Cape Town test : Thoughts on Day 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

[flamy]

Ya, I gotta admit Dhoni made a mistake by not attacking both ends. :((

[saneindian]

All this criticsim of the "modern" way of captaincy is a little injustified. Tailenders (especially no 10 and 11) these days are better batsmen than their counterparts from the earlier eras. Not too many tailenders try to slog especially when batting with a specialist batsman at the other end. That IMO has contributed more to the increased number of the tail wagging in the last few years than the captain spreading the field. Plus the fact that there aren't too many express bowlers who are good at bowling yorkers has been a factor too.

[jf1gp_1]

MS Dhoni spread the fields for Jacques Kallis' date=' who enjoyed the state of affairs[/color']. He manoeuvred the strike well, giving India only a ball or two at the tailenders for most of the overs. And once India started deflating, Kallis started going for boundaries off the last two balls when the fields would come up. The last two wickets added 79, which could yet prove to be the difference in the final analysis. ]

yup VVS zaheer partnership of 70 runs was due to poor captaincy by Smith

[Sachinism]

Quality of cricket in 1st session Top class cricket. There was a few moments of mediocrity but for the most part absolutely brilliant

[fineleg]

One word: RIVETING! :hatsoff: I was nailed to the seat and did not want to move much in case I jinx something. I was heartbroken to see the unfortunate way Laxy was out. If Laxy was there after lunch, it'd have been terrific. Oh well, brilliant session. I hope some here realize why you cannot even compare to such giggles like :giggle: IPL :giggle: or even ODIs for that matter or WC2011. Test series in SA will pwn WC2011

[vvvslaxman]

Yup. Bowlers were 90% on the money.

[saneindian]

Gripping cricket really. But for the Laxman dismissal, we would have won the session, but in the end it was evenly shared. We now need our lower middle order to make useful contributions and take us close to the SA total. End of day 1, SA were 232/4..so exactly the same position with SA having slight advantage due to the new ball.

[Roshanrocks]

laxman looked cool before the tragedy gauti scratched around but added valuable runs Ten was fidgety, fished outside off, got lucky , but importantly is still there on 94 Pujara i didnt see, i hope he plays well Steyn

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[CoverDrive]

Laxman dismissal left a bad taste in the mouth to an otherwise great session ( I hope at least Harris can no longer bowl :) ) . That was a big wicket. Pujara comes in at a very very difficult time. Steyn and Morkel will be fresh and go on atleast for some tim.

[bihutoli]

The way Steyn and Morkel were bowling, its a great session for us. Lost just 2 wickets and put up some 100 odd runs. The next two sessions should be easier to bat on like yesterday. Just need to see off the new ball.

[Manny_Pacquiao]

india played brilliantly, but still SA's session IMO. laxman's dismissal a real kick in the teeth, but india had the same luck at durban with kalllis' run out. gambhir's elbow injury might make him questionable for the all important 4th innings chase. so both teams have a batsman hurt now. ball kicking off from the rough for harris, so harbhajan is gonna like it. grass is preserving the condition of the ball really nicely, so it doesnt stop swinging. about as level as it can get.

[Sachinism]

The way Steyn and Morkel were bowling' date=' its a great session for us. Lost just 2 wickets and put up some 100 odd runs. The next two sessions should be easier to bat on like yesterday. Just need to see off the new ball.[/quote'] I feel this session will be like the 1st one, its gonna be a tough fight

[CoverDrive]

With Laxman gone the biggest loss is the rate of scoring. he is so good at picking up gaps and punishing bad balls. With new ball swinging Pujara will find it tough to score. Looking for ward to the next sessions

[fineleg]

Dale and Morne will breathe fire for 12 overs after lunch. That will be the scary part.

[akshayxyz]

This team has seen tougher times, will see through this too. :cheers:

[Sid]

Steyn's outswingers and Sach's straight drive ,total class

[vaibhav_delhi]

Absolutely top notch cricket!!

[coffee_rules]

Sachin and Harbhajan weathered the Steyn storm. With 2 wkts down, India seems to be a little ahead. Game is still wide open, with all three possibilities of an end. India Win: 36% SA Win: 34% Draw: 30%

[fineleg]

Virender Sehwag will be missed in the 3rd Inn! We will miss Sehwag in the 3rd Inn. I mean his bowling. He would have been really handy on this pitch on Day 4. But with the WC2011 around the corner, I dont think he or MSD will risk bowling and rightly so. But we'll sorely miss a second spinner. Ishant Sharma does not look like he can bowl with any semblance of intelligence so he will continue the short and wide bowling. Sreesanth we never know, and ZK seems to be having an off-color match (relative to what he can do when he is in full swing). That leaves Bhajji who has taken the 2 wickets, and we need another spinner. In hindsight, given that Sehwag is unable to bowl, perhaps Pragyan Ojha could have replaced Ishant Sharma for this Test-3 at Cape Town. But maybe the green grass on 1st day, prompted MSD to choose Sharma over Ojha. I hope Sehwag makes up for the absence in bowling by batting well in the 4th Inn. But thats unlikely. He'll gift his wicket and esp his average in 3rd/4th Inn is quite poor. We'll sorely miss Sehwag's wicket taking ability!