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21st over: South Africa 49-2 (Petersen 7, Markram 4) I’ve said before that Anderson’s separation from Elgar is what fast bowlers dream of. Well, if Broad’s boot had been behind the line, that would have met that criteria as well. We take another look at the replay between overs and this has been clipped off the top of the bail after expertly bailing out, ugh! The big speedster tries to re-litigate the case with umpire Gaffaney between them, but there’s nothing he can do – the line is the purview of the TV umpire these days, Niton Menon. As it should be, by the way, a much improved system. My pet issue. And sure enough, Markram is off the mark off the next ball, cutting a boundary.
NO BALL! Oh no! Broad was the first spinner of the innings and it has taken him five balls to hit the top. But wait a moment! Markram is suppressed! The prettiest piece of bowling won’t win him a wicket as he’s been bowled over, called out by the TV umpire. It’s as tight as it gets – Wide is ticking; Stokes pats him on the back. They return to where they started with a couple of balls to enter the end.
20th over: South Africa 43-2 (Petersen 6, Markram 0) Markram’s dismissal was poor the first time and he would know it – he is a very good Test cricketer, with a lot of experience now. But there will be no easy first run here against Robinson, who got off to a splendid start this morning after Root took the first couple of overs (strange isn’t that?). Another maiden; no inch given.
“Good morning Adam.” Brian Withington! “As instructed, I googled #RootMaths and ended up sitting idle for a quarter of an hour or so on Cricket365. Besides dealing with the habit of excluding a meaningful performance to make an opinion, I also liked the exposure of the fallacy of the “highest previous persecution” lists that have long infuriated me as a basis for broadcasters trying to rush a statement. I really need to get out more. The fourth Oval day 1968 Ashes was my first by the way.A day before Underwood cleaned up after the storm.
We all seem to be guilty of #RootMaths from time to time when covering cricket, but the work of Dave Tickner and colleagues you refer to has helped temper it somewhat.
19th over: South Africa 43-2 (Petersen 6, Markram 0) Earlier in the over, Petersen has taken a couple more down the ground – he’s off to a pretty good start. Then two more, albeit with less control from the outside of the bat point behind.
“Hello Adam.” Matt Fordham Hi. “I’m thinking about the Unwin family day today as I’m also at the ground with my eldest son. He’s 14 now but our first Test was on the 4th at Headingley in that game which we eventually lost against the West Indies a few years ago. He was about 9 but insisted on looking at every ball. My other son, in his first test, managed about 20 minutes before asking when the half was and if he could have his iPad. I guess which will be somewhere in between in most cases.”
Big win for the Windies, this – Shai Hope’s twin tons for the first time a tourist got at Headingley, something along those lines? My daughter (two and a half years old) has her own bat feels like I do cricket stuff. I like to throw the soft ball at his head when he’s looking up, so maybe it’ll be a nugget opening.
DOES JIMMY HAVE A THIRD? Petersen delivers caught behind and sends him straight up top. Rightly so; this is missed by a fair margin. NOT OUT! This is the second time this week that Chris Gaffney has been forced to make such a decision.
WICKET! Erwee c Foakes b Robinson 25 (South Africa 39-2)
The angle change does! Robinson back over the wicket of Erwee, in that ever-challenging passage from the big quick just outside off stump. He wants to play, then he wants to leave; eventually does neither and cuts to Foakes, who does a good job of lunging forward with the ball dying in his gloves. The top two are gone and the Proteas are exposed in the early hours of this third day, still 225 in the red.
18th over: South Africa 39-2 (Petersen 2)
“When does the Broad inspired spell start?” asks Matthew Doherty. I bet he’ll come the moment Jimmy needs a hit. They’ve picked the right attack for this Test, that seems certain. All three have made their living hitting the seam and getting the ball moving. Which isn’t to say Anderson can’t do it as well, but his subtle movement has always been just as dangerous.
17th over: South Africa 39-1 (Erwee 25, Petersen 2) Athers points out on the comms that Jimmy is now hiding the ball in his left hand on his approach, meaning he’s decided the time is right to switch on the reverse swing. He certainly has that club in the bag. Petersen is giving it his all in defence, looking the ball well into the bat with the ball routinely on the way to his stumps. Get an inside edge to finish: the cord oohs and aahs, but it pours without fuss. hard stuff
“Good morning Adam, good morning everyone.” It’s not Andy Flintoff, hello to you. “Just a quick question: Jack Leach bowls left-handed but fields right-handed, surely there can’t be many other cricketers who do, right? I’m not talking about bowling opposite-handed to batting (n ‘there are many: Broad, Anderson, Stokes in this game alone).
