South Africa tour of India, 2019

[Dan C]

Day 4: Tea Break - India lead by 246 runs

 

[Creag]

You know India are going to be going hard in the final session. Quick runs will be there sole focus. And so, we offer them Piedt to make that quest a little easier. Kudos.

 

[Dan C]

One of the most boring tests I've watched.

 

[Whright]

Run rate this session 7.07 so far.

 

[pinball wizard]

In MyBB lingo, Massive Wicket that one.

Jadeja to Elgar, OUT, huge appeal and then they review with two second left on the clock. That's kept low at a middle stump line. My first thought was leading edge, but that has gone under the bat and hit him at shin height as he's looked to flick off the front foot...he's bowling around the wicket. Did that pitch in line? Yes it did! Skidding onto hit middle stump. Jadeja was raucous and violent with that appeal but it took a long time for Kohli to be convinced of the review, probably because he is around the wicket. But they've made the decision that's got South Africa's most solid batsman from the first innings
D Elgar lbw b Jadeja 2 (16b 0x4 0x6) SR: 12.50

 

[sand_man]

19/2

 

[stefan9]

Terrible this morning. 70/6

 

[sand_man]

Shocking capitulation. Very disappointing considering the bottle they showed on day 2 and 3... 71/8

 

[surface]

Shocking capitulation. Very disappointing considering the bottle they showed on day 2 and 3...

time to hit the bottle, that is for sure.

 

[WaxLyrical]

So no one managed to block for 100 balls and get a duck?

Pathetic.

 

[rietrot]

There's some tourists batsman in this team that just went along to India for the fun of it. In an unwinnable situation they should play out to a draw

 

[stefan9]

Good fight shown by piedt and muthusamy. Showing up the top order...

 

[Dan C]

KG !

 

[ZCFOutkast]

Shocking capitulation. Very disappointing considering the bottle they showed on day 2 and 3... 71/8

Except it wasn't really bottle. Just normal batting on a flat pitch, in which overall the South African batsmen actually scored far less runs than they should have. No discounting that the toss played a huge part because of how the final day plays in India, but apart from the odd uneven bounce, it's not a turner. No need to favour the backfoot.

We got the XI wrong and the batting order wrong. The moment Bumrah got injured it was predictable that India wouldn't risk preparing a seamers' pitch, or risk SA spinners doing a Swann-Pannesar on them. Protea simply did not take the game to them. How on earth do you lose by 200 runs on this kind of a pitch. This will rank as one of the worst ever Proteas defeats. At no point has this pitch been one to lose 20 wickets in.

 

[Mercury12]

Except it wasn't really bottle. Just normal batting on a flat pitch, in which overall the South African batsmen actually scored far less runs than they should have.

Is that not the definition of bottling it?

 

[Arthur]

Is that not the definition of bottling it?

Lack of battle enough to drive one to the bottle.

 

[ZCFOutkast]

time to hit the bottle, that is for sure.

Is that not the definition of bottling it?

Lack of battle enough to drive one to the bottle.

Someone said fight. So he could've chosen mettle. But I suppose he settled for something more fitting. Otherwise he would've bottled it too and buried his head tightly in the sand. Man!

 

[ZCFOutkast]

Is Faf du Plessis missing a trick by batting too low at No. 5?

Firdose MoondaSouth Africa correspondent, ESPNcricinfo

India have Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli at No.3 and 4 in their Test line-up while South Africa have Theunis de Bruyn and Temba Bavuma in those positions.

No disrespect to either of those batsmen and the time may come when their names draw similar reactions as the players listed in the India side. But, for now, it's hard not to think of them as having big boots to fill. Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers used to occupy those positions so comparisons are unfair, but questions about why South Africa did not opt to fill the spots with more experience are worth asking. Especially on a tour of India. Especially when they have other options.

The obvious one is the captain, Faf du Plessis, who currently lurks at No. 5 and is the subject of debate over whether he is shoring up an inexperienced XI or shirking responsibility.

Someone's been trawling these parts.

 

[DanDango]

India opt to bat

Teams:

South Africa (Playing XI): Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Theunis de Bruyn, Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Senuran Muthusamy, Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje

India (Playing XI): Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Sham

 

[Ragnarök]

Lost the game already at the toss