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Favourites SA looking for ruthless edge 0

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Ken

South Africa go into Thursday’s first test against Sri Lanka at Centurion as overwhelming favourites, but captain Graeme Smith said on Wednesday that they wanted to discover a ruthless edge to their play.
    Although South Africa have maintained a position in the top three of the International Cricket Council test rankings for the last few years, they have not won a series at home since beating Bangladesh in 2008/9.
    They have drawn series with England, India and Australia since then.
    “I hope we get a lot of confidence out of the way we play. We’ve played some really good cricket at home, but we just haven’t been able to land that killer blow. We’ve dominated, but we haven’t done enough to get over the line,” Smith told a news conference at Centurion on Wednesday.
    “I’m hoping we can string three good sessions together instead of just two out of three … that’s probably why we haven’t been able to beat the good teams. Hopefully we can string a whole day together against Sri Lanka.”
    To make matters worse for the Sri Lankans, they were greeted by a pitch with a lush green covering of grass on Wednesday, conditions exactly the opposite to what they are used to at home.
    “The pitch looks pretty green. I think the groundsman’s having a bit of a panic, he’ll be wanting heaters and I reckon there’ll be a tent up over the pitch this afternoon,” Smith said. “He only started preparing the pitch on Monday and he desperately needs some sunshine. I’m sure he hoped for more sunshine than he got.”
    Sri Lanka captain Tillekaratne Dilshan said they were just going to have to perform on whatever surface they were given.
    “The pitch looks good for fast bowlers, all fast bowlers will enjoy it. We have no control over the groundsman, we just have to play on that wicket. It’s definitely the greenest pitch I’ve seen in South Africa, even more than in 2002/3.”
    Sri Lanka’s pace bowling reserves were decimated before the tour by injuries to Nuwan Kulasekara, Dhammika Prasad, Shaminda Eranga and Suranga Lakmal, while the tourists were still waiting for a replacement for the 25-year-old Nuwan Pradeep, who strained his hamstring in a warm-up game last weekend.
    Sri Lanka have taken some encouragement out of their performance in that warm-up match, against a SA Invitation XI in Benoni. The visitors dismissed the home side for 357 and then made 207 for three in reply in a rain-shortened game.
    “Our last test against Pakistan went very well, we came back strongly after losing the previous game. And the bowling unit did a great job on a really flat pitch and the top-order batsmen got runs in the warm-up,” Dilshan said.
    While South Africa have the expectation of being favourites to live up to, their veteran wicketkeeper Mark Boucher is under enormous pressure to score runs and save his international career after 141 tests.
    The 35-year-old has scored just 195 runs in his last dozen innings at an average of 17.72, but Smith said he backed Boucher to come good.
    “Bouch is coming into the game with calm focus. He’s worked hard on aspects of his batting and I hope all the hard work comes off for him. As a team, we’re collectively behind Bouch, and I’m really excited with the way he’s trained, he’s looked good in the nets. He’s always an asset for a team, with his experience and the way he handles the bowlers,” Smith said.
    Sri Lanka are hoping their luck will turn in South Africa, having lost six and drawn one of their seven tests in the republic.
    The Centurion test is the first Sri Lanka have played in South Africa since 2002/3. The second test is in Durban from December 26 and the third in Cape Town from January 3.

