3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

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Ljp86

Ljp86

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3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

Both teams head into this test with one win each with this being the final encounter. South Africa played a lot better in the second test after playing very poorly in the first match. The game could have been over a lot earlier if it weren't for the bad light that affected play on each day. Over 100 overs were lost due to bad light during the second test, Souht Africa could have won early on the on the fourth day if it weren't for the poor light.

Both teams have selection problems. Virender Sehwag is in horrible form and Indian captain Rahul Dravid must seriously cvonsider what he will do before calling up Gautam Gambhir. The Indian keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is also in doubt with bruised hands.

South Africa also have their own problems, Jacques Kallis quickly recovered form injury to regain his place in the team while Andre Nel has a bruised foot. The Proteas are expected to make two changes to their team, Paul Harris and Dale Steyn are expected to replace Andrew Hall and Morne Morkel in the line-up.

This is the final test of the series and this game should go down to the wire, both teams have a shot at winning the series and will be keen to finish off the series with a win. South Africa won't want to lose a home series and India will want to win their first test series in South Africa.

South Africa XI (likely): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 AB de Villiers, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Ashwell Prince, 6 Herschelle Gibbs, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Makhaya Ntini, 10 Paul Harris, 11 Dale Steyn.

India XI (likely): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Wasim Jaffer, 3 Rahul Dravid (capt), 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Sourav Ganguly, 7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Sreesanth, 11 Munaf Patel.

Umpires: Asad Rauf and DJ Harper
3rd Umpire: M Erasmus

Weather:

(All Temperatures in Degrees Celcius)

Tuesday: Sunny, 26
Wednesday: Sunny, 29
Thursday: Partly Cloudy, 27
Friday: Sunny, 26
Saturday: Sunny, 26

Game starts at 5:30pm AWDT (10:30am local time, 8:30am GMT)
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

Dhoni and Andre Nel didn't make it for this match due to fitness problems.

Sehwag is lucky to have kept his place after pathetic form, and instead has been dropped down in batting order.

Dhoni is replaced by Dinesh Karthik who has opened batting with Wasim Jaffer. Jaffer better watch out or this could end up becoming his last ever test for India. He got out on an awful shot in 2nd inning of Durban test, with India needing some intelligent batting.

VRV Singh who did nothing better other than try to bat like a baseball player has been dropped, deservedly so. He is replaced by Munaf Patel who had indifferent form in ODIs.

Nel has been replaced by some bloke called Paul Harris whom I have no idea about. Never heard of him before today.

Also, fringe player from last match Morkel has now been dropped in favour of Dale Steyn. Steyn got injured in Johannesburg badly and didn't make it for Durban test.
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

India have actually continued on with a good start, at 398/8 they're doing well.

Gees, Jaffer is a good player isn't he?

Young Harris has taken 4 wickets now. Perhaps he is a complete replacement for Boje, he's a lot more attacking too. Boje struggled in life with an inability of South African cricket to play spinners as attackers. Perhaps this is the beginning of a change of culture in South African Cricket?
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

I don't know. Indian bowling, fielding is lacking the killer punch they had in Johannesburg. They just didn't try to exert any authority later in the day, and crappy fielding by likes of Munaf Patel and even Rahul Dravid himself was just awful. I hope this match turns into a boring draw.
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

Wasim Jaffer top scored for India with a very well made 116. Karthik provided very good support with 63 and together they added 153 for the first wicket. Tendulkar made 64 with Ganguly getting 63 and also Sehwag got some form back with a decent 40. Altogether India were bowled out for 414.

Shaun Pollock picked up 4/75 with debutant spinner Paul Harris taking 4/129. Dale Steyn picked up the other two wickets.

Great effort from South Africa so far. 13 overs left in the day and they are 6/341, trailing by 73 runs. Greame Smith finally made some runs, scoring 94 of them with Hashim Amla getting 63 and Kallis making 54.

Currently, Boucher and Pollock are at the crease on 40 and 22 respectively. Sreesanth and Kumble have two wickets with part-time spinners Sehwag and Tendulkar one wicket each.

This test is starting to look more likely like being a draw.
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

Stumps day 3, South Africa all out for 373, giving India a lead of 41 runs.

This test is starting to look more likely like being a draw.
Click to expand...
You never know, there's still 2 full days to go. India is still capable of folding quickly.
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

Sehwag, idiot, moron, jerkhead is out on 4 runs. Why the freaking hell did Dravid send Sehwag to open the innings, I don't know. He thought it would be a positive move, but Sehwag is an absolute idiot. He would rather commit suicide if he thinks it's the right thing to do, instead of doing the right thing for his team.

