SA versus NZ One Day Series

South Africa do it again, dig themselves into a hole and still win. New Zealand must be wondering what they have to do to win in SA.

South Africa will win in Durban and Centurion. New Zealand to go down 5-0 and SA to extend their winning streak from 12 to 14.

What on earth is going to happen when powerhouse India meet powerhouse South Africa for 5 ODIs???

Originally posted by saadadvanced7 it seems india are back to dominate the world.

???? When did India ever dominate the world Saad? They won a world cup (against the odds too , WI were by far the strongest side in the world back then).

Don't get carried away just yet , South Africa will be a tough ask.

Another win for SA after more drama - they like to keep the fans on tenterhooks! Still , with a lower order comprising of Kemp , Boucher and Pollock it's easy to see why they're winning consistently again. Without doubt they have the most resilient batting in world cricket right now - Kallis didn't play yesterday but he wasn't really missed!

Great to see Hershelle approaching his best , that hundred can't be far away....and his fielding is out of the top draw again !

I wonder how Fleming will approach the last 2 ODIs. He can't be happy facing the same kind of drilling that New Zealand has historically got from SA, only a year and a half after he dished out a 5-1 drubbing to Smith's young team.

New Zealand's batsmen are ill disciplined. Too many loose shots, too many shots square of the wicket being edged, and too many runouts.

Interesting games that have all been flawed. Quite right Wolf , SA's top order has misfired , but nothing like as poorly as New Zealand's ! Without Fleming they'd be nowhere at all and Astle looks a shadow of the player we know he is.

I hope Albie Morkel gets a go on Friday , when he's going the ball travels !

Edited by Sledger

Smith does it again , wins the toss and chooses to bat first (you listening Shiv?).

Kallis comes back , Andrew Hall gets a game and Albie Morkel is supersub.

Franklin is passed fit and Adams is sub for NZ.

SA are 4-0 after 1.5 overs

Franklin traps Smith in front , gone for 22 !

Surprise #4 is Ashwell Price , SA 52-2 after 14 overs

So Friday's game was washed out - nothing new there , Durban's fickle weather wins again!!

Sunday's game was badly rained effected and SA won by 5 wickets on Duckworth - Lewis.

NZ will be glad to get home - they have been whitewashed for the 2nd successive time on South African soil.

SA will be in good spirits before flying off to India , but they'll have a real fight on their hands there!

They've named 3 spinners in the tour party , all of them average !! It's a real problem for them and there's no light at the end of the tunnel either - no-one has really put their hand up.

No Gibbs or Boye either , it's going to be an uphill struggle for them.

Peterson and Ontong have both had numerous chances - and both failed. The new lad , Johan Botha , was a seamer until 12 months ago!! The cupboard really is bare , there was even talk of Paul Adams getting a recall over here - now that REALLY shows how desparate the situation is !!

   Methinks the Indian batsmen won't be having sleepless nights about South Africa's slow bowlers .

No tests on this tour , they're coming back after the Aussies have visited next year.

Probably the best spinner in the country was allowed to go to England last year - Henderson. He was tall , extracted good bounce and could turn it. He's taken plenty of wickets ofr Leicester , but is lost to the national team now - he's a Kolpac player over there.

One of the big problems here is that the wickets favour seam bowling ('cept Bloem , which favours no type of bowling at all!). Newlands used to be a really nice wicket for slow bowling , alas that's not the case anymore. With the pitches prepared for the seamers , captains are loathe to give the tweakers many overs at all. When they do get a go , nearly all the fields set are defensive in nature. The message this sends to the bowler must be pretty depressing - something along the lines "Keep the runs down son , increase the overrate , bowl tightly"

It's sad , I'm sure the kids you've mentioned are promising , but unless the approach of the captains change , they'll be bridesmaids rather than brides.

G Smith fan, I don't think many people like Graeme Smith in the cricketing fraternity. I think he perhaps comes across as arrogant, and big-headed. That is possibly why they had a go at him. I also think the New Zealandish players didn't want to be there at that stage, and there are also rumours that things are not as they should be in their camp, so perhaps that contributed to what we saw.

I personally quite enjoy it when things like that happens. It brings some personality ,drama, and bite into the game, which is sadly often lacking. I love watching India Pakistan because you know every one is going to be fired up, rather than just going through the motions. I say bring on more confrontation!

I know from the competitive cricket that I played, I loved it when people would sledge me. It made things more personal, and meant that I would try harder. Smith responded in the best way possible; by playing an aggresive knock, and helping his side to a four nil winning series.

Originally posted by G Smith fan Why did New Zealand decide to ahve a go at Graeme Smith come the end of the ODI Tour, it seemed unfair (Kyle Mills) who particular wasn't happy with SMith and Fleming's stupid celebration impersonation of Smith was uncalled for. New Zealand just did not want to be their at the end of the tour. Losers!

Smith asks for it mate , he really goes over the top . The celebration by Smith after taking a simple slip chance to dismiss an out of form Astle was silly - that is where Fleming's p***take came from.

As he gets older he'll calm down , or I hope he does!

Having said that , I agree with Wolfie , the confrontations are terrific , it's a man's game played by men!!