Consigliere Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Australia already have a big enough lead, imo. The only chance India have of winning is if Smith is extremely generous and declares overnight. I can't see that happening though. Thus far India have struggled with the Australian lower order so I don't see these last three wickets falling quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Not sure Australia is trying to do now. I thought they'd get it above 350 quickly and have a go at India, specially with time lost to rain (and potential rain during the day). But that doesn't seem to be the case so far. Smith must be confident that he can get through India's wickets quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmanion Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Australia only needs a draw to win the series and take the Border/Gavaskar trophy. India need to win because draw or lose and Aus win the series so they have to go for it for 2 sessions. Also poor Shaun Marsh run out for 99 :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brAnthelAstgreenseer Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Worst debut ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Vijay may have been a bit unlucky there. Same with first innings lbw. Both may have been missing the stumps. Edit: ignore first innings comment. It was Rahane's lbw not Vijay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 4 wickets to get, 15 overs to go. Normally the batting team would be considered favourites for the draw, but with this Indian tail you never know. Ashwin and Dhoni will have to eat up the majority of that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arya_underfoot Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Worst debut ever. The former NZ captain Ken Rutherford is famous for bagging a pair on debut- so it could've been worse. However, Rahul was absolutely terrible. He seemed to have no idea what he was doing. He approached both innings as you would the last 2 overs of a T20- completely brainless cricket. If India's options are Rahul or Rohit Sharma, there's probably a pretty good case to persist with Sharma in case he pulls off a random 264. It's a pity Jadeja has gone home injured because he would have been perfect at 7 or 8 in Sydney with Dhoni at 6. Not sure Australia is trying to do now. I thought they'd get it above 350 quickly and have a go at India I too thought 350 off about 85-88 overs would be a good total to set. But I can understand Smith's hesitation. It's only his second test as captain. He would have been roundly criticized had India won the test and kept the series alive, however unlikely that was going to be even if he declared overnight. People would have said "Look at what happened in Adelaide- these guys are good chasers". He chose the safe option and ensured at least a draw. Also, on a fifth day wicket, you have to have faith in your bowlers. Unfortunately, Lyon was innocuous and Johnson bowled too many easy leaves whilst the pitch held together rather nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 I totally understand Smith's decision as well, at least not to declare overnight, although the way they batted reasonably slowly in the morning left him open to a little criticism. Overall I don't think people should be complaining about it though; it wasn't attacking captaincy, but I wouldn't have said it was overly defensive either. Speaking of the captaincy, Dhoni has immediately retired from Test cricket. While it's a surprise he did it in the middle of a series (I suppose the series has now been decided), it was coming for a long time. He was simply doing so much for Indian cricket that he was going to have to conserve his energy one way or another, and clearly Test cricket is his weakest form of cricket. He is a good Test player, but he is a great ODI and T20 player, so probably not a surprise he's decided enough is enough from the Test point of view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arya_underfoot Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Yeah, Dhoni was going to go at the end of the series I'm pretty sure (unless India somehow managed to win the series). I suspect his main motivation in playing this test series was to acclimatize to conditions in preparation for the world cup. I think he would consider defending the world cup as the pinnacle of his career. If guys like Kohli and Rahane can maintain their form, they stand a good chance of doing just that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 The former NZ captain Ken Rutherford is famous for bagging a pair on debut- so it could've been worse. However, Rahul was absolutely terrible. He seemed to have no idea what he was doing. He approached both innings as you would the last 2 overs of a T20- completely brainless cricket. Graham Gooch got a pair on debut as well, so first Tests aren't necessarily the best indication of future performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arya_underfoot Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Graham Gooch got a pair on debut as well, so first Tests aren't necessarily the best indication of future performance. Thanks- I didn't know that about Gooch. Talking of debuts, Warne had a forgettable debut against India at the SCG in 1992- he copped a hammering from Shastri and Tendulkar and ended up with 1 wicket for about 250 runs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 WI compiled a decent first innings total of 329. They will still be a little disappointed though because five batsmen scored in excess of 40 but not one could kick on. They could, and probably should, have scored closer to 400 or more. It is a good Test match wicket at Newlands. There are runs to be had for the batsmen as well enough encouragement for the bowlers, both seamers and spinners. Simon Harmer bowled really well on debut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 This might be premature (given that we have more than a month to go), but does anyone want to participate in a fantasy league for the upcoming World Cup? FURSUIT MANIA WILL DESTROY ALL COMERS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Why not? It'll give me something else to concentrate on besides England's inevitable abject performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Jesus, it's really crept up though. Barely more than a month left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arya_underfoot Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Why not? It'll give me something else to concentrate on besides England's inevitable abject performance. Some of the Non-KP Englishmen are in reasonable form in the BBL. The pitches should be suitable for Anderson and Broad. It might not work out too badly for England. However, I doubt they'll make the final like they did in '92. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh_wulff Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Why not? It'll give me something else to concentrate on besides England's inevitable abject performance.English pessimism FTW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 So Smith is up to 5th in the ICC test rankings for batsmen, Angelo Mathews is 4th as well. I wouldn't have called that a few years ago, credit to both of them. Perhaps more impressively though Warner is apparently both joint 6th and 8th at the same time, good effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Another double ton from Sanga. Only one than Bradman now. Crazy! Aussies are going to town at SCG it seems. Almost feel bad for the Indian bowlers, they can't seem to catch a break! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Yep. Not a whole lot of high drama right now at SCG, but that's OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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