155/9
If I’m not wrong that would be one of the highest targets ever chased. The dead hand of history was/is against them.
Would have been the second highest run chase.
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Finely poised, eh? 
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Steyn is out for the second test starting on Saturday. Saffers are shot mentally after India according to Geoff Boycott. Rumours that AB might retire from test cricket.
They’re shot mentally from not winning the World Cup. The loss of Smith & Kallis in both the batting order and leadership stakes are really been felt now.
That’s the valentines present fund fucked so. 
The whole quota issue is back with a vengeance. That Bavuma lad is no more a Test batsman than I am. Reared up at the world cup when they were forced by their board to pick Philander over Abbott for the semi. Probably the main reason Alma is captain ahead of AB too. Causing ructions in the camp apparently.
Informative rating.
Rows about quotas are most probably getting an airing again because South Africa are on the wane. They were by some distance the top test side of the last 7-8 years but these things are invariably always cyclical and the quality of player coming through is not at the level that they have had. They had a core of seven world class players - Smith, Amla, Kallis, de Villiers, Boucher, Steyn and Morkel. Smith, Kallis and Boucher are gone. The remaining four are all the wrong side of 30 and Steyn is increasingly injury prone.
I’m always surprised that fast bowlers at test level can go.on as long as they do.
Yes and no. Clearly there was always going to be a bit of a transition after losing Smith and Kallis. Quotas are making it worse though. I understand the reasoning for it, and I certainly think it’s a good idea at every level below the senior national team. But there seems to be secondary impacts on team morale, etc too. Amla is no captain either, and if it is also impacting on his batting then it’s a double negative.
England finished the opening day of the second test on 317/5. Cook, Hales, Compton and Root each failed to convert starts into centuries but Stokes is not out approaching 100 and he’s in an unbroken 94-run 6th wicket partnership with Bairstow.
Stokes bludgeoned his way to a ton in the first three overs this morning.
Stokes 202 not out. Steve Smith will be seething.
Stokes is now 242 not out from 191 balls, Bairstow is unbeaten on 111 and the partnership is 351. The run rate is gone from 3.3 runs per over yesterday to 4.7 overall now. 574/5.
Stokes has just been run out for 258.
Bairstow scored 30 runs in the last 3 overs or so.
622/6.
Jaysus. It’s a bit disheartening for the new SA lads all the same.
Welcome to the big league lads
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