Friday 11 January 2013

Mini-session Analysis 2nd Test South Africa New Zealand, St George's Park, Port Elizabeth

Here is the final mini-session analysis for the second test between South Africa and New Zealand at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth

A mini-session is (normally) half a session, either between the start of the session and the drinks break or the drinks break and the end of the session. Occasionally a long session will have 3 mini-sessions where it will be broken up with 2 drinks breaks.

Mini-SessionScoreWinner
1-1aSouth Africa 42/1 off 14Draw
1-1bSouth Africa 57/0 off 13South Africa
1-2aSouth Africa 53/2 off 13New Zealand
1-2bSouth Africa 39/0 off 14South Africa
1-3aSouth Africa 67/1 off 19South Africa
1-3bSouth Africa 67/0 off 17South Africa
2-1aSouth Africa 27/1 off 14New Zealand
2-1bSouth Africa 38/0 off 15South Africa
2-2aSouth Africa 62/0 off 15South Africa
2-2bSouth Africa 53/2 off 14Draw
2-3aSouth Africa 23/1 off 5.5South Africa
New Zealand 19/2 off 12
2-3bNew Zealand 28/4 off 12South Africa
3-1aNew Zealand 15/3 off 12.2South Africa
3-1bNew Zealand 59/1 off 8.2New Zealand
3-1cNew Zealand 3/0 off 4n/a
3-2aNew Zealand 37/0 off 15New Zealand
3-2bNew Zealand 24/2 off 13South Africa
3-3aNew Zealand 58/2 off 19South Africa
3-3bNew Zealand 35/0 off 16New Zealand
4-1aNew Zealand 46/2 off 14.5South Africa
4-1bNew Zealand 8/4 off 4.5South Africa

Last update, click here
South Africa win the match by an innings and 193 runs, and the mini-session count 13 - 5

First drinks, Day 1: The mini-session count is tied up, 0-0

The first session came to life in the 4th over when first Doug Bracewell hit Graeme Smith in the head with a sharp bouncer, and then trapped him in front in what looked like a very good shout for lbw. The New Zealanders didn't review, and while Hawkeye suggested he would have been out, there was a hint of a no ball on the replay. It was another Bracewell bouncer, 6 overs later, that brought about the dismissal, with Alviro Petersen picking out Jeetan Patel on the fine leg boundary with a top edged hook shot. Neither side will be particularly disappointed with the start, although New Zealand will probably be slightly more pleased. - Mykuhl

Lunch, Day 1: South Africa lead the mini-session count 1-0

A good second hour for South Africa. They scored quite quickly, and rode their luck well. Wagner and Boult managed to get some edges, but all either fell short or went wide of the slips. South Africa are now in the lead in this match. - Mykuhl

Middle drinks, Day 1: The mini-session count is tied up, 1-1

A much better hour for New Zealand. Smith was strangled down the leg side off Wagner, after a good battle between the two players. Not long later Kallis bottom edged one from Bracewell to Watling and New Zealand were on top. At the other end, Amla is going like a runaway train, timing the ball with the sort of ease that we've become accustomed to from him. - Mykuhl

Tea, Day 1: South Africa lead the mini-session count 2-1

The key moment in that hour was in the first over after drinks when Hashim Amla was dropped by Kane Williamson off Boult. From that point on, the rest of the hour was all South Africa. The only real bright spots for New Zealand were the way that Patel and Munro managed to contain the batsmen from one end. However, containment is not really what New Zealand need today. - Mykuhl

Final drinks, Day 1: South Africa lead the mini-session count 3-1

Today has so far been like the last two days of the first test. New Zealand have been competitive, but South Africa have just been a bit better. - Mykuhl

Stumps, Day 1: South Africa lead the mini-session count 4-1

Fantastic last hour by South Africa. They not only survived the new ball, but they dominated it. The most threatening bowler in this mini-session was probably Jeetan Patel. Amla brought up his 4th hundred against New Zealand, his 19th overall. At the other end Faf du Plessis continued his Bradmanesque start to his career, at this point his average is 125.67. New Zealand have been out-played today, and will really need to find something tomorrow to get back into this match. - Mykuhl

First drinks, Day 2: South Africa lead the mini-session count 4-2

A fantastic start to the day from New Zealand. They took 1 for 11 off the first 11 overs, and the wicket was a big one too, Hashim Amla. The fielding was really sharp, and every player looked like they were fully focused. It was ironic that the wicket was probably to one of the worst balls Boult has bowled this match, a wide ball down legside that Amla did well to get a touch on. - Mykuhl

Lunch, Day 2: South Africa lead the mini-session count 5-2

That was South Africa's hour, but not by much. New Zealand certainly applied a lot more pressure this morning than they did yesterday. This has been a good couple of hours of test cricket. - Mykuhl

Middle drinks, Day 2: South Africa lead the mini-session count 6-2

All the good work that New Zealand did in the first 11 overs has been completely undone since then. 116 runs for no wicket in 33 overs. The change in fortunes has somewhat coincided with the almost complete absence of Boult and Bracewell, with Bracewell only bowling 3 overs since the 104th and Boult not bowling a single one. Patel has looked short on ideas, and Wagner unable to bowl consistently enough to build pressure. Du Plessis and Elgar have generally looked untroubled. Du Plessis in particular has been very good at taking balls from outside off and hitting a single through the leg side with them. - Mykuhl

Tea, Day 2: South Africa lead the mini-session count 6-2

A couple of wickets from Munro, but really South Africa spent the last 30 minutes building for a declaration. New Zealand managed to delay that declaration by denying Elgar his century. However he is on 91, and so there's a chance that he will be complete it fairly soon after tea if South Africa decide to bat on. - Mykuhl

Final drinks, Day 2: South Africa lead the mini-session count 7-2

A great hour for South Africa. We first had to wait almost 6 overs for Dean Elgar to get his hundred.

