A last chance slips out from Aussies

A target of 236 would always be a tough one for any team especially after they were bundled out for less than 100 runs on the board. And, if South Africa have been able to achieve that, then the Aussies are solely to blame with their bowlers not being able to restrict them. There was more than three days of play left meaning the Proteas had more than three days of play left for them to achieve victory over the visiting side. In other words, the proteas had to battle out for three more days on a pitch that saw successive teams getting bowled out for less than 100 runs.

Making matters still worse, Australia were bowled out for even less than 50 runs on the board. And, chasing 236 on that pitch which would have got deteriorated even more after repeated bounce could only be a dream come true for anyone who has been able to do so. Much to anybody's surprise, the pitch looked as though it assisted the batsmen when both the players who took to the crease were found returning with a hundred and remaining unbeaten towards the end. South Africa had won the contest by 8 wickets needless to be said. But, it is a mystery that the match lasted only three days.

I remember Pakistan bowling out the Aussies for a modest total of 127 in late 2009 and towards the end, it was Australia who comprehensively won the match after Mike Hussey laid a steady platform. This was not such a game with both teams having been bowled out for less than hundred runs as mentioned repeatedly. If the first innings of the Aussie batting and the second (last) innings of the South African batting is considered, batting can never be said to be tough. The match is one such confusing game with the pitch doing all sorts of tricks in the second day alone.

One record was bettered by the other with first South Africa bowling out Australia for 47 after they were bowled out for 96 on board. And then, if Shane Watson returned with figures of 5/17, Philander ended with 5-15. South Africa win the contest in all aspects of the game. However, the highlight of the game should be Michael Clarke's 151 which laid the foundation of a huge total of 284 on a pitch needless to be said. The match saw two 5 wicket takers and three century scorers. This will no doubt go down as one of the most confusing tests in history.

Bowler's day out at Cape Town

It is a matter of the past that Australia are no more the untouchables that they were some 5 years down the lane. But, at the same time, Australia are not even the team that any ordinary team can beat with minimum effort. But, South Africa have repeatedly made that statement false first when they snatched a series victory over the Aussies in 2009 by a margin 2-1 at Australia. Since then there have been three teams who have haunted Australia more than anybody else namely India, England and South Africa. If not for these three teams, the Aussie record is not bad against other teams.

No other team has been able to trouble the Aussies to a greater extent. Of course, Australia is yet to face Pakistan on its home soil and may be that will happen when the Aussie team gets deteriorated to an even greater extent which might take a decade. May be by that time, test cricket would have been restored in Pakistan after security issues would have been cleared. However, in the second day of the Cape Town test between South Africa and Australia saw 23 wickets falling with South Africa facing the heat though it was Australia who made news for all wrong reasons.

The highest individual score from the Aussie side came from the blades of the number 11 batsmen - Nathan Lyon who scored 14 runs. The time for the bowlers were in such a way that the Australian batsmen didn't allow the South African bowlers to bowl even a single extra delivery and much to anybody's surprise, there were no byes and leg-byes as well. If the 96 runs scored by South Africa in their first innings started wagging all the tongues, the Aussies grabbed the headlines when they couldn't even manage even half of that total. This match saw Australia reeling at 21-9.

There can be no words that can describe the Aussie batting which for the first time in the decade saw them flatter for less than 50 runs on the board. South Africa now holds the distinction of bowling out the Aussies twice for a score of less than hundred in both ODIs as well as in tests. One has to crawl through the internet to see where this score lies starting from the bottom of the table. But still, at the end of the day, it is Australia who has an upper hand when they have a 284 total in the first innings.

A mistake made by Smith

Well the South African captain - Greame Smith no doubt should have considered his decision a million times or else repent regarding the same a million times when he chose to field first in a test match and that too involving Australia against whom he has had a series loss in the ODIs. There are hardly any cases in a test match where a captain wins the toss and chooses to field first because, in most of the cases, the pitch gets deteriorated day by day making it tough for the batsmen. In such a case, anyone who faces the bowlers first will have the initial advantage.

It has been more than two years since South Africa faced Australia be it on their home soil or outside. In the last two times since the two teams have met each other, both of them have walked away with a series. Much to anybody's surprise, South Africa won the series 2-1 in Australia while Australia won the series by the same margin in South Africa in the return series. This time, the series is scheduled at South Africa and if anybody has to go by the history, then it should be Australia walking with the honors. However, that has a long way to go.

In the first day's play at Cape Town, the scorecard clearly suggests that the pitch was a tough one to bat on with the way the Australian batsmen scored losing 8 wickets in between. There was Michael Clarke who scored an unbeaten century and Shaun Marsh who supported by scoring a handy 44 runs. In the end, the Australian run-rate was 3.89 runs an over. Though one side of the story suggests that the pitch was tough for batsmen, there was Michael Clarke who scored runs at a quick pace by ending the day scoring 107* runs from 114 balls.

With rain taking away almost 40 overs of the day's play, a lot of excitement has been stripped off the match making people wait for 24 hours more to see their favorite teams play it out there. One has to congratulate the South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher for claiming his 500^th victim behind the stumps. This was not something achieved by either a batsman or a bowler. Very rarely do wicketkeepers and fieldsmen make news for the good reasons unlike batsmen and bowlers. With none of the wicketkeepers making it to even 400, Boucher's efforts and achievement should never go unnoticed.

Bankrupt Ponting files insolvency

It was after Australia's whitewash in the 2^nd T20 world cup where Australia failed to go past the 1^st round of the tournament after losses to Sri Lanka and West Indies that the then Aussie captain-Ricky Ponting stepped down from captaincy. Now, the world had to wait for India to tame the Australian team that has been stripped of all its match winners for Ponting to give up his captaincy from all forms of the game. This might not go down well with most of them who are hardcore fans of the Aussie captain for his achievements in international cricket.

Ponting though is the 2^nd captain to have lifted the ICC world cup twice after Clive Lloyd can hardly be considered in par with Steve Waugh who was not as successful as Ponting. It was Steve Waugh who from nowhere bought his team to victory in the finals of the 1999 world cup when odds suggested that Australia wouldn't even make it to the semis with them needing wins against all three teams in the super sixes. Had Ponting been there, that would have never happened. Likewise, even Mark Taylor was a clever captain who saw his team to the finals in the previous edition but convinced himself with the runners-up tag.

Ponting under his captaincy has more than 41 test wins along with two ICC world cups and an equal number of ICC champions trophies. Till date, Australia is the only team to have won two ICC champions trophies and Ponting is lucky to have captained the side then. It would not be a tough task for anyone to lead a side with the strongest bowling line up in the world aided with depth to an equal amount in batting. Hard hitting batsmen like Gilchrist, Hayden, Martyn, Symonds, Hussey as a bunch is still unparalleled. Similarly, a bowler like McGrath can be born once in a lifetime.

Since the bowling duo of McGrath and Warne, Ponting's team has never been able to retain or regain the Ashes. Australia came close to losing a test match against Sri Lanka which was the 2^nd test for Australia after the retirement of McGrath-Warne. But, with likes of Gilchrist and co, their winning streak was extended by three more matches when they finally lost to India in the 3^rd test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2007-08 at Perth. Since then Ponting's highlights as captain are: a test series loss to RSA at home which was their 1st such loss in 16 years. Then comes the two Ashes' losses and two loss to India on their tour.

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