South Africa v WI, 1st Test, Port Elizabeth, 26-30 Dec

WI giving a bit of their advantage up, batting so slowly here!

Not a chance WI could lose, the SA batting is so poor.

Still the WI need an away win badly, they haven't won a significant away test match since england in 2000.

A draw after this sort of start would be unacceptable.

But does anyone rate a win against SA?

red we get it you don't like SA.

I don't like them much but more I don't rate them at all as a cricketing nation. I can see them as a minnow within a decade the way they're going.

JKLever wrote:WI giving a bit of their advantage up, batting so slowly here!

Not necessarily. Get into a good position with a good number of wickets in hand and they can always go ape to boost the lead quickly and give themselves time to bowl SA out.

Chanderpaul can score very quickly once he gets a start if the situation demands; even if you wouldn't cancel anything to watch THE LEDGE!.

They are 316 ahead with 6.5 sessions to go. So they need minimum of another 140 in maybe just over 1.5 sessions. They should do that and with wickets in hand they can accelerate to set a target beyond 450.

Red wrote: but more I don't rate them at all as a cricketing nation.

Graeme Pollock, Mike Procter. Enough said....

doctorspin wrote:

JKLever wrote:WI giving a bit of their advantage up, batting so slowly here!

Not necessarily. Get into a good position with a good number of wickets in hand and they can always go ape to boost the lead quickly and give themselves time to bowl SA out.

Chanderpaul can score very quickly once he gets a start if the situation demands; even if you wouldn't cancel anything to watch THE LEDGE!.

They are 316 ahead with 6.5 sessions to go. So they need minimum of another 140 in maybe just over 1.5 sessions. They should do that and with wickets in hand they can accelerate to set a target beyond 450.

Maybe.

Just think that they may not get a better chance to beat SA this series. They were so pleased to 'draw' the Lords test against us last year and yet still lost 3-0
They'll need 5 sessions at least

Agreed the way WI carried on over that draw you would have thought they were Bangladesh or Zimbabwe.

They don't need fighting draws anymore to start climbing the ladder again they need test wins.

Nothing wrong with the Windies' approach today IMO. But they need to kick on tomorrow morning so that they are 450ish ahead by lunch.

Highest winning chase here is 270.

Basil wrote:Nothing wrong with the Windies' approach today IMO. But they need to kick on tomorrow morning so that they are 450ish ahead by lunch.

450 lead with 5 sessions should be what they looking for, agreed

2 quick wickets... lead is 336 with 6 wickets left.

pmsl @ wessels ' WI in trouble now'

West Indies batting has been so fragile of late I don't blame them for being cautious. 150 all out would have put SA right back in it.

...

Oh, and just checked the score and they've just lost 2 wickets in no time at all. See what I mean.

JKLever wrote:2 quick wickets... lead is 336 with 6 wickets left.

pmsl @ wessels ' WI in trouble now'

Wessels commentates like he used to bat

Gary 111 wrote:West Indies batting has been so fragile of late I don't blame them for being cautious. 150 all out would have put SA right back in it.

...

Oh, and just checked the score and they've just lost 2 wickets in no time at all. See what I mean.

But that goes back to what I was saying earlier, they seemed to overplay their draw at Lords like a win and still lost 3-0

They have to be thinking WIN, WIN, WIN rather than what might happen.

They only need 200 this dig to make SA need over 400.

Its difficult to win when you're carrying at least 2 hopeless batsmen and 2 more serial underachievers in your top 6. They couldn't win when they had Lara and Sarwan in there and you would think it would be doubly difficult without them. But they've really applied themselves in this match and scrapped for every run.

I've always thought their bowlers had talent and finally they've produced a fielding performance to back those bowlers up. If the likes of Powell and Edwards had played their career so far with decent support and good fielders I reckon they'd both be averaging closer to 30 than the 42 / 43 that they have at the moment.

Was just about to say I agreed with you, that they had applied themselves better than a certain team beggining with E lately.

And then Bravo chips one to long off

And now Chanderpaul caught at slip!!!!

Windies 354 ahead - I would still rather be in their shoes. S.A. may well wonder what might have been if Steyn had bowled like this on the first morning.

I would love to see the Windies win, and I think the cricketing world needs a strong West Indies. Its good to see bowlers like Taylor, Powell and Edwards racing in and just bowling fast. For years they've messed about with the likes of trundlers like Collymore.

But if they're going to have a decent side they desperately need to unearth a few more batsmen. Chanderpaul can't do it for them all the time and the rest of their line-up looks so fragile.

I still think if the umpire hadn't noticed Steyn's no-ball and Samuels had gone for 15 then they would have struggled to make 250, Chanderpaul would have only got about 60 before he ran out of partners and SA would be on top. Despite all the effort WI have put in there's still a real brittleness to their side.

Only 9, 10 and jack to bat now - and anything under 400 is certainly getable, this could still have an exciting finish.

Sammy gawn too.

Collapso cricket. Gary put the mockers on them.

Sammy gone LBW to Harris: 154 for 7

If the Windies have got one thing wrong today, it's being overly defensive against Harris - that's allowed Smith to rotate his fast bowlers at the other end.

another one

welcome back windies. we missed you