Aussies rule at Kingsmead
8 Mar 2009
South Africa will have to pull off a minor miracle to save themselves from a series defeat.
Australia finished day three of the second Test with a 506-run lead and seven wickets in hand, and South Africa trudged off the field looking decidedly demoralised. Their last three wickets were cleaned up quickly this morning and they then bowled poorly throughout the day, compounding an already arduous task.
Phil Hughes continued his dominance over the Proteas, scoring a magnificent unbeaten 136. He was ably assisted by Ricky Ponting who was positive all the way to 81. The pair shared a 164-run second wicket partnership, making the much-vaunted Proteas attack look like a school third side.
Ponting finally fell, but at 219-2 his side were well in control already. Mike Hussey went cheaply but Hughes and Michael Clarke batted untroubled until bad light stopped play.
Ponting will probably be looking to set the Proteas around 500 to win. Given the diabolical batting performance of most of the Proteas’ batters to date, he’ll be justified to think that he could be celebrating a series win by the close of play tomorrow.
Australia 303-4 (1st innings)
Phillip Hughes 115, Simon Katich 108, Michael Hussey 50, Dale Steyn 3-83.
South Africa 138 (1st innings)
JP Duminy 73*, Mitchell Johnson 3-37, Andrew McDonald 3-25.
Australia 292-3 (2nd innings)
Phil Hughes 136*, Ricky Ponting 81.
South Africa trail by 506 runs
For the full scorecard, click here.
48 Comments
8 Mar 2009, 18:35 pm
Waar is die manne wat so goed in Oz gevaar het? Of was dit ‘n gelukskoot en het ons hulle oorskat?
8 Mar 2009, 18:58 pm
these guys thought they could just walk onto the park and they would win the series…reality check! U gotta fight 4 it…
The way they capitulated is so shameful, if they get bonuses for wins, they should get they pays docked for atrocious performances like this, i mean how does a side, bar two players -kallis & duminy- only tally up a score of 20 between 8 players? Ashwell must be thanking his lucky stars…
8 Mar 2009, 19:37 pm
#2 Transformation:
do you actually know anything about cricket or are you just horny for Ashwell?
8 Mar 2009, 19:51 pm
Captain Cripple can’t toss let alone win one
8 Mar 2009, 20:17 pm
Beware of a wounded Aussie cricket team out on a mission to take sweet revenge! Punter is obviously looking for a record-margin victory. That number 1 test ranking isn’t going to be pulled out of his hands in a hurry. SA blew their best chance in a lifetime. 138 all out? That’s a Bangladesh/Zimbabwe sort of score, especially when the Aussies have no trouble getting past 300 every time they walk out to bat.
8 Mar 2009, 20:39 pm
#3 gunther:do you usually get ”horny” for cricket players? **** you and those you sail with! Bloody @sshole!
8 Mar 2009, 20:49 pm
#5 TheTackler: Dude we’re gonna get another chance to claim first place. I might not happen here but we will claim first place this season.
#3 gunther: I think he’s concentrating on the wrong players. McKenzie is so out of form he could’nt bat himself outta hell. I think Albie Morkel at least deserves a shot.
The players who shouldn’t worry about their places are:
Amla
AB
Kallis
JP
Harris
Steyn
8 Mar 2009, 20:55 pm
Bit tense are we Tranformation… Easy bugger, Gunther seems to be the knowledgeable one here, so please Gunther enlighten us to the marvels of Cricket, give us your opinion to why we are so phucking terrible at the moment??
Agree with THETACKLER Aussies were always going to be looking for revenge. We didnt prepare for that and so we are paying the concequences.
I hope the team for the 3rd test is a lot different from the one “playing” today.
Harris out
Boucher out
Smith out (injury)
Prince in
Botha in
Tsotsobe/Albie in
8 Mar 2009, 21:01 pm
Good point Ezee
NM out
8 Mar 2009, 23:14 pm
In the good old days they had a saying for a hiding. And what a hiding the Blommetjies are getting. Why Harris and not Botha. Why prince and not Botha as captain? Botha really impressed here in Australia as a good tactician and leader. Never liked Smith and Arthurs. Yup Skippy is vreeting die Blommetjie big time. Only a thunderstorm will save South Africa from yet another ignominious defeat
8 Mar 2009, 23:32 pm
Harris is better than the chucker, Botha.
9 Mar 2009, 00:39 am
Its been only two tests in RSA and in both instances Ponting was given the choice whether to enforce the follow on or not.
