The ball that bowled Smith came in off a crack in the pitch, so yes it was a good delivery but thanks to the poor nature of the pitch not all credit can go to the bowler, he gets credit for using the conditions to his advantage. Not to mention Smith was batting with a broken hand, but as he himself said he would of struggled to keep that out even had he been fit. A lot of the SA batsman fell to balls that deviated sharply off the cracks in the pitch and/or bouncing irregularly.

Siddle did alright for himself after an unimpressive first test, he ended the series well. I agree with nrvs, the Aussie batting lineup was the bigger disappointment. That's where Australia had the experience and the biggest advantage in strength on paper going into the series and I felt they underperformed. South Africa's top order efforts weren't that much better to be honest, the only times SA's top order clearly outplayed the Aussies was in the second innings of the first and second match. Pretty much reflects the closely fought nature of the series that there wasn't much to choose between the batting or bowling from either side. South Africa's tail certainly outdid themselves this series, I've never seen them bat with such determination or effectiveness.

Oh yeh I doubt anyone cares but while I'm on a roll correcting myself I might as well add that Morkel's strike rate for the series should of been 74 not 44 which I think I said it was earlier.

I don't think Kallis should retire, he showed he was getting back to form in the Aus series but wasted it most of the time by getting out to bad shots. He was also very handy with the ball, his stats read something like average of 38 at a strike rate of 70 odd if I remember rightly. Not earth shaking bowling stats but pretty useful considering not many people rate his bowling that highly. He did look a lot more comfortable at the crease this series so hopefully he can make it count in the SA leg, and the upcoming ODI's as well. Amla was also guilty of wasting good form, a number of pretty 50's and thereabouts but never kicked on for the big score. He at least got out to higher quality balls than Kallis did most of the time.

Oops that should read beneficiaries.

Lee was badly out of form and Symonds wasn't all that much better in that regard. I didn't keep a running tally but both teams were victims and benefactors of bad umpiring in the match so fair enough. The toss favored Australia but they also used the conditions better like I said earlier. One thing that you can't argue against, and is a key difference in regards to the hard luck stories is that Smith's hand injury made it so that SA was basically playing 10 vs 11 for half the game. You can't say that didn't give Australia a big advantage.

I don't really have a problem with many of the 50/50 decisions, like the Amla in the first innings. Both teams had some go for and against them this match. Both teams got away with some pretty plumb looking LBW decisions in the match too, but the Boucher one almost made me fall out of my seat in how badly wrong it was. I'm not even joking, that was well before they showed it again on the replays too, it really was a stinker. Australia played the better cricket in the match. They were given chances by SA in the first innings but did well to make sure they suffered for the mistakes. They used the conditions of the pitch much better too. I didn't watch all the bowling from both teams but I watched a lot of it and from what I saw the Australian bowlers landed it near the cracks much more often than the SA bowlers did. They also batted well in the second innings even if it was helped by some bad bowling. They did win an important toss as they had two attempts at SA on a horror pitch where SA only had one (though for the most part SA bowled much better when the pitch was still fine). They also beat SA when SA effectively played with one less batsman, that's a pretty big handicap no matter the situation. Worse when its your no.1 for the series. All up I think its fair to say had Smith not picked up that broken hand then SA more than likely would of been able to draw the game even though they played the inferior cricket for most of the match.

Nice NeilB, great appreciation of the man who has been SA's best batsman this series even with h his sore elbow, then coming out and trying to save a Test with a broken hand facing bowlers who can bowl over 140kph. Yeh that's not brave at all. What more do you want from the man? To take a bullet for the team too?

Ah man they got so close, closer than I ever imagined after Boucher got that shocker of a decision. Pretty heartbreaking that they couldn't hold on after all that. Fantastic fight from the tail and Smith. Can't complain about the dodgy catch since SA got one in their favour so at least the 3rd umpire was consistent in giving the benefit of the doubt to the fielding team. Its not being fickle cricket4ever, its called commenting on whats happening as its happening. Bad batting or bad bowling is still bad even if the team has already won. I and I'm sure all South Africans are immensely proud of the team.

