Story West Indies tour South Africa

[Pakistani Army]

No worries mate. I still remember Suren "The King of Stories" saying

There are no time restraints in stories

 

[Spoobir]

SKY SPORTS Close of Play Bulletin​

Andre Nel is called upon by Graeme Smith a little while into the final session of play. He's on 99 test wickets so one piece of magic or luck today will see him reach a siginificant milestone in his career.

He doesn't have to wait long when in his first over Ganga nicks one that is taken by Smith at first slip.

His teammates rush over to congratulate him on his hundredth test wicket, they're obviously hoping he'll take many more in the years to come.

West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan is next out. He had mixed success in the last match with a 91 and a 15, a good performance is needed from him here.

Jaques Kallis walked away with 4 wickets in the last match, all of these came from an excellent first innings but he did bowl a shorter spell than the other bowlers in the second, so that could be why he was wicketless.

Gayle has now fought his way to an excellent 50, There will be lots of pressure on him to make a big score due to the tendancy of the West Indies to collapse at key moments.

The wear and tear of the pitch is finally showing after two days worth of play on it. Sarwan leaves one outside his off-stump only to have the ball cut in and hit him in front. The massive appeal is hardly needed as the umpire decides immediately that he's out LBW.

Hawk-eye shows this was a good decision by the umpire.

The next batsman, Chanderpaul, has been the West Indies most successful batsman with a century in the last match. With the fall of Sarwan it is even more important for him to continue this good form.

The end of the day's play is called and West Indies are on 122/2. The key wicket for South Africa was Sarwan and another two quick wickets tomorrow would put them in a commanding position.

Nel has been on a high since his hundredth test wicket and has hardly put a foot wrong, as his stats show.

So that's it from us today, make sure you join us for the third day's play here tomorrow. Goodbye!

Second Test: Close of Play, Day Two.
West Indies 122/2, Trail by 384 runs.
Gayle 57 (144)
Chanderpaul 13 (20)
Last Wicket: Sarwan 11 LBW Kallis


NEXT UPDATE: LUNCH, DAY THREE

 

[Highlander999]

Really good work mate. Nel did well getting his milestone.

Hopefully Windies can build a partnership here

 

[ivanvdm15]

wow good bowling from Nel great econ rate, a better start this time by Windies great story.

 

[Spoobir]

SKY SPORTS Lunchtime Bulletin​

Chanderpaul and Gayle put on 50 for the third wicket with some impressive batting but again South Africa come out on top. Andre Nel produces an absolute snorter that uproots Chanderpaul's off stump before he can blink.

Morton scored a 50 in the last match and has been moved up the order because of it. He played a brilliant supporting role for Chanderpaul in that innings and needs to do the same for Gayle here.

He has just one on the board however when he attempts to cut a ball from Kallis the ball flies up and Pollock takes a diving catch. There is a big appeal and some debate about whether it had hit the glove or the arm-guard but the umpire's decision is final and he has to go.

Bravo has also been promoted up the order after two competent performances in the first test.

With the wear of the pitch evident, Smith tosses the ball to Paul Harris for a spell of spin.

This could spell doom for the West Indies when Bravo commits a fatal error, he calls Gayle for the single and then changes his mind when he realises Nel will gather the ball. A direct hit means it's mighty close and the third umpire says he's out. He fell on 84.

Dwayne Smith is in next and didn't do much in the last test.

He doesn't do much in this one either when he hits one straight back to Nel after scoring only 3 runs.

Ramdin is another one who failed in the last test.

With the batsmen being troubled by spin Graeme Smith brings himself on to bowl.

The traditional West Indies middle order collapse is complete when Ramdin leaves a sharp-turning ball from Smith and is bowled.

The tail is exposed 117 runs short of the score needed to avoid the follow-on. Daren Powell is out in the middle.

He leaves a little while later after being run out a mile short of his crease.

Out comes Jerome Taylor

He tries to play positively but is sent packing when he tries to drive Harris. He bottom edges the ball which bounces behind him and rolls into the bottom of the stumps, knocking the bails off.

