seen some poor referrals in my time but that was ridiculous.

Silly wickets to give away from Cook and Westley. Well recovered by Jennings and Root to push the lead up beyond 200. 300 will be too much for SA to chase but Root and England will just look to bat on, SA need to attack to chase the game. Just bat sensibly and we'll get out of sight.

Important for Jennings in particular that he gets some runs....

Jennings done now I think, Malan may get the Windies series. Up to the engine room of Stokes, Bairstow and Ali to get the runs again.

I'd still open with root

comment by Sheriff JW Pepper (U1007)
posted 0 seconds ago
I'd still open with root
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Bring Buttler in at 5-6

Root out for 49. At least people can't moan about his conversion rate this time.

Fair play to SA, they aren't letting us get away at all. Stokes knows that an hour of him and YJB after tea though could be the game for SA.

Or Bairstow and Ali...

Bairstow gone..I think we have enough but who knows..

Moeen has turned into some cricketer alright, as much of an all rounder as Stokes.

The number of times he has made crucial runs like His or taken wickets at crucial moments I have lost count.

Excellent innings by Moeen. Looking very difficult for SA now.

Moeen the first English player to get 20 wickets and 200 runs in a series since Freddie in 05.

Wish people would stop overhyping moeen's bowling: We know he can do it on bowler friendly tracks in England. It's on the batsmen friendly pitches overseas where he struggles, as per the india series.

Spin bowler friendly tracks in England???

Yeah England is notorious with spinning wickets 🙄

Anderson is the GOAT if he's able to produce so many wickets on pitches conducive to spin.

The County Championship got back up and running yesterday and it was a pretty good day for bowlers. No batsmen really were able to put their hands up for a place in the England side, in division 1 anyway. 53 wickets fell in 3 matches on the opening day.

Broad out early. Not a problem for England though.

Got a feeling SA might run this chase close.

Anderson gone quickly as well. I'm sure England would have liked a few more runs but they really SHOULD win this one.

I think they would have been hoping to push the lead above 400 so Broad and Anderson should have look to stick with Ali for a few more overs before trying to play some shots. 380 is still a big target though and it was a top innings from Ali to set this up. Now can he take a few wickets to bag another mom performance in the series?

Ah, rain!

Play due to restart at 12:10 so not too much play list. Broad's had a quiet series so he'll be hoping to finish with a bang I'm sure.

Elgar gone, Broad gets him with a beauty. Is he in the mood for one of those days?

comment by The Candlestick Maker (U8959)
posted 2 hours, 14 minutes ago
The County Championship got back up and running yesterday and it was a pretty good day for bowlers. No batsmen really were able to put their hands up for a place in the England side, in division 1 anyway. 53 wickets fell in 3 matches on the opening day.
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Amir 5/18 in the first innings and 2-2 so far in the 2nd... I think we can excuse the Yorkshire batsmen facing such quality.. but generally speaking, it's worrying that England are lacking fresh batsmen that can hold a place in the side...can't blame the selectors, tried many, but most just not up for international cricket