Boucher just got a bad call to put it lightly, I couldn't believe it when I saw that fool umpires hand go up. With that wicket SA's hopes reach pretty much zero.

The slim hope of a victory becomes the slim hope of a draw. More disappointing cricket from SA, they really haven't been anywhere near their best since the end of the first day.

Of the contentious catches of the series Australia certainly just got the better prize.

Mckenzie plays the Kallis shot. Stupid stupid.

Just to get back to the SA bowlers thing again for a minute. Karma's tally was taken before the last innings and thanks to that poor performance Ntini's stats are ruined, avg of 50 at a strike rate of 82. Morkel is 43 at 42. Steyn's blows out to 26 at 44.

I don't have a problem with Ponting's declaration. It meant an asking rate of around 3.3 when SA started and at the end of play its now up to around 3.5. For me that's just too much to ask for on a dodgy pitch, even if Smith was fit to play I'd say it was probably just out of reach.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Smith come out if there was a chance SA could win or draw and he was the last wicket left, though I have no idea how he could bat with a cast on. I suppose he'd have to break it off.

Karma - Yeh he hasn't been the worst bowler but with his experience and pedigree I expected a little better from him. To be fair I expected a little better from Morkel too, but in his defense Morkel has only played a handful of Tests and not that many first class games behind him either. Its obvious he has potential but its equally obvious he has a lot of work to do before he has a chance to deliver on it. Despite many South Africans on this board getting over excited when Harris took a few wickets and saying things like "eat your words Harris doubters" he's still not that good a spin bowler. He's accurate but not a genuine wicket taker, and most of his wickets come from the batsman trying to get after him and making a mistake. He does a decent job of keeping things quiet and will take the odd wicket.

I didn't say he should be dropped I said his performances indicate that hes coming to the end of his usefulness. There's a difference between saying he is at the end, and coming to an end. People just tend to get over defensive at times. Also its just my opinion that he's coming to an end, backed up somewhat by his mixed performances. He has chipped in with useful wickets but hasn't been as successful as in the past. I am guilty of perhaps expecting too much of the players but I apply the same attitude to all of them not just Ntini. Anyway, SA in a decent position at the end of play, with an outside chance of winning the game even, though the loss of Smith seriously hurts SA's chances of even the draw. Haddin dropped Amla so at least the butter fingers aren't exclusively limited to SA this match.

The SA bowlers, namely Steyn and Ntini bowled badly regardless of Smith not being there. They are supposedly professional sportsman, I don't think they need Smith holding their hands every step of the way, especially not someone with the experience of Ntini. They didn't use the conditions very well, I assume they were aiming for the big crack running just outside off-stump most of the time but they didn't hit it nearly as often as the Aussie bowlers did from what I saw.

Lol mad your funny. I do know what kind of balls he can bowl, and I gave him credit for his success over the years. I mentioned his distinguishing features of bowling wide of the crease and decent pace. OK I missed the fact that he doesn't bowl many no balls, you got me there. The Australian batsman played badly to be at 15/3, and Steyn took one of those wickets so I don't have just Ntini to thank for that. Not to mention that of the 3 Steyn's ball was probably the closest to being a genuinely good ball. I would much prefer to see Ntini taking wickets than see him depart but from his performances over the last 6-12 months he hasn't done all that much to impress. Thanks for your post though. On to the game, Morkel opening the batting? That was a move that was bound to fail, and it did. Not only was it stupid because Morkel is not a good batsman but it handed Bollinger and Australia a wicket which will only give them confidence.

Ummm except it wasn't the catch that was the problem there Prophet, it was the staggered slips. Kallis was standing about about half way between first and second slip, which is a stupid idea no matter the situation. You can't expect one person to cover the ground it takes two people to do effectively. They did it when the Aussie tail was batting in the first innings too, Hauritz edged 2 or 3 through the slips thanks to the gaps that staggered slips left. South Africa certainly haven't helped themselves in this game and its going to take a lot to get at least a draw out of this game because of it.

A good 50 from Ponting. He was helped by some ordinary bowling and a touch of luck but you still got to do the work and he did. Its too late for SA though, even if Aus bat badly they should be able to get at least another 100 runs from this point, which should be about enough.

