South Africa: Road to Repair

South Africa vs England
First Test Match, Johannesburg (31 Dec 2019- 4 Jan 2020)

Lineups:

South Africa:England:
:bat: Janneman Malan:bat: Rory Burns
:bat: Dean Elgar:bat: Keaton Jennings
:bat: Rassie van der Dussen:wkb: Jonny Bairstow
:bat: Faf du Plessis :c::bat: Joe Root :c:
:wkb: Quinton de Kock:bat: Sam Hain :redo:
:bat: Aiden Markram:ar: Ben Stokes
:ar: Bjorn Fortuin :redo::wkb: Ollie Pope
:ar: Vernon Philander:ar: Sam Curran
:bwl: Glenton Stuurman :redo::bwl: Stuart Broad
:bwl: Kagiso Rabada:bwl: Mark Wood
:bwl: Lungi Ngidi:bwl: Jimmy Anderson

On a pitch that was, quite frankly, doing things for quicks, South Africa brought in a fourth in Glenton Stuurman and picked Bjorn Fortuin to make his debut as the main spinner. This may leave them slightly weak batting wise, with no Verreynne debut yet, but it's a decent call. Meanwhile, England have omitted all their spinners and picked five quicks. Let's see whether that's the right call too. Also a debut for Sam Hain.

South Africa's captain Faf du Plessis chose to bowl after winning the toss. Neither opening bowler got the breakthrough but it took five deliveries for Philander, operating at first change, to remove Burns. Glenton Stuurman then came on and took the wicket of Bairstow with his second delivery in Tests, flicking to square leg. The rest of their spell was much less successful but Bjorn Fortuin was another debutant to suceed early, trapping Root in front in his second over. The game was evenly poised at this point, but Sam Hain turned that around. By attacking the bowlers, particularily Fortuin, he got the score moving. He lost his partner Jennings, bowled by the spinner for 73, halfway through the middle session, and then Ben Stokes edging Philander just into the evening, but he brought up a brilliant debut hundred from 130 balls. This was finally ended with the second new ball by Ngidi, before him and Rabada reduced England to their last wicket. Mark Wood fought to score 48 but England fell just short of 400.

South Africa started steady, then Dean Elgar ran himself out for 22. When Van der Dussen failed too, South Africa were 2/51 and under the pump. Janneman Malan and de Kock both got starts that they didn't carry on with and when Du Plessis was dismissed LBW to Broad, South Africa were into the all rounders and down 241 runs still. Enter debutant number two, Bjorn Fortuin. He put on 100 runs with Aiden Markram, ended when Markram flicked a Anderson moonball to mid wicket, but missed his hundred when he was LBW Stokes for 87. Thanks to some hitting from Philander, South Africa finished only 53 runs in arrears.

This time the opening pair for South Africa did the job, Rory Burns being bowled by Ngidi for his second 9 of the match. After a fifty run partnership, Stuurman jagged the wicket of Jennings for 30. This infuriated Bairstow so much he literally hit Fortuin and Ngidi out of the attack. Rabada and Philander were much better, Rabada grabbing Root for 36 and Philander bowling Hain for 7. Bairstow reached his hundred late on Day 3, and while Stokes fell early on Day 4, followed promptly by Pope and Curran, Wood stuck around long enough to see him bring up his double ton just after lunch. Frustratingly for England this double would be the end of the series for him as a Stuurman bouncer struck him flush on the helmet, causing what seemed to be a nasty concussion. Anderson lasted three deliveries, but South Africa still had to survive four sessions or score 450 on a pitch with erratic bounce. Of note: England scored 396 in both their innings.

Janneman Malan's solution was to attack. He scored 54 of an 85 run partnership before Elgar nicked off. Unfortunately he couldn't keep going and was bowled for 65 by Broad, leaving SAF 2/99. A middle order that got starts but didn't carry on left South Africa in a similar position to the first innings; Bjorn Fortuin coming to the crease with 265 runs still needed. This time, he got a two ball duck. Du Plessis was batting time effectively, but he got a yorker from Curran that Brett Lee would have been proud of, and South Africa quickly folded. No points in a loss, remember.

