South Africa Perform well at Newlands ODI (Trying to level the series)

It has been a great batting performance from South African batsmen. Graeme Smith has set the tone trying to dominate the England bowling in the first ten over’s. Amla and Smith batted well in a first two powerplays putting the English bowling under immense pressure. This has forced the English captain to hold off the third powerplay which have played into the hands of the South African team. This meant that the batsmen could rotate the strike and play themselves in and they could then attack when the powerplay had to be taken. Smith eventually fell to a ball playing the ball on to his stumps. Amla have also played a big part in South Africa reaching the score, which set the stage for AB de Villiers to play a blinder of an innings. He played with freedom and attacked the bowling also running between the wickets wit Amla and later with Pietersen. The only negative from the South African team was the batting of JP Duminy going out to a pull shot scoring 6 from 15 balls faced

South Africa VS England 2009 ODI Newlands

South Africa has won the toss at Newlands and elected to bat in their cricket match agianst England. Newlands which has been known for pear shape match results where the team batting first has a huge advantage over the team batting second. The reasons for these phenomena can be attributed to the lack of movement from the ball during the day comparing it to the night. It has been known that the ball is doing something from the deck and through the air. England will be doing well getting close to the huge total that South-Africa has managed to score. The score for the South African innings was 354 for the loss of 6 wickets. Special mention needs to be made in the way AB de Villiers has batted like a rock dispatching the ball all over the park 121. He was well supported by his fellow batsmen. England that has got match winners in their team but it is going to be tough.

Kallis Out ODI's against England

Jacques Kallis has been replaced by Hasim Amla for the rest of the ODI’s against England. Kallis that has not responded on treatment for a bruised rib have been diagnosed with a cracked rib after a second scan yesterday. This have been a cruel blow to the South African team just before the start of the Odi. This will be a good opportunity for Amla to prove that he can play a integral part in the South African line-up. Meanwhile South Africa has gotten of to a decent start to there innings. The current score is 43 for the loss of 2 wickets after 9 overs. South Africa will have to consolidate their innings as there was a loss of two wickets in short succession.

Proteas vs England ODI Centurion 22 November 2009

So it is Cricket at last since the rain has set in over Gauteng over the past week. It is the first time that the weather is looking good and that we are sure there is going to be some good cricket played. England has won the toss and elected to bowl due to some moisture around. I think that this is the prudent decision that might prove to be the correct one for them. I think Smith would have done the same if he won the toss. The only good thing positive for the Proteas is that it is not overcast , but you can be assured that there is going to be some lateral movement.
Then there is the omission of Jacques Kallis which has been removed from the line-up due to a suspected cracked rib. This will also put him in doubt for the rest of the one day internationals and even for the first test against England.
Anderson will be opening the bowling and the Proteas will have to be at their best if they stand a chance of getting off to a good start.

Smith and Bosman dominate T20 at Centurion

I am happy to report that the batsmen have done the job in the 20/20 match last Sunday. Gleam Smith and Loots Bosman were superb in the way they went about in there dismantling of the English bowling attack. It has been calculated low risk cricket that have placed the pressure squarely on the English bowlers. The opening partnership was the biggest in the 20/20 form mostly because both batsmen like to dominate the bowling and that they were on a role.
Bosman nearly became the second batsmen in international T20 match to reach the elusive three figure total. He ended up with 96 runs unfortunately hauling out to a shortish delivered ball. He tried to hit the ball for a boundary not backing down putting the team upfront. Smith also played absolutely excellent and it is evident that his elbow is much better than last season in the way he is stroking the ball with immense power. It has also been evident in his shot selection that he is not only limited to certain regions he is playing his shots. This will make things much more difficult for the English especially in the upcoming test series.

Proteas vs England 20/20 Centurion

So there is again some weather around in the Johannesburg, Pretoria area. The Duckworth / Lewis method of determining the eventual winner might be again come into play. South Africa has probably been the team most affected in this manner, but it is probably because they only have one game plan, and that is to chase a target rather than to set one. It has cost them two advances in world cup matches one against England in Australia and one against West Indies in South Africa. I sure don’t hope that DL will be used today to determine the winner of today’s match. The previous game has shown signs of being a cliff-hanger up to the point that the rain has intervened. If this first encounter has anything to go by the tour will be something else and the intricate matchups something to behold and to enjoy.

South Africa VS England 20/20 match

I went to the South African vs England 20/20 match tonight. I think Standard bank was greedy selling the tickets for much more than they should have. I think they could have had about an extra 10 000 people at the Wanderers tonight if the pricing was done more prudently and even if there was a drop of R30 to R50 on the cover price they would have made more money in the stadium. I have spent more than that amount at the stadium. I don’t know how these corporate companies work out the price, but the one stand had 3 dancers only dancing for 10 to 20 people in the one corner. That was really lame that the stadium was not packed like during the 20/20 matches that were hosted by the Indian organizers a few months ago. They worked with a much better plan trying to fill the stadium to capacity and gaining more revenue on the Advertising and the selling of memorabilia to fans.
I think Standard bank should revisit their prices and that they might make more friends in the future. People don’t like being ripped off especially if they don’t get the moneys worth from what they are getting. I think the chance of games being rained out id quite good, luckily there was some play tonight, and it the chances of being a cliff-hanger was good. With the rain coming early and putting an end to proceedings I have felt a bit short changed. You are welcome to give your views on this.

The Springbok starting XV to face France in Toulouse on Friday

So the Springbok team for the match Friday evening will be as follows:
15 Zane Kirchner (1)
14 JP Pietersen (30)
13 Jaque Fourie (51)
12 Adi Jacobs (28)
11 Bryan Habana (54)
10 Morné Steyn (9)
9 Fourie du Preez (52)
8 Ryan Kankowski (9)
7 Schalk Burger (53)
6 Heinrich Brüssow (10)
5 Victor Matfield (89)
4 Bakkies Botha (63)
3 John Smit – Captain (90)
2 Bismarck du Plessis (30)
1 Tendai Mtawarira (19)


So here is my take on the team selection and things that we will have to keep a look out for – There will be the battle up front that is going to be fundamental in the outcome of the match. I have seen that a hard battle upfront certainly have an effect on the way a team dominates and controls the match. France have one of the biggest front five combinations in world rugby at the moment. We must see if South Africa can stand up to the task that have been set by these players.
I do think that South Africa should fare well in the loose with Heinrich Brüssow and Schalk Burger both fetchers and complementing each other well. It is a pity that Spies was ruled out due to injury as that would be by first choice.
I do think the most stringent test will fall on Zane Kirchner and Adi Jacobs which has to fill cardinal positions and will be playing in stead of De Villiers and Steyn which have been playing well during the whole Tri Nations campaign. I predict a very close game that might be won by drop goals and penalties in stead of the wide open running Rugby. Good luck Boks!