Aus in Lanka

First topic message reminder :

that's another interesting test series started
Aus does well in Lanka generally and inspite of playing 4 specialist bowlers only.....they bowled out lankans for only 117
that's a huge bonus after having to bowl first.

Lyon continues to perform with steady consistency

Duty281 wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

alfie wrote:And using that review may just have cost Sri Lanka the match !  A short leg catch turned down - wrongly : and no referral left in the kit...

I did say yesterday they needed to be careful with reviews .

Talk about reviews all you want - that is just awful club standard umpiring from Kettleborough - he's hit the face off it!

It's funny, I thought after all the fuss about Broad that Australians always walked!

Ha ha

Gilchrist was the only Australian in the last forty years who walked...

Looking like a draw is not far away now ...

These two have resisted brilliantly : but the thing that will be remembered is the controversy re drs .

Funny how technology doesn't stop arguments over umpiring

22 maidens in a row

Is this a record ?

Silly shot, utterly daft.

A brave and spirited resistance ends.

alfie wrote:22 maidens in a row

Is this a record ?

Yes was a record at 17 overs I believe!

And de Silva gets the break ! Good catch by the keeper : Nevill will be devastated ; he didn't need to play at that ...

One to go .

9th down......there was an inevitability about the decision.
when you freeze strokes and choke runs...one ball will get you

they could have been 15 down by now but for shoddy umpiring....tea will not be taken now

Duty281 wrote:Silly shot, utterly daft.

A brave and spirited resistance ends.

I know it was so against everything he'd been doing for so long , seemed daft : but strange things happen to your head when you've been defending like this for so long...

I've been there. Sympathy for the lad.

Duty281 wrote:6/4 odds on the Sri Lanka victory! It's print money time.

And there we are. A heroic innings from Mendis was the ultimate difference.

All over !

Herath finishes it ....great win for Sri Lanka

Quite a comeback. A new star batsman ...and an old star bowler.

Well done , well deserved

Amazing win by Sri Lanka - Kusal Mendis with surely one of the greatest innings of recent years to set it up, and Herath finishing it off

Brilliant test match

remarkable when you consider....only 2nd win of Lanka over Aus in tests

and 7th consecutive test match defeat for Aus against sub-continent teams in their home games...also remarkable.

Lanka has talent.....they took no less than 25 wickets to bowl out Aus twice

Sri Lanka did it in the end! Much deserved test win, only their 2nd overall, against the Australians! Herath the man to finish things off, finishing with yet another 5for!

Sad for Nevill and O'Keefe after such a heroic stand ; but have to admit it would have not been justice if Sri Lanka had been denied.

Australia with some thinking to do before Galle. Party time for Sri Lanka

The batting wasn't great from both sides in the game other than that absolute jem of an innings from Kusal Mendis. Some of the reviews were terrible. But the one true substandard aspect of the test was the appalling umpiring standards. Even the DRS wasn't used with basic common sense by the umpire.
Sure the ICC would come out and say the umpires have got 96.973586 percent of decisions right!!!

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

alfie wrote:22 maidens in a row

Is this a record ?

Yes was a record at 17 overs I believe!

I did wonder whether it was a record-breaking maiden sequence. Shades of the 60s (Nadkarni, I think, bowled 16 consecutive maidens).
Glad we got a result and that the weather did not have the final word. I echo all that was said about the K Mendis innings. Incredible.

msp83 wrote:The batting wasn't great from both sides in the game other than that absolute jem of an innings from Kusal Mendis. Some of the reviews were terrible. But the one true substandard aspect of the test was the appalling umpiring standards. Even the DRS wasn't used with basic common sense by the umpire.
Sure the ICC would come out and say the umpires have got 96.973586  percent of decisions right!!!

In fairness to the umpires , it was not an easy game for them. Never is with most of the bowling spin , and fielders round the bat , lots of lbw and bat pad calls...
In the old days , the lbw decisions , right or wrong , would not have been so remarked upon.

But there were a couple of rank bad calls : the (nearly crucial) catch at short leg ; and one where there really shouldn't have been any doubt on lbw - thankfully drs took care of that one.

And the questionable bat/pad squeeze that resulted in an lbw being rejected without resort to ball tracker ? I'd like to have seen the hawk eye on that because of course it wouldn't matter if it wasn't hitting 50% ...but if it were , then I'd be questioning the initial decision.

Anyway , eventually no harm done ...as quite often the case , umpiring has less effect on the result than we sometimes think. Reckon this game would have ended the same without drs ...just by a slightly different route

Wow, when was the last time a Test was won by a side who made 117 all out in their first innings?

SimonofSurrey wrote:Wow, when was the last time a Test was won by a side who made 117 all out in their first innings?

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;innings_number=1;orderby=team_score;result=1;runsmax1=117;runsval1=runs;size=25;template=results;type=team;view=innings

Second Test - Sri Lanka recover from 9/2 to be 183/3.

Mendis, again leading the recovery, on 85*.

Australia have comeback well before and after tea. When Mendis and Mathews were running riot it looked as if Sri Lanka were getting well away.
But at 259/7 it is evening up a lot.

