I went to bed last night expecting worst case scenario was Pakistan would need to chase down 400, which these days seems strangely possible.
Woke up to find that they need 508. Surely too many.
ETA: Shafique is gone now, so it’s even harder.
Cricket on free to air TV in the UK this evening, with the first T20 between England and SA on BBC 2!
Did the ECB screw up somehow?
I’m watching WI-India playing a T20 in Florida. While the outfield grass is lush green, the pitch looks like a shiny patch of dirt. Would this field be acceptable for a major event, like a test or World Cup match?
Dunno, how big is it? The Caribbean pitches are known for basically being strips of dirt, so there’s no particular reason why not based on look alone.
England vs South Africa at Lords started this morning.
England 42-3 after the first hour - Lees, Crawley and Root the men out.
Crawley, at least, went out playing a defensive shot rather than a loose drive, so progress of a sort.
Bairstow, epitome of Bazball, bowled for 0.
But, you know, an expected outcome of taking risks is that sometimes they don’t come off.
England 116/6 before rain spared their blushes. Doubt we’ll get any more play today.
But in other news - Scotland are playing the USA! A 50 over ODI, Scotland batted first and got 249/8, with Callum McLeod getting 133* of those.
We’ve dug ourselves out of bigger holes this summer, but how much can we keep doing it?
US win by 1 run off the penultimate ball with 2 wickets to spare. Thought Scotland were in control with two wickets in the 46th over but a big over by Singh brought the US right back into it.
Trying to score fast at 47-3 or 55-4 is a very “you have to be lucky every time, we just have to be lucky once” situation.
Is Stokes only going to play tests from now on. I know his last ODI was his last ever (supposedly). He’s always been one of my favorite players. To me, he and Jadeja are the best all-rounders in the game if you weigh fielding as 1/3.
England have started in the usual way, and now have lulled the Saffers into complacency.
Cue the Bazball counterattack when they come out to bat 250 behind me in the third inning.
Or lose by an innings because that kind of play is unsustainable.
I’ve got a bit of sympathy though, it’s not like we did better playing properly.
The only reason that wasn’t a two day match is because we lost half a day to rain on Day One.
First of all, all credit to SA. They’ve got a fearsome attack nowadays and everyone bowled well across both innings - yes, a good toss to win but you’ve still got take the wickets and they did quite emphatically. Batting, the top order did a good job of seeing off the new ball, which I think is really teh difference between the teams.
England are planning to play positively and that’s great, but there’s a difference between playing to score lots of runs and playing to score lots of runs now. E.g. Potts had no business stepping away and slashing at a straight one when Stokes was at the other end. The positive move is to block and give Stokes the next over - that’s maximising runs. A number 9 going for a 6 or out shot with an innings victory in the offing… it’s not that positive.
So:
South Africa 151 (53.2 overs, RR 2.83)
England 111/3 (28 overs, RR 3.96)
England, after bowling brilliantly, started weak (43/3), but steadied up and now look to be in relative control - if they can keep it up. By all reports, the pitch is lively and bowler friendly for pace.
England seems to be trying to strike a balance between bazball and (IMHO) smart cricket - knock hard when you get one, but play safe most of the time. Benefitting from 20 extras - 7 byes, 3 no balls, and 10 wide.
It seems to me that tomorrow morning is key, if SA take early wickets, this match is in play. If England get through lunch with a handful or more still to go , they’re in the driver’s seat (even if not completely safe).
Yeah, agree.
It’s an odd mix of batters we’ve got in. Bairstow, who is feeling pretty confident in himself and happy to take on the bowling at one end, and at the other Crawley, who - in fairness to him - is clearly making an effort to play defensively and avoid nicking off on the drive. Hence he is 17 from 77 and Bairstow is 38 from 45.
So, can Crawley keep himself check and simply stay in until the bowlers are tired and the pitch calmer? How many chances will Bairstow take in the pursuit of piling up quick runs, and will all of them pay off? Although cricket is a batter’s game, the flipside of that is it just takes one ball to ruin your day.
My primary source on these fixtures is the Test Match Special podcast.
I reckon Aggers is as good a pure commentator as going around.
Anyhooo, their view was that it was a dry pitch, which is why Elgar chose to bat. And with picking two spinners SA would prefer to have last use. Conversely the weather conditions were bowler friendly and ENG has determined that they were going to have a bowl.
So both teams got what they wanted and, by taking 5 early wickets, ENG exploited conditions the better.
I applaud Crawley’s effort … as a talentless opening bat I been there and worse myself. Zac spent some time in Sydney playing grade cricket with my club so I know him a little. He’s earned the right to resume batting vs a worn ball so he has the chance to cash in.
Not really (although a very good delivery by all accounts). 38 is better, but quite a few edges along the way.
One too many, and no.
At Tea with England up 157, still with 5 wickets in hand. It won’t happen today, but when does England declare if they can keep this up? 300? More? Or, is it more about time left in the match - say declare at lunch tomorrow regardless of the lead.