Thursday 14 February 2013

Mini-session Analysis 2nd Test, SA Pak, Newlands, 2012/13

Here is the final mini-session analysis for the second test between South Africa and Pakistan at Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa

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
1-1aPakistan 21/2 off 13South Africa
1-1bPakistan 39/2 off 14South Africa
1-2aPakistan 21/0 off 14draw
1-2bPakistan 52/0 off 16Pakistan
1-3aPakistan 57/0 off 15Pakistan
1-3bPakistan 63/1 off 18Pakistan
2-1aPakistan 46/3 off 12.3South Africa
2-1bPakistan 39/2 off 13.5draw
2-2aSouth Africa 33/0 off 11.3South Africa
2-2bSouth Africa 32/2 off 12.3Pakistan
2-3aSouth Africa 40/2 off 17Pakistan
2-3bSouth Africa 34/1 off 19Pakistan
3-1aSouth Africa 51/1 off 14South Africa
3-1bSouth Africa 58/1 off 14South Africa
3-2aSouth Africa 77/2 off 101Pakistan
3-2bSouth Africa 1/1 off 1.1South Africa
Pakistan 25/2 off 8
3-3aPakistan 30/1 off 17.1South Africa
3-3bPakistan 45/0 off 18.5Pakistan
4-1aPakistan 35/1 off 14South Africa
4-1bPakistan 22/4 off 12South Africa
4-2aPakistan 12/2 off 5.3South Africa
4-2bSouth Africa 66/2 off 17Pakistan
4-3aSouth Africa 46/1 off 11South Africa
4-3bSouth Africa 50/1 off 10South Africa

Final update, click here
South Africa win the mini-session count 13 - 9

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

Another match at Newlands, another good hour with the ball for South Africa. If anything the ball has moved more in this match than it did in the first hour against New Zealand. The difference here is that the ball has missed the outside edge. As the pitch settles down, it may be even more difficult to bat here. - Mykuhl

Lunch, Day 1: South Africa lead the mini-session count 2-0

Other than the one over from Morkel, Pakistan batted quite well in this hour. Younis Khan looked quite solid. It was still South Africa's hour, as it usually is at Newlands, but this may be a slightly better match than the recent ones at this fantastic stadium. - Mykuhl

Stumps, Day 1: Pakistan lead the mini-session count 3-2

A fantastic fight back from Pakistan. Younis and Asad put together an outstanding partnership. Both batsmen had a couple of scary moments early on, but once they saw off the new ball they prospered. The match is very evenly balanced at this point. - Mykuhl

First drinks, Day 2: The mini-session count is tied up, 3-3

A good hour for Vernon Philander, who picked up yet another Newlands 5-for. South Africa seem like they are not far from wrapping up the tail here, but this partnership has been a very valuable one for Pakistan. These 31 runs could be the difference between a losing total and a competitive one. - Mykuhl

Lunch, Day 2: The mini-session count is tied up, 3-3

South Africa will be happy to have wrapped up the tail reasonably cheaply, but the 64 run 8th wicket partnership was massive in the context of the innings. - Mykuhl

Middle drinks, Day 2: South Africa lead the mini-session count 4-3

A couple of interesting things here. First we got to see Mohammed Irfan bowl, and he did seem to create some pressure. The key moment, however was probably Younis Khan dropping Graeme Smith on 0. That's already cost 17 runs directly, but also meant that Pakistan has missed out on the momentum that an early wicket would have created. - Mykuhl

Tea, Day 2: The mini-session count is tied up, 4-4

Saeed Ajmal strikes again. Both openers back in the hutch. However, despite 7 overs being bowled by Ajmal, Pakistan have managed only 24 overs in these two hours. There have been two delays, but they really need to get through their overs quicker than that. - Mykuhl

Final drinks, Day 2: Pakistan lead the mini-session count 5-4

Another hour, another 2 wickets for Saeed Ajmal. The talking point here was the wicket of Kallis.

He was given out caught, and Kallis reviewed it, knowing that he didn't hit the ball. The replay showed that he didn't hit it, but that it was probably hitting leg stump. However it was umpires call for the lbw, and given that the umpire had not given the batsman out lbw, the umpires call was actually potentially not out for lbw.

The tricky thing here is that caught takes priority over lbw, so if the ball hits the pad plumb lbw, and then takes the bat and gets caught, the batsman is out caught, not lbw. The umpire doesn't have to rule on lbw if he feels the ball is caught.

What should have happened is once Bowden knew it was not out caught, he should have related that to Davis and asked if he felt it was lbw before looking at that. The rules do actually allow for that situation, but they were not totally applied correctly here. Kallis will feel aggrieved that he used up a review correctly, but was given out and lost the review for his team too. - Mykuhl

Stumps, Day 2: Pakistan lead the mini-session count 6-4

Another wicket for Ajmal, and now Hafeez is into the action too, bowling with his less favoured older ball. It will be interesting to see who Misbah goes to with the new ball (if South Africa make it that far). With the pitch taking turn, the option of Hafeez into the wind, and rotating the quicks in short spells from the other end is possibly an attractive option. Dean Elgar now has a chance to make his case for his spot in the team. He really needs to score big here to make the selectors decision between him and Duminy (once JP's fit) difficult. - Mykuhl

First drinks, Day 3: Pakistan lead the mini-session count 6-5

The role that luck plays is an interesting thing in cricket. AB de Villiers was dropped, then Dean Elgar got caught. As a result AB "did his job" by surviving the first hour, while Elgar "had another failure." - Mykuhl

Stumps, Day 3: The mini-session count is tied up, 8-8

This game is turning into a stunning match. The mini-sessions are tied up, but Pakistan are probably in the lead, given that South Africa will have to play against Ajmal on a wearing pitch. However 2 quick wickets in the morning will change that completely. The Younis Khan wicket was a very big one for South Africa, but this partnership has restored the balance for Pakistan. - Mykuhl

First drinks, Day 4: South Africa lead the mini-session count 9-8

While South Africa won that hour, they didn't win it by much. Pakistan still have the advantage of Ajmal ready to bowl on the final day. The Misbah dismissal was a big one, as South Africa really need Peterson to fire, given that Morne Morkel is out. - Mykuhl

Lunch, Day 4: South Africa lead the mini-session count 10-8

If the first hour was close, the last hour was anything but. In the space of 13 balls the whole match changed dramatically. South Africa picked up 4 wickets and Pakistan were left hoping that Saeed Ajmal and Tanvir Ahmed can repeat their heroics from the first innings.

Pakistan probably need another 30 runs to make the run chase difficult, but they will also be aware that almost all the South African batsmen got starts, despite none of them going on to post a score. That is a pattern that's unlikely to happen twice in one test. - Mykuhl

End of Match, Day 4: South Africa Win the match by 4 wickets and the mini-session count 13-9

If Pakistan had managed another 30 runs, this match could have had a fantastic conclusion. The 3 over spell where South Africa picked up 4/5 was the turning point in the match.

It always felt like a spell like that was approaching, and it was always likey to include Philander. He has now taken 30 wickets in 4 matches at Newlands. If he can pick up 13 wickets in his next match, he will equal one of the oldest records in cricket, George Lohmann's record for being the fastest to take 100 wickets (15 matches). - Mykuhl

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