Cricket season

naresh wrote:

Strange decision for South Africa to bat first after winning the toss. Also leaving out Jansen. South Africa in trouble already. They need at least 200. We have the bowlers but the left arm fast will have been handy.

109% why change a winning team and why hat first after you ripped through their batting twice in less than 80 overs? SA cricket logic sometimes just does not add up

correct decision - you don't want to bat last at Old Trafford

fingers wrote:

correct decision - you don't want to bat last at Old Trafford

It was overcast though. Now the sun is blazing. I think due to them playing two spinners therefore decided to bat first.

Excerpt from ESPN Cricinfo

Sums it up perfectly.

"Before we get into the forensic examination of how and why the line-up is faring as poorly as it is, let's address the obvious issue that emerged from Old Trafford: why did Dean Elgar choose to bat first in bowler-friendly conditions - overhead and underfoot? The answer lies more in team selection than Elgar's giving in to his instinctive bat-first nature. With two specialist spinners, South Africa were eyeing bowling last, so… they had to bat first.

They also had to leave out one of the four quicks that did the job at Lord's and chose to bench lanky left-armer Marco Jansen, which looked like a mistake. Jansen swung the ball at an average of 1.9 degrees at pace in the first Test. Imagine what he would have been able to do here. Perhaps even imagine what he may have been able to do with the bat, after he was South Africa's fourth-highest run-scorer at Lord's, but don't imagine it too much because lower-order runs cannot continuously bail the top order out."

Different STOKES for different FOAKES building up a nice partnership for England.

South Africa will need a miraculous second innings score of having any chance of salvaging something out of the game. England, unlikely will bat again but we live with hope.

99% of analysts to supporters sitting on the couch knew bowling first in the gloomy conditions was the way to go. Our think tank got everything wrong from Team Selection to batting first.

It’s not going to rain so it will be 1-1 meaning winner takes all in the deciding test Boucher needs to be sacked

winning the toss and bowling first has a very poor record at Old Trafford

SA got a good lucky in 1st test - from what's on view in this test, there is a massive difference between the 2 sides

and, LOL, it seems SA will bat last anyway

this elgar is just the pitts - I back SA at 20 to 1 (at 20 past 5) and then he brings on spin after 10 overs of the NEW BALL

now I can count my rugby winnings tomorrow morning and have a braai before watching how my 20/1 ticket does from 12 o'clock

bad so far

but how bad are these umps - must be the 2nd time this test the ball missed the bat by cms. and they give it out - good thing they are not referees