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Cricket 30: World Twenty20 and beyond


ljkeane

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Not a particularly good day for Australia. They probably should have got a few more runs ahead and then India batted far better in their second innings. They rode their luck against Lyon a bit but they got through it and 126 runs a probably already a tricky chase for Australia batting last.

Phenomenal catch from Smith to get rid of Rahul by the way.

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Haha looks like I put the mockers on Australia. Normal service resumed in the second test with Australia falling into a hole in the fourth innings. Fascinating series unfolding...

What did people think of the Smith incident? Pretty poor form to be glancing up at the rooms in a DRS situation. He should have known better.

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Yes, India have found their groove again.

Looking back on it, Australia really can't afford to have a non-player in their starting XI - yes, I mean Mitch Marsh.

Virtually everyone else has their place locked down - Warner, Renshaw, Smith, Handscombe are locks based on recent form and/or experience. Shaun Marsh has looked decent too. Wade as keeper is fine. The bowling attack of Starc, Hazlewood, Lyon and O'Keefe has worked well.

That really only leaves Mitch Marsh up for grabs. He hasn't scored any runs and he's barely bowled at all. With two spinners who are going to be used for a lot of the overs, you can afford to have only two pace bowlers. I would prefer to replace Marsh with a full-time specialist batsman, but even Faulkner, a similar player, would be an upgrade at this point.

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Well Mitch Marsh is reportedly "injured" and is being sent back home so it seems they have taken care of that . 

This Smith looking at his dressing room has a become a bigger controversy . Kohli alleges that it has happened a few times before and they complained to the match referee about it even before this Smith thing happened . 

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Yeah I very much doubt he is injured. Australia's tradition of selecting dud all-rounders for subcontinent tours continues (see White, Cameron and Henriques, Moises).

Interestingly the ICC has cleared both Smith and Kohli in the wake of the DRS scandal. I don't think anyone involved has covered themselves in glory here: certainly not Smith for his clear breach of the rules, not the BCCI for its uncivil tweets and not the Indian captain for his childish outbursts. Ugly stuff.

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the BCCI have supported Kohli for the (obvious) Smith incident, but are silent on the other (2) cases that Kohli levelled at Smith in his presser. Surely there would be video evidence of those other cases if they, in fact, happened. why are we not seeing it? Or is it Kohli gamesmanship? If the latter, then he should be cited imo.

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Starc now has a broken foot and they decided to bring in a guy for marsh who averages 15 in shield cricket with the bat and 39 with ball. I was all for replacing marsh but it looks like they just literally replaced him haha.

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Bringing in Cummins to replace Starc is a bit of a panic move, I think.

CA have talked about not rushing Cummins back but as as soon as Starc has an injury they've brought him back into the fold. He has only played one Test match. He has pace, and is probably going to be a big wicket-taker of the future, but I don't really know that rushing him into a Test in India is a great idea, especially if you're going with just the two fast bowlers.

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Yeah will be interesting to see if they go for Cummins or Bird in the third test. Cummins' pace plus all-round talent may well get him across the line.

Meanwhile, I sincerely hope Usman gets his chance to play over The Big Show.

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Maxwell 82 not out at stumps, looking solid and comfortable getting there. What the hell just happened?

Nice job from both Smith and Maxwell in rescuing the first innings, intelligent batting. Was all looking a bit pear shaped for Australia at lunch. But this sets up an interesting test.

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I keep forgetting Cricinfo is a thing. Man, after looking decidedly thin and ropey with the batting, failing to even get past 300, New Zealand seems to be doing a number of the South Africa batting order.

This test should end in a result, as long as the weather holds of course, but even if NZ gets a decent 1st innings lead it hardly makes it a sure thing for NZ to be the eventual winners.

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Yeah the draw is still probably the favourite, but that could all change if Renshaw and/or Smith are dismissed early in today's play.

Congratulations to Bangladesh: winning their 100th test and their first-ever against arch-rivals Sri Lanka. They are finally starting to shake off minnow status and emerge as a genuine contender, particularly on Asian pitches.

Side-note: I'm still shocked that NZ contrived to lose so many wickets to spin in Wellington. That was a perplexing test match.

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Credit to Australia for holding on in the fourth test, though I think it was always going to be tough to bowl them out on that road. Now on to Dharamsala for a (hopefully!) thrilling conclusion to the series. You'd expect India to prepare a result pitch, given that a drawn series will feel like a win for the visitors.

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8 hours ago, Paxter said:

You'd expect India to prepare a result pitch, given that a drawn series will feel like a win for the visitors.

A drawn series really is a win, given that Australia are the current holders and would hence retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Also an achievement given the last 6 series have gone the way of the home side.

It's the ideal setup in that India have to force the issue for a win whereas Australia can play for a draw. The issue for India is that a result pitch probably does not favour them much in the sense that Australia's bowling attack is better-suited to one. India may have better spinners, but Australia have the better pace attack and serviceable enough spinners that they could take advantage of any help in the pitch for the slow bowlers. That being said, barring the first Test shenanigans, India probably has the better batting side in these conditions. They also bat awfully deep with Jadeja down at 9.

India batting only once is actually a bonus for the Australian attack in that Cummins really only had to bowl one innings (even if it was long), hence easing him in a bit more. I'd expect Australia to go in with an unchanged side given that Cummins and Maxwell both performed very well.

The only two problems I have with the Australian setup is that I'm still unsure that Maxwell is a 'proper' batsman at 6 (although he did go a long way to disproving that this last match) and the tail is a bit long.

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Australia threw away their advantage after dominating the first session on a good batting wicket and fell at least 150 runs short of what they should have gotten. The debutant, Yadav, bowled well but losing 9/169 after lunch was a really poor batting effort on that wicket.

We are in a bit of trouble at 123/4 against NZ. The pitch is a lively one though so if we can get close to 250, that might be a competitive score. Hopefully the weather doesn't ruin this Test.

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Yet another collapse from Australia, but they still have the advantage of batting first, bowling last and having runs on the board. I do wonder how this series would have played out if India had won three of the four tosses rather than Australia...

As for Smith's form - wow.

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