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Category Cricket, Sport

SL no longer in the sub-continent – Smith 0

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Ken

Graeme Smith says Sri Lanka are no longer in the sub-continent and must accept the reality that they will be facing a pace bombardment in the first test against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion from Thursday.
South Africa’s captain did stress, however, that his fast bowlers need to attack the Sri Lankan batsmen in controlled fashion.
“Whenever we’re in the sub-continent, it involves plenty of spin in those conditions. The reality is that they now have to face our pace bowlers in our conditions.
“But control is the key, the bowlers have to have the right mindset and we can’t get ahead of ourselves with the ball,” Smith said in Centurion on Wednesday.
To make matters worse for the Sri Lankans, an ominously green SuperSport Park pitch suggests batting will not be for the fainthearted. Groundsman Hilbert Smit has admitted previously that he errs on the side of the bowlers when it comes to test pitches, but the balance seems to have swung too far this time in favour of the pacemen.
Even Graeme Smith was taken aback by the verdant covering that greeted his team when they inspected the pitch on Wednesday morning.
“The pitch looks pretty green! I think the groundsman’s having a bit of a panic, he’ll be wanting heaters and I reckon there’ll be a tent up over the pitch this afternoon.
“He only started preparing the pitch on Monday and he desperately needs some sunshine. I’m sure he hoped for more sunshine than he got,” Smith said.
This is great news for South Africa’s quartet of pace bowlers – Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Jacques Kallis.  In fact, that might even become a quintet as the little sub-tropical dorp of Tzaneen could celebrate their first international cricketer in Marchant de Lange.
The 21-year-old could be called up for his debut, turning his “work experience” into a full-on job for his country if South Africa decide to omit leg-spinner Imran Tahir and go the all-pace route.
Smith warned, however, that South Africa’s batsmen could also face a testing examination even though Sri Lanka’s attack is nothing like Australia’s on paper.
“It’s going to be different for our batsmen too – all the Australian bowlers were around 145km/h – but if we don’t give enough application and concentration to the job then we can slip on that banana peel as well. These conditions can turn a seamer with a limited record into a seamer with a good record very quickly,” Smith said.
Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher is one batsman who is under more pressure than most to score runs, the record-breaker staring the end of his international career in the face unless he comes up with the goods at Centurion.
Smith said the 35-year-old had put in outstanding preparation for the test.
“Bouch is never going to change his personality, he’s coming into the game with calm focus. He’s worked hard on aspects of his batting and, even though he didn’t get the opportunity to play a long innings, he played some key little innings for the Cobras.
“I hope all the hard work comes off for him. As a team, we’re collectively behind Bouch, and I’m really excited with the way he’s trained, he’s looked good in the nets. He’s always an asset for a team, with his experience and the way he handles the bowlers,” Smith said.
All of which does not change the fact that, unless Boucher can come up with some runs, he may well be out of the team.

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Category Cricket, Sport

Nothing tranquil for Sri Lanka – Steyn 0

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Ken

The Hennops River bordering SuperSport Park is a meandering, tranquil body of water ideal for bank-side picnics and merely passing the time in scenic surroundings.

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But South African fast bowler Dale Steyn has promised life will be anything but peaceful, and certainly no picnic, for the Sri Lankan batsmen come the first test at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday.

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“I’ll still be going in as fast as I can, running in and trying to strike. And then we’ve got Morne Morkel bowling thunderbolts from 10 feet high and Jacques Kallis has been revving it up to 140km/h in domestic matches recently.

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“Plus there’s Vernon Philander, who’s been a fantastic addition. In fact we’re calling him Vernon McGrath now because he’s always just nibbling the ball around.

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“We want to hit areas that are uncomfortable on their bats, generally higher up their bats. We saw against Australia that the pitches have been more bowler-friendly,” Steyn warned on Tuesday.

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Sri Lanka’s batsmen have inflicted plenty of pain on South Africa’s bowlers in the past – Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena’s partnership of 624 in 2006 is the highest for any wicket in the annals of the game – but almost exclusively back at home on their sub-continental island.

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In seven tests in South Africa, just one Sri Lankan batsman has managed to score a century – Hashan Tillakaratne, who made 104 not out here at SuperSport Park in 2002/3. That took the tourists to a total of 323, their highest in South Africa.

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So they have a history of having their backs to the wall on tour here and vice-captain Angelo Mathews acknowledged that it was the pitches that made the difference.

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“In the sub-continent, the pitches are quite slow, so the bounce and pace here are the main things that trouble us. But if we can adapt to that, then we can perform well,” Mathews said.

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While Steyn did not want to say it was payback time for the miserable tour South Africa endured in Sri Lanka in 2006, he did say he did not want to think about that trip any more.

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“We really don’t need to go back down that road! But it’s going to be a lot harder to score world-record partnerships here in South Africa …

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“Vinnie Barnes was our bowling coach for so long and he never played against Sri Lanka here in South Africa, so he’s been here at the nets really gunning the boys!” Steyn said of the current national selector.

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While the Sangakkara/Jayawardena partnership is a record South Africa are desperately trying to forget, they’re also trying to rip out the page that shows they haven’t won a test series at home in three years.

