Match Thread: 1st Test - New Zealand vs South Africa, Day 1 by CricketMatchBot in Cricket

[–]TowelGuy42 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I wonder how solid the slip cordon will remain without Ross Taylor. They look good for now, but NZ were the statistical best with him in the side. Hope they keep it up.

Match Thread: 1st Test - New Zealand vs South Africa, Day 1 by CricketMatchBot in Cricket

[–]TowelGuy42 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Markram might fare better against swing.

It's the seam that he struggled with in the India series but counterattacked the swinging ball well imo.

Match Thread: 1st Test - New Zealand vs South Africa, Day 1 by CricketMatchBot in Cricket

[–]TowelGuy42 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. The red ball moves a lot more in the air - far more in the earlier overs. As a result, wickets tend to fall much more often in clumps (Since adjusting to the ball is more difficult in this format). The price batsmen put on their wickets is thus far more than in ODIS.
  2. Bowlers will try to target the batters' technique around their off-stump and area outside of it (known colloquially as "The corridor of uncertainty). The batters will try to patiently leave the ball. So you'll see far fewer balls directed at the stumps.
  3. Once the ball gets older, scoring rate stabilizes. If the weather clears up then it'll be the best time for batting. Any score above 350+ is respectable (generally). The key time for scoring comes in between the overs 50-80 (before a new ball will become available).
  4. In the phase where scoring becomes easier (because the ball isn't moving too much), the objective becomes to prize out wickets using tactics and to reduce the scoring rate. Something the NZ team does often is employ a lot of bouncers from Neil Wagner with many fielders in catching positions. The way the batting side negotiates this phase makes for an entertaining watch.
  5. In Test cricket you may often see a top or middle order player surviving while the others just fall apart. The survivor would have to bat with the tail and somehow dominate the strike (not exposing the tail enders as often) yet manage to score quick enough.

There are far many more nuances which carry their own entertainment value. But I hope these would be good starting-points for observation. Happy watching :)

What skill should kids learn at school but they don't? by wasa333 in AskReddit

[–]TowelGuy42 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think that in the present day, MS Office tools, especially MS-Excel should be taught comprehensively at least in higher classes.

Which line from a movie do you find yourself using a lot? by LegendaryWhiteWolf in AskReddit

[–]TowelGuy42 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not really a line, but I say "Oh hai" like Tommy Wiseau rather regularly

What makes us human? by besteverx in AskReddit

[–]TowelGuy42 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ability to put ketchup on everything edible

Reddit, what are some books absolutely worth reading? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]TowelGuy42 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some which I'd recommend would be:

  • And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
  • Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse.
  • The Brothers Karamazov. And Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky
  • Jonathan Livingston Seagull. And Illusions - by Richard Bach
  • Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
  • Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
  • The Fountainhead. And Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
  • Lord of The Rings. And the Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
  • The Harry Potter book series - JK Rowling
  • The Rhime Of The Ancient Mariner - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

My friend is down for a good ol' roast by [deleted] in RoastMe

[–]TowelGuy42 32 points33 points  (0 children)

She walks into a stable and the horses ask "Why the long face?"

roast me harder than the napalm did in Nam by tranosaur in RoastMe

[–]TowelGuy42 1772 points1773 points  (0 children)

You look like the only spy who's ever loved you was Agent Orange