England vs India 2nd Test debate

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Sides

England:

1) Andrew Strauss (C)
2) Alistair Cook
3) Jonathan Trott
4) Kevin Pietersen
5) Ian Bell
6) Eoin Morgan
7) Matt Prior (WK)
8) Tim Bresnan
9) Stuart Broad
10) Graeme Swann
11) James Anderson

India:

1) Abhinav Makund
2) Rahul Dravid
3) Sachin Tendulkar
4) VVS Laxman
5) Yuvraj Singh
6) Suresh Raina
7) MS Dhoni (WK)
8) Harbhajan Singh
9) Praveen Kumar
10) Sreesanth
11) Ishant Sharma

Gregers wrote:Broad over bresnan would have been a better decision.

Morgan had a good little cameo, should have gone on tho. Prior to counter attack here. We need a lead of 350+ minimum.

I'd suggest that 70 is more than a little cameo. It's a substantial number of runs.

Colly got hammered on the old 606 for that incident, any who supported him where most definately in the minority.

Don't think the Indians are going to win this one from here on. the body language is pretty downcast. And there is no Gautam Gambhir to bat through and save it. Tendulkar and Dravid will play themselves into a shel, and the rest won't have much to offer.
Time for MSD to come up with some Dhoni magic, the team lack inspiration at the moment.

eirebilly wrote:The forecast is for some rain on Tuesday dyre and overcast tomorrow. Batting will not get any easier. England, after being in a terrible position are now in a very strong position to go 2-0 up. Whou could have imagined that?

Indeed Eire. England have, at times, done their best to help India out, but just lately we seem to have a knack for getting out of sticky situations.

If the weather does indeed start to deteriorate tomorrow, there really isn't much point in England carrying on. With overcast / damp conditions, a lead of 350 - 400 should be plenty.

Maybe cameo was a touch harsh!

Bresnan proving me wrong as well lol

Ecb have thanked India dir withdrawing the appeal

Gregers wrote:Right ,now that that's all cleared up.

Prior showing why he is arguably the best wicket keeper batsman in the world atm. Not that I'm biased at all...

Should we be looking to declare tonight?

I think declaring with a lead of 320 tonight gives India hope. It's not an overly challenging target, and they don't even have to bat particularly positively to get there.

Declaring with a lead of 400 sometime tomorrow morning would throw a challenge down to India. It would be gettable if they bat out the overs, but Strauss would have enough runs to set attacking fields.

The other way, one that Strauss favours, would be to get to around 500 by tea time on day 4. Keep India running around the field and give them absolutely no hope of chasing it down. India go into their shells and England's bowlers come out firing. However, I don't think we have enough batting to come to put on another 185 runs! Might not be advisable with a bit of rain forecast on Tuesday either.

I favour batting out today and having a quick thrash in the morning. Set India around 400 with 5 and a bit session to go. Then apply pressure with tight bowling and attacking fields.

battingwitharunner wrote:

Gregers wrote:Broad over bresnan would have been a better decision.

Morgan had a good little cameo, should have gone on tho. Prior to counter attack here. We need a lead of 350+ minimum.

I'd suggest that 70 is more than a little cameo. It's a substantial number of runs.

Wouldn't be surprised if we won this match by less than 70 runs, but when a batsman gets in he should look to crack on. 70 is better than 7, but it's not a match-winning knock.

Stunning from England. Prior with a nice 6. India are really under the cosh now

Meanwhile, Prior has move to 52* off 38. Lead is up to 335 and Sharma's conceded a ton now.

More buffet bowling from India and Prior helps himself to another boundary, taking him to 52...getting there even faster than Morgan. Just 38 balls for that 50!

This is unbelievable from England. I am truely gobsmecked

Prior looks set for his 2nd hundred of the series.

Come on you Shark! Brilliance from prior again.

Man of the series so far surely?

Time Dhoni takes the ball, and get a hat trick!!!.
Don't see any other way out of this for India.

Assuming Prior doesn't get out and we don't get bowled out at the other end, I reckon it we'll bat till Prior gets his ton at least. Strauss seems to let batsmen get to their milestones. Prior needs 43, we'll say 37 at the other end and extras and we'll have a lead of around 420. At the current scoring rate 80 runs would take 20 overs, which is over an hours play. Half an hour now, 50 minutes in the morning then have a go at India for an hour before lunch. Sound about right?

India have really missed Khan this test. He is pretty much their only game breaking bowler

Sounds like a plan to me Robbo.

Prior cannot put a foot wrong. If England can, I say bat until lunch tomorrow and then stick them in. I think England can bowl them out in 5 sessions.

Kumar would be a brilliant signing for a county next season.

England are edging towards 400 runs in a days play

I find it amusing that the commentators are dragging this 'stumping' out. It is done and dusted. I wish they would move on from it. The fact England have batted well today is the real headline.

It must be very depressing for India this. They are watching the match slip away after such a dominant first day.

402-5 so far today.

Thats a special day of batting from England.

If Zaheer Khan is fit for the third test he should come in for Harbhajan Singh in my opinion. 4 front line seamers and Yuvraj and Raina as the spin options. That way if one of India's seamers is going round the park they can take him out the attack. They've missed Khan in this series though, he's a classy bowler. Would England have recovered from 62-5 or 107-6 in the second innings of the first test or from 124-8 in the first innings of this one if Khan was fit?