9 Mar 2009, 01:16 am
Hats off to Australia.
With “one of the weakest sides” ever to leave thier shores, they have absolutely humiliated us.
Which begs the questions: have we not given them enough credit? Or are we one-tour wonders, capable of pulling off the occasional win but too average to trun it into ongoing form?
A bit of both, I think. I know we’re no world beatres, have said so all along while my compatriots dance on Australian cricket’s grave. A short shuffle it has proved to be.
Time to ring the changes, but with Smith injured, it makes it doubly difficult to drop McKenzie,. I’m sorry to have to say this but Mckenzie is so out of form it’s doing no-one any good. It’s a big ton in the second innighs (a defeat-saving knock) or it’s go well, Neil.
Morne Morkel needs to go back to domestic cricket and hone what is undoubtedly rich talent. You’ll be back, Morne. Let your brother have a go.
Mark Boucher should go surfing at Nahoon. Good riddance. For now, tell AB to take the gloves if he wants to play for South Africa.
Despite all the doom, we can save this Test.
9 Mar 2009, 01:49 am
#13 Joe Maher:
“Under-estimated”… nah I think it’s more ignorance (particularly the fans… with all due respect of course)…
How many times have us (here in Aus) that watch Ford Ranger cricket said there is infinite quality coming off the production line… Johnson a case in point before the Aus tests even though he was still fairly rough in the Windies…
One could make 4 competitive test teams out of Ranger Cup… particularly quicks and openers…
Back to the Proteas… yup difficult to feel good about any of the team bar Smith, Duminy and Steyn… and even harder to choose a balanced side with what is on offer…
Ordinarily I’d drop Macca… unfortunately the bloke is just not an opener… and should never have been made one… wasted season for the man… we coulda/shoulda/woulda seen much better of him lower down…
What of the domestic openers (Van Jaarsveld etc)… with Smith out Prince is the natural to step in… Boucher wont be dropped/nor will Macca due to his absence…
Harris is a fighter… but oh so plain… IMO Botha would be a better option… and jeez are there really no true quicks left in RSA (quick is 140 plus regularly)… bowl Kallis less if one expects him to focus on the willow…
9 Mar 2009, 02:13 am
seems SA still has a hangover celebrating their test and ODI series wins in aus. They’ve let that tour go to their heads – but I still believe the talent is there to bounce back – they’re just getting some humility handed to them – look how much good a bit of humility has done for the aussies!
hats off to Ponting and his Aussie team. what a way to bounce back.
9 Mar 2009, 02:14 am
#14 money_man:
isn’t steyn 140+?
9 Mar 2009, 02:16 am
and how the heck do you lose 5 tosses in a row? or flipside – how has ponting won 5 in a row? the odds are rpetty long of that happening.
9 Mar 2009, 02:36 am
#16 munkiboi:
He averages just under… ironically Kallis flings in the quick balls every over or so… Morkel under 135, same as Ntini, and Tsotsobe is a med pacer…
Haven’t seen enough of Albie’s bowling to warrant him a place beefing up the batting…
#17 munkiboi:
Aussies have a long history of playing ‘two-up’…
9 Mar 2009, 02:45 am
#18 money_man:
Look speed ain’t everything… but boy what we could do with a bowler that inflicts broken fingers, stitches in jaws and gets world class batsmen to back-up/back-up on a regular basis…
Johnson and co have that ‘fear of the old Windies’ air to them at the moment…
9 Mar 2009, 03:11 am
Brett Lee will be back soon, over his stress fractures, and when he’s operating from the opposite end to Johnson, their opponents are going to need plenty of fresh underwear in their change-rooms. South Africa has who exactly to inspire fear? Certainly not the frootloop drama queen, Andre Nel. Opponents pack up laughing.
9 Mar 2009, 03:35 am
#20 TheTackler:
Cricket’s clearly not your strong suit, Tackler.
Brett Lee is a spent force, chances are he won’t return.
And if he does, he’ll be on a par with Andre Nel.
I understand your glee in seeing your mother country being pomped but please, try to stick to reality.
Ooops, that’s asking plenty from a believer in Suzie.
9 Mar 2009, 04:02 am
#21 Joe Maher:
Many mug punters have simply ‘forgotten’ Stuart Clarke… IMO the best of the current crop, then there’s the lesser known Nofke… and Shaun Tait coming back with a bang… that’s 5 super-quicks to fight it out for the 11…
Who so we have… Tsotsobe… ROTFLMAO… where is everyone?