Yes because I'm sooo anti-Ntini. For one he is bowling rubbish, and for another he hasn't performed that well against top class opposition for awhile now, so I'm not picking on him for having one or two bad tests. He is a limited bowler and its a credit to the man that hes had so much success in his career despite it. He doesn't get swing (not a big deal, not all bowlers do), doesn't have a slower ball (according to some SA commentators he does have one but isn't confident enough to bowl it), doesn't bowl cutters and doesn't have a particularly menacing bouncer, in fact normally when he drops short he gets dispatched with relative ease. SA still need him in the test side for the time being due to his vast experience and proven record, but he is starting to show his age. Boucher never has been a big run scorer so I've never subscribed to the idea to get rid of Boucher because he's not scoring big runs.

Ntini is bowling a load of rubbish. He hasn't bowled particularly well all series. He didn't bowl very well in England for the most part and before then he hadn't done much either. He's definitely coming to the end of his usefulness. Its pretty remarkable how much success he has had over his career for a fairly limited bowler. His only really distinguishing feature is that he bowls wide of the crease at a decent pace, depending on conditions he can also get some seam. I wonder how much Ponting will set SA as a target. He probably wont need more than 300-350, maybe 400 if he wants to be extra safe.

Warne and Healy tried to liken it to tennis and golf players rankings but the difference is those are one person sports. The makeup of the Australian team is significantly different from the team that achieved no.1 ranking so they certainly aren't the indisputable no.1 team anymore. Hayden was lucky to get away with a LBW but I can't really complain since SA had its fair share of luck in reaching 327. It all comes down to the drop catches really, if SA had held on to them then the first innings scores would be round about even. I'm hoping SA can pull something out of the hat again but an over 100 run deficit, dodgy pitch and missing our most successful batsman due to injury leaves SA in all kinds of trouble. SA have had their tail bail them out but Australia have needed it more often than SA, and for the most part they have yet to fail as far as tailender's go. I can't remember the Aussie tail failing to score under 50 runs combined, which is a handy contribution.

Oh well Boucher and Morkel took SA further than I thought they would, with a little bit of luck. A pity the rest of the tail couldn't follow suit, but it was much more like the SA tail after Morkel went. The pitch is already a mess and its only day 3, so it will take something special from SA with ball and then bat again to win or draw this game.

I can't believe the commentators are trying to pass off the movement as swing when you can clearly see it zip off the pitch after it hits a crack.

Another one jumps back in off a crack to claim Duminy, so there goes that brief hope.

More like pathetic cricket South Africa. Kallis got himself out again to a bad ball with an even worse shot, de Villiers was incredibly lazy running between the wickets. Amla and Mckenzie both got a ball that jagged back off one of the cracks in the pitch, so they at least have an excuse for getting out, although they both failed to go on after getting starts. Combined with the dropped catches its been really poor cricket from SA in the last day and a half. They are playing like the Aussies did at the MCG, if not worse and certainly don't deserve to be any better off than they are. I'll hold up hope that Boucher and Duminy can do something special, but 3 matches in a row seems unlikely. First innings batting from SA in this series hasn't been anywhere near good enough.

Man that was a stupid shot from Kallis, not what SA needed.

At least his reflexes are good enough not to get hit on the head like Hussey.

I think Mckenzie was just disappointed in getting out after getting a start. That or he thought it struck him outside the line, which judging by his form is believable since he doesn't seem to know where his off stump is half the time. He was starting to look a little more confident at the crease but he got a pretty good ball from Siddle that came in at him which he was too late on playing, probably partly because he would of been looking to leave it first and play it second which seems to be his way. Kallis was looking good again, its pretty amazing how he's turned it around for this series, although he hasn't gone on to make a big score he has looked good before finding ways to get out. SA is going to need him to go on this time being 300 runs behind on a pitch that looks like it could get ugly down the line. Already a little bit of variable bounce on offer. I'm still disappointed that SA let Aus off the hook badly with those missed chances, it allowed Aus to paper over the cracks of the top order once again failing to put in a convincing performance.