Edgbaston 2005 we managed 407 all out at 5.13 an over in the first day. I think this might have been an even better day from an England batsman's perspective.

I doubt that they would robbo. He has been a massive loss for India.

I am in awe of this dominant batting display from England today, totally taken the game away from India

Crikey! When was the last time any side scored over 400 runs in one day of a Test match?

Hundred partnership up for Prior and Bresnan in just a little over 100 balls. Magnificent effort by these two.

robbo277 wrote:Edgbaston 2005 we managed 407 all out at 5.13 an over in the first day. I think this might have been an even better day from an England batsman's perspective.

I was hoping for 300 max today so this is exceptional by the batsmen.

Superb partnership this. I think that England, if possible, should bat uintil lunch to really take the game away from India

robbo277 wrote:If Zaheer Khan is fit for the third test he should come in for Harbhajan Singh in my opinion. 4 front line seamers and Yuvraj and Raina as the spin options. That way if one of India's seamers is going round the park they can take him out the attack. They've missed Khan in this series though, he's a classy bowler. Would England have recovered from 62-5 or 107-6 in the second innings of the first test or from 124-8 in the first innings of this one if Khan was fit?

Good points Robbo. India have also missed Sehwag and Gambhir in their batting, so they have been handicapped. Still a very imressive display from England though.

What a day of cricket that was. Oustanding.

India will have to pull something big out if they are going to avoid loosing this match.

eirebilly wrote:Superb partnership this. I think that England, if possible, should bat uintil lunch to really take the game away from India

If I were Strauss, I'd just give it long enough to let Prior get his hundred then declare.

If there is any chance of rain affecting play, England will want to get India in as soon as possible. Set too big a target and they won't even try - just try to defend their wickets. India have batted cautiously for the most part anyway, so our bowlers may need the extra time.

great day for england

but credit to dhoni over the bell thing, letting him come back

Yeah you are probably right dyre. England have the luxury where they can just swing away now and not worry.

interview with belly should be intresting lol

and dravid

Who is a guru on the rankings? If England win this series, where will it leave them? 2nd i would have thought.

if we win by 2 clear tests then yes we (england) go number 1, but only if we win by two clear tests

Wow, that would be impressive then.

Only one thing can stop England now after those 5 individual knocks this innings...the weather. Tomorrow should be fine, a bit cloudy but no rain, but heavy rain is predicted for Tuesday

Checked a couple of up to date forecasts and they are both predicting Rain on Monday night and clearing away before play on Tuesday.

Not much chance of a shower either on tues .

With that forecast England could bat to lunch or not long after.

eirebilly wrote:Who is a guru on the rankings? If England win this series, where will it leave them? 2nd i would have thought.

For future reference eirebilly, use this site: http://icc-cricket.yahoo.net/match_zone/test_predictor.php

And good to see Swanny offering his view of the run-out incident via Twitter:

"The big issue about 'the run out that wasn't' hasn't been mentioned yet. I had already started a cheese sandwich, so it was definitely tea. Had I bitten into a slice of malt loaf then the decision would stand. "

lol yh i saw that, swanny and jimyy's tweets are pricless...

cricketfan90 wrote:interview with belly should be intresting lol

dull pointless and "on message"

robbo277 wrote:402-5 so far today.

417 in a day is something to be proud of for Eng fans.

I saw Bell incident, and made me think of him , being foollish, beleieving his boundry will 100% pass the rope, without being stopped by the fielders.

Why does he (still) not admit he was desparate to spend a penny??!!

Haha good point!

One day on from Bell Run Gate. All calm today? Great sportsmanship from Dhoni and India in general. Looking at it again, Bell was definitely out though. Would England have withdrawn the appeal? The umpires opinion should have stood imo. Bell going onto score 20 more runs is the plus for us.

Anyways, off to play golf this morning so won't be around until midday. Good luck to Prior and Bresnan to get their milestones. Surely declaration after lunch?

By the letter of the law, it was out. However, it is probably the right decision by India to revoke their appeal, as it would have left a pretty sour taste and been rather unsporting.

The right decision has been made, and we move on.

Some more quick runs from Prior and Bresnan this morning and we can start to look toward a declaration around the 450 lead mark.

By the letter of the law they werent allowed to revoke their decision once the players had left the pitch.
They should have done the right thing at the time and withdrew it without Strauss having to pressure them into it, although the umpires would have been perfectly justified in pointing out it was too late now. IOt just seems they didnt want to be the ones getting the blame for Bells mistake and the unsporting conduct

In the end its India who have suffered from this though. It clearly boosted England and affected their already demoralised team. Whislt psychology, resiliance and endurance are huge parts of test cricket I would rather have seen England win this series purely by outplaying India. Instead a combination of injuries and mental weakness has made their job much easier (so far!)

Its pretty much certain that England iwll win this game now. That will pressure India into rushing back Khan and Sehwag whether they are fully fit or not. If England have Trott and Tremlett back at least we will see something like the first choice lineups in the next test going at it. Hopefuly India will come out fighting for some pride and to save the series, they are too good a team to let this sort of thing crush them. Whilst England have played briliantly at times and made the best of the controvesial situations ( not allowing poor umpiring in the first test to deflate them, taking full advantage of the Bell situation in this) I dont feel this test match has been a true test of the two sides cricketing ability.

Still, you wouldnt have seen Steve Waugh worrying about that kind of thing.