ljkeane Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 It’s shaping up to be a good test at Centurion. Bavaria Adam rescued Pakistan from complete disaster with a really good innings and now South Africa are fairly quickly four down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 It was a good day of Test cricket at Centurion. Over 300 runs scored and 15 wickets taken. Babar played an excellent innings. The change in his approach once Pakistan went six down was the catalyst - he decided to play more aggressively which was the right idea on this pitch where the batsmen are never really in. I'd say Pakistan are in the better position - morning sessions are never easy to negotiate in South Africa and with just 5 wickets in hand, I don't see us making it to lunch. Pakistan probably take a slight lead going into the second innings. Batting last on this surface, chasing down even 150 is going to be challenging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 Heh, I just noticed the autocorrect on Babar Azam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 Six wickets for four runs in fifteen balls! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 9 hours ago, Jeor said: Might be an early call with only one day's play behind us, but this looks like another MCG drawing pitch. Only 2 wickets to fall on the first day was good discipline by India but Australia should be able to navigate a healthy first innings total as well. It will depend on how much deterioration there is, I guess. I highly doubt it. Their series average is around 270 (lower if you count the last series). So I think there is still some doubt on the Aussie batting lineup's ability to get a healthy first innings score. India's openers and lower order let them down massively last two matches, both of those have now been addressed for this match. It will now expose Australia to a high score in the first innings which I don't think they will able to match. Arguably, India's bowling lineup is stronger as well with Jadeja in. At best this match will be a draw, with India favorites to win. Aussie batters will have to work for it though. They will face lots of Jadeja overs and they kinda suck at playing spin so a collapse isn't out of the question just yet. The tail can't save them for ever..... 5 hours ago, ljkeane said: Heh, I just noticed the autocorrect on Babar Azam. I was wondering wtf you were talking about. I thought there was an expat german player playing or something edit: Ouch. Boult ripped SL a new one.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 Another intriguing day. Our lower order did better than I expected giving us a 42 run lead. Pakistan were in a great position at 100/1 only to throw it away and get bowled out for 190. A target of 149 is going to be challenging for our weak batting lineup on a lively pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 Sri Lanka currently 14 for 2, chasing 660 to win. Ouch. The pitch has clearly improved, but with over two days left, it looks like we've got this. (Looking up the records... Sri Lanka's biggest loss by runs was 304 vs India in 2017, and New Zealand's largest win by runs was 254 vs Zimbabwe in 2016. The largest win by runs on New Zealand soil is 299 by Pakistan in 2001. All those records are under serious threat. Oh, and if Sri Lanka collapse to 147 or fewer... the largest first class win on New Zealand soil is 512 by Wellington vs Auckland... in 1925/1926). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 OK. Quite apart from whether Sri Lanka gets bowled out or not, I stumbled across something else. 660 is the eighth highest winning target ever set in test cricket - and the highest since Australia set the West Indies 735 to win in 1969. The other higher run targets date from before the Second World War, Edit - Further investigation shows that 1969 was a six day test, and the six pre-War examples were timeless tests (two of which hilariously ended in draws). So this is the highest target ever set in a five-day test match, and comfortably the highest ever set by New Zealand (the previous record there being 481). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 Thankfully both Elgar and Amla showed up when we really needed them to. Both enjoyed a slice of luck as well - Amla was dropped on eight while Elgar survived an extremely tight caught behind decision when he was on four. Pakistan bowled well and chasing down the target was a whole lot tougher than the six wicket win might suggest. This looks like it's going to be a competitive series. Both sides have a quality bowling attack coupled with a frail batting lineup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Man, those O'Keeffe comments are awful, his apology is even worse. Yeesh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Yay! A truly comprehensive win. Eighth largest in tests in terms of runs, largest New Zealand win, largest Sri Lankan defeat, and largest on New Zealand soil. Fifth largest first class win by runs on New Zealand soil, and the second largest first class win by runs on New Zealand soil since the Second World War. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 The final India/Australia test is about to start. So much depends on the toss - Paine is due a win after only one in five! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 And he loses the toss again, India batting first. The toss does give them a big advantage but I do also wonder whether the Australian batting lineup would have been able to take advantage of the conditions - there's every chance the batting would have flopped, whether going first or not. Kohli out, but Pujara looking well set again. If India get another 450+ first innings score you'd have to think they'd be nailed on for the win, or at least a draw (as they don't have to push the issue, leading 2-1 already). Re: selection I think India have got it right. They bat much deeper now with Jadeja at 8, and Kuldeep Yadav (first-class average of 25 with a century to his name) at 9. They only have Shami and Bumrah for pace, but it's a slow pitch and with two full-time spinners from different directions (left arm orthodox and left arm wrist) plus Vihari backing up (right arm off) they have great spin variety to exploit the conditions. Australia's selection is a bit weird. Dropping Finch and Mitchell Marsh was probably the right call, but bringing in Labuschagne at 3 is very weird and smacks of desperation. I presume they wanted him for his part-time spin and didn't want to drop any of the pace bowlers (Cummins, Starc or Hazlewood), so going for a part-timer was the only option available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Australia being absolutely caned in this match. India have just passed 600 runs and Jadeja has put Cummins to the sword with four boundaries in an over, while Pant is on an unbeaten century and closing in on 150. They've put on 186 off 208 balls. I get the feeling India is not necessarily out to win this match, since they already lead the series 2-1. But they probably should have declared by now if they wanted to have a decent bowl at the Aussies tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 After Perera clobbered Southee for four sixes in one over, I was convinced the Sri Lankans were going to pull that one off. Amazing game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 Australia will likely be saved by rain in the Fourth Test but there's no doubt they've been solidly outplayed across this series. When you consider the Indian team also has a number of very new players to the Test team (Agarwal, Pant, Bumrah, Vihari), they've done exceptionally well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 The 2nd Test was a whole lot more comfortable than I thought it was going to be. Once again the Pakistani batting lineup suffered a couple of blowouts - dismissed in 50 overs in their 1st innings and then losing 7 wickets in the final session of day 3. Much like India, Pakistan have paid the price for poor preparation by not bothering to arrive earlier and play one or two warmup matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 Extremely impressive stuff from India and frankly the 2-1 scoreline flatters Australia. Not only did India's batsmen completely outperform Australia's (five centuries to zero), but both India's pacemen and spinners struck at a much better rate than Australia's much-vaunted attack. Even the heroic Nathan Lyon was blunted, with a strike rate of nearly 70 balls per wicket. I have to give begrudging credit to Kohli/Shashtri. They managed to rally the team after the Perth loss and get the selections (and tosses) right in Melbourne and Sydney. Australia will probably recover to beat a struggling Sri Lanka in the second test series of the summer, but the prospects of retaining the Ashes next year are looking slimmer by the week. The only real silver lining for Australia was the discovery of Marcus Harris. They may well have (finally) found a long-term opening partner for Warner. Cummins was also fantastic, but we already knew that. In other news, I'm encouraged to see that Faf has been rubbed out for the final match of the Pakistan series. Slow over rates are a scourge and captains need to face meaningful sanctions if they can't keep the game moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 Pujara was the main difference between the two teams. He completely crushed the spirit of the Aussie bowler. By the time middle order came, the job was done. Aussie bowlers were spent. Beneath the Gold, brittle steel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 Yeah Pujara was fantastic. Hopefully Kohli and Shastri never see fit to drop him again! Their obsession with attacking batsmen (Rohit, Rahul, Dhawan) over accumulators (Jinks, Puj) needs to end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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