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Original post by Mackay
Professional job by England to make short work of the tail and mop up the rest of the SA order. Broad is bowling excellently, he really is. He has always been somebody who seems to over-deliberate and think too much about his deliveries during his run-up, but he seems to be performing naturally now.

He spoke yesterday about how he feels at the height of his powers, and he definitely is in red-ball cricket. It's telling that Anderson has been absent for his best performances in an England shirt this year, which suggests he's ready to step up when the latter retires and calls it a day.

I think he still has something to offer us in white-ball cricket, especially ODIs, but when he's in this sort of Test form, there's every sense in keeping him for red-ball cricket where he can unleash the ultimate amount of carnage on the opposition.

We'll definitely look back at this era of Broad as his pomp.


Looking like an England win, and I think your comments about Stuart Broad are spot on.
Reply 381
England will be happy going into tea, you'd imagine. You never want to lose two wickets in a session, of course, but with Compton and Root at the crease you get a sense that they'll stamp their authority.

The silver lining - as if the clouds weren't bright enough - is also that Steyn appears to be carrying a couple of knocks, and surely won't feature prominently in this Test, which may rule him out of the second.
Root's innings has made a difference here. The top 3 did a good job of seeing off the new ball but they got a bit stuck; Root has picked the pace up, taking Compton along with him, and the match feels very different now.
After seeing what Guptill did, I think a ton is possible in 25 balls. ABDV did it in 30 when the field was spread. Powerplay is a whole different game.
Reply 384
A really good start from Taylor here, too. I was gutted that Compton fell just one run shy of his half-century, but he did well to frustrate SA and help Root bed himself in well. I think this pitch is really, really difficult to score freely on. It hampers a batsman, rather than aids him.
Reply 385
Well, that couldn’t have gone much better for England. Only negative was a slower scoring rate than one may have hoped or wanted, but you can't be disgruntled given the awkward nature of the pitch for both batsman and bowler.

As I mentioned above, it's an awkward pitch to score on. That said, it's increasingly tough to get a man out on it it seems.
Reply 386
Australia declared overnight. Windies are back in. Baggy Greens currently boasting an overall lead of 459 runs.

Fair play to Smith for ditching personal and individual feats and records for the good of the team. He'll likely get a day off over Christmas, which will be a nice reward.

I can't see today reaching the final session.
Reply 387
What's happening to the south african attack here, a guy as average as Bairstow is toying with them for the second innings in a row..
Reply 388
Despite their four wickets, SA have been far too expensive and their bowling has been too loose. What's worse is that Steyn will play no part in the second Test, and without Philander, that makes them incredibly toothless.

England should be sewing up this Test after lunch. Bat for an extra half an hour, get a lead of 400 with the help of Bairstow's solid batting, and then look forward to winning the second Test too.
Rabada's going to run through us in the 2nd test, calling it now.
Reply 390
At least the Windies put up a fight, by the way. I really didn't expect them to, but they dug in and tried their best. I know that sounds incredibly patronising, but it was easily the type of match in which they could have rolled over and been bowled out for less than 150.

Smith - once again - shows good captaincy in chasing the team win rather than individual records. I thought Lyon bowled exceptionally, too, and really deserved his seven wickets (three in the second innings) for his hard work.
Should be looking at declaring within the next few overs to give us the maximum chance of winning, SA can be stubborn in losing their wickets as we had seen in India.

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It's sad to see Amla in such bad form. SA really need him to step up from the next test.

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Stumps, Finn providing the England camp with a final smile of the day. Surely, Englands to lose.

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Reply 394
SA have a very vulnerable middle order, and their best hope is ABDV sticking around long enough and not running out of partners now du Plessis has walked.

Six wickets tomorrow is by no means an easy task, but you have to reckon it'll be done inside two sessions.

Credit to Finn - who bowled superbly - and Bairstow for his batting. I felt the latter's missed stumping was a half chance, really, and it seems unfair he's being targeted for that mistake when there were plenty of easier ones put down by others during the first innings.

As for the former - what a player he is turning into. It didn't even seem possible that he'd make the tour, for Christ's sake, but he's rapidly becoming a key cog in the England machine. I'm chuffed for him. All his wickets came at key and crucial times today. He is an awkward, unorthodox presence in the England attack, but a vital one.
Reply 395
Original post by Mackay
SA have a very vulnerable middle order, and their best hope is ABDV sticking around long enough and not running out of partners now du Plessis has walked.

Six wickets tomorrow is by no means an easy task, but you have to reckon it'll be done inside two sessions.

Credit to Finn - who bowled superbly what a player he is turning into. It didn't even seem possible that he'd make the tour, for Christ's sake, but he's rapidly becoming a key cog in the England machine. I'm chuffed for him. All his wickets came at key and crucial times today. He is an awkward, unorthodox presence in the England attack, but a vital one.


Finn is literally the best england bowler after broad and Anderson and has the potential to be better than both of those. It's just a shame he got dropped early in his career for a useless guy like bresnan. Even recently the selectors would rather have guys like Woakes, Jordan, Plunkett and footit ahead of him when they are no where near as talented as him. The guy could've had close to 200 test wickets by now had he played all those tests he was left out of.
England aren't going to get a much better chance to beat South Africa. They have many problems with their batting and bowling.

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I feel for Amla - Jonathan Agnew noting his poor captaincy and leadership but it really reminds me of Pakistan under Mohammed Yousuf, brilliant batsman but not really the bloke to be leading out a side but Amla doesn't have an ego like Yousuf so you feel for him out there. ABDV probably doesn't want the Test captaincy but I'd imagine a series loss v England could mean Amla resigns.
SA haven't replaced Smith and Kallis and with Amla and ABDV both 30+, their future looks bleak as none of their upcoming batsmen look anywhere near the level of the aforementioned four.
ABDV seems the sort of guy who'll keep going for his country until his service is no longer needed.

We should wrap this up before tea tomorrow.

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