Skip to main content

Blog Time: South Africa wins by 72 runs.

By
India vs South Africa, Highlights, 1st Test: India Lose To South Africa By 72 Runs In Opening Test




Had we won, I would have said we did something really really awesome. Now that we lost, I can say “yeah we tried. It was a tough pitch. The boys did their best”. But what they can do is leave the ball outside off stump. Just leave her alone. Not to mess around. Also, another fact - India had better second innings batting conditions at the pitch. We still fell short by 72 runs. That is a fairly big margin. Batting was relatively poor. Most of the runs were scored by the lower order players. Matter of nerves too, I guess. Our batting let us down. The bowlers, in comparison, didn’t do that bad.

Historically, our batsmen have struggled in South Africa. That is a fact. That is why Kohli opted out of the warm-up matches insisting on more practice for the players. Well, all is not lost. We still have two more test matches apart from the ODIs and T20s. Let us hope to make a difference.

As it happened.

South Africa came in first. And they did quite well considering that it was not a batting pitch and all. 286 runs on board with ABD’s 65 and Faf du Plessis’s 62. The top order did fall. But the mid and lower batsmen did not drop the ball. That really matters in a team that wants to contribute well. India replied with 209. Inconsistent batting but one outstanding contribution from Pandya. His 93 made all the difference in the world. The team fell short by 77 runs. When South Africa came in next, they gave India a target of 207. Now that was really not a hard target at all. We could have made it. Fell short cos the batting fell. 13. 16. 4. 28. 10. 8. 1.
Need I say more?

We should have done much better on day one. Things just went downhill from there, I guess. Philander’s career-best haul of 3/33 and 6/42 helped seal South Africa’s victory. He deserved the man of the match award. So did ABD.
India may be down but most definitely not out. Especially if we learn from our mistakes and work on them for the next match. The series will be really something to look forward to. Pandya’s 93 runs and three-wicket haul is something to be inspired by.

Good luck with the next test match - 13th Jan.

Indu 
Reactions:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Editor's Pick (t20): India - South Africa

By
Whoever said ‘don’t make a habit out of it’ was not referring to winning. I do love writing ‘India won’ blogs and it is a pleasure to make a habit out of it as well. The Indian cricket team is most definitely making sure that the habit sticks. We are more than just on a roll in South Africa. We have found what clicks for us and we are making use of it. The best part is that almost all the players are performing. So we are actually open to experimenting and bringing in fresh faces. This way, not only do all the boys get the taste of playing, team South Africa is unable to get used to any one player long enough to figure out the style and a way to defeat it. Way to go Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli. Talking about team selection. How is your selection going? Are you also listening to our audio podcast and getting that added advantage?
Let's get back to the matches. We lost the test matches. But we have won the ODI series in a landslide way. And are one up in the T20 series. We are repla…
Post a Comment
Read more

Editor’s Pick(CPL): Trinbago Knight Riders vs Barbados Tridents

By
The previous match, Trinbago Knight Riders vs Guyana Amazon Warriors, saw the Knight Riders win by seven wickets. Played at Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad, Chasing a target of 158, TKR scored 162 in 19 overs. Colin Munro, their highest scorer, hit 70 runs. It was a fairly one-sided match with TKR staying on top for most parts.
The Knight Riders are right on top of the table, with three wins and one loss from four matches played. Their run rate of +1.680 will matter, for sure. DLS has been applied in this tournament and can be applied again. Barbados Tridents come second on the table with two wins from three matches. They earlier beat St Lucas Stars by 21 runs (DLS Method). This will be a close match, considering that both teams are in good form.
Barbados Tridents (From): Dwayne Smith, Kane Williamson, Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard(c), Nicholas Pooran(w), Christopher Barnwell, Akeal Hosein, Wayne Parnell, Imran Khan, Ravi Rampaul, Wahab Riaz, Raymon Reifer, Damion Jacobs…
Post a Comment
Read more

TNPL - A Brief Rundown

By
Based on the stupendously successful Indian Premier League is the Tamil Nadu Premier League. This Indian T20 cricket league has been established by the Tamil Nadu State Cricket Association to bring out more and more Natarajans and Washingtons who otherwise do not get a chance to showcase their skill and talent in the world of Cricket. The inaugural edition of the TNPL took place in 2016 and received unexpected and unprecedented success and love. There was a brilliant batch of young men who came forward and made an event out of the first season of TNPL.

Venues 

India Cements Ground, Thirunelveli
NPR College Ground, Dindigul 
MA Chitambaram Stadium, Chennai 


Changes
The purpose of every organization is to make it bigger and better. TNPL is no exception. At the inaugural TNPL 2016, there were the traditional two semifinals and one final. This year will see a format similar to IPL. The finalists are decided by two qualifiers along with one eliminator. This format has proven to be more exciting.…
Post a Comment
Read more