for quality writing

Ken Borland



Proteas rush to victory with brilliant fast bowling & beguiling spin 0

Posted on October 07, 2022 by Ken

South Africa rushed to victory by an innings and 12 runs as their combination of brilliant fast bowling and the beguiling spin of Keshav Maharaj saw England bundled out for 149, 20 minutes before tea on the third day at Lord’s on Friday.

England began their second innings an hour before lunch, trailing by 161 runs, and a brutal wake-up call for Brendon McCullum’s team was completed in 37.4 overs.

The innings will be remembered for the blistering fast bowling of Anrich Nortje, who ripped through the middle-order with three wickets in two overs. The quick-scoring Jonny Bairstow was a key dismissal, caught behind for 18, edging a beautiful delivery that was angled in and nipped away just outside off-stump.

Nortje then had dogged opener Alex Lees (35 off 83 balls) and Ben Foakes also caught by tidy wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne in his next over.

But it was Maharaj who began the rout with two wickets before lunch.

Captain Dean Elgar’s decision to bring the spinner into the attack after just seven overs, even though new-ball bowlers Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada looked likely to take a wicket imminently, will be considered a masterstroke as Maharaj trapped both Zak Crawley (13) and Ollie Pope (5) lbw.

Ngidi has bowled beautifully in this Test match with scant reward, but he will be delighted that his one wicket was a major one as he had Joe Root caught in the slips for just 6. It will be a long time since Root has managed just 14 runs in a Test.

Rabada returned to claim the wickets of Stuart Broad (35) and Ben Stokes (20) and Marco Jansen wrapped up the thumping win with a couple of wickets as well.

But it was Nortje who most rattled England with some of the fastest bowling seen in the UK for many years. It must be remembered too how well he batted on Friday morning, scoring 28 not out, a fighting innings that saw him unleash some memorable strokes.

The lower-order produced crucial runs to bump up South Africa’s lead after Stokes had inspired a collapse to 210 for six on the second evening. But Jansen and Maharaj (41) turned the momentum by adding 72 runs in 12-and-a-half overs and Jansen, with Nortje’s help, scored a career-best 48 to lift the Proteas to 326 all out.

Steyn is incredible – Pakistan coach 0

Posted on February 03, 2013 by Ken

 

The Wanderers pitch is not easy for batsmen but South Africa boast an amazing bowling attack, Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore said after his team had been bundled out for a record-breaking low of 49 on the second day of the first Test on Saturday.

Pakistan’s total is their lowest ever in Test cricket, worse than their 53 against Australia in Sharjah in 2002/3, and South Africa’s lead is already 411 after they reached stumps on 207 for three in their second innings.

“It’s not an easy wicket to bat on but the way South Africa bowled was incredible. I have not seen two hours of relentless, incredible pace bowling as I witnessed today. Most of our batsmen got out to terrific balls and you really need to give credit to the opposition.

“If you look at the facts and not emotion, then the reason for our score was a combination of a difficult pitch and incredible bowling,” Whatmore said.

While the former Sri Lanka and Bangladesh coach admitted that he felt the pitch was too difficult for the second day of a Test, he declined to comment on the inconsistent application of the HotSpot technology by third umpire Steve Davis that saw every decision using that camera go against Pakistan.

“We’re not meant to speak about that and we’ll make our comments in the right channels,” was all Whatmore would say, but the animated discussion he and manager Naveed Cheema had with match referee Jeff Crowe after the end of play suggests the International Cricket Council should expect a complaint from Pakistan.

But it did not detract at all from Steyn’s magnificence or South Africa’s dominance.

The world’s number one ranked bowler said it was just one of those days when he was able to hit his stride from the outset.

“We had spoken about the morning being the best time to strike at the Wanderers and I woke up early today, Skyped the missus in LA and dominated our morning game of footie … I just had so much energy today, the ball was coming out sweetly and it was a lot of fun today,” Steyn said of his phenomenal haul of six for eight in 8.1 overs.

The 29-year-old produced a top-class display of fast swing bowling and he said a pep talk from captain Graeme Smith, who is leading a Test team for an unprecedented 100th time, had helped provide a spark.

“We don’t often have these conversations because you don’t have to tell anyone in this team when they’ve done something wrong, but Graeme sat us down, he felt the urge for just a two-minute chat, and said he wanted a 100% day from us because he didn’t feel yesterday was a 100% effort.

“The ball swung more as it got older, but the new ball swung a decent amount too and the pitch obviously assisted as well.”

Steyn brushed aside the Pakistan top-order with three wickets in his first two overs on Saturday and he said that had pleased him the most.

“For the first time in a long while, I got the first three wickets and was able to break through early. I was pretty stoked about that.”

Whatmore praised Steyn for the way he led a marvellous South African bowling unit.

“He’s one of four seamers who never took the pressure off, we scored 34 runs in two hours, about 25 overs, which is unheard of. His skill level plus that of the other three is amazing,” Whatmore said.

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Thought of the Day

    1 John 2:5 – “But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him.”

    James 2:14 – “What good is it if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?”.

    Love without action is useless.

    If you love God unreservedly, you will offer your best to him and be willing to serve him wherever he wishes to use you.

    Love has to manifest itself practically.

    “Love requires uplifting and inspirational deeds.

    “How genuine can your love for God truly be if you are aware of a serious need and do nothing to alleviate it?”- Solly Ozrovech, A Shelter From The Storm



↑ Top