< 1 minute readIn our book, all pitches are acceptable unless they result in boring cricket. For what it’s worth, our book is entitled The Book of Unarguable Facts. Some dude in Mohali has curated a cracker (curators curate, yes?) for the first Test between India and South Africa. Flat on a seamer’s
Continue readingCategory: South Africa
Hat-tricks are handy
< 1 minute readThis and other insights in our latest piece for the Mumbai Mirror which is about the South African team, why it’s good and why it’s bad. For all that the Saffers have some great batsmen and a strong pace attack, there’s also another version of the side that’s fragile with
Continue readingPakistan, AB de Villiers, wickets and jeopardy
< 1 minute readCricket needs jeopardy. Jeopardy makes things exciting. You have jeopardy in a tournament – the chance of being knocked out – and lo, the match is exciting. Something is riding on it. Tension’s good. You have jeopardy in an innings – the chance of being bowled out – and you
Continue readingHow bad can a fifth bowler be?
< 1 minute readThis appears to be South Africa’s thinking after picking only four proper bowlers. It should present a vulnerability, but when you then make 408, you find you have a certain amount of breathing space – perhaps even enough that you could field Jade Dernbach and still harbour reasonable hopes of
Continue readingLower orders and the last 10 overs
3 minute readAt the start of the tournament, we highlighted a weakness of South Africa’s – the fact that their batting order “quite quickly becomes a little bit Farhaan Behardien”. This weekend, it just as quickly became a little bit Wayne Parnell. That’s a long tail. South Africa’s best batsmen are so
Continue readingAB de Villiers needs Moonraker
< 1 minute readBack in November 2012, AB de Villiers made 33 off 220 balls so that South Africa could save a Test against Australia. In March last year, against the same opposition, he made 43 off 228 balls, but this time South Africa lost. Today it took him all of 31 balls
Continue readingSouth Africa’s 2015 World Cup strategy
2 minute readIs it a sign of a good side that they can get away with working to a fairly predictable strategy? Innovation is often a way of making up for shortcomings. South Africa’s approach to one-day cricket is what comes up by default in cricket strategy software. You’re meant to tweak
Continue readingFaf du Plessis has grown weary of getting hit in the nads
< 1 minute readAside from batting all day at one run an over to save Test matches, Faf du Plessis’s other thing is getting hit in the balls. You might say that he’s a specialist. In the video below, he talks you through the countermeasures he has been forced to take. Here’s a
Continue readingJP Duminy has just scored three off 65 balls
< 1 minute readThat is… stellar. Particularly when you consider that he made three off 58 balls in the first innings. He wasn’t alone either. You can see the full deadbattery in scorecard format here. South Africa were playing for a draw to secure the series and succeeded in fine complete-absence-of-style. Rangana Herath
Continue readingSouth Africa chose to bat
< 1 minute readThat was where everything went wrong. They hauled it back a bit by batting okay, but really the match was decided when Faf du Plessis scorned the coin’s generosity. Why would you ask Virat Kohli to chase? It’s like asking Mike Gatting to guard your cupcakes from scavengers. This leaves
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