Tuesday 27 December 2011

Mini-session analysis for 2nd Test SA SL 11/12

Here is the final mini-session analysis for the 2nd Test.

SessionScoreWinner
1-1aSri Lanka 48/2 off 13South Africa
1-1bSri Lanka 64/1 off 15Sri Lanka
1-2aSri Lanka 40/1 off 13Sri Lanka
1-2bSri Lanka 45/1 off 16South Africa
1-3aSri Lanka 48/0 off 15Sri Lanka
1-3bSri Lanka 49/2 off 17.3South Africa
2-1aSri Lanka 33/0 off 14.3Sri Lanka
2-1bSri Lanka 16/3 off 4.2South Africa
South Africa 15/0 off 6
2-2aSouth Africa 40/3 off 14Sri Lanka
2-2bSouth Africa 45/0 off 14South Africa
2-3aSouth Africa 32/5 off 12Sri Lanka
2-3bSouth Africa 56/2 off 8.4South Africa
Sri Lanka 7/1 off 2.1
3-1aSri Lanka 26/1 off 10.5South Africa
3-1bSri Lanka 32/0 off 9Sri Lanka
3-2aSri Lanka 46/0 off 12Sri Lanka
3-2bSri Lanka 44/2 off 10Sri Lanka*
3-2cSri Lanka 52/0 off 12Sri Lanka
3-3aSri Lanka 49/2 off 14.3South Africa
4-1aSri Lanka 23/3 off 7.5South Africa
South Africa 49/1 off 13
4-1bSouth Africa 37/0 off 13South Africa
4-2aSouth Africa 30/3 off 12Sri Lanka
4-2bSouth Africa 20/0 off 15South Africa*
4-3aSouth Africa 53/0 off 15South Africa
4-3bSouth Africa 52/4 off 19.3Sri Lanka


So despite Sri Lanka winning the match convincingly, the mini-session count is even, 12-12. I had to make a decision about who to award mini-session 3-2b to, as it was right on the border, and was too short (less than 12 overs) for my established rules to apply. In ordinary situations that would have gone to South Africa, but in the context of the game the quick runs meant that Sri Lanka were probably in a better position to win the match after that session than they were before it. Likewise mini-session 4-2b which would have gone to Sri Lanka if it was not for the context of the game. Slow scoring without losing any runs was exactly what South Africa needed to do.

The result did not reflect the nature of game, which was quite even for the majority of the match, with the exception of one mini-session where South Africa's 100/3 became 132/8. That spell by Welegedara, Herath and (less effectively) Fernando defined this match. Herath won Man of the Match, and it was appropriate that either he or Welegedara got it, as they really set up the victory.

Overall South Africa should still be favourites for the third test. Despite the convincing scorecard, this game was even for the majority of the sessions.

The good news is that there is a third test. The South Africa-Australia and Australia-New Zealand series would have both been much better with a 3rd test.

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