South Africa Vs India

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Re: South Africa Vs India

the deciding match is on

India won the toss and elected to field

SA 136/3 off 28 overs.

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SA 250/9 off 46 overs

india need 268 to win in 46 overs under D/L method.

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Poor show by the top order again. Awesome batting by Pathan.

I am not reading too much into this series for the WC since the conditions will be quite different but I already feel India has done a good job taking the series so close without SRT, Viru, GG and PK.. 4 of the first 11. While SA is playing their best bowling line up.. and top batting minus Kallis.

But Pathan has made the #7 position his for the whole WC because of this series.

Nohit Sharma has proved that he is a fat cow whose best utilization is IPL.

Good show by both teams this tour. The test series was amazing to watch. It truly was #1 vs #2 in #2's backyard.

Bring on the WC.

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Phaantaastik show by Pathan!

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Yusuf Pathan was out of this world. He probably needs to move up to #6.

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^Nohit Sharma" - first thought it was a typo!

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India 234 all out.

SA won by 33 runs and the series 3/2

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This series should end the euphoria that India will walk through the WC 2011 and win it. On the other hand, they are basically back to square one, depending on Sachin and Sehwag inngs to win them matches. Their bowling may be cohesive at times, but it is inconsistent. Last, but not least, Dhoni is not the hungry batsman any more.

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Re: South Africa Vs India

Was there any such established euphoria to begin with?

India has a good chance.. theyve been playing quite well for the last 2-3 yrs and the WC is at home.

But SL, AUS and SA all have a pretty good shot at it too.

Eng and Pak next.

It basically comes down to the knockout stages.. whoever plays well on those days win it..

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There was a big euphoria, I guess you never noticed.

India does have a good chance, if Sachin and Sehwag play like WC 2003, otherwise, it will be like WC 2007.

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Man... I wouldnt count out Yuvraj and Yusuf on indian tracks either..

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This may sound a tad wacky and moot point since team is finalized- VVS Laxman may stabilize middle order. My preferred lineup -

Sehwag
Gambhir
Kohli
Tendulkar
Laxman
Pathan
Dhoni
Harbhajan
Zaheer
Sreesanth
Ojha (need a left arm spinner)

Yuvraj and Raina have got multiple chances. Not sure they are big match performers.
One thing that bothered me - Dhoni essentially labelled SA chokers after their 3rd ODI loss. You never disrespect your opponent - can come back to bite you.

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That was one hell of a knock by Pathan (8 sixes), a quite brilliant innings, almost Razzaq-esque (10 sixes) who also struck a hundred off just 70 balls against the same opposition not so long ago.

It is a pity Yusuf could not take India home. We are all wise in hindsight but having brought India so close to the target I think Pathan should have just cut out all risky (aerial) strokes at that stage. The asking rate was a manageable 4.5 RPO and with only two wickets in hand, he should have just tried to milk the bowlers for singles and twos + hitting the odd 4 here and there

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^ Just started to watch when he was on 85 not out. Only later did I realize what he had achieved - 80 runs off of 4s and sixes! Also seems such a soft spoken fellow. Hope to see more of him.

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It sounds Whacky indeed. Southie brother.. you have lost your marbles haha.

Laxman? HAHAHAH !!!! He is pathetic in T20s and ODIs.

Raina and Dhoni both will perform much better on Indian tracks. The top order will have Viru SRT and Gambhir again.

We have nothing to worry about as far as our batting goes. The only worry is what to do about Virat? He has been in great touch and deserves to be in the starting 11 but is there enough room with Yuvraj and Raina in the picture? My team would be:

Sehwag
SRT
Gauti
Virat
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Yusuf
Bhajji
Zak
PK
Munaf/Nehra

with Raina on hold. Both Virat and Yusuf deserve to play ahead of him on current form. Yuvraj has been slightly better than him in recent games too. Raina can jump in the squad anytime.

Also #3 to #7 should be completely flexible. If the top order has done well and the score is 250/2 after 38 overs.. No need for Virat.. Bring in Yuvraj and Yusuf.

If it is 25/2 after 6 overs.. we need Virat ahead of these guys.

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^can't argue with your logic, Sharabee. I guess I was feeling insecure about our middle order batting. But as you have pointed out in the past, at home, probably Yuvraj can do better - so batting may not be a big concern. I especially like the flexibility in the batting order as you suggest from #3-7.

OK - marbles found, sanity returned!

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Southie.. it really bugs me how so many teams have such a fixed and rigid "line up".. and they stick to it through so many different situations..

I mean.. the bowling team switches around its bowlers depending on the situation.. scoring rate.. powerplays etc.. but the batting line up is not switched around or adapted as often as it should be..

The only thing decided should be the openers.. the rest should be decided at every wicket down based on the situation.. not based upon on the order the names were originally written in!

Dhoni does shuffle the line up more than some other captains..and it has usually worked well for him..

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Well played South Africa :flowers:

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I already told this series was Fix :barbie: …

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Fully agree with your concept of switching line-ups after the openers, Sharabee. But Dhoni does tend to overestimate his batting skills - going at #5 or #6 ahead of Pathan may not be prudent. But you have a good point.