Du Plessis: Man, my leaves in this match have been just awful
Philander: Hold my beer.
Philander: Hold my beer.
England Cricket Summer 17 - South Africa & West Indies
- Thread starter ChrisNelson
- Start date
It's not like a big booming inswinger by Jimmy, FAF, Philander leave were horrible even amla trying to leave the ball at the last moment wasn't good. Having said that TRJ bowled beautifully in this test match especially the way he set up Bavuma in first innings was wonderful.
That Philander leave looks worse and worse the more I watch it.
Elgar gone, well batted but this shouldn't last much longer now.
Aaaaaand Rabada follows.
Moeen hattrick wins the Test! Fantastic for the lad, great win for England, now to defend the series lead at Old Trafford.
Gwan Moeen love the Worcester boy.
Brilliant win & what a hattrick by Moeen. Needs to sort out the top order who can get big runs then we can deliver consistent performances like this.
According to a tweet on the BBC that's the first test match winning hat trick since 1902.
Also first innings in test cricket to include 4 golden ducks.
Also first innings in test cricket to include 4 golden ducks.
Moeen Ali in the ovals 100 test match gets the 1st hat-trick
Three played. Three comfortably won by the side that won the toss and batted.
Been a few years in a row now where we get these dramatic turnaround series over here where England win by a huge margin one test, then lose by a massive margin the next, then win by a massive margin etc.
Not sure what it says about the state of Test Cricket. Nobody seems willing to dig in and salvage a draw.
I don't think it's unfair to suggest that players who are playing three different forms of the sport aren't going to reach the highest achievable standards in any of them.
I'm quite a fan of encouraging players to specialise.
And I read first one ever where all bats were left-handed
Jennings seems a bit shit.
SA have been so unlucky with player unavailability.
Faf missed the first test. Rabada missed the second test. Philander went off injured in the third test. Morris/Philander injured for the fourth test.
Faf missed the first test. Rabada missed the second test. Philander went off injured in the third test. Morris/Philander injured for the fourth test.
They are missing AB too.
Rabada is such a beautiful bowler to watch, gorgeous action and wonderful cricket brain.
Pretty much the whole ball hit Bairstow's pad outside the line lol
Gutting, but a great innings all the same. Match is definitely in our favour.
362 would have taken that at the start of play
Gutted but that's a great knock for Bairstow, those extra runs could be so important.
Elgar 3rd ball duck
Jimmy 
The man!
The man!I'm a broken record here - but I do suspect, weather permitting, that every match in this series will have been won by the side that won the toss and batted.
Which I'm inclined to think is because both teams are a bit crap.
Which I'm inclined to think is because both teams are a bit crap.
I am finding James Anderson bowling from the James Anderson end a bit weird...Needn't add anything to that
I also think it's a bit much for a county to name an end after a bowler who's been a very minor part of their recent history. Players like Glen Chapple did far more for Lancashire. Anderson's an England great, not a Lancashire great.
EDIT - Would love him to get his first five for, in a test at Old Trafford, though!
Well, only one more now
It'd take a man braver than I think Root is to take the ball away from him here.Well, only one more now
20th wicket of the series for Moeen Well done lad!
Well done lad!Really hope Anderson complets his 5fer, but we'll see. A great day for England no matter what happens tomorrow.
What on earth has happened to South Africa? They're so crap.
Think it's just a weird correlation based on South Africa being a bit shit and England have one monumentally awful test. In the 2nd and 3rd test it looked easier to bat on the 2nd day than it did on the first.
It's also caused by England blowing very hot or very cold. Since the team largely changed after the Ashes debacle in 2013/14, in the matches where there were results England have only had one match finish with a margin of less than 75 runs (only 3 below 100) and the closest in terms of wickets was a 5 wicket win. Given that they've drawn 3 series in that time (with results in all of the matches) and had an Ashes series that ended 3-2 with in that period, it shows how wildly their results and performances have swung. The reason they're likely to get a 3-1 here is that South Africa's batting is so brittle that they've not been able to deal with any score on the board.
Man of the series?20th wicket of the series for Moeen
Batsman no 2 & 3 and replacing Broad and Anderson is a ticking time bomb. Can't see that many nailed on candidates coming through.
Luckily have Bairstow, Stokes and Ali as genuine all rounders helps alot but team will get found out against better test opposition.
Luckily have Bairstow, Stokes and Ali as genuine all rounders helps alot but team will get found out against better test opposition.
It's not the conditions I'm thinking of. It's the pressure that both teams have utterly fallen apart under, when facing a half-decent first effort.
There is plenty. Its the batting that is looking extremely thin.