Sunday, January 19, 2020

Test Match Heading For A Draw.

A South African win has looked improbable since Day Two but with more wet weather forecast, the draw is now looking to have a certain inevitability about it.
There was a four hour rain break, yesterday, which stopped the England side in its tracks.
Dom Bess had bowled well enough to take his first fivefer but when play resumed after the delay, the pitch had nothing much to offer aided and assisted by three dropped catches at slip by the erstwhile hero, Ben Stokes!
In the six sessions which remain, creating an England win is only possible if they can enforce the follow on. That means preventing the South Africans scoring another 92 and then forcing them to bat again.
Even then, taking fourteen more wickets on this track seems most unlikely, especially as there will be an abundance of interruptions for rain.
If SA can bat through and avoid the follow on, then the game will drift through to a certain draw.
For England to triumph, the follow on must be achieved and there has to be the somewhat forlorn hope that the pitch will change again and suddenly become dangerous to bat on.
For me, the match will now die as a spectacle and it will be 1 - 1 in the series with one to play.

Agreed. But There Are A Great Many Former Atheists From This Planet.

There Are No Atheists in Hell There are no atheists in foxholes, and there are no atheists in hell