Things continue to go badly for SA, Smith is off injured and I read that Steyn didn't bowl because hes got a bruised heel.

I wouldn't really count Ntini's as a drop if your talking about the one where Clarke hit out at Harris, he only just got his fingers to it, at best it was half a chance. The Amla and Kallis catches were for the most part inexcusable. Mckenzie looks as scratchy as ever, whoever said he was back in form obviously didn't pay attention to how streaky he was in getting to his 50. Hopefully he can get it together before he finds himself out.

The 2 dropped catches cost SA approximately 130 runs. They only have themselves to blame for being in this position.

Thank goodness its finally over. SA are going to have to bat well just to get on a level pegging with Aussies first score, and I doubt they can rely on the tail doing what they did in the last test or what the Aussie tail did this test.

Funny, a drop catch costs SA more big runs and the Aussie tail does what its been doing all series, except now better than ever before. Now we know how the Aussies felt at the MCG.

Frustrating end of the day for SA. Clarke dropped and Johnson edging through vacant 3rd/4th slip area. Probably about even at the end of the days play, really needed that Clarke catch for it to be firmly in favour of SA.

Argh Amla drops Clarke. How costly is that going to be.

Beautiful delivery from Steyn to dismiss Haddin. That's the sort of delivery I like to see taking wickets.

My word, have you guys seen the picture of this Andrew McDonald guy? Stand him next to Pollock and you wouldn't even notice Pollock had a carrot top compared to him. He's likely to blind the other team with that hair.

Happy new year and all that stuff.

Only problem is NZ is so weak at the moment that they are for the most part an inconsequential variable. That is the cold hard truth. The Indians better learn to get motivated against the kiwi's, otherwise they will lose big reputation points if they can't win at least 1-0 weather permitting.

India also lost to Australia at the beginning of the year without Aus having all their great players. Bringing up results from a few years ago doesn't have any relevance to the now, to be fair neither does the beginning of the year Aus v India result . India and South Africa are very close in strength at the moment and I believe Australia wont be too long in being amongst them again. If we are talking strictly who's been the best Test team of 2008 then the results say its South Africa, you can't argue against those. 2009 will certainly be another interesting year of cricket no matter what happens.

I will say India have probably been the best all round side for the year. They've achieved good success' in Tests and perhaps more surprisingly ODI's. Although it was 2007 they also won the T20 World Cup. South Africa have been the most successful Test team in 2008 but the 4-0 loss to England seriously damaged their ODI reputation. Its pretty weird to see South Africa's test side so balanced and strong when in the past it was the ODI side who fit that description. With the loss of Shuan Pollock, out of form and troubled Gibbs and a few other under-appreciated (I know I was guilty of this) players like Hall and Langevelt the ODI side is in something like the same circumstances as the Aussie Test side.

Your confident India would kick SA's butt but have reservations about beating NZ? Anything less than a test series win vs NZ will damage India's credibility as a side looking to be recognised as the no.1 team.

India should beat NZ no problem, the NZ test team is very weak at the moment. It has potential to become decent once the players start to get comfortable at the international level but right now India should beat them comfortably home or away so its not a true reflection on how well India travel. Unless they somehow lose which would make them the worst traveling team ever (hyperbole).

Noo I jinxed them, lost 2 wickets since my post. Still a commendable fightback from them to post over 400 in the final innings against a decent Sri Lankan bowling attack.

Go go Bangladesh, you can pull off the last amazing test victory for the year!

I'm surprised Oram didn't win the injury award, his ability to break down at a moments notice is the stuff of legends.

