Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

kuhn goes for 11, doubt this game will last long, especially with South africa struggling with the bat and the ball moving loads.

What a review.

Didn't think it was out myself but only because of TRJs reaction. Second time he picked up a wicket he didn't think was out.

Need Stuart Broad to give Toby a bit of a lesson on "everythings out"

Today's fun fact - Moeen is the first England player, and only the second player ever, to score 250 runs and take 20 wickets in a 4 match series.

The only other player to achieve that feat is Sir Richard Hadlee, 1983 series v England (301 runs, 21 wickets).

By comparison, in the 2005 Ashes Flintoff scored 402 runs and took 24 wickets in 5 matches, while Botham scored 244 runs and took 20 wickets against India in England in a 4 match series in 79.

And of course, Moeen could (and probably will) add to his wicket tally this afternoon.

A fine performance, Moeen. POTS for me

looks like a good episode of rainbow nation right now.

Arguably predictably, top of the batting averages for England, Root, and then the 6-7-8.

These two are going pretty well. There's the odd bit of variable bounce, but other than that the ball is doing very little for the quicks. Amla in particular is looking like his old self, that is to say, in rather ominous form.

Forecast for OT tomorrow isn't as bad as it was, but it still looks likely that there won't be much play. If South Africa can see the game through to the close today , they'll have a pretty good chance of saving it.

If these two see it through to the end today, they might well fancy the win tomorrow?

Still a very long way to go though.

yuppie wrote:If these two see it through to the end today, they might well fancy the win tomorrow?

Still a very long way to go though.

Doesn't sound like there will be enough play. A draw would be a good effort though, given SA could easily have folded here. Still expecting a home win however.

Great call on the review there of Amla lbw. I didn't think that was out in real time, and even on review I thought it would only end up being umpire's call at best, but there you go - it wasn't doing as much as I thought. Massive, massive wicket from Moeen.

What a summer Ali is having.

Goodness me, that was over rather quickly in the end.

If there was any doubt of Moeen as player of the series, that will cement it. 25 wickets at 15, with a strike rate of 29, would be enough to win it if he was just playing as a bowler. 250 runs at 35 with 2 fifties makes it one of the best all round series performances England have had in a long time - probably since Flintoff 2005. And the most wickets by an England spinner in a 4 match series since Johnny Wardle in 1956!

With a smile, just want to point out Anderson's average has dipped below 28.

bigfluffylemon wrote: And the most wickets by an England spinner in a 4 match series since Johnny Wardle in 1956!

Good stat.

Unbelievably, since the 2015 Ashes, he's England's leading wicket taker.

Not a good series for batsmen, on either side. The averages read Joe Root 57, then daylight. Only three other players averaged over 40 - Amla and Bairstow, thanks to this match, and Philander, who benefited from coming in at 9 in a couple of innings with a couple of not outs.

Anderson had a very good series overall - 20 wickets at 16, and Roland-Jones has almost certainly booked himself a place on the plane to Australia. Given Malan's failure, I wonder if England will revert back to 6 bowlers when Woakes is fit? Bairstow at 5, then Stokes, Moeen, Woakes, RJ, Broad and Anderson is a very deep batting line up, even if England's 2 and 3 continue to fail. Broad had a quiet one by his standards, 11 wickets at 32, but still respectable.

All of South Africa's bowlers had reasonable series, but Rabada didn't live up to what I expected of him. I think Philander's fitness made a big difference - had he been fully fit for matches 3 and 4, there might have been a different story. However that, and the strength of England's 5-6-7-8, and the excellence of Root, were the difference between the sides. Their batting on the other hand was pretty awful. Only Amla really made an impression, and he was far below his usual standard. Someone at the start of the series (I think it was sussex) said that this was the worst SA batting line-up they'd seen, and would be surprised if they got anywhere in the series. Whoever it was, well called. SA batting has been poor throughout, with one exception in the first innings at Trent Bridge.

Still doesn't bode terribly well for Australia. England might have finally filled the bowling slots, but the batting still fails as often as it succeeds, and there are worrying gaps. Westley seems to have won some admirers and will probably be given the WI series, but Jennings will surely go and be replaced by Stoneman or Robson. I suspect England will arrive in Australia still unsure of their top order, and will leave with two more failures in those positions.

England now hold the home honours in their most recent series against every side apart from New Zealand and Pakistan, which were draws. For all of their problems touring and maddening inconsistency, they remain a tough side to beat at home. And an anomaly of these two sides only beating each other away for nearly 20 years has been put to bed.