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South Africa vs England
Second Test Match, Cape Town (7-11 January 2020)

Lineups:

South Africa:England:
:bat: Janneman Malan:bat: Rory Burns
:bat: Aiden Markram:bat: Keaton Jennings
:bat: Faf du Plessis :c::bat: Sam Hain
:wkb: Quinton de Kock:bat: Joe Root :c:
:bat: Dean Elgar:ar: Ben Stokes
:wkb: Rudi Second :redo::wkb: Ollie Pope
:wkb: Kyle Verreynne :redo::bat: Jason Roy
:ar: Vernon Philander:ar: Sam Curran
:bwl: Keshav Maharaj:bwl: Stuart Broad
:bwl: Kagiso Rabada:bwl: Mark Wood
:bwl: Lungi Ngidi:bwl: Jimmy Anderson

On a more conventional pitch (batting-favoured), South Africa went with a more conventional lineup (still with two debutants) while England replaced Bairstow with Jason Roy... batting seven. Still no spinner. Alright...

This time, du Plessis batted. Again things looked to be going well, but then Malan ran out Markram. This made Faf even less happy when Malan was out for 43, just six more than Markram was when he was run out fifteen overs prior. This annoyance led to Faf losing his own wicket. At 3/109, the situation wasn't great. Luckily, the experienced heads of de Kock and Elgar put on over a hundred runs. de Kock eventually nicked off for 66, bringing in debutant number one. Second took his time to settle in but ended up putting on a second consecutive century partnership with Elgar, before lasting one delivery on Day 2. Elgar continued on though and brought up the first South African hundred of the home summer. Verreynne hit a four to take him to 59 and the partnership to a third consecutive century before edging to the keeper two balls later. Elgar (120 (269)) was dismissed one run later and the tail, particularily Philander and Maharaj, scored a few quick runs to take South Africa to 495.

Vernon Philander taking the new ball wasn't successful. In fact, none of the quicks were, but Keshav Maharaj disposed of Jennings in his first over. Ngidi also got rid of Hain before Day 2 was over, setting England back significantly. When the spinner removed Root five overs into Day 3, England were 3/88. South Africa had recovered well from a similar situation, but England didn't. Stokes picked up a two ball duck. Then, several slow overs later, Burns was out LBW for fifty. England 5/104. Roy and Pope put together a decent partnership but the latter was yorked by Ngidi and the former ground out a fifty and then was immediately dismissed by Maharaj. He then took care of the tail to pick up his first ever six wicket haul and force England to bat again.

Jennings was aggressive early. Ngidi responded by sending him to a hospital. After this minor setback, Burns and Hain set to work. They survived the rest of Day 3 and into Day 4, and put on over 140 runs. That was ended by Maharaj removing Burns again for an even 50. Joe Root hit his first two balls for four, then nicked off to Philander the ball after Hain's second ton of the tour was brought up. Maharaj finally ended it just short of the South African lead mark, but this was more a great ball than an error of the batsman. Ngidi then got a double wicket spell to mean that when England passed South Africa's mark, they were effectively 6/0. The tail showed a bit of fight but South Africa had to chase just 98 for the win.

Markram decided to try and end it before drinks. After a run a ball 22, he was dismissed swinging at Broad. Du Plessis and Malan were much more patient, although Malan was dismissed before the target, feathering a Curran slower bumper to the keeper. South Africa got the remaining 13 runs they needed on the fifth day and the game was done.


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Keshav Maharaj's 6-for trumped Elgar in the MOTM reckoning.
 
Curious what your difficulty setting is; I usually find second-innings like that on the easier settings (not a criticism if so, by any means)
 
Curious what your difficulty setting is; I usually find second-innings like that on the easier settings (not a criticism if so, by any means)
I believe it's on my default setting which is the middle one (easy, I think it's called).