Number 11 is out in the form of Corey Collymore.

Amazingly, West Indies are not bowled out before lunch. They are 224/9 with Bravo still there. However 82 runs are still needed to avoid the follow-on.

Nel has been the best bowler this morning with 3 wickets, the West Indies have been easy pickings so far.

Second Test: Lunch, Day Three
West Indies: 224/9, trail by 282 runs and need 82 runs to avoid the follow-on.
Bravo 48 (63)
Collymore 2 (17)
Last Wicket: Taylor 2 b Harris

NEXT UPDATE: END OF WINDIES INNINGS/TEA, DAY THREE

 

[Highlander999]

Oh dear ! Windies are in big trouble here and will need osme extrodinary batting to avoid the follow-on.

Really good work and pres mate. Keep it up

 

[ivanvdm15]

wow good stuff from Nel and a Sharp spinner from Graeme Smith?
Good story.

 

[Spoobir]

a Sharp spinner from Graeme Smith?

Well BLIC isn't very realistic after all

 

[Spoobir]

SKY SPORTS Bulletin​

Bravo finally manages to convert a start into a 50, he'll need a lot more to reach the follow-on target however. The pressure situation doesn't seem to have affected his strokeplay as he reaches his 50 in just 68 balls.

South Africa become increasingly frustrated as the 10th wicket partnership grows ever larger, it reaches 50! Some doubts about Smith's tactics arise as he persists in bowling himself and Harris, instead of using the quickies to pressure the batsmen. Bravo has taken advantage of this to leach singles and keep himself on strike.

Smith finally makes the breakthrough when Collymore misses a straight ball and is hit on the pads.

Hawk-eye shows the ball would have clipped the top of leg stump.

The tenth wickets partnership brought West Indies up to 272 with Bravo stranded on 88. He did a bit to redeem himself after running out Gayle, the only other batsman to make a significant total, on 84.

Nel was on a roll earlier in the innings and if Smith had not persisted in bowling himself he could have ended it with 50 runs less on the board. Never the less West Indies failed to make the follow-on target.

We've just received some surprising news, it seems South Africa have decided NOT to enforce the follow-on and will bat again. With two and a half days left still to play there is plenty of time for them to add to their lead of 234 runs before making the Windies bat again, however this still seems like a bit of a cowardly decision.

Make sure you join us again to see how it all pans out, goodbye!

 

[LUMB_YORKSHIRE]

Great batting by Bravo with the tail and well done you

 

[Left_Hander]

Bravo batted superbly but he was fighting in a lost cause. Suprised to see South Africa not enforce the follow-on, though they should have no troubles winning this match.

 

[surendar]

Not enforcing follow on with such a big lead reminds me Dravid's decision in England in real cricket. He(Smith) should have definitely recieved many cursed from many SA fans.

Fantastic and top works as always.!

 

[Highlander999]

Nice stand at the end there, but it wasn't enough. Great work mate

 

[Spoobir]

SKY SPORTS Teatime Bulletin​

The players make their way back out onto the field after the break between innings. De Villiers made a huge double hundred in the last innings and Graeme Smith is under pressure to score runs so we could see a few fireworks.

Jerome Taylor again opens the bowling.

With Corey Collymore at the other end.

The batsmen obviously want to score their runs quickly to give themselves enough time to bowl the Windies out. They waste no time and put on 31 in just 7 overs before tea

This is the best start after the controversial decision not to enforce the follow-on.

Make sure you come back for the final session of play here on day three of the second test match!

Second Test: Tea, Day Three
South Africa: 31/0, lead by 265 runs.
Smith 21 (22)
De Villiers 9 (21)

NEXT UPDATE: CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY THREE

 

[surendar]

haha now I see the reason behing Smith's decision. He wanted to lower the confidence level of Windies as low as possible Great mind game and aggressive captaincy.. Not like Dravid's 12 in 90+ deliveries.

I am running short of appreciations tbh. Like i always say, Keep up the fantastic/hard works.