Today is the start of the third Ashes test between Australia and England as well as the start of the India series in South Africa. Join us here for some live updates and general cricket ‘kak’ praat.
Australia:
SR Watson, PJ Hughes, RT Ponting, MJ Clarke, MEK Hussey, SPD Smith, BJ Haddin, MG Johnson, RJ Harris, PM Siddle, BW Hilfenhaus
England:
AJ Strauss, AN Cook, IJL Trott, KP Pietersen, PD Collingwood, IR Bell, MJ Prior, GP Swann, JM Anderson, ST Finn, CT Tremlett
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Oz were deep in the hits this morning but look to have recovered a bit
Aus 173/6 after 51 overs
Watson 13
Hughes 2
Ponting 12
Clarke 4
Hussey 61
Smith 7
Haddin 51*
Johnson 21*
The weather up in Centurion does not look to good.
We will be lucky to see any kind of play today.
Aus 179/6 at Tea time
Haddin 52*
Johnson 25*
Johnson gets the last session of the day underway with a six off Swann!!
Anderson gets Haddin!
Aus 189/7 after 57.3 overs
Haddin out for 53
Harris comes in now, and the English will be hoping to scittle the tail out quickly
The SA game probably wont get started today,according to Pommy its raining something awful out there
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 10) :
Ice said it was coming down buckets up there yesterday.
Its sad, we will probably not see a result in the first two tests.
Anderson bowls Harris!!
Aus 201/8 after 60 overs
England playing like machines..
The Aussies are in deep kak now
Another 30 overs remaining in the day.
Great start to the 3rd test.
Back in Centurion, the filed is a mini dam..
Play might not get under way at all today.
5cm of rain in the morning alone so far.
Haysman notes that it is a fast draining outfield.
The pitch is under a tent with heaters and is bone dry.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 11) : Nooit, seeing as Im sick in bed today some crokey would have been nice
Oh well, Oceans 13 it is
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 17) :
Its coming down in Durban as well, so it would have been a nice day staying in and watching the cricket. Oh well..
Aus 216/8 after 65 overs
What`s going on with the weather?
Rain in Cape Town . .. Rain in P town . .
Hardly feels like summer at all.
@Original Champion (Comment 21) :
And pissing buckets in Durban!
It is stil raining in Centurion, and it’s not a light drizzle..
Tremlett bowls a great delivery and Eng have asked for a review for LBW..
Umpire’s call of not out stands..
And in Centurion:
The groundsman, Hilbert Smith, says we can play about three hours after the rain stops. It needs to stop though … Again, the forecast for tomorrow is brighter.
Aus 229/8 after 70 overs
20 overs remain in the day.
Finn get the big wicket of Johnson!!
Caught Anderson, out for 62.
Aus 233/9 after 70.3 overs
Siddle and Hilfnehaus going at the English bowlers now! scoring some much needed runs!
31 runs from 3 overs for the Aussies..
Aus 267/9 after 75 overs
15 overs remain in the day, and 5 overs until the new ball.
Don’t look like we will get any in any cricket today at Centurion. Just saw on tv the whole field looks like it is under water. Plenty rain up there. What a pity was really looking forward to the test starting today.
Swann takes the last Aussie wicket.. caught at silly..
Aus 268 all out..
Hilfenhaus the batsman out for 13.
Siddle 35 not out
Have a look at the outfield at Centurion:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/image/492842.html
The English innings has started with a Maiden over..
Second over gives a catch to slip which falls just short..
Good news from Centurion is that it has stopped raining..
Eng 21/0 after 6 overs
We should see another 5 or 6 overs today..
@Puma (Comment 32) : I was really looking forward to watching some cricket today.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 34) : Those pics don’t look good for any cricket today.
Skies are clearing up and the sun is coming through some of the clouds..
This is good news!
The groundsman is under the impression that the field just needs 3 hours after rain to be playable..
The tent over the pitch has now been removed..
Start times will be discussed soon..
Eng 29/0 after 11 overs
1 or 2 more overs to go for the day..
Shadows now visible at Centurion.. meaning sunshine..
Eng 29/0 after 12 overs and Stumps on day 1.
Cook 17*
Strauss 12*
The Super Sopper is now out on the outfield doing it’s thing..
The Proteas are now on their way to the stadium and the Indians are believed to be leaving JHB at 12h30
In the mean time, this is the South African squad:
GC Smith*, HM Amla, J Botha, MV Boucher†, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, PL Harris, JH Kallis, R McLaren, M Morkel, WD Parnell, AN Petersen, AG Prince, DW Steyn, LL Tsotsobe
The covers are now coming off the rest of the square..
No rain and some sunshine.. good stuff!
There will be an umpires inspection at 13h35
The teams have arrived at the stadium..
Pitch inspection in 20 minutes
The winner of the toss will most likely put the other team in to bat.
Could be very difficult batting conditions!
Wow the ground looks amazing after this morning!
Live pictures on SuperSport now..
Preliminary start time is 14h30..
Today and the next two days should be rain free..
