andy]

More words please, we need few to win the 3rd test Smith!

[Sachin=GOD]

More words please' date=' we need few to win the 3rd test Smith![/quote'] exactly!!. whiners like Smith shoot their mouth off and then after we prove them wrong they're like "It's not like India's batting set the house on fire ....err......they did slightly better than us .....err :haha:

[Zap_Brannigan]

SA won the toss and got the best bowling condition. The pitch eased out somewhere half way thro the 3rd day when India has already lost 6 off their 7 batsmen and bhajji. So they also got the best batting condition batting on the 3rd and 4th day. Yet they couldnt win the game. If India had won the toss in the 1st test, there is no doubt in my mind that we wouldnt have lost.

[saneindian]

Dhoni by not taking any potshots at Saffers after the win has shown Smith his true worth. Smith & co. will be made to rue all the veral diarhhoea he had before, during and after the 1st test.

[Andy]

Why didnt some of the journalist tell him that it was a GREEN track and you cannot expect even the best batting line up to Put up 400-500 over there. The batters who have grown up on GREEN tracks couldnt even manage 150 in the first innings and no one from their team couldnt score even a 40 in the Match who are known to have 'Grown up on Green Tracks'. Where as we have score more than 200 twice . Do you need any more reason as to why we are the best Batting Line up in the world? Simply because we have OUTBATTED you in the whole match on a 'GREEN' track.

[saneindian]

Why didnt some of the journalist tell him that it was a GREEN track and you cannot expect even the best batting line up to Put up 400-500 over there. The batters who have grown up on GREEN tracks couldnt even manage 150 in the first innings and no one from their team couldnt score even a 40 in the Match who are known to have 'Grown up on Green Tracks'. Where as we have score more than 200 twice . Do you need any more reason as to why we are the best Batting Line up in the world? Simply because we have OUTBATTED and OOUTBOWLED you in the whole match on a 'GREEN' track.

:--D

[Anakin]

Liar liar

[Sir john]

smith need to accept that india is far better than south africa in batting.

[Zelig]

Frank Slade: Every family has an ar$ehole. Moi: Every team has an ar$ehole. B->

[Texy]

Smith is suffering from premenstrual syndrome .....he better hope though later on... his period doesn't stop or else he's fked

[ravishingravi]

Other than the comments on pitch, I am not sure what he said was wrong.