South Africa v India, 1st Test, Cape Town, 5-9 January, 2018

Henry wrote:How extraordinary that Jadeja comes down with a “viral illness” just before an away test match against South Africa.......

it's jadeja vu all over again

SA batting first on a surface with a greenish tinge. They have selected four quicks and the spinner, including Steyn.


Bavuma dropped to accommodate all the quicks, while Rahane is omitted. Rohit Sharma is preferred.

Kohli would have bowled first had he won the toss.

Yarps 3/92. A decent enough recovery from 3/12. Thought for a moment that Cook must be occupying the positions of both openers and first drop.

Gosh, SA in early trouble and then AB goes in and blasts away like it's T20. The ball was swinging a lot too.

SA has a long tail so they need these runs.

3/107 at lunch (off 26 overs). Looks ABdV is up for a big score.

horace wrote:3/107 at lunch (off 26 overs). Looks ABdV is up for a big score.

Not a bad comeback to test cricket after a long layoff.

Some SA scribes surprised with Faf's decision on a green pitch, considering there are four quicks in the team and he wanted this type of track.

Presumably it will be helpful for another day. Bannies will get tested.

Will be interesting to see if the Bannies make a go of it this away series.

Pretty frenetic stuff so far!

Good toss to lose!

With SA 6 - 215, India is in a very good position here.

Seven fer now. This has had the air of batting for a declaration. Either that or the Saffies think there is a world cup to choke on again.

Frenetic batting from SA, but they've left themselves exposed with what looks likely to be a mediocre total and having allowed India the best of the bowling conditions. The latter might be a bit odd given that they stacked their side with bowlers yet chose to bat on a lively pitch.

Great to see so much swing. We have forgotten what it looks like here in oz.

Maharaj finally runs himself out. This pair has been shocking between the wickets so no surprise. They were scoring quite easily too.

Tail wagging a bit

taipan wrote:Tail wagging a bit

Not enough of a bit though.

Batting crashing faster than bitcoin. But still a decent effort overall.

Shower of shite.

Red wrote:

horace wrote:3/107 at lunch (off 26 overs). Looks ABdV is up for a big score.

Not a bad comeback to test cricket after a long layoff.

Some SA scribes surprised with Faf's decision on a green pitch, considering there are four quicks in the team and he wanted this type of track.

And maybe those scribes farked up.

At 3-12, things were looking vin ordinaire for the SAffers. But some class from ABdV and Faf got them out of trouble.

Now the bowlers have put them on top, with the Bannies at 3 fer fark all.

skully wrote:At 3-12, things were looking vin ordinaire for the SAffers. But some class from ABdV and Faf got them out of trouble.

Now the bowlers have put them on top, with the Bannies at 3 fer fark all.

Interesting to speculate how India would have fared first up on this track.

Red wrote:

skully wrote:At 3-12, things were looking vin ordinaire for the SAffers. But some class from ABdV and Faf got them out of trouble.

Now the bowlers have put them on top, with the Bannies at 3 fer fark all.

Interesting to speculate how India would have fared first up on this track.

We'd have been 500 for no loss.

Now bugger off.

Graeme Smith's gained a few pounds.

furriner wrote:Graeme Smith's gained a few pounds.

Oh dear.

Rabada looks pumped

The bowling has been electric but India has done all right considering.

The pitch did a lot more yesterday. Think they would have made under a ton had they batted first.