9 Mar 2009, 04:20 am
#21 Joe Maher: Brett Lee was a shadow of his former 150km/h+ self when he was bowling under a niggling injury which is now being sorted out. Once he’s back to full fitness and he’s sending down a full over of those 150km/h rockets, you’ll sing a different song. Lunatic Nel has NEVER been one-fifth as good as he imagines/fantasises himself to be.
9 Mar 2009, 04:26 am
And the Proteas appear to consider it a moral victory simply to get to the “avoiding the follow-on” target. Hmmm? Two tests in a row now they have failed to meet even this very modest target.
They are currently being utterly “pomped” in the style one expects from a minnow nation like Zim or Bangla.
That #1 ranking is staying with the world’s best cricket team.
9 Mar 2009, 05:10 am
#24 TheTackler: Tackles, thought you would be lurking around here…
I see your adopted country took away yet another record from us, the lowest scoring S14 game ever! Six love nogal, what the hell was that all about? And they were so kind not to share it with another country like we had to with the Ozmob…
9 Mar 2009, 05:15 am
#14 money_man: Well MM, they had the same pool available when we beat them on home soil. I would like to think we did not just pitch and expected to win but after the turnaround in Oz it just seems like we back to the form of ald. Doing all the wrong things and showing up poorly…
9 Mar 2009, 06:27 am
#23 TheTackler:
We’ll see who’s singing a different song. And I’ll be certain to remind you when he’s getting klapped by the Poms (if, of course, he makes it to England in June).
Your song? Hang on Suzie, Suzie hang on?
#26 Koos:
I think we called it back before Perth, Koos.
Saunter in, start poorly (a trait of ours, unfortunately) and Australia will seize on it, chew you up and spit out the bones.
I don’t believe we’ve become a **** side overnight and Australia a juggernaut. I still maintain there’s not much between the sides – Australia, India, England and South Africa are all pretty evenly matched, any one nation can beat the other on any given day; there’s no ‘Australia and then daylight’ of years gone by.
9 Mar 2009, 06:38 am
#27 Joe Maher: Yip, had a chat with a bloke this morning and he was saying the same, very close and any team can win on the day.
What this however means is that you need to be right on top of your game or else it is bust. We did that so well a mere 2 months ago but let it slip badly! Maybe it was to much to ask that the team and captain we saw in Oz will be long lasting…then maybe I am just a little bitter because they dropped the ball so badly!
On Lee, even before his injury he contemplated retirement and everybody thought he was crazy, I don’t see him back either. I can also add that unless they find some able support for Johnson very soon I see him break down within the next 12 months.
9 Mar 2009, 06:48 am
#26 Koos:
Don’t forget a took a few small miracles and record chases etc to take the series… RSA sport is such that they’ll always take a few top wins now and again… but can they be consistently at the top… it’s the same with rugga… every year we beat Aus and NZ once… but also lose twice… and some punters think that is the benchmark… go figure…
9 Mar 2009, 08:23 am
You Africans have FINALLY shown your true colours. At last! I’ve been worried that something is wrong with our team! You’ve been lucky in Australia, and it shows. We are the world champions by birthright, and it will stay that way.
9 Mar 2009, 08:26 am
#30 Duane Hart:
Congratulations to your team, Duane Hart, you are outplaying us at home. Fair dinkum.
9 Mar 2009, 08:28 am
#31 WP Till I Die: Good on you, mate!
9 Mar 2009, 08:52 am
#25 Koos: actually before 6-0 the lowest scoring record was 6-3 in Brisbane (Reds vs Brumbies 2007). No SA teams there, as you see.
9 Mar 2009, 08:52 am
In this test. I dont think it would make any difference if Smith had been injured or not, but I think cricket needs a rule change.
If any player is so badly injured during the game, as a result of actions by the opposing team, that he cannot continue, a replacement player should be allowed. The reason I say ‘as a result of actions by the opposing team’ is to exclude injuries such as a bowler whose fitness was in doubt, breaking down. Each team should be responsible for fitness testing. Also to exclude the situation where, if a player is playing very badly, he pretends to be hurt is replaced by someone else.
In a case where the batsman has broken bones, this is easy to prove by x-rays, so no fiddles could happen. Cricket is supposed to be an even contest, so why should one team be disadvantaged through no fault of their own?
Both rugby and soccer allow replacements for injuries, so why not cricket?