Australia still have to bat second , of course

Australia are such hilariously bad players of spin

Sri Lanka 121 - 6 but that's still a lead of almost 300.  Dismal collapse earlier by Aussies to lose 9 wickets for 52 runs.

Joe Burns isn't very good

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Joe Burns isn't very good

Well if you look at the games where he hasnt been very good in isoltaion Id agre with you. But if ytou look at his test career as a whole there arent manay openers in the last decade who've done better in their frist 10 tests.

I guess what we are seeing is his lack of experience away from home. But that shouldnt write him off.

Gooseberry wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Joe Burns isn't very good

Well if you look at the games where he hasnt been very good in isoltaion Id agre with you. But if ytou look at his test career as a whole there arent manay openers in the last decade who've done better in their frist 10 tests.

I guess what we are seeing is his lack of experience away from home. But that shouldnt write him off.

Wasn't impressed with him over here - and he's been abysmal in SL - a few big scores against the worst West Indies side possibly ever over the winter not enough to convince me

In fact beyond Smith and Warner I dislike this whole Aussie batting line up

Going to side with Olly on this one. Burns looks like a walking wicket against good bowlers. A bucketful of runs against a WI side that couldn't be bothered doesn't count for much. I think Khawaja is a good player though, and there's a lot to like about Mitch Marsh (though a little unsure on his batting at this level). Voges is getting on a bit, Nevill is doughty but won't score big runs.

Herath took a hat-trick in all the madness. Starc finished with 11 wickets for 94 runs, so he will be supremely irritated at the lackadaisical Australian batting!

2-0 Sri Lanka.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:Going to side with Olly on this one. Burns looks like a walking wicket against good bowlers. A bucketful of runs against a WI side that couldn't be bothered doesn't count for much. I think Khawaja is a good player though, and there's a lot to like about Mitch Marsh (though a little unsure on his batting at this level). Voges is getting on a bit, Nevill is doughty but won't score big runs.

Gonna have to disagree with you on Mitch Marsh - think I was pretty outspoken on him when they were over here, just don't get it with him. He's a very poor mans Ben Stokes, and he definitely shouldn't be batting anywhere above 8 in test match cricket

Rather aptly the Australian innings ends on a run out

Massive congrats to Sri Lanka - Australia haven't had an answer

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Joe Burns isn't very good

Well if you look at the games where he hasnt been very good in isoltaion Id agre with you. But if ytou look at his test career as a whole there arent manay openers in the last decade who've done better in their frist 10 tests.

I guess what we are seeing is his lack of experience away from home. But that shouldnt write him off.

Wasn't impressed with him over here - and he's been abysmal in SL - a few big scores against the worst West Indies side possibly ever over the winter not enough to convince me

He scored far more runs against the best New Zealand side there has been for a long time, one that caused England a lot of problems. He actually struggled a bit in the Windies.
Its unfair to say hes not scored against quality bowlers. His issue seems to be slow dodgy pitches of the type he doesnt play on at home. Its not like Sri Lanakas bwolers are amazing, but he wouldn't exactly have much experiecne opening against a spinner in Australia.

Then again I will concede that people used to wet themselves over Phil Hughes till he came to England.

Lanka stand at 55-5...and yet you have a feeling they will win the test

karunaratne has to be the worst opener in tests right now right?

In this series, Australia have only made one score above 200 in four attempts (203), so I imagine Sri Lanka will feel pretty confident if they can get up to 250 and beyond.

150/5, at present, great partnership between these two.

Strange day : Australia all over Sri Lanka before lunch - only a drs rescue way from having them 35/6 !

And then...........De Silva and Chandimal ....and on , and on...

With the way Australia have batted in this series , this might end up a winning score...

DSilva.....has been the difference between the 2 sides with his super scores in all 3 games ....in a very low scoring series

Lanka at 300-7 in dominating position after being 5 down for 50....and although its raining.....this series hasn't needed 5 days for results

Australian batsmen trying to turn up at last after Dinesh Chandimal (132) and Dhananjaya de Silva (129), recovering from 26-5, helped Sri Lanka to a big first innings score of 355. Shaun Marsh, making yet another return to the test side, and skipper Steven Smith putting up a fight for their side after David Warner went cheaply not for the first time in the series. Marsh on 64 and Smith on 61 will still have a lot of work on their hand to even draw levels with the Sri Lanka first innings and then think of some thing more. But for the first time in the series, they have found ways to survive the Lankan spinners for a reasonable period of time.......

After the first part of the first day of the first test, Australia are dominating Sri Lanka for the first time in the series. Shaun Marsh has gone pass his hundred, skipper Steven Smith is closing in on his. Lankan spinners not able to find answers to these 2, as Australia reach 215-1.

After a partnership of nearly 250, Australia lose 3 for 20 as Sri Lanka are right back in the game. Australia 287-4, with Voges and Mitch Marsh having to rebuild......

aus have shown gumption....but need a 100 run lead to off-set the disadvantage of batting 4th
they are 50 runs behind yet......so their last 6 needs to add another 150

At last the Australian bats seemed to have learned to bat on these pitches !
Smith and S Marsh at least...

Still could go wrong : they have to bat last. