Re: South Africa in Australia
Some poor shot selection in the game by Australia. Hussey, Symonds, Ponting all going for shots they didn't need to play/weren't really there. Clarke and Symonds did similar things in the first innings as did Haddin who was out to a wide ball well outside off stump.
The South African bowlers haven't impressed me all that much, the Australian media have grossly overrated and overhyped the South African attack. Steyn has been solid but hasn't been insanely spectacular, Harris has bowled well but a lot of his wickets have been the result of errant shot selection (Ponting and Symonds today, Clarke and Symonds again on day one), Morkel is still developing but from what I've seen hasn't been much of a threat. Only Ntini has done anything of importance in my opinion, his first innings bowling was quite good and really gave South Africa the upper hand early. Kallis was good on day three but was ordinary in the first innings.
Has this game been a true indication of where both teams are at? I don't think it has but the next two days will tell us as will the rest of the series. Australia will want to get a lead of at least 400, just to really get that psychological edge over the Proteas. If they can start well in the morning session they should go alright as Krejza, Johnson and Siddle can be pretty handy batters, in particular Krejza who played well at the end of the day.
The big difference in this match though might be the tail-end batting. Australia's tail scored exactly 100 runs in their first effort whilst South Africa could manage only 14. That's an 86-run margin, almost all of Australia's lead and almost of all it has come from the likes of Lee, Krejza, Johnson and Siddle. Australia's bowlers are not only winning the game with the ball but also the bat and again they've come to the rescue after the top order once again failed to really do anything of note on what has been a decent wicket to bat on, that should be slightly worrying. Hayden is just about gone now to be honest.
Good game so far, set to get even better on day four.
Some poor shot selection in the game by Australia. Hussey, Symonds, Ponting all going for shots they didn't need to play/weren't really there. Clarke and Symonds did similar things in the first innings as did Haddin who was out to a wide ball well outside off stump.
The South African bowlers haven't impressed me all that much, the Australian media have grossly overrated and overhyped the South African attack. Steyn has been solid but hasn't been insanely spectacular, Harris has bowled well but a lot of his wickets have been the result of errant shot selection (Ponting and Symonds today, Clarke and Symonds again on day one), Morkel is still developing but from what I've seen hasn't been much of a threat. Only Ntini has done anything of importance in my opinion, his first innings bowling was quite good and really gave South Africa the upper hand early. Kallis was good on day three but was ordinary in the first innings.
Has this game been a true indication of where both teams are at? I don't think it has but the next two days will tell us as will the rest of the series. Australia will want to get a lead of at least 400, just to really get that psychological edge over the Proteas. If they can start well in the morning session they should go alright as Krejza, Johnson and Siddle can be pretty handy batters, in particular Krejza who played well at the end of the day.
The big difference in this match though might be the tail-end batting. Australia's tail scored exactly 100 runs in their first effort whilst South Africa could manage only 14. That's an 86-run margin, almost all of Australia's lead and almost of all it has come from the likes of Lee, Krejza, Johnson and Siddle. Australia's bowlers are not only winning the game with the ball but also the bat and again they've come to the rescue after the top order once again failed to really do anything of note on what has been a decent wicket to bat on, that should be slightly worrying. Hayden is just about gone now to be honest.
Good game so far, set to get even better on day four.
