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Jacques Kallis has been replaced by Hasim Amla for the rest of the ODI’s against England.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.

ICC Champions Trophy South Africa VS Sri Lanka

It was quite clear that South Africa has been caught cold in there first match in the ICC champions trophy with both bowling and fielding has been shown up as mentioned in a earlier post. It is clear that it is not as easy after a long layoff as what the Proteas had to start firing from the outset.
In the South African opening bowlers was treated with distain and send to the boundaries on a regular basis. It has to be set that the pitch did not provide any assistance to the bowlers but that the lines and lengths of attack were not executed well.
Dilshan Telekeratne has blasted a quick fire 106 and was involved with a great partnership with Sangakara of 158 runs. If it was not for the tumbling of 5 wickets in the last 4 over’s the chasing score will have been much more than the 320 that was set as target by Sri Lanka. The death bowling have been much more improved but it was after the horse has bolted.
It will be interesting to see how good the South African batting will be under lights.
South Africa will have to produce a Centurion on Centurion to have a good chance to come near the score of Sri Lanka