[Match Thread] Day Night Pink Ball Test: SA vs Zimbabwe

[Andybligzz]

That was embarrassing to say the least. South Africa wanted to laugh at us but were trying so hard to be diplomatic.

Taylor should know better too. When the going is tough, play better shots, not your reverse sweeps and so on. We need like a Ricky Ponting type of guy to come in and teach us how to use a straight bat. All the best players played with a straight bat, and none of this fancy crap.

I can't even blame the conditions because we got bowled out twice in less than two days.

We complain when we don't get a chance to play the big teams, and now when we get that chance, we put on that horror show.

The funny part is they were laughing at us , I heard a few times through stump cam them laughing at us losing a wicket. It was not a good test for zim and especially cricket in general

[brmtaylor.com admin]

That was so embarrassing. Up there with that 2012 NZ Test.
Jarvis, Cremer and Mpofu are the only ones that can hold their heads high after that.

There's not really much to learn from such a belting. Just look ahead to the Bangladesh tour.

[eugene]

Our bowlers did well, that is the upside. The batting however was a disaster and Taylor, Ervine, Masakadza, etc needed to step up.

This was the sort of performance where you bring in Mangongo for a "motivational" speech. Get the players in the dressing room, dim the lights, lock the door, and give him an hour to "motivate" the players.

[jaybro]

Our bowlers did well, that is the upside. The batting however was a disaster and Taylor, Ervine, Masakadza, etc needed to step up.

For me our batting and bowling are both a 4 out of 10 at the moment.

Depending on what type of pitch we play on one part of the game is always letting us down, looking back at the Sri Lanka test our batting was good but bowling let us down.

[jaybro]

I’m not ready to blame the players as really they were set to fail. How can you be expected to play South Africa in a day night Test with only one 3 day game for warm up??

We helped them out by playing this game in return we should have asked for a 3 ODI series to prep for ICC qualifiers or 2 more warm up games and a red ball test prior to Boxing Day.

Yes Raza & BT played bad shots but they were mentally screwed after the barrage of quality fast bowling.

I wonder if India or Australia will have the balls to play South Africa on a D/N Test in South Africa after watching that ??

I promise you India and Australia would have been 3 or 4 down at stumps as well

[TapsC]

to be honest there are probably only 3 teams in the world who could have survived that night time onslaught. it was horrific. but yesterday they should have done better during the day. the conditions were ok enough to bat. we cant always find ways out for these players. I hold them responsible because of the way they played yesterday. what was Raza doing? Was Taylor's shot necessary at that point? we cant blame anybody for those 2 incidents besides the players

[Andybligzz]

I’m not ready to blame the players as really they were set to fail. How can you be expected to play South Africa in a day night Test with only one 3 day game for warm up??

We helped them out by playing this game in return we should have asked for a 3 ODI series to prep for ICC qualifiers or 2 more warm up games and a red ball test prior to Boxing Day.

Yes Raza & BT played bad shots but they were mentally screwed after the barrage of quality fast bowling.

I wonder if India or Australia will have the balls to play South Africa on a D/N Test in South Africa after watching that ??

I promise you India and Australia would have been 3 or 4 down at stumps as well

Australia would have been skittled probably , under lights jimmy at 35 had the ball on a string and even smith had no idea. With the likes of Rabada , morkel , Steyn and philander to choose from there is no doubt they would get rolled .

[Kriterion_BD]

I promise you India and Australia would have been 3 or 4 down at stumps as well

India yes. Aussies would have handled it reasonably well i think. Comes down to what teams are more familiar with.

[jaybro]

I promise you India and Australia would have been 3 or 4 down at stumps as well

India yes. Aussies would have handled it reasonably well i think. Comes down to what teams are more familiar with.

Trust me Kriterion the Aussies don’t like the ball swinging or spinning

[aydee]

Predictably painful.

I think that lays bare the full scale of the gulf between SA and Zim. The national team would get beaten by all SA Franchises, and many of the provincial sides too (in SA). That is where Zim cricket is at. Everything else needs to be viewed through the prism of this perspective.