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South Africa’s drawn series against Australia was actually a disappointing result, and it was unheralded bowlers like Peter Siddle, Shane Watson, Nathan Lyon and even Michael Clarke, never mind rookie Pat Cummins, who did the damage. Hashim Amla was at pains on Tuesday to say the batsmen won’t be underestimating any bowlers this time around.

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“Our pitches assist the seamers more and, even though the Sri Lankan bowlers are a different pace to Australia’s, if they just put it in the right place, something could happen. And if there’s turn, then the spinners could be dangerous as well,” Amla said.

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Sangakkara looks set to play despite splitting the webbing on his right hand over the weekend, Sri Lanka’s second highest all-time run-scorer having throwdowns quite comfortably on Tuesday.

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Sri Lanka’s main selection conundrum will be whether to play two spinners or not. Orthodox left-armer Rangana Herath is the incumbent first-choice spinner at the moment and he bowled well in Benoni to take three for 58 in 24 overs against the SA Invitation XI in their warm-up game.

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But Sri Lanka have brought unorthodox right-armer Ajantha Mendis on tour to provide some mystery. The 26-year-old missed Sri Lanka’s previous test series against Pakistan due to injury and was unimpressive in Benoni, taking two for 142 in 31 overs.

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Mathews asked Sri Lankan supporters to be patient with Mendis.

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“Ajantha is getting back there, we know he can turn a game around in one session. Just give him time, he will do the job for us, we just need to be patient,” Mathews said.

 


 

Tags:
Category Cricket, Sport

Another injury blow for Sri Lanka 0

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Ken

The already-weakened Sri Lanka team have suffered another injury blow with key batsman Kumar Sangakkara splitting the webbing on his right hand ahead of the first test against South Africa starting on Thursday.
    Sangakkara split the webbing between the index and second fingers of his right hand during the Sri Lankans’ weather-affected warm-up match against an SA Invitation XI in Benoni at the weekend and was unable to bat.
    The absence of the 34-year-old, who is Sri Lanka’s second highest all-time run-scorer with 9167 runs in 103 tests, would be a huge blow for the tourists, who have brought an inexperienced side on their first tour of South Africa in nine years.
    Sri Lanka team manager Anura Tennekoon told Reuters he was confident, however, that the tough Sangakkara will be able to play in the first test at Centurion.
    “Sanga has split the webbing on his right hand, but it’s okay, he’s recovering well and, according to the medical experts, he should be fine for the first test,” Tennekoon told Reuters via telephone on Monday.
    Sri Lanka’s fast bowling prospects are less positive, however, after Nuwan Pradeep’s hamstring strain added to a terrible run of injuries amongst the pacemen.
    Nuwan Kulasekara, Dhammika Prasad, Shaminda Eranga and Suranga Lakmal were all ruled out of the tour before departure and the 25-year-old Pradeep is now likely to be joining them back home, Tennekoon said.
    “Nuwan Pradeep will likely have to return home and be replaced. The replacement hasn’t been decided yet because the selectors want to look at a few bowlers in domestic matches first. So it’s unlikely the replacement will arrive in time for the first test,” Tennekoon said.
    Sri Lanka have not won a test in South Africa in seven attempts and the home side’s vice-captain, AB de Villiers, admitted that the tourists held little fear for them.
    “If we get a good cricket wicket and we play good cricket, then they’re not going to stop us,” De Villiers told a news conference at Centurion on Monday.
    The batsman said the series represented an ideal opportunity for the South Africans to end an astonishing gap of three years since their last series win at home, over Bangladesh in 2008/9.
    “We need to get back to playing consistently good cricket for longer periods, that’s probably the reason we haven’t won at home for a while. We want to do that for the whole series against Sri Lanka,” De Villiers said.
    “My feeling is that test cricket is all about momentum and you get waves that are up and down. Whoever maximises their opportunities when they’re on top, when they have the opposition on the ropes, will win. You have to finish off the opposition, be aggressive, whether you’re batting or bowling,” De Villiers said.

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Category Cricket, Sport

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    Revelation 3:15 – “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other.”

    How can you expect blessings without obeying?

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    Be sincere in your commitment to Him; be willing to sacrifice time so that you can grow spiritually; be disciplined in prayer and Bible study; worship God in spirit and truth.

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