NZ V SA First Test

[Anonymous]

Wow can anyoe stop Jaques Kallis?

The man is a freak!

 

[wittyz chick]

there is one man...Graeme Smith :lol:
he declared right after Kallis got his 150 and by the look on his face he wanted to keep batting
but anyway...congrats hope he can beat Bradmans record (6)

 

[weasel]

My respect for South Africa has dropped. One of the things that has really separated Australia from everyone else in the world is their ability to keep fighting to the end and always go for a win. We've won games from worse positions than that and if the pitch was such a difficult one to play on then surely declaring with a 200 run lead and fifty overs to go would have given the Proteas every chance of victory. Electing to meekly play for a draw like that is a sign of an average team, I now think NZ are a chance of winning the series.

 

[ozbash]

I now think NZ are a chance of winning the series.

you bet your boots we will

the pitch was an absolute disgrace.

 

[Anonymous]

How??? They got 450, we got 500, they got 300 for 4! Batting was a piece of piss!

 

[Twizzle]

Was this another drop in wicket ?

 

[bayrep]

No - It had more to do with the weather playing havoc with the first pitch that they were going to play and having to prepare another in a short space of time.

Flem has come out and siad that 95% of the pitch was fine it as just the other 5% that was crap. Also Nel running on the pitch didnt help.

Smith came out and stated that it was always a draw pitch.

 

[shiznit]

My respect for South Africa has dropped. One of the things that has really separated Australia from everyone else in the world is their ability to keep fighting to the end and always go for a win. We've won games from worse positions than that and if the pitch was such a difficult one to play on then surely declaring with a 200 run lead and fifty overs to go would have given the Proteas every chance of victory. Electing to meekly play for a draw like that is a sign of an average team, I now think NZ are a chance of winning the series.

thats very interesting,
i remember NZ VS AUS 01/02
1st test glen mcgrath bowling what should have been wides to Mcmillan.
3rd test after aussie went for it they collapsed and gave up chasing the total.

something else....
i was at the 1st test in hamilton.
it was a good few days in the sun.
the crowds were good.
i got bored though, so i went up to the fence and started taking to the south africans.
Ntini is one funny guy.
he sings and he was complaining to me about the broken board with his bowling figures.
it said he gave away 414 runs instead of 44.
i told him hes gonna have to make up the runs with the bat.
he cracked up laughing.
also, i was yelling a at graham smith.
calling him Fleming Jr.
and yelling out 'you aint playing the windies anymore smitty', 'gibbs for captain' & 'your flemings puppet'.
adams was funny too.
it was quite a fun few days.

 

[bayrep]

1st test glen mcgrath bowling what should have been wides to Mcmillan.

I think you will find that was to Cairns. But I agree we were robbed

 

[weasel]

LOL LOL LOL

We had a massive first innings lead in that test and would have won it easily if two days worth of cricket hadn't been lost to rain. The only reason you guys were in with a chance is because we declared at 2/84 in the second innings to make a match of it, that game emphasises my point of Australia's willingness to take risks to win. Unfortunately that was an instance where the gamble failed and when it got to a point where the only possible result was an NZ victory we played for the draw.

In the third test we were set an impossible victory target of 440 late on the fourth day, for most teams a position from where defeat would have been the most likely fate and digging in for a draw the most likely tactic. Some stunning batting from Gilchrist put the victory target in reach but when we lost our sixth wicket it was again an instance of realising victory was beyond us and we dug in for a draw, but only after we'd put in an effort that I doubt many other teams would be capable of copying. When the match ended we had managed 7/381 chasing the total.

Compare those two instances to what South Africa did in this test, where they only ended up declaring when victory was an impossibility for both sides.

 

[bayrep]

We cant have been in that much trouble as Aus did not get us out in any innings through the test series. Flemming declared each time.

You keep telling yourself that Weasel if it makes you sleep well at night

Seriously I think us kiwi's know that we were on the rope a couple of times and we rode our luck with the weather, sporting declarations some rather bold moves from Flem. But the fact is we still hung in there when a lot of sides before and since (Untill india series) would have been cleaned up rather smartly. This meant that we got to a point were we put preasure on the Aus side and they struggled at times when they hadnt in the past. It also helped that the Aus public and media wrote of the kiwi side before the test series had even started.

 

[weasel]

Yeah, they did do well, the Perth test was a great performance by the Black Caps and one you were unlucky not to win, although in saying that if rain hadn't played havoc on the first two tests it looked likely that Australia would have already been 2-0 up in the series. The point I'm trying to make is that in both those games while we were the ones who played for the draw in the end in each case that only happened in around the last ten overs of the game. In both those games the way we approached most of the last day of the test was aggressively and with a view to win. My criticism of South Africa is that they didn't even seem to have victory on their mind at all on the final day, so I don't think these matches should be compared.

 

[shiznit]

weve done that before, what about nathan astles 200 in the 1st test vs england a few years ago.
we ended up losing, but hell... we scared the shit out of the english bowlers.
even the barmy army recognised it as the best batting performence ever witnessed by an english side.
australia aint the only side to do away with the draw.
as i remember in that 1st test vs aus.
fleming initiated the challenge by declearing straight after we reached the follow on. then steve waugh obligied and set nz a realistic score.
ill hand it to you though, aussie are never ones to back away from a challenge.
i wish waugh and fleming could have had more series against eachother.
they always made a game out of it.
steve waugh should still be the test captain. ponting isnt a captain. hes just a figurehead for a brilliant cricket side. im still to see his captancy skills.