South Africa v Sri Lanka 1st Test

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South Africa v Sri Lanka 1st Test at Centurion

Start of play (08.30 GMT) Weather: overcast

SA have not won a home Test series since 2008, which was against Bangladesh. And SL have not won a Test Match since Muralitharan retired, so both of these teams will be desperate to change that.

My prediction will be 2-0 to SA. Not because of the type of wicket, (SL showed in England that they could bat well on green pitches) but because the SL bowling is not that strong.

SA won the toss and will bowl.

Teams:

SA: G.Smith(c), J.Rudolph, H.Amla, J.Kallis, A.Prince, AB de Villiers, M.Boucher(w), D.Steyn, V.Philander, M.Morkel, I.Tahir.

SL: T. Dilshan(c), T.Paranavitana, K.Sangakkara, M.Jayawardene, T.Samaraweera, A.Mathews(w), J.Silva, H.Herath, N.Perera, U.Welegedara, C.Fernando.

Not the best batsman, Tahir, useless a bit of a sitting duck but he is doing ok here.

Gutted that AB fell on 99! He's giving Michael Slater a run for his money on the most 90s in Test cricket! Slats got 9 and AB's up to 6!

immie with a run a ball 24 no!

he's supposed to be useless with the bat, but he played some nice sweep shots, and the paddle sweep!

A better day for Sri Lanka today but now well out of the game. Kaushal Silva (wicket-keeper) let them down with the two dropped catches - in my opinion if he'd taken either of them things would look different right now. Fernando tried hard in the morning but really struggled after tiring. Tahir's cameo at the end must have been hugely frustrating for SL.

As for South Africa, they battled hard on a challenging pitch. A couple of little incidents during AB's innings for me to give my opinion of:

1. The review for the catch - in my opinion far too much doubt to give it out. Ian Ward said that from his experience with Hawk-Eye during England Tests the mark was something to do with the ball hitting the pitch and not the ball.

2. The dismissal - quite a lot of people in the media saying that AB shouldn't have asked the fielder as it wasn't conclusive. For me this was clearly a clean catch and a great gesture from AB - possibly a result of a couple of catches he's taken in the past that I remember being adjudged not out by the 3rd Umpire when they were almost certainly clean catches.

Nice summary.

Yeah, very sportsmanlike of AB, but I'd expect nothing less of the man, he is a classy cricketer and a classy bloke, too. It was definitely out in my view, despite there often being a good deal of debate about catches so low to the ground. An excellent innings, nevertheless.

Sri Lanka bowled well in parts, but overall inconsistency has let them down once again. Fernando has to sort his increasingly common no-ball issues out as well, it just isn't acceptable at this level and is going to prove costly sooner rather than later.

Sri Lanka well out of the match, but they can't say they didn't have their opportunities.

to Boucher for his 50, and taking the game away from SL even more.
And these two bring up a tenth wkt 50 partnership.

SA 403-9.

A quick word of praise (for a change) to a couple of Bangladeshi batsmen, Shakib Hasan and Shahriar Nafees for taking BD from their usual 43-4 to 153-4 at tea.

M Boucher cSilva bWelegedara 65. SL finally pick up the tenth wkt.

SA 411ao. A lead of 231.

Steyn on a hat-trick

woahhhhhhhhhh 1st ball review.

Wasted review imo, just to see if Steyn could get his hat-trick.

Paranavitana given out lbw, but a review

Good use of DRS, Para not out.

SL 5-0.

So far today:

Technology 2 - Others 0

What the hell is Philander taking - I want some

Dilshan 6 cBoucher bPhilander

SL 11-1

Shocking start for SL, Paranavitana gone now.

NT Paranavitana 4 cBoucher bSteyn

SL 11-2

Sangakkara out, SL in a sorry state.

That man again. Another five-for?

KC Sangakkara 2 cBoucher bPhilander

SL 19-3

So who is the worse batting side:
Sri Lanka
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Australia
Leicesterhite 2nd XI

Tough call.

Leicester the best of that bunch.

Very poor from SL but it was probably no more than was expected.

SL sliding to defeat but Herath has just smacked Steyn over wide long-on for a SIX.

SL 122-7

Philander gets his forth with the 9th wkt.

UWMBCA (hell of a name) Welegedara 10 c & b Philander

SL 145-9

SL all out for 150, not very good batting or brilliant bowling, I would opt for the former.

Philander gets another five-for. . Four five-fors in three Test matches, and my guess is another Man of the Match UNBELIEVABLE.

Another five-fer for Philander, the man is on a roll.

Once again though, utterly desperate batting from this appalling Sri Lanka side.

Philander is outshining Mr Steyn at the moment, and to do that he must be in a magical zone.

He has though got to play against England soon

I expect the flashing blades of Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen will put him in his place

Fists of Fury wrote:I expect the flashing blades of Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen will put him in his place

Hope so, lets see how he goes against Zimbabwe and then NZ first.

I think Philander may well turn out against England with the one of the best sets of figures of all time after nine Tests.

Let battle commence.

Philander will bowl Kp first ball! One of the best fast bowlers I've seen in a long time.

Yeah, he will have faced some utter guff first up, that is for sure. These Australian and Sri Lankan batting lineups have been nothing short of pathetically embarassing. I almost cannot wait for the straight bat of Mr Trott to remind us that this is still Test cricket.

Gregers wrote:Philander will bowl Kp first ball! One of the best fast bowlers I've seen in a long time.

You wished

Impressive crushing of SL in the 1st test. Steady if not completely spectacular demolition by the bowlers.

Philander is the star of the show at the moment, he reminds me a bit of Dean Headley with his pace, accuracy and consistent movement.