The Katich dismissal is the worst example you could of chosen. It was wide to begin with and even if it did swing it was so wide to begin with Katich should of left it well alone. Mckenzie did the same thing in the 2nd innings to I think a Johnson ball, edged it but Hayden missed the tough chance. Smith did it to a Siddle delivery in the first innings. At best it might be a good idea to chuck one out there to see if the batsman is keen to go after it, but its the batsman's job to know which balls he should be playing at. If he does go after it, it amounts to an unforced error. Here's the Cricinfo commentary - "Steyn to Katich, OUT, edged and gone, and a silly shot! Katich sees a full and wide ball and chases it only to get a faint edge through to Boucher, who dives to pouch it low to his left, well held there". At least one person agrees with my opinion, I don't think anyone in their right mind could argue it was a good ball using the standards of what a good ball is considered to be. I think its widely known by cricket followers what classic seamers dismissal is but I'll let you know what I think it is so you get an idea of my way of thinking. The classic good seamers delivery for me is one that is directed down a channel on or close to off stump line so that the batsman feels he has to play a shot, the length has to be such that the batsman is unsure of whether to come forward or back to play the shot and finally some sideways movement, preferably towards the slips so that it takes the edge. Top batsman tend to struggle with the one that goes away more than the one that comes in, though any sideways movement is obviously good to have. Not many of Steyn's wicket balls come close to that description so my verdict stands that while Steyn bowled well not all his wickets came from genuinely good balls.

Also somehow I've failed to realise its Symonds not Symond all this time. All those should of been Symonds' not Symond's. My English teachers would hate me right now, though I'm sure I'll give them plenty more reasons before I'm through.

I didn't watch that much of the first innings from either side, but I did watch most of the Aussie 2nd innings and all of SA's. I mentioned in a previous post that Steyn and Kallis were getting shape on the ball. That doesn't mean every ball that got a wicket swung, and I don't let people tell me what I'm seeing, I can use my own eyes for that. Lets run through the Steyn wickets in the 2nd innings. Hayden - Got out in almost the exact same fashion as the first innings. Driving a full ball on round about the off-stump line that didn't swing or seam. Not the worst ball ever but nothing special either. Katich - Chased a stupidly wide delivery that didn't swing and even if it had of swung it was a such a wide ball that Katich shouldn't of been thinking about trying to hit it. Clarke - Short ball outside off stump, it was there to put away or at worst left alone. Instead Clarke poorly executed his shot and hit it straight to a fielder. Symond's - Easily Steyn's best ball that took a wicket. Had beaten Symond's once already in the over but the edge didn't carry, 2 balls later it did. It was on off stump line or a fraction outside it on a good length, didn't look like it did much sideways movement but it was good enough to trap Symond's on the crease and square him up. Siddle - not a bad ball but again nothing much in the way of sideways movement, again on about off stump line but a tad shorter than the Symond's ball. Siddle prodded at it away from his body and the edge was taken. Also there was an article on Cricinfo at the end of yesterdays play where Steyn himself commented on the Aussies playing loose shots, and again when Mark Nicholas interviewed him on the morning of the final day he mentioned it. I'll take the players words over guys in the commentary any day.

I don't buy that that swing was the cause of the SA bowling success. There was no swing or seam for anyone in the first test to speak of for either bowling attack. There was at least a little bit on offer at the MCG but if you look at the Aussie wickets that fell, especially in the second innings (largely due to me not remembering clearly each wicket taking ball from the first innings) you will see that Steyn's balls that actually took the wickets didn't swing. The Aussie batting unit have mostly themselves to blame for the wickets lost throughout the tests so far. To be fair Steyn and the rest did bowl some excellent deliveries that didn't get the wickets (most notably in the second innings) so though the wickets didn't always fall to a great ball as a whole the bowling unit bowled with better accuracy/skill and patience so some credit has to be given to them as well. Its just must be frustrating as a batsman to survive the good balls then get out playing a bad shot to get out.

A big well done to the boys for this victory! Two come from behind victories against Aus in Aus is unbelievable. I had confidence that this SA side had the goods to win this time around but I never imagined it would be 2-0 with a game to spare. Simply outstanding!

