Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa

[Pie-chucker]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa Go Giles.... to the ton, the game, the set, the match, the series and the 66-1. 7 not out at the moment. Hmmmm....

[PAULM03]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa I was just about to have a small flutter on England at 4.7 (betfair), but looking at the weather forecast it's just not value. I've no doubt in our ability to bowl them in 2 sessions again, which, weather permitting would give us enough time to beat them, but if we lose just one session then the draw is nailed on. As i've absolutely no confidence in the weather i've had 5points on the draw at 1.3.

[PAULM03]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa Great knock from Flintoff and thorpe, it's this kind of thing that's making me think that we may not win the ashes but we'll push them much harder than we have in recent years. Our middle order isn't built on sand anymore, and can stand up and be counted when the going gets tough. Same with the bowling, Harmison and Flintoff were probably considered the 2 strike bowlers before the series, but neither has really fired, and up pops Plodder Hoggard with 7 wickets in an innings.:clap Go get 'em boys:hope

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa Stan James have England 11/4, SA 40/1. I agree with Paul, one forecast I saw said rain tomorrow, the other partly sunny/cloudy. If England can get another 100 and possibly have half an hour at SA tonight weather permitting, a lead of 160ish could be too much for a demoralised SA, especially if we get a couple tonight, particularly as Gibbs might not be inclined to hang around as hes playing for free!! Still gotta be careful, if we were bowled out now for a lead of say 80, SA slog 250 in 2 sessions and set us 170ish, could be tricky. cant see it but thats why the odds are 40/1! hmmm........! Hedging my bets here, still got Jones top score @ 16/1 and layed the draw @ 7/1 both sides. Cmon England......Top marks to Flintoff and Thorpe, especially after lunch, that was aussie style positivity!! 40/1!!.....Cant happen twice can it??

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa Yahoo and CNN both say partly cloudy/sunny, make of that what you will. England are generally quoted around 2/1, draw 4/11, SA are variously 25s, 33s, 40s but Blue Square go 50/1!! Not sure they're as big outsiders as that. SA have this proud record of only losing 1 home series since re-entry and if they can get into some sort of a position tomorrow I think they will have a go at England. Somewhere at the start of this thread I pointed out that only 2 tests had gone into the 5th day (although you could argue this would only be the 4th) and both had wickets falling, if I remember correctly SA chased 124 and only did it for 7 wickets, so SA will take heart from this. SA are generally pretty negative and Kallis can be to the extreme but the way that he was batting at the close showed the way. The first session tomorrow is still 2.5 hours, so I think that they will take 20/30 minutes to get in, and then look to let loose. It is worth Kallis trying to play his way in for a while, as he is their main hope. To stand a chance, SA have to look to score around 150 in the first session, a quick 50 after lunch and declare, leaving England about 150 to win. The timing is crucial, if england have too long to get these runs (ie 2 full sessions) they will walk it, but if SA leave England too stiff a time target, they wont bother going for it as they dont need to win. IMO England will be tempted by a chase as to win 3-1 is a very convincing win on a tough tour, and will show how far this team has come. Of course SA have to get these runs and if they go too gung-ho or are unlucky they could be bowled out for around 150/175 and hand England the game on a plate. The fact that there was no play on day 1 obviously means there was no action to affect the wicket, but it was prepared to start that day, so will still have the age and constitution of a 5th day pitch. IMO it will have indifferent bounce tomorrow and aid the seamers as a 5th day pitch, making free scoring difficult, but slogging will be the order of the day for SA, and they wont particularly care about wickets if they get what they want. The way the scores have gone has mirrored the stats from tests before this match, and I see no reason for this to change. But if SA slog 150 ahead and bowl well this could be tough. I have to admit the 40/1 on SA was too tempting as I think it was overpriced, and I had a small wager on it, together with SA at 5/2 at start and 7/1 last night, all mentioned before. Also England at 7/1, but nothing on the draw. I think the bet of the day tomorrow is if you can get a price on 1st session runs, then over has to be good. I would certainly have a small bet on anything over 115/120 as surely SA have to go hell for leather, but I have no prices at present. Cmon England!!..............:hope ;) Best of luck everyone.

[Pie-chucker]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa 45 minutes to resumption and 'scattered clouds', 'thunderstorm' and 'scattered rain' are the forecasters' selections on 3 different websites. Lad goes SA 25-1; Blue Sq still prefers 50-1. Can't find any first session spread posted.

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa Nor me, Bet365 offer runs for next over but not the session, theyre running scared IMO, they arent sure whats going on. Hall coming in has confused them, pushing it around, and then Kallis letting loose. IMO Hall wasnt a night-watchman , he was a Kallis-watchman!, protecting their best batsman for this morning, shame it didnt work :rollin Wonder why Harmy didnt bowl last night?? Saving him for today? all is forgiven if he steps up to the mark here. Weather as you say Pie-chucker, may cost us. And when the lights iffy, you dont want to bowl with Bucknor as the umpire! The end of a good umpire this tour IMO! Hes well past it. Surely it depends on whether SA want to give it a go, because they cant square it off the field. Them scoring runs may be our best chance of staying on the pitch!! As a fan, CMON ENGLAND!! As a punter, cmon any f****r!!

