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Cricket 37: Boycott's Grandma Probably Should Bat


Jeor

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1 minute ago, Paxter said:

I live in hope! The thought of Australia retaining the Ashes after only three tests makes me ill.

An England win would certainly put the cat among the pigeons! A 1-1 series with Anderson and Smith returning to their respective sides could set up a titanic last two Tests.

Still a long way to go before that happens, though - there's a reason chasing 350+ in a Test match isn't easy. Still, England have an actual chance of winning this match still, which is more than anyone would have said at the start of today's play.

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A lot depends on this session. England can probably lose up to 2 wickets and still be in a reasonable position for the start of tomorrow given Stokes and Bairstow's recent form. Three wickets wouldn't be game over, but Australia would definitely feel more comfortable.

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Massive inside edge on that Root LBW, once again DRS saves the day. That would have potentially been a game-changing call.

Denly one away from his half-century. Go Denly, go! If he wins the match for England I want to see how @Paxter plays that....!

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England had a great last session. They didn't knock off many runs but crucially they only lost one wicket. 7 wickets in hand for 200 more runs is definitely on. Australia did well to restrict them and at least not give away many more runs.

Australia will need to keep calm, start the morning session well and hopefully secure a few wickets with the new ball. The lower order has the capability of chipping in, especially if one of Stokes, Buttler or Bairstow can stay in with them, so while Australia don't need to panic, they will definitely be keen to strike early.

I think it's still in Australia's favour but England's chance of winning is probably now up to a reasonable 30-35 percent. There is a reason these targets are historically difficult, but the consistent day four pitch should also help England and it's obvious they have finally found some resolve with the bat.

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1 hour ago, BigFatCoward said:

If they try to bat out the day without going for the win they should be ashamed.  Would it even be realistically possible for that to happen, can you bat for a full day and not score that many runs?

If Tavare was batting, anything would be possible. But I think this side are incapable of sustaining Tavareness for a whole day! It would be a run rare of 2 an over would still pretty much get them there.

Besides there are two days to go. I expect the new ball will either deliver a few wickets or a few runs so we'll have a good idea how this is going to end by the time the lunch break comes around.

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3 minutes ago, Jeor said:

If Tavare was batting, anything would be possible. But I think this side are incapable of sustaining Tavareness for a whole day! It would be a run rare of 2 an over would still pretty much get them there.

Besides there are two days to go. I expect the new ball will either deliver a few wickets or a few runs so we'll have a good idea how this is going to end by the time the lunch break comes around.

Got my days mixed up. Thought this was the last day. Notting hill carnival week blows me all put of step. 

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Less than 150 to get with 6 wickets in hand - I think England are inching ahead now. The pitch looks to be playing very well and Australia are going off the boil. If England can get to the lunch break with no more wickets falling, they should be in good shape to win the game - they still have Buttler in the sheds (why is he coming in after Bairstow if he's picked as a specialist batsman?) plus a very capable Woakes.

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This is going to be a nailbiter.

You have the feeling with England being England and the pedigree of Australia's bowlers, there are probably going to be some wickets today somewhere, it's just a matter of whether they can get close enough to the total that those wickets don't completely derail the chase.

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If there were no lunch break, England would have gladly kept on batting. Australia's best chance of winning this match is to regroup and strike early. But England look like they are much more solid now and with the target getting closer, Australia won't be able to all-out attack.

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I knew it...there are some twists and turns to come in this match yet. Bairstow out chasing a wide one but you can't criticise him for that, he had got runs quickly by attacking and it was working, so it couldn't really be considered a rash shot in the grand scheme of things.

England still ahead, I think. Stokes is still at the crease, Buttler has just joined him, and Woakes is just about good enough to be considered a reasonable batsman. It's still only about 100 runs to go. Each of them just needs to score another 30 runs each and they'll be home and hosed when you count extras or contributions from lower on down.

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