Graeme Smith all praise for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Petersen-c1028 – Cricket News Update
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GC-Smith-c1473, the South African Test captain, is jubilant with his side’s performance in the first Test of the two-match series against New Zealand at the Newlands, Cape Town, and was all praise for Vernon Philander and Alviro Petersen.
The Black Caps won the toss and opted to bat first on a track which was expected to assist the seamers. The decision was not a wise one, especially against the Proteas, who possess one of the finest bowling attacks of the world.
The visitors were bundled out for merely 45 runs in their first innings inside 20 overs, courtesy a brilliant bowling spell by Philander, who grabbed five wickets.
In reply, the hosts posted a huge score of 347 runs on the board for the loss of eight wickets before declaring their innings, with Petersen smashing a fine century.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 performed better in their second innings but could not avoid defeat as they lost by an innings and 27 runs, which allowed the Proteas to take an assailable lead in the series.
While expressing his views in the post-match presentation ceremony, the left-handed opening batsman said that his team did not take things for granted against a relatively weaker side and showed his delight over the performance of Philander and Petersen.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Smith-c90598 vows to carry on with the momentum in the next match as well, which begins from January 11, at Port Elizabeth.
“I don't think anyone can question our intensity in this game. We had a good build-up. We need to carry it on in PE,” said the South African skipper. “Vern knows his game really well, attacks the off stump and creates some talk with the ball. Alvrio played
a terrific knock, it wasn't an easy wicket.”
Philander, who was named as the Player of the Match, said that the pitch at Cape Town was conducive to his style of bowling and is extremely happy over his performances in Test cricket over the last 14 months.
“I'd like to take this pitch with me! I don't take it for granted. Teams try different theories against me. I've changed my game slightly, I used to bowl wider, but now take off stump a lot more. It's something you work our yourself the more you play,” the
seamer mentioned.
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