As of today, I officially hate Sehwag. Why he wasn't dropped eons ago is beyond me. :mad:

Dimwit, dip********, freaking one dimensional sucker. Sorry, I'm in really foul mood right now and running out of superlatives for cursing Sehwag.
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

And just as I said that, Wasim Jaffer gone after 2 balls. :(

That's it, that does it for me from these harakiri Indian openers. Wasim Jaffer was literally on thin ice and he got that hundred in 1st inning. But he was a dead man walking after that disastrous shot in Durban.

India has got a major, major issue with their openers. It's as clear as that for all to see. If I was the selector, both Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer don't make test team for a long, long time to come. In Jaffer's case, if ever. There was that Uthappa guy who had had some luck early in 2006 against England, I think he deserves a look. Also Gautam Gambhir must be itching after seeing these sorry openers.
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

Now what's happening? Three minutes have passed, and no batsman has emerged from the Indian dressing room. The South Africans, the umpires, the crowd and the tv crews have all shifted their attention to the balcony, and even Rahul Dravid looks a little nervous. There's movement inside, but no one's coming out.

Did some one steal the Indian batting plan? I don't recall seeing anything like this in an International match! Finally Ganguly appears, looking rather bemused, well so are the others.

We have confirmation of what happened. Apparently, Sachin Tendulkar was off the field yesterday for too long, and he cannot bat at No.4. He was just informed, it seems. He looks chuffed up there on the balcony. Anyway, now we have Ganguly. All is well, for the moment.
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

From here:

http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/laws/law-31-timed-out,57,AR.html

Law 31 (Timed out)

1. Out Timed out
(a) Unless Time has been called, the incoming batsman must be in position to take guard or for his partner to be ready to receive the next ball within 3 minutes of the fall of the previous wicket. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batsman will be out, Timed out.
(b) In the event of protracted delay in which no batsman comes to the wicket, the umpires shall adopt the procedure of Law 21.3 (Umpires awarding a match). For the purposes of that Law the start of the action shall be taken as the expiry of the 3 minutes referred to above.
2. Bowler does not get credit
The bowler does not get credit for the wicket.

http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/laws/law-21-the-result,47,AR.html

Law 21 (The result)


3. Umpires awarding a match
(a) A match shall be lost by a side which
either (i) concedes defeat
or (ii) in the opinion of the umpires refuses to play
and the umpires shall award the match to the other side.
(b) If an umpire considers that an action by any player or players might constitute a refusal by either side to play then the umpires together shall ascertain the cause of the action. If they then decide together that this action does constitute a refusal to play by one side, they shall so inform the captain of that side. If the captain persists in the action the umpires shall award the match in accordance with (a)(ii) above.
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

Now it would have been shocking beyond belief, it would have literally sent shockwaves through the cricket world if above laws of game had been literally applied and India had lost the match (and test series) as having forfeited the match!!!

If Ganguly hadn't showed up by about 30 seconds, it could have created a major political crisis. It could've been similar to the crisis of forefeiture of test between England and Pakistan last summer. And it all might have been because of Sachin Tendulkar of all people!!!!

Something like this would have been the last thing cricket needed, with the World Cup coming up soon. I'm glad common sense prevailed and the letter of law wasn't applied in this case.

I wish similarly common sense could've been applied in that unfortunate England - Pakistan test and literal law of the game hadn't been applied. Some compromise should've been found without situation escalating.

Anyway, back to the action now.
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

This is really what happened:

Out of sight, out of time

Rajan Nair, the media manager, informed Cricinfo later that the delay had been the result of the time Sachin Tendulkar spent off the field on the third day. Tendulkar was padded up and ready to emerge when Jaffer's wicket fell at 10:43am, but Murray Brown, the fourth umpire, informed him that he wasn't supposed to be out there till after 10:48.

In the resulting pandemonium, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly were asked to pad up. Out on the field, Daryl Harper informed Graeme Smith that the delay was a result of unforeseen circumstances and not a deliberate tactic. In the spirit of the game, he requested Smith not to appeal for a Timed-Out dismissal. Smith agreed.

But by the time Ganguly finally made it to the middle, the clock has just ticked over to 10:49am.
Click to expand...
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

Just when you think the game was going to head for a draw, India puts up yet another insipid effort with the bat and were bowled out for a paltry 169. Dravid made 47, Ganguly 46 and Karthik was undefeated on 38 but other than that, there were no other significant contributions which resulted in yet another poor effort by India.

Nothing is going right it seems. Both the openers failed again, little contribution from some of the top order ant to top it all off, the run-outs of Zaheer Khan and VVS Laxman for 1 run each culminated into another ordinary batting effort from India.

Dale Steyn was the standout with 4/30.

So, India have set South Africa a target of 211 for victory and they are currently 0/9. 22 overs remain today.
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

Congratulations to India for attempting to find new and unique ways to lose.

That said, they did get de Villiers and Amla before stumps, and there's actually still a chance that they'll win the test. But as long as Smith and Kallis are in there, South Africa must surely be favorites to win on the 5th day.