Sunday we will see some thundershowers again, unfortunately..
Next inspection will be at 14h20..
Hopefully the start time will be latest 15h00, leaving us with play until 18h30
The next inspection coming up now..
Let’s hope it’s good news..
Sounds like a draw..unless the wicket plays some serious tricks!!not that much into cricket really,but hope sa can win the series.
@bergshark (Comment 57) :
We should get a few overs in today, I hope SA can win the toss, coz the pitch will be lively..
I wouldn’t wanna face dale steyn on a lively pitch with overcast conditions and dodgy light !!hope we win that toss and send them,get a good few overs in at them..they have always been found wanting on our pitches against our pace attack..hope it is more of the same this time.
Toss should be very soon and play should get under way at 15h00
@bergshark (Comment 59) :
There are no overcast conditions, the sun is shining full!
We won the toss and will bowl.
Graeme Smith has won the toss and SA will bowl first..
Do you have match xi,richard?how does our bowling attack look like?
@McLovin (Comment 62) :
Welcome!
Did you watch this morning?
@bergshark (Comment 64) :
Match XI will be updated as soon as I know..
So we’ve lost about 3 or 4 hours of play today.
But I guess they’ll only start about half an hour early tomorrow.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 65) : Ashes? Only a little live.
English gentlemen all over those uncouth Aussies.
@McLovin (Comment 67) :
Apparently they can play until 18h30 every evening..
@McLovin (Comment 68) :
The Poms are playing really well.. The Aus top order is a joke at the moment!
SuperSport are still showing highlites..
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 69) : Yeah, so they say, but will they do that everyday? And what are the odds of them going off before then for bad light?
First of the team news is that Tsotsobe is playing and Zaheer Kahn is not playing..
SA Team:
GC Smith*, AN Petersen, JH Kallis, HM Amla, AB de Villiers, AG Prince, MV Boucher†, LL Tsotsobe, PL Harris, DW Steyn, M Morkel
India Team:
G Gambhir, V Sehwag, R Dravid, SR Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, MS Dhoni*†, SK Raina, I Sharma, JD Unadkat, Harbhajan Singh, S Sreesanth
Hoping to have them at 3 down if we get in 25 overs..
@McLovin (Comment 72) :
True..
Why cant they start playing at 8am? Its light!
Steyn,tsotsobe,morkel and kallis ..and some spin with bounce from harris?
@bergshark (Comment 76) :
3 hours could get us a good 35-40 overs
@bergshark (Comment 78) :
Steyn will have to bowl his socks off!
Looking forward to see Steyn bowl today.
Finally we have some live picture..
@McLovin (Comment 81) :
We he dominate or be taken apart.. We can only hope he is back to his best..
Pitch report:
Mike Haysman runs his hand over a track that has a healthy green tinge to it. This is not going to be easy to bat on, especially today, given how moist the pitch will be. What the wetness means, Shaun Pollock tells us, is that there could be indentations opening up as the game goes on. Hard grind coming up for the batsmen. Should be fun.
Eng batting score?
@bergshark (Comment 85) :
Eng got to 29/0
Shit! 10cm of rain this morning and now they are ready to play.. Amazing!
Tendulkar needs one more hundred to reach 50 test hundreds.
Absolutely amazing.
Three of the top five test runs scorers of all time playing in this test.
Kallis; Tendulkar; Dravid.
@McLovin (Comment 88) :
Fantastic record that!
Let’s hope he does not get it this series..
Indian batsmen out on the park..
Here we go!
Six of the top 10 test runs scorers in 2010 playing in this match.
Tendulkar; Sehwag; Amla; Kallis; Smith & AB.
Gambhir and Sehwag opening for India..
Steyn taking the ball first up..
What a beaut of a ball first up!!
Gambhir gets India off the mark with a single..
Morkel opens the bowling with Steyn.
He needs 2 wickets to reach his 100..
The aim is to get 48 overs in for the day.
The lights may be switched on to help..
Steyn gets Sehwag!!
Steyn gets Sehwag!!!
Steyn. What a beauty.
Stupid shot by Sehwag, big edge to Amla at Third Man..
Well done boys!
1/1 after 2.1 overs
Rahul Dravid comes in..
Steyn on fire with another great ball on the pads of Dravid..
Dravid out??
@richard: ??
Have we lost transmission??
@bergshark (Comment 105) :
No..
Mclovin??
Ind 11/1 after 5 overs
2 fours through the slips in that last over
Morne with a beaut of a bouncer.. huge appeal..
Replays indicate the ball hit the glove..
No review system in this test?
Bowl him a beamer!!!!!
Great maiden over from Morkel..
Good to see the passion in the bowlers, not just going through the motions..
Just kidding..
@McLovin (Comment 111) :
Shocking!!
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 110) : AAArrrrgggghhh, why no UDRS. It should be used and not left up to the teams to choose.
@McLovin (Comment 111) : India haven’t figured out how to use it properly yet so didn’t want to use it.
