It was a historic occasion when the Boxing Day Test match moved away from the coastal regions to inland Centurion for the first time, and I was lucky enough to be there to bear witness to the occasion, writes ANITHA MADIKIZELA.
Babar Azam held Pakistan together against a brilliant South African bowling attack in Centurion with a defiant 71 off 79 balls that included 15 fours, and is Anitha Madikizela’s pick for Play of the Day.
On a day when the ball dominated the bat most of the time on the international stage, the Proteas’ Duanne Olivier picked up 6-37 against Pakistan to earn him SACricketmag.com’s mantle of Boxing Day’s Turbo Bowler.
SuperSport Park in Centurion will play host to the Boxing Day Test match for the first time in history, but it will be a known enemy that the Proteas will encounter when they face off against Pakistan for the 13th time on home soil.
Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah backs Ravi Ashwin to put the ball in the right spots in the fourth innings and praises Cheteshwar Pujara’s patience and maturity with bat in hand.
Australia’s Travis Head praises India’s Cheteshwar Pujara’s approach on the Adelaide wicket in the first innings, citing it as the perfect blueprint on the tricky surface.
Mitchell Starc reflects on the brilliant bowling performance by Australia’s frontline bowlers, and the stunning catch by Usman Khawaja, reducing India to 250-9 at stumps on the first day of the first Test in Adelaide.
Former Aussie skipper Steve Smith looked horribly out of sorts during an impromptu net session against the Australian pace attack of Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc in the SCG nets. It certainly would have given the bowlers confidence ahead of the first Test against India.
Australia pulled off a valiant draw against Pakistan in the first Test match in Dubai thanks to a heroic century from Usman Khawaja.
Nathan Lyon has been charged by the ICC for his actions after the run-out of AB de Villiers, which were condemned by Graeme Smith as ‘unnecessary’.
Australia quick Josh Hazlewood is aiming to maintain his dominance over Hashim Amla in the first Test starting in Durban on Thursday.
Faf du Plessis says South Africa took full advantage of the conditions at Newlands to win the first Test against India by 72 runs.
Proteas captain Faf du Plessis believes his team are operating at only 80 per cent of capacity, and that they could have lost the first Test against Sri Lanka.
The Proteas pace attack is preparing for a tough few sessions out in the middle in the first Test against Sri Lanka, starting on Boxing Day.
South Africa are looking to the elements and the groundsman at St George’s Park to get their Test series off to a good start against Sri Lanka on Boxing Day.
