That is getting to be a pretty regular dismissal for Doolan in his short career so far

Clarkey is getting into a bit of strife in the way in which he is handling the short ball

Well to be fair it's the first we've won in the series

It looked like he was handling it by just getting hit at one stage. I can't recall such a good player looking so ruffled by short pitch bowling on a flat pitch before. Credit to him for getting through it though.

You mustn't have watched much of Trott or the English top order in the last Ashes series then. I suppose you can't really call any of the current English top order good players though

I haven't watched the highlights yet but have been told that Morkel bowled 4 straight overs of the short stuff - if that's the case then he should have been warned imo.

Having said that if the short pitch bowling fails to get wickets it can backfire in two respects. First, it gives the team facing the bouncers a mental edge in that it shows the opposition that they're prepared to put their bodies on the line to win. Steve Waugh was an excellent example of this imo. Second, the short stuff is going to come back to SA with interest when Mitch gets a chance at Steyn and Morkel.

Time for the match of 2014 so far. India meets Pakistan in big points table decider.

Cape Town groundsman needs a written warning for this ****ty pitch, Goddam Steyns hamstring blowing out, Australia lucking out in this decider....

Meh It was about 2-180 when Steyn got hurt.

rain not too far away - looking forward to a bit of a cameo from Harris in the meantime

On a sidenote about selection, good to see Boof drop Siddle for Pattinson - he has been down on pace for awhile now but has been getting by through picking up the odd 3-4 wicket hauls here and there.

Sick finish ...

Pk needed

47 from 42 balls with 6 wickets
43 from 30 balls with 4 wickets
13 runs from 12 balls with 4 wickets
10 runs from 6 balls with 2 wickets
10 runs from 5 balls with 1 wicket!

Afridi: 6, 6. Good Game

Eating a bit of meat wouldn't hurt

Not to mention drinking a beer or two

Meanwhile good job Harris - SA on the back foot chasing already 5 down

Graeme Smith has announced he will retire from international cricket at the conclusion of the final Test against Australia in Cape Town.


--

I am surprised he is retiring at the age of only 33. Especially with only 800 runs away from the 10,000 test runs. Read the ankle injury he had back in April lingers on. But still I am really surprised he is quitting.

Mitchell "the Retirer" Johnson

I don't think anyone expected Warner and Smith to turn out to be quality test players. Warner is arguably the most valuable batsman in test cricket at the moment.

Now that we have a reasonable batting lineup to support the bowlers Aus are close to the best test team in the world. Doubt anyone expected this 18 months ago.

Another word for it is weak.

Cue the Indian fans saying 'they're nothing until they've proven themselves on the sub-continent'

I agree though that Australia are probably the Number 1 side at the moment and no way did I see that coming 6 months ago. They'll flog India in Australia later this year.

They keep on surprising me. I really thought they wouldn't have it in them to come back after the second test against SA with their tails up but they're absolutely pulverising them.

So much of cricket played at this level is between the ears and the Aussie team is unstoppable at the moment with the confidence they have.

I'll go out on a limb and say someone like Smith who was fighting to cement his place in the team a few months ago has shown enough lately to suggest he'll be a future great with 10000+ runs under his belt. I don't care what he looks like but that kid is only going to get better and better now that he's proven himself as test standard and feels secure of his spot...mark my words......you can requote me in 10 years.

The Aussies just continue to end careers

When India is so weak everywhere overseas, they have nothing much to crow about.

It's all they have. As I always tell Indians - nobody takes results in India seriously anyway

lol that's ridiculous. Aussies can't win in subcontinent - ergo results from subcontinent don't matter. Typical Aussie scum.

Why are results in Australia so much more important than results in india?

India losing 4-0 there, is no different than you guys losing 4-0 here. Conditions are same for both sides.

Every side sucks at touring atm, which is why we've had like 5 no.1 sides in the past 3 years. there's no out n out top side in world cricket right now.

Pakistan rut roh..

Crisis averted.

Afridi is so easy to bowl to ... Just keep bowling slow balls as a pacer and throw a bouncer and keep a deep fine leg. Well played nonetheless.

Yep this is a pretty fair call. The only reason why we're doing well in SA at the moment is because the conditions are almost identical to Aus. We still have to prove we don't suck in India and Eng. As an aside, it's sad that performing in the WI is no longer a relevant factor anymore.

Now that Smith and Kallis are gone, there is no clear best team on paper either.