Mark Nicholas has been pro-Aussie for a long time, we get the Aussie commentary in NZ whenever Aus play someone who isn't NZ so its something I've picked up on long before now. Yes thanks India, your beating of Australia is the biggest reason why SA are likely to win this series now. Its got nothing to do with SA having a well balanced team with most of the players in good form. Forget the past 12-18 months of success SA have had, that doesn't count for nearly as much as India beating Australia at home. Its got nothing to do with South Africa winning key moments in the tests and for the most part just generally playing the better cricket. Australia being sub par (most surprisingly with the bat) and missing players who have been in the past the chief destroyers of SA teams surely has no part to in it either. Also when did Smith make any silly comments about Australia this tour? Smith has matured a lot and been perfectly diplomatic this time around. Steyn made it clear that what he said about the IPL was a joke, a tasteless joke which I'm sure he is sincere about when he said he regrets making it. About the game, a pity Smith got out padding up to a straight one from Hauritz, I was hoping he would be there at the end with a 100 under his belt but it wasn't to be. Mckenzie has looked to be a bit more positive this time round which is what he needed to do. He still hasn't looked too comfortable but at least he's still there.

If Australia are saved by the rain I will be very sad indeed, I'm going to have nightmares about it while I sleep tonight.

Gonooda - Except Mckenzie hasn't been a failure at all, hes just struggling now. He's one of the highest run scorers for the year, so its unfair to say hes a joke. The only reason I feel he should be dropped now is to make the most use of Duminy's form when Prince is fit to return. It probably won't happen since most selectors worldwide aren't that ruthlessly efficient. Its the sort of thing I think should happen more often though, current form is important than past success'.

I can't believe Mckenzie has left two balls bowled on off stump line. Talk about not knowing where your off stump is. I doubt the selectors will drop him even if he does fail again in this innings, but I think it would be a good idea. He's quite obviously out of form and while hes done well in the past its the now that's important for the team. Duminy is in form and it would be silly to waste it. Prince can't do any worse than Mckenzie is doing at the moment so he should get in. I'd probably shift Amla up to open instead of Duminy, as with Mckenzie failing Amla has basically been playing as an opener. South Africa should win from here, but anything can happen in cricket so I won't get too excited until they cross the line.

SA have bowled better but the Aussie batting has been pretty bad throughout the series.

Yes! Haddin finally fails and the tail is exposed, hopefully SA can do a decent job of cleaning them up this time.

YES! Finally one carried 2 balls later.

Argh just after Clarke gets out Symond's adds to the tally of edges that haven't carried.

Funny after all the good balls Clarke gets out to a bad ball.

Frustrating, there's been about 4 edged balls after lunch no carrying or going to hand.

Duminy has been rather disappointing in his ODI appearances, which was frustrating to watch when he has obvious talent and ability. He chose the perfect time to show his class. Lets hope the success' keep coming, he wouldn't be the first player to have a great start then tail off.

The English are always eager to welcome back heroes of the past, just look at Harmisson. He had one good outing against South Africa in the dead rubber test and all of a sudden England has the best bowling attack in test cricket led by Harmisson. Somehow Sidebottom was largely forgotten after having a rather excellent year before his injuries took him out of the game. Regardless of whether he comes back into the side and does well or not he hasn't done anything to merit selection and would be getting into the team on past glories. England seem to have a rather perplexing favouritism policy going on.

For one that wasn't a quota system that SA used to have, it was racial segregation that went much deeper than sports. People misuse the quota label, and I have done so in the past on this very forum. I did at least apologise for my mistake and stupidity. A quota player is someone who gets into the side ahead of another player based on his skin colour even though his stats/reputation/performance is lower. Players like Ontong and Robin Pieterson are clear quota players, they got in to the team/squad even though their records are worse than the people they were made to replace. Duminy averages 50+ in first class, Amla 45, Prince something like 41, even Zondeki who I don't rate very highly has a bowling average of 28 or so in first class cricket if I remember right. They are all there on merit which is exactly how it should be. On to other things, I still can't believe SA managed to go from being dead and buried to a position of strength. Also I don't think much of Tony Greig myself.The only good he serves for me is that he's the only one in the Aussie commentary box that wants SA to win.

Duminy you little beauty! Its a miracle from the SA tail to stick with him and add some incredible runs.

I could be mistaken but didn't you call Siddle a pie chucker too Penny? Regardless it was more really poor batting than excellent bowling that accounted for most of SA wickets. SA would be pretty thrilled with a draw from this point I would imagine, once again they really let themselves down badly with the bat in good batting conditions. Mckenzie's form is worrying, I realise he has achieved some success with his heavily defensive style batting but its not working vs Aus. He's just allowing the bowlers to dictate which the Aussie bowlers will relish. Today's shot, or rather non shot was embarrassingly bad.