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa Stan James go under 108, over 112, both evens, for the first session. 20 overs have to be bowled for a result.

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa Changed as I went back in, over 108 @ evens, took it at small stakes., looking good. think they'll do something daft in last hour of morning and 1st hour of afternoon, and try and leave us a tempter!! Then go for broke. If the rain stays off and SA have an ounce of balls between them, fancy a result. Sorry PaulMO3!!

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa Stan James now 16/1 SA, draw 1/10, England 6/1!! That England price is good. Session spread is now 132-136, they dont like giving much away do they!

[PAULM03]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa No need to apologise:D It's been a tough match to call with the weather. I see it slightly differently though. For south Africa losing a series 2-1 is bad enough, losing 3-1 would be a complete humiliation. They won't want to leave England any chance of being able to win and IMO will get into an overly safe position and leave themselves without enough time to bowl us. In the same vain our bowlers must be absolutely knackered, and i just can't see them having enough left in the tank to force the situation, coupled with the chance of rain and/or an early finish due to bad light, a result IMO is unlikely.

[MattyNeth]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa Had a wager this morning on the draw at 1.4 on Betfair, but getting a bit jumpy now at lunch. Giles was bowling negatively, but South Africa still scored pretty well - about 150 off the session. South Africa lead by 100 and there are 63 overs left in the test. If they can knock off say 150 off 20 overs (certainly very possible with wickets in hand and the two batsmen in at the moment in good form) then would leave England 250 off about 40 overs. That's a lot of overs with a fired up Nel, Pollock and Ntini coming charging in. Draw still looks the option, but that 50/1 this morning on South Africa........

[Pie-chucker]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa After this gripping, rather strange, 5-test shoot-out I don't give a Tinker's about 7 one-dayers (in simple cricket terms). I'd get Harmison and Flintoff on the first plane home, and give Hoggard a go if he wants to, which he will. Deserves this slot into one-dayers. Back to the here and now, 4.29 runs an over partnership is less ambitious than I thought, but no wicket before lunch and could be 7 an over for 18 overs this arvo. Damn test refuses to lie down! Great.

[dave]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa Anyone who's backed SA, forget about your chances. Not going to happen. When England won the 4th Test, it was only the 3rd time in Test Matches that a team had taken 10 wickets in the final 2 sessions of Day 5.

[PAULM03]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa

After this gripping, rather strange, 5-test shoot-out I don't give a Tinker's about 7 one-dayers (in simple cricket terms). I'd get Harmison and Flintoff on the first plane home, and give Hoggard a go if he wants to, which he will. Deserves this slot into one-dayers.

:clap :clap My sentiments entirely pie-chucker. This been possibly the bizarrest series i have ever seen, i'm not even sure it's really been test-cricket in the purest sense of the phrase. Get freddie and steve home and fit for the aussies:hope

[PAULM03]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa Suddenly things aren't so good. 20-3 after 20 overs? surely we can bat another 24?

[dave]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa No problems, Thorpe will stick it out as he always does in tough situations.

[PAULM03]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa A thoroughly deserved draw and series win, the lads can give themselves a massive pat on the back after that.:D Although you were wrong about thorpe dave;)

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket, 5th and final test England v South Africa Good result that is, fair play, if a little ropey. Good shout on the draw Paul. Gotta say that over 108 in the first session has to be the easiest money i've made for a while!! It meant that I could cover my 'lay the draw' outlays and stay well up whatever happened. Although if you manage to lose when you've landed a lucky 33/1 shot surely somethings wrong!! SA blew it IMO, they just werent aggressive enough. I always knew they were negative but they showed no bottle at all. I really thought their home record would inspire them to go for a realistic win. I think England took their eye off the ball with only a short time to bat, together with being knackered!! Shame there was no result, for me it would have made a great test superb, having got SA @ 5/2, 7/1 and 40/1, England @7s and 6s, but i'm just being greedy! It was Stan James's money so he can have some of it back for us winning the series. I think we had a really good thread going here lads, with some quality betting and insight between us, and I think we can do well in the 1-dayers and the summer. This all goes to show if you read this through that cricket in-running is an earner if you know what you are doing, its just a case of reading the game, preparation and patience. For example, SA were well overpriced @ 40/1 IMO last night, they had to do well but I could see the scenario panning out and those odds are too good to miss. I think Flintoff wont play against Bangladesh and that could mean a straight play-off between Butcher and Key for the Ashes slot. IMO Key hasnt got the technique for a no.3 against the aussies, and I'd pick Butch. Spaces will open up after the Ashes in the order and Key will get another chance then. I'm off to get stats for the 1-dayers!!