Also I thought Fortuin was going to be such a bust on his domestic averages (19 bat, 32 ball this season) and then he belts 87 to get us partially out of a deep hole
 
I believe it's on my default setting which is the middle one (easy, I think it's called).

Also I thought Fortuin was going to be such a bust on his domestic averages (19 bat, 32 ball this season) and then he belts 87 to get us partially out of a deep hole
Classic Fortuin!

Also I'm kinda baffled by the names of the difficulties - would "Club", "County" and "Test" have been beyond them?
 
Also I'm kinda baffled by the names of the difficulties - would "Club", "County" and "Test" have been beyond them?
"Easy", "Normal", "Hard". It's even simpler. But of course it's odd...
 
"Easy", "Normal", "Hard". It's even simpler. But of course it's odd...
See I'd steer away from that because it implies that "Hard" might be you know... hard. Where it's not so much harder as just balanced differently
 
South Africa vs England
Third Test Match, Pretoria (14-18 January 2020)

Lineups:

South Africa:England:
:bat: Janneman Malan:bat: Rory Burns
:bat: Aiden Markram:bat: Joe Root :c:
:bat: Faf du Plessis :c::bat: Eoin Morgan
:wkb: Quinton de Kock:ar: Ben Stokes
:bat: Dean Elgar:bat: Sam Hain
:wkb: Rudi Second :wkb: Ollie Pope
:wkb: Kyle Verreynne :bat: Jason Roy
:ar: Vernon Philander:ar: Sam Curran
:bwl: Keshav Maharaj:bwl: Stuart Broad
:bwl: Kagiso Rabada:bwl: Mark Wood
:bwl: Lungi Ngidi:bwl: Jimmy Anderson

South Africa choose to go unchanged after the crushing win in the second test, although they called up young quick Marco Jansen to the squad. Meanwhile for the Poms... wait what is Ed Smith doing? It looks like there's a big fire- oh it's just he's selected an ODI team. Don't mind me.

A decision that made much more sense was the choice of Faf du Plessis to bat first. Malan and Markram saw off the new ball before a feather on a cut shot ended Malan's day. Faf sprinted to 47 either side of lunch and then edged to slip, and De Kock failed. Markram was unperturbed and ended up reaching his ton just before tea. While he got out just after (112 (191)), he had put South Africa into an advantageous position. While none of the other batsmen went on to that extent, they all chipped in so that when Curran bowled Ngidi, it was an hour past lunch on the second day and the scoreboard read 413.

England were dealt an early blow with the unimpressive Burns (likely only still in the team because Keaton Jennings broke his finger) going for a nine ball duck. Rabada then removed Morgan to have early figures of 4-1-4-2. Root was playing well, taking 12 runs off Ngidi's third over, but had very little support. Stokes was stumped off Maharaj for 19, and then Root himself bottom edged one from Philander which, in all fairness, kept low. Ollie Pope's dismissal left England 5/64. Hain and Roy showed some fight which rescued England to 6/132 at stumps, however Maharaj cleaned up the tail on the third morning to take his second consecutive 6-for and force England to take another follow on.

The openers responded, though. With Burns defending and Root playing his shots, they raced to a 60 run partnership before lunch, and went on slightly after until Maharaj got Burns. Root continued to be aggressive and by the time Eoin Morgan was out for 22, he was on one hundred and 22 (plus one). Sam Hain played a fluent 83, and Ollie Pope fought for his 91, but they was overshadowed by Root bringing up his 300. Pope's dismissal triggered a collapse, including Maharaj making his 10-for, but South Africa still needed 377.

The one thing on South Africa's side was that they had to survive less overs than in the first innings if they were to draw. And a century partnership between the openers, only ended when Markram edged off in the last two overs before lunch, was a great start. Malan then ran himself out. While du Plessis went quickly, de Kock and Elgar survived the rest of the game together. So that's a draw then, although no point for the trophy due to Root's magnificence.