Sri Lanka could find themselves having a Christmas caning this series.

Regardless of the strength of the opposition you still have to bowl in the right areas, if it was Steyn taking 10fer in the match then you would be singing his praises.

4 5fers including a 10fer in the match in his first 3 tests against two sides who are still in the top 6 in the world is ridiculously impressive.

England vs South Africa will be the true match up of the two best test sides of this era. South Africa probably slightly stronger overall but equally seem to struggle under pressure.

Stellar Key wrote:
Impressive crushing of SL in the 1st test. Steady if not completely spectacular demolition by the bowlers.

Philander is the star of the show at the moment, he reminds me a bit of Dean Headley with his pace, accuracy and consistent movement.

Sri Lanka could find themselves having a Christmas caning this series.

I think so too, but surely SL can not be this bad again.

Thank the heavens that Aus beat SA in that 2nd Test, otherwise SA may well have been No1 early in 2012.

[quote="Gregers"]Regardless of the strength of the opposition you still have to bowl in the right areas, if it was Steyn taking 10fer in the match then you would be singing his praises.

4 5fers including a 10fer in the match in his first 3 tests against two sides who are still in the top 6 in the world is ridiculously impressive.

England vs South Africa will be the true match up of the two best test sides of this era. South Africa probably slightly stronger overall but equally seem to struggle under pressure. [/quo



Totally agree. Apart from the last bit Remember SA have not won a home Test series since 2008.

Comparing England and south Africas sides is very interesting atm.

Smith > Strauss
Rudolph < Cook
Amla = Trott
Kallis > Pieterson
De Villiers > Bell
Prince = Morgan
Boucher < Prior
Steyn > Andersen
Phillander > Broad
Tahir < Swann
Morkel = Tremlett

With a combined side looking something like:
Cook
Amla
Trott
Kallis
De Villiers
Bell
Prior
Steyn
Swann
Phillander
Anderson

Sod Kallis, I'd choose KP for entertainment purposes

Gregers wrote:Comparing England and south Africas sides is very interesting atm.

Smith > Strauss
Rudolph < Cook
Amla = Trott
Kallis > Pieterson
De Villiers > Bell
Prince = Morgan
Boucher < Prior
Steyn > Andersen
Phillander > Broad
Tahir < Swann
Morkel = Tremlett

With a combined side looking something like:
Cook
Amla
Trott
Kallis
De Villiers
Bell
Prior
Steyn
Swann
Phillander
Anderson

Mine would be:
Smith
Cook
Trott
Pieterson
Bell
Morgan
Prior
Steyn
Philander
Swann
Tremlett

ABDV better than Bell? No, don't agree. Based on the past year as well, Bell has that spot nailed down.

Skye, much prefer your team except surely Anderson must be in at no.11.

Fists of Fury wrote:ABDV better than Bell? No, don't agree. Based on the past year as well, Bell has that spot nailed down.

Skye, much prefer your team except surely Anderson must be in at no.11.

Agreed, was just going on Gregers comparisons

well bowled Philander, exceptional yet again from him..

my combined side would be:

Cook
Smith(c)
Amla
KP
Kallis
De Villiers
Prior (wk)
Swann
Philander
Anderson
Steyn

Withou Gregers comparison list, mine would be:

Cook
Smith
Trott
Pieterson
Bell
De Villiers
Prior
Philander
Swann
Steyn
Anderson

Or could I say my list contains 7 South Africans

8 Englismen? and 3 SA's

Another one that sees ABDV as better than Bell...why? Bell has better technique, better recent stats (or at least did have until this Test series) and they're similar in the field. I agree either man would be an excellent addition to any team, but head to head Bell just takes it for me due to his form this past year.

I'd go something like:

Cook
Smith
Kallis
Pietersen
Bell
ABDV
Prior
Philander
Swann
Steyn
Anderson

Also, does anyone not think we are being a little harsh to Mr Broad here? Philander has thus far failed with the bat, and whilst possessing exceptional bowling figures at this moment it has to be remembered that he has achieved them against two pathetically brittle batting lineups.

Are we doing our usual and getting carried away by someone that could well turn out to be a flash in the pan (not saying he will, but might have less success against better lineups).

Longevity is a big part of cricket, so not sure Philander has done enough to usurp Broad just yet!

Or Bresnan/Tremlett for that matter, given their figures of late, particularly Bresnan when you take into account his batting.

AB vs bell was the closest one and I changed it back and forth from who was better to equal several times. Both are better than prince and Morgan tho so would both play regardless.

Kallis > Pieterson tho, and would walk into any side in the world imo. Trott at 3, Kallis at 4 sounds much stronger than Kallis at 3, Kp at 4.

A bowling attack of:
Anderson
Steyn
Phillander
Swann
Kallis

Sounds incredibly tasty! Could any batting line up stand up to that?!

Fists of Fury wrote:Also, does anyone not think we are being a little harsh to Mr Broad here? Philander has thus far failed with the bat, and whilst possessing exceptional bowling figures at this moment it has to be remembered that he has achieved them against two pathetically brittle batting lineups.

Are we doing our usual and getting carried away by someone that could well turn out to be a flash in the pan (not saying he will, but might have less success against better lineups).

Longevity is a big part of cricket, so not sure Philander has done enough to usurp Broad just yet!

Maybe, but I bet you 10p that Philander will after 41 Tests have better figures than Broad.

To add:

Bell is my favourite batsman in the world atm and I could watch him all day so to rank de Villiers above him was incredibly tough!

Trott and Kallis together? The ground would be empty! I think Kallis at 3 and KP at 4 would scare many a bowling unit!

Skye, if batting lineups around the world continue with these bottleless collapses then yes Philander will have some ruddy good figures haha.