Kallis fit for first Test
14 Dec 2009
Jacques Kallis has been declared fit for the Centurion Test starting Wednesday, but is unlikely to bowl.
Kallis has been plagued by a rib injury in the past couple of months, which has badly effected the balance of the South African ODI side as they have had to fill Kallis’ role with two players. His fitness is great news for Mickey Arthur and co, but the all-rounder says it is highly unlikely he will bowl in the first Test.
However, Arthur said Kallis could still play a role with the ball and his bowling fitness will be assessed closer to the start of play.
The South African attack’s ability to regularly claim the 20 wickets required to win Tests has been questioned in the build-up, and this should mean Morne Morkel is selected ahead of Ryan McLaren or Wayne Parnell. Dale Steyn has also been passed fit after a niggling hamstring injury and he should line-up with Makhaya Ntini, Morkel and Paul Harris.
70 Comments
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15 Dec 2009, 13:51 pm
Zaheer Khan is having a magic second last over, it seems. Only three runs conceded. Leaves SL with 11 runs to win in the last over.
Reminds me of the over Fanie bowled to Alan Border some years back. It was the 48th over in that case. Set us up for a win after it looked improbable at the start of that over.
15 Dec 2009, 13:56 pm
SL 409/8.
6 runs needed of 2 balls with 2 wickets in hand.
Who will be/wants to be a hero?
15 Dec 2009, 13:58 pm
What a pity Sri Lanka didnt pull it out of the fire..
15 Dec 2009, 14:10 pm
SL ends on 411/8.
India win by 3 runs. I think they win it in the last five overs. They only conceded 28 runs in that 5 overs. Unheard of for the last five overs of an ODI especially if you take into consideration how many runs were scored in this game.
Hard luck for SL but I think one must give credit to Khan and Nehra. They won it for India in the end.
Will this game now be regarded as the second best one day game of all time?
15 Dec 2009, 14:19 pm
@nama1: 54 – Sounded like a brilliant game. Pity I missed it.
If that is the score and SL almost got it probably the 2nd best of all time. Must have been great to watch.
15 Dec 2009, 14:59 pm
When man of the match, Sewagh was asked whether he was tense near the end of the match, he responded, “Not at all. I was actually supporting Sri Lanka. My superstition is that whenever I support India, they lose. So I was supporting Sri Lanka.”
Death bowling by Khan and Nehra was what won it for them. The figures of 0/88 and 1/81 respectively is not a true reflection of what they did in the last five overs.
15 Dec 2009, 15:10 pm
I was incorrect in saying that Kallis is the greatest all rounder ever to have walked the earth. Sobers was amazing, but before my time, hence I didnt gather how good he was. He was outstanding.
I have no doubt that Kallis is the 2nd greatest of all time and the greatest in the modern era.
Daylight third
15 Dec 2009, 15:25 pm
Classic choke by Sri Lanka.
Nama thanks for the running commentary.
It was a great game of cricket and I’m sure the fans thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Sri Lanka lost this game as opposed to India winning it.
@WP_: WP I gather that you like old Jakes. He’s right up there with the best of em’ but he’s still not the second best ever.
15 Dec 2009, 15:37 pm
BJ Watling
“A right-handed opening batsman and part-time wicket-keeper, Bradley-John Watling spent his early years in Durban, South Africa, before moving to New Zealand as a ten-year-old. He was part of the Under-19 squad for the World Cup in Bangladesh in 2003-04″
Made his test début against Pakistan in the third test. Scored 60* in the second innings before rain stopped play with NZ in a good position to win the test.
Question is, can he be regarded as a South African having moved to NZ at the age of ten?
15 Dec 2009, 15:45 pm
@Jozi:
Pleasure Jozi. It was a great game.
Cricket actually needed an ODI like this to stop the perception that 50 over cricket is boring in comparison to 20/20.
15 Dec 2009, 15:53 pm
@nama1: No, if he’s got NZ citizenship he’s a kiwi.
The day he plays against SA, the jibes will be out in full force
@nama1: I agree, the law makers will have to get very creative with the 50 over game though. The threat posed by 20/20 is real.
One swallow doesn’t make a summer…..of so iets.
15 Dec 2009, 16:42 pm
The stats I gave earlier re teams that have scored 400+ are wrong. Here are the correct stats.
Sri Lanka 443/9 v Netherlands 4 Jul 2006
South Africa 438/9 v Australia 12 Mar 2006
Australia 434/4 v South Africa 12 Mar 2006
South Africa 418/5 v Zimbabwe 20 Sep 2006
India 414/7 v Sri Lanka 15 Dec 2009
India 413/5 50.0 v Bermuda 19 Mar 2007
Sri Lanka 411/8 v India 15 Dec 2009
New Zealand 402/2 v Ireland 1 Jul 2008
International teams have now scored 400+ on 8 occasions. SA, SL and India have now scored 400+ twice in an ODI.
15 Dec 2009, 17:14 pm
jozi
Who is then genius? I’d be very suprised to hear
16 Dec 2009, 17:24 pm
sorry Valkyrie …. Gelvandale players must stay with their koek liga for now … Kallis is here to stay.
16 Dec 2009, 17:58 pm
Kallis is superb and is here to stay for a very long time.
Dont hate the best in the world.
I’m tipping him for a 200
17 Dec 2009, 07:48 am
@WP_: Give me a moment to deliberate….will let you know. I first have to consult all my contacts to get their input
@WP_: Would be nice for him to score that double century. He’s a good player and he saved our asses yesterday.
17 Dec 2009, 09:29 am
jozi
haha
I’ll be very interested to see who you come up with bud!
The fact that you couldnt think of somebody tells you that there probably is no one mate!
The only all rounder that comes close to Kallis these days is Dan Vettori, but even there is a gulf in class between the two.
17 Dec 2009, 09:42 am
@WP_: Kallis is the best All-rounder of all time. Sir Garfield doesn’t even get close. His batting is good (not same league as the others like Lara, because of the nature of 100s), but his bowling is highly under-rated. Everyone looks at his batting, cause he’s one of the best, but forgets about his bowling. Truly a great. Best ever, no doubt. Look at the stats, he’s about as far ahead as Bradman is in the batting!!
17 Dec 2009, 09:45 am
50 overs is tired. Get rid of it, it got the worst of the other 2 forms with few of the advantages. 20/20 and test cricket are brilliant and are so different that they both stay new and exciting. Nobody wants to watch Kallis anchoring the ODI innings for the middle 30 overs, its boring, but to watch him bat in a test match is awesome, shows the true genius.
17 Dec 2009, 11:12 am
@Ratel Brussow (MSIUR):
#68
IMO Gary Sobers was the greatest all rounder ever.
He has a higher batting average than Jacques but Jacues has a better bowling average but we need to look further than that.
Sobers was much more versatile, influential and dynamic than Kallis. He got his runs at a much faster rate (there is not even a comparison here), as a bowler his versatility enabled him to bowl all varieties of left-arm bowling from spin to medium fast depending on the situation, he was a very successful captain and he was an exceptional fielder both close to the bat and in the outfield.
The best “bowling all rounder” ever was probably Imran Khan who took 362 test wickets at the ridiculously low average of 22.29 rpw and also averaged at 38 as a batsman. He was also a hugely influential world cup winning captain etc.
It is difficult to argue that Kallis is better as an all rounder than Khan ever was or vice versa.
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