South Africa vs India 1st test match

just shake hands

We wanted to see history.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

How long will it be before stuff starts to come onto the pitch?

Someone explain to me why they would do this APART from its fixed.

Dec 22, 2013 -- 3:45PM, GRANTCKING wrote:

Great game and a fair result to be honest

THE WALLET IS SPEAKING GRANT

GREAT GAME, PISS POOR RESULT

South Africa really had nothing to lose with 2 overs to go..........this game is a disgrace to Test Cricket

got to say I don't think you need to take too many risks when you need 16 from 19
to not even look to score makes me think they gave up the ghost too early.

now trying to get 3 x 6's - twats

i was on the draw but it feels like dirty money

Dec 22, 2013 -- 3:46PM, slip5 wrote:

i was on the draw but it feels like dirty money

But you'll take it yeah?

great match

only explanation can be morne wasn't fit to bat.  Poor mentality from SA though.

Its been a great game apart from those last 2 overs.................I enjoyed the game

bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbboooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Sorry SA backers but I've taken ur cash

GRANTCKING 22 Dec 13 15:45 
Great game and a fair result to be honest




Ha ha you're only saying that as your biggest green was the draw, you said so earlier.

Great game, disgusting last 20 minutes.

OMG A RUN

surprised they didnt go for it last 2 overs tbh

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

thanks for the updates...last 15 minutes stinks

india 180's to lay

3 overs to go only sa could win realistically but they shut up shop? Pathetic end to what was promising to be an exiting finish!

nobody wins here

I was admiring sa, now I hate them, spineless bastards

666666666666

like chess, you start for remi and sometime you win. a game for people who have 5 days to throw away

there's no pride for SA here

How ironic? The last ball went for 6

GUTLESS

hahaha, that's a pisstake, smashes the last one for 6.. SA backers spitting into their lemonade

OMG

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

This is a British farce from the Colonies! 


O' Calcuttaesque!

hitting the 6 just makes it look worst, he would have been better getting out

That last ball just sums it up. Total piss take. SA could clearly have won if they'd wanted to. I'm calling a fix, and i was green on all 3 outcomes. I just wanted to see a new world record.

Glad they are being boo'd - don't care what the purists say, history of cricket is made from magical matches and it should be an honour to have a chance to be part of a winning team in this situation.

I think the thing for me was in the last 3-4 overs the batsman showed 'No Intent'

turning down the singles in the 2nd last over was just stupid

that was the choker of all chokes ,a man batted 50 odd overs and couldnt finish these off, s.a. played for draw in end,WIMPS..

i backed the tie at 50 and was looking possible when du plessis got out then they gave up

One thing for certain, if it got to that scenario in an Ashes contest you can be guaranteed no team would play like that. Thats why the Ashes will always be the 'Pinnacle of cricket'

aston , the tie had to be ALL OUT with the scores level , no way was that a 50.0's shot

the tie was 1.06 at one stage

there is a huge difference between a test tie and a shorter format tie, only ever been 1 tie in test history

If you were AB or Faf after their hours and hours of hard work you'd be seething that Philander and Steyn were turning down runs and not going for it

sa coach bribed, you read it here first. why was he smiling with 3 overs to go.
fix.

very very strange end to that match!

can't understand the mentality of SA ; hope they give an explanation for their play otherwise there will be suspicion of some sort of betting scam.

The trouble was both sides were scared of losing, which is the big problem with having a stupid 2 match series, if you lose the first you can't win the series. Someone stated that Steyn hit the last ball for 6, well he did, but had a six been needed off the last ball to win the match, the ball, would have been bowled alot shorter or wider.
A brilliant match, despite what many see, as a farcial last 3 overs.

well said biscuit - few words in the dressing room I feel. Such a let down

tbf only sa would have refused to go for that.

Its another sad day for cricket.

it was the wicket of FaF , the run out that cost SA victory

But even before FaF was out, he didnt show much intent even when the target was below 50 runs to win, which astounds me

^^^ I didnt lose money on this match but if Saffers are saying 'we wanted to save the game with 2 overs remaining' , thats a bollocks of an excuse

Dec 22, 2013 -- 3:57PM, cricnut wrote:

The trouble was both sides were scared of losing, which is the big problem with having a stupid 2 match series, if you lose the first you can't win the series. Someone stated that Steyn hit the last ball for 6, well he did, but had a six been needed off the last ball to win the match, the ball, would have been bowled alot shorter or wider.A brilliant match, despite what many see, as a farcial last 3 overs.

yes but his intent to hit the 6 was mind boggling, why then? why not 2 overs earlier when it could of setup an easy win

nobody should bother betting on next test,unless you are in with the s.a. hieracy

batsmens faces in the last 3 were not happy, they'd been told

I've got no issue with them playing for a draw if they're in trouble but at no time did SA ever throw the bat at it. Not even when Faf was still in. They were happy taking singles. But to get down to 16 needed off the last 3-4 overs and then suddenly not even play any shots, leave balls and turn down singles, i'm sorry but that is very suspicious.

De Villiers also said on Twitter AB de Villiers ‏@ABdeVilliers17 3m
Speechless! Great Test match. Tough getting so close, but @DaleSteyn62 & @VDP_24 made the right call to close down shop. We move to Durbs

yeah , but if philander loses his wicket going for it in the penultimate over, they are 8 down with morkel injured , they didnt want to take the risk after faf's dismissal and i understand that

^^^^ Does look like De Villiers seemed pi$$ed off with the Draw either.....

