India Vs Sth Africa Series

[D.K]

India Vs Sth Africa Series

1st Test v India at Chennai - Mar 26-30, 2008
2nd Test v India at Ahmedabad - Apr 3-7, 2008 (09:30 local, 04:00 GMT)
3rd Test v India at Kanpur - Apr 11-15, 2008 (09:30 local, 04:00 GMT)

Sth Africa made 540 (Amla 141) and in reply India are 1/416

Sehwag is currently 281 off 260 balls. He made the 3rd fastest 200 in test cricket history off 181 balls and he now owns 3 of the top 10 fastest double hundreds of all time. What a player when on song.

Him and dravid are currently in a 201 run partniship Dravid is on 44 and the runs have come at close to 5 an over.

They have made 340 for the day with still 18 overs left.

 

[Ljp86]

Re: India Vs Sth Africa Series

Amazing innings by Sehwag. He's up to 309 not out off only 292 balls, a truly dazzling performance and something that you will not see very often. His triple century is well and truly the quickest in terms of balls faced, the fact he is scoring more than a run a ball for over 300 runs is a testament to his aggressive demeanour when batting and also his ability to score quickly and freely.

India have moved up to 1/468 and only trail by 72 runs on first innings. Wasim Jaffer is the only wicket to fall, he was out to Paul Harris, a long time ago now it seems for 73.

Sehwag's innings is made even more remarkable by his total dominance of the Indian innings. He has faced 292 out of a possible 639 balls, meaning he has faced 45.70% (rounded figure) of the total number of balls faced. His run scoring percentage is also quite phenomenal, scoring 309 out of 468 runs, a percentage share of 66.03% (rounded figure) which for this day and age is basically unheard of in international cricket. He has well and truly smashed South Africa into oblivion and has almost guaranteed that the Proteas won't win the game. Rahul Dravid's patient 65 has gone along unnoticed due to Sehwag's brilliant innings and his sheer domination of the match.

One of the best performances you'll will ever see took place on day three today and something that was very, very special. Sehwag will power on tomorrow, and Brian Lara's world record 400 not out looms as Sehwag continues to knock off the required runs.

However, this very high scoring game raises a few doubts about the pitch, perhaps it is too batsman friendly and it is becoming more likely that the result may end in a draw. But, that is taking nothing away from Sehwag's innings, he was awesome today and South Africa had no answers whatsoever.

Day 4 suddenly becomes a massive day, will India try and score even quicker to force a result or will Sehwag go for the world record? We'll know soon enough.

 

[League Lover]

Re: India Vs Sth Africa Series

Dravid is very close to 10 Thousand runs last time i checked.

The pitch must be very flat for such dominace...

 

[Ljp86]

Re: India Vs Sth Africa Series

Dravid is very close to 10 Thousand runs last time i checked.

The pitch must be very flat for such dominace...

Dravid got there in the end, passed 10,000 test runs before being dismissed for 111. Sehwag failed to fire today and only added ten more runs before being caught by Neil McKenzie for 319. The rest of the Indian order faild to do anything of significance as Makhaya Ntini and then Dale Steyn cleaned up the Indians rather efficiently. Ntini took three wickets with Steyn taking four. Paul Harris took 3/203 from 53.1 overs, a mammoth effort.

It was then South Africa's turn to bat and they knocked off the runs rather without too much hassle. Graeme Smith fell for 35 but other than that, the proteas haven't had too much trouble. McKenzie continued his good form, moving to 59 not out at stumps with first innings centurian Amla on 35.

South Africa are 1/131 at stumps, good for a lead of 44. A draw seems pretty certain here as this pitch has played like a slab of India's finest concrete. Something drastic would have to happen for any result other than a draw to occur.

Final day is tomorrow and there's little doubt that more exquisite batting is on the cards.

 

[Ljp86]

Re: India Vs Sth Africa Series

Unsurprisingly the match ended in a draw, South Africa finished day five on 5/331 with Neil McKenzie scoring a second innings century finishing on 155 not out and Hashim Amal making 81. Harbhajan Singh took three wickets on the final day.

Virender Sehwag was named Man of the Match for his triple century for India, the series now heads to Ahmedabad tied at 0-0.

 

[cleazer]

Re: India Vs Sth Africa Series

The second test has started and that was one of the most unbelieveable sessions of cricket ever! India won the toss and batted first, but they are all out for 76 in only 20 overs!!!!

 

[Ljp86]

Re: India Vs Sth Africa Series

How embarassing. Pathan had top score with 21 not out with Dhoni the only other batter above 10 with 14. Extras/Sundries was second top score with 19 and three batters made ducks.

Dale Steyn took 5/23, Makhaya Ntini 3/18 and Morne Morkel 2/20.

Probably shows that India's tour of Australia was more of a fluke than anything along with Australia playing below their best. A seriously awful performance, India's batters have played some terrible, amateurish shots. The pitch is not that bad to bat on, South Africa passed India's score in the 15th over without losing a wicket, Smith was out a short time ago for 34 and they've moved to 1/87. McKenzie is 37 not out.