@lostfish (Comment 116) : @lostfish (Comment 117) : Do the teams really have a say whether to use it or not? If so that makes it even more shocking. Should be compulsory.
@McLovin (Comment 118) : Both teams have to agree to use it otherwise it isn’t used. I don’t see the point of using it in some tests and not others. I agree it should be mandatory now.
@lostfish (Comment 119) :
Its proven to be invluable, just have a look at the Ashes!!
Make it compulsory and get it over with!
Tsotsobe into the attack, replacing Morkel..
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 120) : Smith was saying recently that it should be left up to the ICC rather than the individual cricket boards.
Dravid has just overtaken Lara as the 3rd leading run scorer in test cricket..
@lostfish (Comment 122) :
I agree with that..
What a silly system..
Ind 17/1 after 10 overs
Morkel, who has replaced Steyn at the other end, battling with No-balls now..
Morkel gets Gambhir!!
Finally Gambhir goes.
2 more wickets today and it’s job done for the day.
Great catch by Daffy Duck Harris in the slips..
Gambhir out for 5
Ind 24/2
The little master strolls in..
These two batsmen are both very dangerous and the Proteas will be hoping to get another one quickly!
Goooone!
Morkel gets another!!
Dravid goes LBW!!!
Another one for Morkel.
Ind 27/3
Dravid got 14
100th wicket for Morkel.
If SA can get another 2 wickets by the end of the day, we will be on top of this match
@lostfish (Comment 135) :
Yes! Well done Morne!
Now go get another few!
looks like we need to get into this cricket thing thats all we are talking about these days
Morkel’s bowling figures:
7 overs, 4 maidens, 4 runs and 2 wickets
Ind 35/3 after 16 overs
32 overs remaining in the day.
Steyn back into the attack, replacing Morkel
Kallis into the attack now..
Kallis with more hair on his head than before?
@McLovin (Comment 143) :
He must have had something done.. He looks like a real chop..
Ind 55/3 after 20 overs
TEA TIME
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 144) :
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 136) : I say if we can get Tendulkar before close today, we in the pound seats for sure. We need to get him out soon.
@Puma (Comment 147) :
He is looking very dangerous.. I agree, he needs to go soon!
I dont know if Kallis bowling here is the answer..
Steyn bowls Laxman!!
Steyn strikes again.
What a ball!!
Middle stump is out the ground!
Steyn does a magic trick – makes Laxman’s middle stump disappear.
Ind 66/4 after 22.2 overs
still another 25 odd overs to go this evening..
@McLovin (Comment 153) :
Haha.. true that..
He has to do it again, I didnt see it properly..
5 down.
Kallis gets him!!
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 157) :
Kallis proving me wrong.. well bowled!
Raina out for 1
Ind 67/5
India crumbling.
Is it just me or did kallis get som hair growth treatment?
@Ben (Comment 160) :
Yeah.. he looks like a real idiot..
We need to get Tendulkar out!
Hopefully before he gets his 50..
mmmm should I go low on Tendulkar? What do you cricket followers think?
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 161) : looks better than he did
Steyn get Tendulkar!!!
Steyn on fire!
@Original Champion (Comment 163) :
Go low for sure.. hehe
Probably safe to say it’s SA’s day today.
One thing we need to be careful of is Harbhajan..
He scored consecutive centuries against New Zealand..
3 wickets in 5 overs.. great bowling from SA!
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 167) : Thanx. Now we only have to work on your response time guys . . . sigh
India 80/6 after 27 overs
21 overs to go in the day
Sheesh I go out to do a bit of shopping and I get back and 3 more wickets. Perhaps I should go out again
Will we see SA bat a bit later?
That should be really interesting..
Ind 94/6 after 31 overs
Dhoni 4*
Harbhajan 17*
Run out.
Ind 110/7 after 32.1 overs
Morkel gets the 8th wicket!!
Morkel and Steyn cleaning up.
Caught Kallis..
India 110/8 after 32.3 overs
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 174) : Hope not.
Always difficult to avoid losing wickets in the last half hour . . .
C’mon boys!!
Two more!!
Tsotsobe is letting the bowling side down. Second 6 hit off him. He is starting to look deflated.
Morkel gets the 9th!!
He gets his 4th wicket. Well bowled buddy!
Sreesanth goes for 0.
Ind 116/9
The light is fading fast now..
One has to feel that the end of the day is in sight..
We still have 10 overs left to be bowled, but the light will not hold for all that..
@McLovin (Comment 143) : is it his hair or a rug?
The umpires have decided that the light is insufficient..
India 136/9 after 38 overs.
STUMPS
Well done Proteas. Fantastic start to this series. Especially since we only started play at 3pm. That was a superb effort.
Now hoping no rain during the night or tomorrow.
Good luck to our team.
That will suit South Africa as they will not have to face a last few overs..
@Puma (Comment 190) :
No rain for the next two days as far as the weather is concerned..
Right, thats me, over and out until tomorrow morning for the Ashes..
@lostfish (Comment 188) : Not sure. Will have to wait for the cheesy advert ala Shane Warne.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 193) : cheers