* Doesn't

If you need 16 off 18 deliveries and have 3 wickets in hand, how can it be the right call to shut up shop.

So on to better topics, which player will go for the biggest bucks at IPL Auction 2014?

Morkel was padded up and ready to bat, he could've played safe but not the guys before him. Even Faf didn't really go for it

morkel couldnt run and tahir would have been like a rabbit in the headlights , not surprised they played for the draw with 16 needed off the last 2 overs

its a shame they didnt go for the winas my book was balanced with more green on an SA win , but thats cricket

^^^ The thing is Tahir is no mug with the bat, he has a 77 not out in First Class cricket, and can usually chip with handy runs. But its over now, I respect the Draw, going to be alot of angry Saffer backers/Saffer supporters tonight.

I think, that Steyn, was probably instructed by captin Grahame Smith, to shut up shop. I actually don't think that Dale Steyn, agreed with the captains decision.

Dale Steyn is no mug with the bat either........his natural game is to attack anyway, 16 runs or so is 3-4 good hits....so yeah im suprised by their tactics to shut down shop when a game is within grasp of a Famous win.

shame for SA they dont play for win not to say shame some big fish to control that game

all the indian fielders were out on the boundary stopping the 444444, its a very different equation than shorter format , balls down the leg side arent wided , theres no fielding restrictions and its a day 5 pitch ! surprised that philander/steyn didnt take singles in that penultimate over and look to get boundaries off the last , but it was obvious they were happy to take the draw after the first delivery or 2 of that penultimate over

was a great game of cricket , looking forward to the next test , shame  its not a best of 5 or even 3 match series

how did this lot win the boer war.

LETS TAKE A CONCLUTION:

ITS A CLEAN SPORT,,HOPE EVERYONE ENJOYED AND MADE MONEY TOO,

And being honest, who really gives a crap about the outcome of a 2 match test series?

How many of South Africa's 11 players do you think wanted to shut down to ensure they could still win the series rather than be part of a world record?

In which case, what makes it the right decision?

should have thrown the bat, if they lost another wicket im sure india would have taken the draw still anyway

no AYT its not clean cricket u know about that

I had a £200 double on N./ Zealand and Saffs last week..i was at work at couldn't lay off..feel absolutely sick..thought no chance this morning..fcking disgrace Smith.

astonishing.... especially Smith attempting to say that it was the batsmens'  decision. They were clearly acting under his orders....shame on you Smith and SA.

Great result for me though I agree that it was not the proper one.

I have been paying a chunky Premium Charge for most weeks recently and was thinking of moving away from Betfair. This time I was expecting the draw and bet very heavily on it elsewhere and correspondingly laid it here...

That's brave. If South Africa won you would have lost money AND paid the premium charge. **** that!

The turning point of the test I think was morkels injury which cost us draw layers. Would have bowled India out for a lead of 375-400 and chased it down fairly easily. Also if morkel was fit they would have kept going as well in those last 3 overs. Still can't believe we had a draw on that pitch and at a result ground. Oh well we move on to Boxing Day. Happy Xmas everyone

Yes,Charkitz,I took a risk (calculated?) and when you have had a  lucky run maybe you expect to be able to walk on water.

South Africa really should have gone for the 16 runs off 18 balls, if they lost it is no big deal really cause no one will remember this drawn test match in a few years time. They would have remembered the world record succesful run chase in test cricket if they done it, who here agrees with me.

agree, and anyway if they had lost their 8th wkt, im sure they could have blocked a few balls with their last 2 wkts , they had nothing to lose by going for it

If that was England or australia playing at home in the same situation i think they would go for runs.

Australia maybe, England would have called for bad light.

Still at a loss to explain Saffers approach at the end. Its not like they only had 1 wicket left.

India not free of blame they needed 3 wickets! and Tahir is hopeless and Morkel injured surely they could have been more proactive than having all the men on the fence. Most farcical 3 overs I have seen in cricket.. What about the look on the crowds faces when then didn't take singles...

uncle nasty
22 Dec 13 16:02

batsmens faces in the last 3 were not happy, they'd been told



I think you are right Unc,

I think Steyn was pissed. I haven't read anything but surely someone has to come out and explain the decision and who took it. 

To miss a shot not at just glory but Imortality is mind boggling.  If I were Steyn or Philander I think I would have been physically sick.

Who are the World No 1 ranked team?  Who were one year ago? Who were 5 years ago? Who cares


418-7
414-4
406-4 1976 India
404-3 1948 Australia


458-7 2013 South Africa v India at The Wanderers Johannesburg.  NOT!

It proves these coaches and captains rarely have an ounce of flair between them.

They don't see the bigger picture. The chance to make history against what was a very good Indian performance.

Faf and AB set it up so well and then to not go for the win was embarrassing.

Smith says it was the batsmens' choice. I cannot believe Steyn would agree with that. Coaches and captains are forever passing out messages.

They bottled it.

They always bottle it. Why do you think they never win tournaments.

To be fair most countries would have played for a draw in that scenario. In fact Aussies are the only team who would 100% go for the win in that scenario. Aussie mentality - win win win. Mentality of the rest - lets make sure we don't lose first, then we'll think about winning

the windies,sri lanka,kiwis would of gone for it ,who wouldnt, why of cause the chokers

Did you see New Zealand's pathetic attempt against West Indies in Dunedin a few weeks ago? Like every team except for Oz they are too scared of losing

wonder if the indian bookies had a hand in this

There was big liquidity matched on the game , close to $60 USD million matched on the game.

can't get away from this being fixed for betting purposes

quite likely the indian bookies didn't want a result