(Anyone else think it's a little ironic that Ganguly outperformed Tendulkar and Laxman anyway, so it was probably for the best that he came in at #4?)
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

Atrociously negative batting from India. It was very painful to watch when both Dravid and Sachin were batting. And that's not even meant as any supporter of India. Even if an alien landed from space and knew nothing about this sport or the 2 teams, they would've died of boredom watching those 2 bat. Agreed Sachin wasn't fully fit. But Dravid employed negative tactics all the way.
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

Rahul Dravid's stupid captaincy without any intelligence or imagination has lost his country a test series. What a disaster both test and ODI series have been for India. Apart from one afternoon spell in Johannesburg when Sreesanth was fantastic, overall they have always been matched or overmatched.

The 3rd test match was lost when Dravid sent in Sehwag to open the batting of 2nd inning. That was the stupidest decision and Sehwag won't be forgiven for a long, long time for his indiscretions. It also didn't help that Dravid the captain himself displayed gutless batting on the 4th day, 2nd session. It is impossible for me to believe that they actually managed to lose this match, playing spin bowler like Harris, a bloke like I said in the beginning of the match nobody had ever heard of before.

I'm sorry for making it sound that I'm not praising SA, rather dwelling on negativity for India. But in the 3rd match, South African bowling weren't doing anything out of the extra-ordinary. They didn't show anything that looked like match winning performances. It was the lack of aggression, even commitment for wanting to draw the match (forget about winning it), extremely disappointing and negative cricket by India.

icon13.gif


India contine to be an overhyped and overpaid team, where their performance doesn't actually match their big budgets. When the chips are down and it really matters, these overpaid guys always manage to disappoint. And yes, I will single out Sehwag in that category without hesitation. Enough of Sehwag for India. Sack him by now.
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

What now for Virender Sehwag? Who thinks he should keep his place, and who thinks he should be dumped? Personally, I'd give him another chance, as the World Cup is comign up, and he is a matchwinner. a player with a triple hundred and countless other big scores is too big a player to lose for Indian cricket. Besides, out of their star batting order (Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, etc.), Sehwag is the youngest and could very well be a future Indian leader.
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

Even Matthew Hayden had scored 300+ once, but his form had deterioreted badly and people calling for his head. Matthew Hayden is a much better player than Sehwag, but every player should be subject to scrutiny if their form dips very badly. Even Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting or Tendulkar.

Problem with Sehwag is that he has no perspective for how to change his game depending on the situation his team is in. He is one-dimensional. I suppose he could be useful for India in ODIs, but his time in tests could be done.

As far as what are the possible replacements, that's probably part of the problem. Various different makeshift starters have been tried with little bit of success: Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Karthik in this test match. While none of them have proved to be world beaters yet, one has to start somewhere. I think it is really worth it to give Sehwag the rest he deserves.
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

The interesting thing about Sehwag is that he seems to have recently become a legitimate part-time Test bowler. He has 14 wickets in 52 Tests at 48.14, but 11 of those wickets have come in his last 7 matches. 9 came in India's series in the West Indies; against South Africa, he did not bowl at all in the first Test but took one wicket in each of the next two. His bowling average for his last 10 Tests is 24.45. Will Sehwag continue to take Test wickets?

On the other hand, his career Test batting average of 49.46 towers above his average in his last 10 matches, which is 30.05.
 
Re: 3rd Test: South Africa vs India at Cape Town

Stamislav;126756 said:
Will Sehwag continue to take Test wickets?
Click to expand...

I hope not. The better question should be "Will Sehwag continue to take part in Tests"?, and I hope the answer is no.

Seriously, the thing about evaluating Sehwag right now is not about statistics which don't tell the whole story. Did you see the wide outside the off stump ball which he went for in the 2nd innings as an opener? If yes, you don't need to see any statistics to realize his basic lack of intelligence. And it's not like this is the first time he has taken that suicidal shot. He is drawn to an outside the off stump ball like a moth is drawn to fire.

Knowing that he is under heavy scrutiny (why else could he have been demoted to 7th in 1st innings, is he really such an idiot to not understand such a basic concept?), he probably might have been given his last chance in life as test opener, his team needing contribution from him at a crucial time : All of these things, it is beyond comprehension that he played that outside the off stump ball. It's totally inexcusable. There should be no question of giving him second chance after such bad behaviour.

I rest my case. I won't say anything more about this now, as I've said a lot already.

P.S. Not saying more about above. But forgot to say one more thing about this test match. Maybe in hindsight it would've been better if umpires had called off the match on "timed out" technicality and awarded the series to SA when Tendulkar or Ganguly failed to arrive for batting. It would have saved India huge embarrassment and ignonimity that followed. And it would've created some political controversy (like England vs. Pakistan), some gossip, something fun ahead of the World Cup, instead of boredom called Dravid-Tendulkar partnership.

OK, I just wrote above paragraph in jest, so don't take the sarcasm literally.
 
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