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Edit: this happened in the domestics:
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South Africa vs England
Fourth Test Match, Durban (14-18 January 2020)

Lineups:

South Africa:England:
:bat: Janneman Malan:bat: Rory Burns
:bat: Aiden Markram:bat: Joe Root :c:
:bat: Faf du Plessis :c::bat: Eoin Morgan
:wkb: Quinton de Kock:ar: Ben Stokes
:bat: Dean Elgar:bat: Sam Hain
:wkb: Kyle Verreynne:wkb: Ollie Pope
:ar: Delano Potgieter :redo::bat: Jason Roy
:ar: Vernon Philander:bwl: Mark Wood
:bwl: Keshav Maharaj:bwl: Stuart Broad
:bwl: Marco Jansen :redo::bwl: Jamie Porter :redo:
:bwl: Lungi Ngidi:bwl: Jimmy Anderson

South Africa, in addition to resting Rabada, dropped Rudi Second and brought in a fifth bowling option in the form of Delano Potgieter. Marco Jansen also makes his Test debut in the must-win clash. England also make a change, Curran dropped for debutant Jamie Porter.

South Africa were forced to bowl on another batting perfect pitch. Jansen and Ngidi were tight but didn't break through early. In fact, it took until the final over of the session for Burns to nick Maharaj to slip. Just 72 runs were scored in the first session. The issue was, that was because Root was getting himself in and he went on to score another hundred. He got all the way to 208 before being bowled this time, by Jansen who was the most impressive of all the SAF bowlers. Hain scored a run-a-ball 117, and although England lost 6/38, they still posted 447.

Janneman Malan never really got going and eventually nicked off for 14. Of bigger concern was what happened to Markram. After a very fluent 92, he was hit in the hand and suffered a fractured thumb, ending his Test. de Kock fell just short of a fifty, which brought Faf and Elgar together, and they put on 196 runs together before Elgar was bowled for 93. Verreynne and Faf breezed past England's tally, and Faf brought up his own double ton before nicking off for 205 (355). Verreynne and Potgieter fell just short of their own centuries, and the tail added 100 more runs before South Africa were finally dismissed for 787.

The job was simple now. Bowl England out in three and a half sessions. The first wicket fell just before that half was expired, Burns LBW Maharaj for 18 with three overs left in the fourth day. Root continued to play majestically, but he was running out of partners; Morgan, Stokes, Hain and Pope all fell in the first session. The tail collapsed and while Root fought bravely, his dismissal (ninth out for 123) ended the contest, and Potgieter got his maiden wicket to end the game in the next over. Faf du Plessis takes MOTM.

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PLAYER OF THE SERIES
1. Faf du Plessis: His series winning hand influenced the judges.
2. Keshav Maharaj: 23 wickets in 3 games isn't bad.
3. Vernon Philander: In a series without major influences, Philander's small margin gains were very necessary.

The Chase for the Mike Proctor Trophy
K Maharaj- 7
J Malan- 6
F du Plessis- 5
K Rabada- 3
D Pretorius- 3
Q de Kock- 3
V Philander- 3
R van der Dussen- 1
I Tahir- 1
 
South Africa Squad for ODI vs England
:bat: Faf du Plessis :c:
:bat: David Miller
:bat: Rassie van der Dussen
:bat: Temba Bavuma
:bat: Janneman Malan
:bat: Pieter Malan :redo:

:wkb: Quinton de Kock

:ar: Bjorn Fortuin :redo:
:ar: Andile Phehlukwayo
:ar: Dwaine Pretorius

:bwl: Tabraiz Shamsi
:bwl: Imran Tahir
:bwl: Lungi Ngidi
:bwl: Kagiso Rabada
:bwl: Dale
Steyn

Two changes from the World Cup squad. Hashim Amla is out for Pieter Malan, and Chris Morris is out for Bjorn Fortuin. It was thought Marco Jansen may have replaced Dale Steyn who was injured for the Tests but he's proven his fitness. Also Kyle Verreynne fails to make the squad. Sources suggest this could be the final season for Imran Tahir
 
ODIs vs England:
Game 1
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1620534485099.png
1620534474544.png
Janneman Malan is a superstar. He gets a point


Game 2
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That's not even his best innings this series...

