SA v. India. Test

[Donny]

Starts on Boxing Day. 7 pm.

South Africa v. India. 1st Test.

SuperSport Park.

[K]

Sheesh, I wish sb would have more markets on this.

[Donny]

India sent in.

4/98. Kagiso Rabada 2/16, Nandre Burger 2/23, Virat Kohli 34*.

[Donny]

5/120. Rabada has 3fa. Kohli out for 38.

[Donny]

6/124. Rabada 4fa.

[Donny]

8/201. Rahul 64*, Rabada 5/44.

[Donny]

SA 5/256. Dean Elgar 140*, David Bedington 56., Siraj and Bumrah have 2 wickets.

[Donny]

5/323. Elgar 170*.

[Pies4shaw]

SA got to 408. India are 2/18, still needing 145 more runs to make SA bat again.

[Donny]

4/56. Kohli 48*, Jensen 2/36.

[Donny]

6/96. Burger 3/9 from 6 overs.

[Pies4shaw]

India lost by an innings and 32 runs, bowled out for 131 in the second dig. Burger 4/33, Jansen 3/36 and Rabada 2/32. Kohli was last out. He made 76 from 82 balls in the lost cause. No-one else reached 30 and, indeed, apart from Kohli, only Gill reached double figures. Elgar was named POTM for his 185 - a fair hand, in the conditions.

[K]

Flat-track bully Smith's tormentor Jadeja missed the 1st Test injured, replaced by Ashwin. Back spasms.

FTB and his fanboys must wish Jadeja had back spasms whenever India play Oz!! Boy, oh boy is FTB Jadeja's bunny. Out 11 times to him!!

But they can't complain! Khurram Shahzad on Test debut destroyed FTB Smith twice, but then went home with a stress fracture.

...........

S. Africa are on top of the WTC table with 12 points from 1 match (100%).

NZ & Bangladesh have 12 points from 2 matches, Oz 42 points from 7 (all three 50%).

[Pies4shaw]

Bunny? Strange thing to say.

Jadeja has dismissed SPD BradSmith 8 times in Tests, twice in ODIs and once in a hit and giggle T20.

BradSmith's Test average in the 13 Tests in which Jadeja has played against him is 53.63.

His ODI average in the 21 ODIs in which Jadeja has played against him is 58.44.

In the last 70 years, any other batsman would have sold their soul to the the devil to have a Test average above 50 against any opposition.

The truth behind your spurious nonsense is that someone has to get BradSmith out from time to time - but against India, only Ashwin and Jadeja can (each has dismissed him 8 times in Tests). That isn't because of a "weakness" against them but, rather, because he is almost undissmissable against the other bowlers. Jadeja's 8 Test dismissals of BradSmith merely reflect that most of the other bowlers have little prospect of getting him. Hence, SPD BradSmith has a Test average against India of 65.87. That, of course, is the highest Test average by an Australian batsman against India in a minimum of a dozen Tests, all-time. That means his average is better than, eg, Clarke, Border, Gilchrist, Hayden, Steve Waugh, Hussey, Katich, Langer, Mark Waugh and Bill lawry (all of whom played at least a dozen Tests against India).

SPD BradSmith has 9 Test centuries against India in just 19 matches. That's the most centuries by any Australian Test batsman against India, ever. The also-rans list since 1948 is:

- Ponting - 8 centuries in 29 Tests;
- Clarke - 7 centuries in 22 Tests;
- Boon - 6 centuries in 11 Tests;
- Hayden - 6 centuries in 18 Tests;
- Border - 4 centuries in 20 Tests.

Four Australian batsmen in the last 75 years do have a better average against India than BradSmith. In most cases (David Boon is the exception), that's because they played a weak Indian side and only or mostly in Australia. So:

- Moody played once against India, in Perth. He made 151, dismissed twice.
- Greg Chappell played one series against India, in Australia. He made 368 (including a 204), dismissed 5 times.
- in a classic statistical anomaly, Zoehrer went on one tour of India and played in 3 Tests. He batted only twice (yes, they used to really have "roads" for Test pitches in the old days) and made 73 runs, dismissed once.
- Boon played 11 Tests against India. He made 1,204 runs, dismissed 17 times. Boon stands out because, like BradSmith, he was very good in India, as well as in Australia.
- Symonds played 4 Tests against India, in Australia. He made 410 runs (including a 162*), dismissed 6 times.

An example of an actual "bunny" in Tests between Australia and India is Ricky Ponting. Harbhajan Singh really was his kryptonite - in 14 Tests, HS dismissed him 10 times. More importantly, though, Ponting made very few runs in those 14 Tests, averaging just 30.64, home and away. He made just 766 runs, dismissed 25 times. His 766 runs included a 140 and a 123 - that is, more than a third of his career runs against India with HS in the team were made in just two knocks. HS dismissed him for the following scores:

0
6
0
0
11
3
55
1
123
24.

Looked at another way, Ricky's median score batting against India across all of his 25 innings when HS was playing against him was a paltry 11. Not, of course, quite as hopeless as Cullinan against Australia with Warne playing (median score of 5). That's what an actual bunny against a particular bowler looks like.

[Pies4shaw]

Another good example of a Test "bunny" is Kane Williamson's poor record against Stuart Broad. His average across 16 Tests with Broad playing against him is just 36.85. Moreover, in the 7 Tests he's played against England in England with Broad playing, his average is a pitiful 25.5.

Interestingly, I see that Jimmy Anderson has dismissed Williamson 9 times in 13 Tests (that is, one more time than Jadeja has dismissed SPD BradSmith and in the same number of Tests). No-one would want to read anything into that, though, would they?

Also, I see that Williamson has played just 5 Tests in India against Ashwin - and Ashwin has dismissed him 5 times. For those fascinated by technical defects in batting, Williamson has been dismissed either bowled or lbw in 7 of his 10 innings in those 5 Tests and, hilariously, has been either bowled or lbw in every innings he has played against India in India since 2013. Ashwin had him bowled and lbw in each innings, respectively, of the last two Tests Williamson played against India in India with Ashwin on the other side.