I know there is another high profile player from back in the day who did this? The tip of the tongue, someone will tell me. Ian Harvey, of course, could throw with both hands with equal accuracy and power. Wonthaggi’s best, love this man.
And here’s Elgar’s setup from yesteryear…the stuff fast bowlers dream of.
16th over: South Africa 39-1 (Erwee 25, Petersen 2) Sharp… and doesn’t lead to Crawley who lunges forward with a hand at second slip. It was made by York, as Mark Butcher points out. There was a lot of talk yesterday about where the cordon should be as this surface slows down, I wonder if they made a step up this morning? But it’s an imperfect science, as moments ago we saw an Anderson scan take off from a similar length. Robinson has racked up real yardage since last playing for England, hitting 87 mph in that end. Probably linked to the fact that it is very clear that he looks much fitter than last summer/winter. good with him
15th over: South Africa 35-1 (Erwee 22, Petersen 1) Petersen is off the mark off Anderson’s first ball fresh over, a compact push from mid-on for one. On the lefty Erwee, he takes two balls to beat him, naturally. But the experienced opener keeps his cool and forces the next delivery for another single. That’s all they have to do here: overcome this spell. Especially with Anderson making the deliveries rise and move as he does with Petersen when he comes back on strike – the number three does well to get his bat out well. What a good bowling.
“Hello Adam.” Tom Bowtell, for you. “After extremely cursory thought, I wonder if yesterday was the first time two England batsmen with the same name scored tons in the same Test innings since Thorpe and Gooch at this very ground 29 years ago . Open to counter offers.”
Talk about knowing your audience. I suspect I will have no less than 100 emails answering this question in the next ten minutes. Drivers, start your engines.
14th over: South Africa 33-1 (Erwee 21, Petersen 0) With the captain gone, this is the end of Joe Root’s spell and it’s not Jack Leach as we’ve theorized, rather Ollie Robinson gets a crack at Statham End. And just as it was on the first morning, he lands it in a shoebox straight away, his maiden marked by a delivery that skips a length to Erwee from the wicket, hitting him in the gut.
13th over: South Africa 33-1 (Erwee 21, Petersen 0) “I don’t think it was just the previous ball in terms of movement,” notes Mel Jones. “It was also the length.” Ready, as always. Looking back, Elgar tried to cover the line but didn’t push far enough, surely as a natural response to the previous delivery. “Such a breakthrough,” adds Butch. “Knock him down before the ball turns over.”
“It fell off a boat onto my boat in Croatia,” reveals Tim Lindsay, who attached a photo (which I don’t know how to add to the blog, sorry). It also breaks my wrist.” Wow! “The upside is that I can now sit comfortably in our friends’ lovely villa watching the game on their hacked Sky signal while this messes around in the water. Result.”
In another total result of a vacation.
WICKET! Elgar b Anderson 11 (South Africa 33-1)
Oh Jimmy, Jimmy! That’s pretty cool. Around the wicket the visiting captain hits him with one that goes away as a break. The next? Fuller, back to the other side, through the wicket, outside off stump. It’s a monster. An absolute monster.
Updated at 11.17 BST
12th over: South Africa 32-0 (Erwee 20, Elgar 11) OK, ignore my Root/Leach theory – the former has a second around here. I wonder if that was the plan or if Stokes is sticking with it after the former skipper looked a bit of a handful with his first offering of the morning? To Elgar, he is bowling from very wide of the crease with a slip, leg slip and short leg; Bairstow also roams at short cover. Nice one too, researching it. Oooh, and there’s a sharp turn and a bounce! Great job by Elgar not to follow him with his blade and Foakes to glove him. interesting
11th over: South Africa 32-0 (Erwee 20, Elgar 11) “Bowling from his own end, it’s Jimmy Anderson,” says the ground announcer. That was the end where Leach finished last night, reinforcing the argument that the Root over was designed to spin the senior spinner. Anderson starts over Erwee’s wicket and finds his line and length immediately as…