I’ve said it 30 times before, and I’ll say it just once more: disaster. Holy hand grenades. South Africa have a great batting line-up on paper, but like most things on paper it appears relatively easy to put holes in it.
Those batsmen have been dismissed in 44.3 overs, the exact same number of overs that Bangladesh were dismissed for on this ground by Australia earlier in the week. India, though, will not be thwarted in their chase by weather.The sky remains relatively clear, the clouds of the friendly persuasion.
India will be chasing 192 to win, and considering they have in their ranks two batsmen who each average over 90 in winning run chases (MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, if you’re really bad at guessing), you suspect they won’t find it too difficult.
Nonetheless, if Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel can jag two or three wickets early, you never know what pressure can do.
South Africa lost 8 for 51 in the back end of that innings, with very little coming after de Kock’s 53, Amla’s 35 and du Plessis’ 36.
Three of India’s five bowlers went at less than 4 runs per over. The highest rate was Pandya’s 5.2, and he got the key wicket of du Plessis. Bumrah got 2-28 from eight overs, Bhuvneshwar 2-23 from 7.3, Ashwin 1-43 and Jadeja 1-39, with the balance of the wickets falling to South Africa’s run-outs, the footage of which will continue to circulate for years to come.
That’s it for me – Geoff Lemon out, and I’ll leave you in the hands of our Dear Leader, Rob Smyth, who will certainly not be facing any challenges for his position before the end of the year. Remember, your vote counts.