Game 3
Pieter Malan and Bjorn Fortuin make their debuts, in place of Tahir and Bavuma.
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Another brutalising, although Janneman Malan failed this time. The points in this case go to Bjorn Fortuin.

MAN OF THE SERIES
1. Janneman Malan- shocker!
2. Kagiso Rabada- in a series dominated by bowlers Rabada's 8 wickets at 14 is pretty good.
3. Faf du Plessis- batted twice and averages 80. Sure it's not Janneman...

The Chase for the Mike Proctor Trophy
J Malan- 11
K Maharaj- 7
F du Plessis- 6
K Rabada- 5
D Pretorius- 3
Q de Kock- 3
V Philander- 3
R van der Dussen- 1
I Tahir- 1
B Fortuin- 1
 
South Africa Squad for T20 vs England
:bat: Faf du Plessis :c:
:bat: David Miller
:bat:Theunis de Bruyn
:bat: Marques Ackerman :redo:
:bat: Janneman Malan
:bat: Marco Marais :redo:

:wkb: Quinton de Kock
:wkb: Sinethemba Qeshile

:ar: Bjorn Fortuin :redo:
:ar: Chris Morris
:ar: Delano Potgieter :redo:
:ar: Ferisco Adams :redo:
:ar: Eathan Bosch :redo:

:bwl: Kagiso Rabada
:bwl: Dale
Steyn

A lot of debutants particularily allrounders!
 
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T20s vs England
Game 1
Fortuin, Potgieter, Bosch, Ackerman debut
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Some failures in our batting.

Game 2
1620535770171.png
Much better! Particularily Rabada

Match 3
Marais debut
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And unfortunately we lose the series. This also means only one bonus point for the POTS, which goes to Marques Ackerman in a split decision over Potgieter.

The Chase for the Mike Proctor Trophy
J Malan- 11
K Maharaj- 7
F du Plessis- 6
K Rabada- 6
D Pretorius- 3
Q de Kock- 3
V Philander- 3
R van der Dussen- 1
I Tahir- 1
B Fortuin- 1
M Ackerman- 1
 
South Africa Squad for ODIs vs Australia
:bat: Faf du Plessis :c:
:bat: David Miller
:bat: Dean Elgar
:bat: Janneman Malan
:bat: Pieter Malan

:wkb: Quinton de Kock
:wkb: Dominic Hendricks

:ar: Bjorn Fortuin
:ar: Andile Phehlukwayo
:ar: Dwaine Pretorius

:bwl: Tabraiz Shamsi
:bwl: Marco Jansen
:bwl: Lungi Ngidi
:bwl: Kagiso Rabada
:bwl: Dale
Steyn

Three changes here. Bavuma had a terrible England series and Rassie hasn't had any form since the World Cup so they both go, replaced with two domestic standouts in Elgar and Hendricks. And the third is because 1. Tahir was also terrible vs England, 2. we have Shamsi and Fortuin and 3. we also have a misfiring Ngidi and an ageing Steyn. So it just makes sense to replace the 40yo Tahir with Jansen.
 
ODIs vs Australia
Game 1
Dominic Hendricks makes his debut
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Very happy. Malan (92 balls) seems to be running away with the Proctor, while Fortuin and Andile performed with the ball.

Game 2
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This was less good. Despite Faf (102 balls) hundred, Ngidi was far too expensive.

Match 3
Jansen makes his debut in place of Ngidi (10-0-99-0 last time) and P Malan (6 runs in the series) is replaced by Elgar.
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This happens sometimes with a six man lower order. Sadly, it happened in a must win match.

So another series loss. On the bright side for Dominic Hendricks though, a debut series averaging 60 means he gets POTS for us.

The Chase for the Mike Proctor Trophy
J Malan- 12
K Maharaj- 7
F du Plessis- 6
K Rabada- 6
D Pretorius- 3
Q de Kock- 3
V Philander- 3
R van der Dussen- 1
I Tahir- 1
B Fortuin- 1
M Ackerman- 1
D Hendricks- 1
 

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