Its looking pretty bleak now, its been some really awful batting from SA. Every wicket that has fallen has come from a bat shot to not particularly good balls at best and bad balls at worst.

South Africa in trouble now, mostly of their own making. Hopefully Smith can continue, de Villiers and Duminy will need to put in some big scores.

Oh man I slept in late (really late) and woke up to find Clake and the tail added just over 100 runs since yesterday and now SA are 40 odd for 2. Not what I was hoping for at all. Gotta think positive... it sets it up perfectly for Kallis to make that elusive double century. Mckenzie let me down after I defended his batting, not cool at all.

Its worth a try, I don't remember them trying the short ball to him much in the first test. They will have to be more accurate with it than they have been, at the WACA the batsman managed to get under the short stuff with relative ease, even the tail enders coped with it well enough.

I wonder if Haddin can put in another innings saving performance, I sure hope not.

Well that was predictable, Ponting has made SA pay for the mistake. A hundred at a strike rate of 80, excellent batting. Ntini has been bowling rubbish after lunch, Kallis has been a tad unlucky with a few edges going for 4. Australia look set for 400+ which judging by the batting conditions is what they will need to feel comfortable.

Steyn's second spell has been better, hes getting a little shape away from the right hander. He doesn't bowl nearly as well to left handers for some reason. Morkel was all over the place, Ntini was average and Kallis was getting a little shape on the ball until he came off for injury. Mckenzie has made good runs this year, as I said he before averages something like 50 for the year so I don't get the calls to get rid of him based on his batting, though he does need to make some runs vs Aus. The drop catch was inexcusable and I've got a bad feeling SA are going to suffer from that lost opportunity.

Mckenzie better make a big hundred when its his turn to bat after dropping Ponting from a pretty regulation catch.

Comparing a terrorist attack in England to one in India is a little bit unfair. There's a much better chance of a terrorist attack occurring in India than there is England. If I were a player and I felt my life was in danger I wouldn't want to go to the place either.

Agreed. Shah, Prior, KP and Flintoff were all guilty of allowing the bowlers, especially Yuvraj and Harbajan to bowl without trying to score more than 3-4 an over for the longest time. Only once the batting power play was taken and the run rate required was over 9 did they try do something about it, which is asking a lot even for KP and Flintoff. As you say Yuvraj's bowling was accurate but hardly what you would call deadly threatening yet they made him look near impossible to get away.

If its all about tomorrow then why bring up the 4-0 SA victory?

Oh and thank you Dhoni for trying to talk some sense into them by reminding them that its about the teams not the captains.

Flamboyant style? For one, when did Pieterson do anything flamboyant against SA in the test or the ODI's? Unless you count convincing Harmisson to play in the one day game and bringing in Patel for Swann as flamboyant. Setting a 8-1 field and asking Sehwag to bowl down leg side to Hayden aren't what I'd call flamboyant either. Silly Indian media.

How dare those Indians hit a ball into the English training nets by accident, what an outrage. .

While Kallis isn't the ideal captain (obviously it would be ideal if Smith wasn't out with injury) I think your nit picking just a bit. For one he had to bowl himself or Philander at some point. I'm also pretty sure he didn't want to bowl a poor over, but it happens to everyone even the best. Which leads me to Nel and Steyn who did have a good economy until then but there's no guarantee they would of been able to stop the runs either. Both have been expensive throughout the series. Picking apart his post match speech is also a bit silly. Anyone who's watched cricket for any length of time can pretty much predict what the captains will say at the end of the game win or lose. Kallis speech wasn't far different from what many other captains have/would of said. Bottom line is it was a mess of a game, with the rain falling more into England's hands than South Africa's. If the game had started as a 20/20 then I think you would of seen a different approach from the SA batsman. You could argue it might not of made a difference and you would be right to point that out, but for England they new their position from the start of their innings and 137 in a 20/20 isn't going to be enough on most days. I don't think you could make a compelling argument that if Kallis was a better captain SA would of won.