 

[Ljp86]

Re: India Vs Sth Africa Series

South Africa declared at 7/494. India had no answer to AB de Villiers who blasted his way to a double century, he finished 217 not out when Graeme Smith closed the Protea innings. Jacques Kallis supported well with a patient 132.

Harbahajan Singh was India most effective bowler with 4/135.

In reply, India were all out for 328, Ganguly scored 87 and Dhoni 52 but no-one else scored enough runs to make South Africa bat a second time. Ntini and Steyn were South Africa's best bowlers with three wickets with Morne Morkel getting two.

So South Africa win by a massive innings and 90 runs. India's performance was attrocious and one they won't be happy with. They were totally outclassed with bat and ball and they're now 1-0 down with only one game to go.

Unsuprisingly, AB de Villiers was Man of the Match.

 

[Chandu]

Re: India Vs Sth Africa Series

Probably shows that India's tour of Australia was more of a fluke than anything along with Australia playing below their best.

You can say that again!

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/indvrsa/content/current/story/346186.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/shared.../2008/4/14963/html/scorecard.stm#SouthAfrica2

A seriously awful performance, India's batters have played some terrible, amateurish shots.

Well, yeah. In Ahmadabad, that shoddy "performance" was nothing short of disgrace. But this performance on a difficult pitch showed their character:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/shared...ecards/2008/4/14963/html/scorecard.stm#India1

 

[aussieman]

Re: India Vs Sth Africa Series

the only way they can win in India now is on the dodgiest pitches anyone can produce.

They lost a heap of tests in a row on home soil didn't they?

the only way they could beat Australia in 2004 was on something that resembled sand in Mumbai. It was no different in the 2nd test. SURELY something must be done about the state of pitches in India.

not happy! you have to make it fair and even, it's one thing having a bowling deck, but you know something is wrong when Harbhajan Singh opens the bowling

 

[Chandu]

Re: India Vs Sth Africa Series

the only way they can win in India now is on the dodgiest pitches anyone can produce.

They lost a heap of tests in a row on home soil didn't they?

the only way they could beat Australia in 2004 was on something that resembled sand in Mumbai. It was no different in the 2nd test. SURELY something must be done about the state of pitches in India.

not happy! you have to make it fair and even, it's one thing having a bowling deck, but you know something is wrong when Harbhajan Singh opens the bowling

Sour grapes.

When Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma can put on close to 50 run partnership for 10th wicket, you know there is no use complaining about Harbhajan opening the bowling. Yes, the surface was crap, but it was crap for both teams. Ganguly was able to show dogged persistence with 87 runs on such a horrible surface. But most impressive of all was the 10th wicket partnership noted above. Bulk of it came on the same day when SA crumbled. So I see it as a redemption of some sort for character of Indian team, after disastrous farce in Ahmadabad.

 

[aussieman]

Re: India Vs Sth Africa Series

Sour grapes.

When Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma can put on close to 50 run partnership for 10th wicket, you know there is no use complaining about Harbhajan opening the bowling. Yes, the surface was crap, but it was crap for both teams. Ganguly was able to show dogged persistence with 87 runs on such a horrible surface. But most impressive of all was the 10th wicket partnership noted above. Bulk of it came on the same day when SA crumbled. So I see it as a redemption of some sort for character of Indian team, after disastrous farce in Ahmadabad.

Well done to Sreesanth and Sharma for their partnership: at that time South Africa were bowling like an Under 14 team from what i saw. That's good on them, admittedly too South Africa didn't bat all that well, but really - a pitch like that? get real - that's not cricket. We don't always need 500 runs + in every innings of every match, but a deck where you can open with a spinner on day 3? come off it

 

[Chandu]

Re: India Vs Sth Africa Series

but really - a pitch like that? get real - that's not cricket. We don't always need 500 runs + in every innings of every match, but a deck where you can open with a spinner on day 3? come off it

Your point is well taken, but there is no use complaining about it now. Could South Africa have complained officially in the middle of the match? I have no idea how the protocols work. And if they did, it would've created big crisis and politics. Last thing cricket needs after problems in last Australia-India series. I noticed ICC had asked BCCI about their response on match referee's official pitch report. There was no hint of incrimination or anything of that sort, but not sure what happened to the whole issue. I'm sure this will be soon be forgotten.

 

[aussieman]

Re: India Vs Sth Africa Series

Your point is well taken, but there is no use complaining about it now. Could South Africa have complained officially in the middle of the match? I have no idea how the protocols work. And if they did, it would've created big crisis and politics. Last thing cricket needs after problems in last Australia-India series. I noticed ICC had asked BCCI about their response on match referee's official pitch report. There was no hint of incrimination or anything of that sort, but not sure what happened to the whole issue. I'm sure this will be soon be forgotten.

absolutely no-idea how it works in international cricket - because of TV and the schedule there isn't much anyone can do. At the end of every match the whole match gets reviewed by the ICC, match referee, umpires and the captains. So who knows what was said in those reports, the only thing that can be done is to tell the groundsman to get it up to Test standard as such, but who knows. Not much can be done at the time and during the game.

like i said though - it's not good enough, but it does create an interesting game.

I actually had a thought afte india were 20/2 that they may not make the runs