Then it was New Zealand's time to bat. While the New Zealand bowlers went past the edge a number of times this morning, the New Zealand batsmen have so far only played and missed two deliveries. The ability to only move the ball a little bit is something that the South African bowlers have mastered.

A noticeable difference between the two teams is the noise their defensive shots make. The South African batsmen's defensive shots were almost inaudible, while there is a distinct crack often even when the New Zealand batsmen are defending. John R. Reid talked about how the biggest lesson he learned from touring South Africa was the need to play with soft hands. It seems like there are some other New Zealand players who also need to learn that lesson. - Mykuhl

Stumps, Day 2: South Africa lead the mini-session count 8-2

Another hour that I didn't really need a formula to decide who had won. South Africa are dominating this match. Colin Munro's debut was looking good when he picked up two wickets. It was soured somewhat by him coming in to bat at number 7 after only 97 minutes. It got worse a ball later when he departed for a golden duck. The only consolation for New Zealand would be that they passed 45. - Mykuhl

First drinks, Day 3: South Africa lead the mini-session count 9-2

After some early resistance from Bracewell and Wattling the slide continued. Jeetan Patel looked better briefly in this match than he did in the last one. However he then backed away and swung, and was bowled. I predicted that New Zealand would be bowed out before lunch. I may have been a bit optimistic. - Myluhl

Change of Innings, Day 3: South Africa lead the mini-session count 9-3

An outstanding final stand from Watling and Boult. Watling looked like he was batting on a different pitch to everyone else. His 63 was more than the rest of the batsmen combined. - Mykuhl

Lunch, Day 3: South Africa lead the mini-session count 9-3

New Zealand survived the tricky little period. Now they will need to survive some tricky long periods. There is as little chance of South Africa losing this as there is of a Shetland pony winning the Melbourne Cup. - Mykuhl

Middle drinks, Day 3: South Africa lead the mini-session count 9-4

In terms of time, this is the longest opening stand for New Zealand in this series. There was a close call for leg-before which was given not out and which South Africa referred upstairs, but the decision was umpire's call and Guptill got a second life. Robin Peterson has had a quick crack, but nothing threatening. With a wearing pitch, though, he might be a handful as the day drags on - Ant

Tea, Day 3: South Africa lead the mini-session count 10-4

Straight after drinks, Peterson managed to get another one to defeat McCullum by not turning. He's now been dismissed by a left-arm spin bowler in 6 of his last 8 innings. The most ominous sight for New Zealand, however was probably a ball 20 minutes before tea from Steyn that kept very low off a good length. It was a ball that pitched in a similar spot and also kept low that did for Kane Williamson. Although it wasn't only the pitch that contributed to that dismissal as Peterson beat him in flight by getting Williamson to play off the back foot when he really should have been coming forward. If the pitch is going to play tricks like that on day 3, it might be unplayable tomorrow. - Mykuhl

Final drinks, Day 3: South Africa lead the mini-session count 11-4

New Zealand held out well there, except for the first over from Kleinveldt where he removed first Guptill then Flynn next ball. Watling showed again the benefit of defending with soft hands, twice edging the ball but it falling well short both times. An interesting feature of that hour was the hesitancy of the New Zealand batsmen to rotate the strike. They were just waiting for the bad balls, then trying to hit them for four. They hit a total of 8 singles in 19 overs, and often off consecutive deliveries, meaning that that the majority of the time each batsman was facing one bowler. - Mykuhl

Stumps, Day 3: South Africa lead the mini-session count 11-5

A good hour for New Zealand, Brownlie and Watling looking reasonably solid. Once the ball got to about 50 overs old the bowling looked less threatening. Steyn still managed to get a couple to bounce, but not many deliveries really troubled the batsmen. South Africa are still well in control, and the question is realistically when they will wrap it up, not if. BJ Wattling was the star of the day for New Zealand, batting almost the whole day and scoring 89 runs. He will need to do similarly tomorrow and the next day for New Zealand to save this match. - Mykuhl

First drinks, Day 4: South Africa lead the mini-session count 12-5

South Africa did exactly what they said they wanted to do in the press conference last night: take one wicket before the new ball, then pick up the last batsman soon after taking the new ball. These sides are playing at completely different levels at present. - Mykuhl

End of Match, Day 4: South Africa win the match by an innings and 193 runs, and the mini-session count 13-5

In the end it was all very quick. The New Zealand bowlers were not equipped to deal with the might of Steyn and Morkel with a new ball in their hands. Steyn was irresistible in this match, as match figures of 8/65 indicate. South Africa won the match convincingly because they bowled and batted significantly better than New Zealand. The only area where there was anything close to equality between the two sides was the fielding. - Mykuhl

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