South Africa vs New Zealand 3rd Test Match

[Vrock]

Only 25 needed for victory, with 5 wickets in hand. Boucher and Prince at the crease.

[Vrock]

Ashwell Prince stuck around and got South Africa home with four wickets to spare.

A very good series victory for a South African side which are really due for a break.

There are still some questions to answer from the series though.

South Africa: Will Hashim Amla be kept in the side? He has made some good contributions in the past couple of games and he has looked solid.

New Zealand: Who will de dropped for the returning Shane Bond? James Franklin stood out in the series with 15 wickets and Kyle Mills took 8 in only two games. Chris Martin finished with an average of 32 and taking 9 wickets.

[Django]

NZ bowlers blew away a very good opportunity to square the series. Perhaps I over rated their effectiveness. But well batted the South Africans and congratulations to them on the victory. In the end nothing succeeds like success.

[sittingduck]

NZ have a break now of about 5 months so by the time they're ready to pick a side half the current bowlers will probably be injured.

[Mike]

On a seaming wicket and the ball swinging about I thought Smith deserved his Man of the Match award for his gritty batting. Amla batted sensibly in difficult batting conditions and has a good temperament for Test cricket. Steyn made the most of the swinging conditions by putting the ball in the right areas. To accurately judge his development let's see how he goes in Pakistan. Ntini is on fire at the moment and justified his high ICC ranking. Martin is obviously New Zealan'd best bowler. Kyle Mills will struggle on slower wickets as he isn't quick enough. Pollock is now a change bowler but fantastic with the bat which should enable him to extend his career.

Andrew Hall was unlucky on one occasion when he clipped the off stump but didn't dislodge a bail.

[Wanderer]

Mike, I agree with you on all points except one. The MOM award should have gone to Steyn...

[Mike]

I think, when judging the MotM award, the playing conditions are taken into account. Steyn was assisted by the conditions and batting was very difficult. Smith performed creditably in both innings and was the most consistent of the openers on either side. Steyn fully deserved to be nominated for MotM as did Ntini for his 1st innings effort but Smith prevailed under difficult circumstances in both innings.

[Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Mike

Smith performed creditably in both innings and was the most consistent of the openers on either side. Smith prevailed under difficult circumstances in both innings.

I reckon having seen Smith doing so miserably this past year (30', 40's) one EXPECT from the national captain, opening batsman, to do more. It's his job. Yes, maybe it's also Steyn and Ntini's "job" to take wickets...But I'm talking about degrees of responsibility here.

Or perhaps I'm just peeved at the fact that Gibbs got sacked, who had been the better performer of the 3 (incl. Smith and de Villiers)