South Africa set a record

Most consecutive T20 International wins ever. But wait, was anyone actually surprised they won against the West Indies? On rolls the South African juggernaut as they flatten teams on their way to the finals.

Despite Chris Gayle's valiant attempts to distract them with some ultra-cool sunnies, the saffas did not budge. They've had good practice at this, especially after Stuart Broad's attempts to deliberately distract the South African batsmen. Also because once their eyes lock onto the missile, also known as the ball, they do not take their eyes off it, not even to look at Broad's delicate hands.

You know what's creepy? As I check Cricinfo for Kallis' bowling figures because they're pretty fucking funny, I see they have also spoken of the "South African juggernaut rolling on. I don't write for them, just in case you were wondering. My singular brain is on par with their collective brains, however. Jacques' figures are 2-0-23-0 by the way. Hahahaha, that's far too good. Fingers crossed he'll stop playing T20s.

I won't mention Albie's figures because this is my blog and I can do whatever the hell I want. You want fairness? Go somewhere else. He was brilliant, just brilliant. A wicket on a no ball which is better than no wicket at all, and a small error involving a wide which ended up costing 5 runs. BRILLIANT.

Wayne Parnell had to do even more this match to finally get the MoM award. 4/13 is the result of his mastering the art of bowling yorkers and actually bowling at the stumps. With all the creative shit bowlers are trying to come up with, it seems everyone forgot that simply bowling at the stumps and waiting for a wicket is remarkably successful.

Lendl Simmons is the only batsman on the West Indies side who should be walking away from this match with a smile on his face, although he might not be smiling because they still lost despite his 77. Seriously, the things some people have to put up with...

And now I come to Albie. You were waiting for it all along, I know. That 10 off 8, especially after the perfect opportunity presented itself when die AB got ahead of himself and got out on 17. After being promoted up the order to actually come in before the 16th over. That was amazing, that last bit. Everything was set in place for Albie to kill someone, preferably with his bat. He didn't, but the very clever Jerome Taylor was behind it. The smart bastard bowled a few bouncers and then nailed Albie with a great yorker. Even Albie appreciated that one. Super Shades Gayle had instructed Taylor to go about targeting Albie with bouncers and this is CLEARLY him going after the most dangerous batsman on the side. I mean, obviously. For this reason, Albie's dismissal was alright. He felt the respect as he walked off that field.

I think Nasser Hussain wants to marry die AB, just like every other commentator out there.

And in the current match, New Zealand are killing me. Dan the Man is playing but... they're killing me. They really are.

West Indies Speak

I just noticed something interesting about an article concerning Jerome Taylor's recent road accident. The article quotes an eye witness, who apparently said:

"Bwoy them man ya lucky. Not even a scratch them get and the vehicle lick up."
"Taylor and the rest of de man dem must praise God, because a God save them."

Now, I now that's what it may sound like in real life, and I'm not exactly experienced with this kind of reporting, but why represent mannerisms and accents in a quote? "Bwoy", "dem", this all seems like some sort of mockery of the local way of speaking. I can understand keeping most of that, but it's almost as though the person writing this article wanted to distance themselves from the eyewitness.

Can someone explain to me whether this is common practice in local newspapers?
Food for thought.

Kings XI acquires South Africans

Sreesanth's out.
Brett Lee's likely to play, but nobody's 100% sure.
Jerome Taylor's also out, due to a road accident.

So King XI is looking a little bleak this year. They've had to bring in a new player to replace Jerome Taylor, and it's Yusuf Abdulla, a South African player. The 26 year old was signed on because he's South African, basically. Ness Wadia stated this as a reason for signing him up:

"He knows the ground better than anybody."

They're referring to Kingsmead, where Kings XI will play 6 matches.

It's not as though they've picked up just any player, though. In the 26 T20 matches he's played domestically, he has an economy rate of 5.83 (I suppose now would be as good a time as any to identify that he's a left-arm swing bowler). That's pretty impressive, but how will it compare when playing against the greats of the game?

The movement of the IPL to South Africa is seeing a greater demand for locals to be helping out with the team/being in the team. Kings XI have also signed Dave Nosworthy, a coach of one of the provincial teams, to assist Tom Moody. Last week, Charl Langeveldt was signed onto the Kolkata Knight Riders, after they considered CJ de Villiers but eventually opted for Langeveldt's experience. This year, a considerable number of South Africans are debuting in the IPL, including Tyron Henderson (Rajasthan Royals), Dillon du Preez (Bangalore Royal Challengers), Ryan McLaren (Mumbai Indians), Roelof van der Merwe (Bangalore Royal Challengers) and Morné van Wyk (Kolkata Knight Riders).

Notice that last name? He's turning up everywhere I look.
Dillon du Preez has a smooth name. Should therefore be a smooth player.
ROFL is also playing for the first time. Wishing him luck.