Stumps Day 3 - Australia in trouble
The clouds rolled into harare after the completion of the days 2 procedings leaving a high chance of rain in the days play. unfortunatly all but three overs were washed out. however these two overs, like the 5 completed by australia late in the 2nd day, proved to be a disaster. after loosing hayden for 4 on day to, australia were looking to consolidate the innings. however langer fell for the same score, LBW to heath streak 1st ball back from the rain interval, trying to defend to the off side.
this left australia reeling at stumps on day three. the score sitting on 2/16 martyn unbeated on 4 and ponting yet to score. tony greig spoke to both captains at the end of a frustrating day for both teams
tg - hello i am here from a gloomy harare sports club with the two captains. ill start with tatenda taibu - tatenda how are the boys feeling after a very impressive display here.
tt - hello and thank you. everybody is really optomistic in the rooms. obviously we would have liked to have played alot more today but we will just have to see how the rest of this game pans out. hopefully the rain will stay away for a while. we dont want to just draw this game, we have 2 days to play and we definatly think we can win this one.
tg - well i feel you are definatly in the mixer. what about your fast bowlers, today streak and blignaut, include hondo from the 1st innings. you have to be happy with their peformance
tt - yes very much so. they bowled very well both days. they are our best chance at getting close in this match and are the key reasons why we are in the position we are in. however if you look at the lineup of australia we have got hayden and langer out but they batted very deep. we will need to get constant wickets tomorrow to ensure we have a chance at a win.
tg - thank you tatenda, best of luck tomrrow. ricky ponting, whats going through your head right now?
rp - to be honest tony im just glad today is over. it wasnt the easiest day, sitting around waiting to bat and then when we did the quicks bowled very well. we are under the pump a bit at the moment but i have full confidence in our middle and lower order. there is still pup (clarke) kat (simon katich) and gilly (adam gilchrist) left to bat and then the tail im sure can do a job for us. while ill be the first to admit we arent where we want to be right about now, i still feel confident in a victory, wether permitting ofcourse
tg - hopefully the rain will stay off long enough for a good compeitive match here in the last 2 days. just on the zimbabwe innings, what did you make of the bowling?
rp - i thought we did a reasonable job. didnt do as much as we would have liked with the new ball but we do have the lead and we finished strong, glenn again bowled well. 3 for, hes just so consistant.
tg - here here. well good luck in a crucial day for the boys tomorrow. all the best with the bat for yourself personally aswell.
rp - thanks greigy
below - shots from a limited days play
streak and taibu celebrate dismissing langer
martyn plays a great off drive off streak - one of the rare highlights for australia
ponting and martyn - still a long way to go to pull australia out of a troublesome situation