9 Mar 2009, 09:21 am
#34 cat66: If you want to sellect rubbish, you get rubbish. Go Aussies, F$ck them more. I hope they make the score 600, and Durban turns into a furnace and the whole lot of Proteas get heat stroke. Thank you Mitch Johnson. Please injure more of them in the next test. My pick Mackenzie.
9 Mar 2009, 10:24 am
#35 hater:
So erudite, so sophisticated.
Your nic says it all, imbecile.
9 Mar 2009, 10:45 am
#34 cat66: Very good post. Agree with you 100% If a player is injured and there are bones broken he should be allowed to be replaced. Just like in rugby and football. In cricket if you a batsman down especially your opener the contest is not fair then. The rules have to change there.
9 Mar 2009, 10:47 am
Fark Hater you are a d4ckhead. No one wants to injure anyone.The truth is that MN is past it. Steyn is not the best quicky in the world and harris is just a journeyman. Bring back Botha.He hs the brain.Great tactician and all rounder.You guy keepo bowling to Hughes on his off stump instead of his legstump. Smith’s field placings leaves much to be desired. Get rid of that idiot Arthurs too. Bring back Luke Watson and his farking dad Cheeky!Thats the cherry on top of it allk
9 Mar 2009, 10:50 am
#35 hater: Why hater? Why so much hate for your own countries team?
Anyway no contest when we have our opener out injured.
We will be back in the next test at Newlands and the odi’s
Hater do you ever consider to live in another country? As you hate this one so much. If it was me and I felt like you I would be out of here. Just a thought.
I love my country and even if we are losing now I still support my team. They won in OZ and Oz is winning here thats the game.
9 Mar 2009, 10:55 am
NM has to be dropped for the next test. He never even played well in OZ when we won. Just never gets the runs. Then the lower order has to battle because he just wasted time.
Bring in Prince and drop NM. NM has done just nothing this series or the one in OZ. Maybe Joe you are right Boucher needs to go aswell and AB needs to take the gloves. Play M. Morkel and also Johan Botha instead of Harris.
9 Mar 2009, 10:56 am
#40 Puma: Meant Albie Morkel.
9 Mar 2009, 10:56 am
#35 hater:
Sies !!!
9 Mar 2009, 11:11 am
A side who fails to ward off a follow-on target for two tests in a row is simply NOT a good team.
Especially on home turf with groundsmen preparing pitches to perfectly suit the home team’s bowling attack. With a “new” Aussie side missing a number of absolute legends — Warne, McGrath, Lee, Gilchrist…
A team who allows visitors to do THAT to them is a weak team.
Of course, Ponting wants a world-record winning run margin. He’s got 545 runs to play with. What’s the largest run gap in history? 350? 400?
And, of course, he’s planning to win the 3rd test too and complete a whitewash. Any bets on that being out of his grasp?
9 Mar 2009, 11:26 am
#40 Puma: Harris was the most economical Protea bowler in this test overall and has never allowed the batsmen to cut loose on his bowling. He’s the go-to orthodox bowler, not a guy who was banned for chucking and who has no test experience. This is no place for a guy who only bowls ten overs in three to four over spells.
9 Mar 2009, 11:43 am
#44 TheTackler: Botha can bat better than Harris. I think bowl better too. Aussies got hardly any runs from him in the odi’s. He does not want to play tests anyway. Should though. He has been cleared for chucking so has that OZ guy who is in their odi team and he still chucks if you look careful. Anyway no use going on about that they both have been cleared.
Who can open thats the thing. NM needs to be dropped. Now that Smith is injured they will still select NM.
Boucher days are over too. Sad to say that but AB needs to take the gloves. Prince should be brought back too. Only he is not match fit now.
Should have found Albie a space for this test. He gets good swing. You need that in Durban. M. Morkel not bowling well at the moment but did a great job in OZ.
9 Mar 2009, 12:52 pm
Harris is there as a test bowler. He’s the best orthodox bowler at test level in SA — economical (miserly even) and a regular taker of key top-order TEST wickets, not winkling out a slogging lower order in the last 10 overs of an ODI where all caution is thrown to the wind, anyway. You pick horses for courses — Harris for tests, Botha (or Botha and Harris) for pyjama cricket.
10 Mar 2009, 05:30 am
#33 Nils:
Sorry Nils, I forgot about that one and was referring to this one which Tackles was so keen to throw at us whenever he could…
Reds def. Sharks 6-5 in Durban, 2004
10 Mar 2009, 10:31 am
#35 hater:
Poor little papsak-drinkeress… BEE gravytrain leave you behind?
I feel for your spawn…
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