england 93/1 off 7 overs. smith out for 64 off 28 (scoring rate 13.7 per over). took 20 off the previous 4 deliveries.
never in doubt. england 246/3 off 29.4 overs. smith 64 off 28,duckett 54 off 46, root 44 off 49. brook 26no off 36, buttler 41no off 20. a t20 effort.
Apropos of nothing really except it's cricket and the Aus/SAF World Test final started today. I was reminded of this photo of the 2 captains which I found quite comical at the time.
SAF making life hard for themselves, AUS last wicket pair have put on nearly 50, so far. AUS 260-odd ahead.
Aus all out, 281 ahead. Big ask for SAF although the pitch looks to be getting more batting-friendly and there's plenty of time left.
SAF going ok, 123/2 chasing 282. If they can get to close still 2 down it'll be a good day tomorrow. Cheery news though, Steve Smith dropped Bavuma on 2, and broke his finger in the process, oh what a shame.
Cricket is such a bizarre, weird and yet utterly beautiful game....for 2 days it looks like they're playing on a minefield, then about face and batting looks as easy as anything....even this a.m. the aus 10th wicket partnership looked like a pair of seasoned middle order batters. It's a shame that there's so much cricket that the test final is just a one off game and not a proper spectacle played over 3 tests but even squeezing this in is a challenge with all the T20 leagues and forever ludicrous 100 taking up most of the year
i was chatting to an ex-pro (1970s) i know. he was telling me about the first day of this final. at one point i referred to the one-day and t20 games as "the mickey mouse formats", but he didn't bite!
Past series, their poor-ish record over here and the fact it's now quite an inexperienced India side probably. They have the best bowler in Bumrah, we have the best batsman in Root and it could well come down to which of the two has the better series.
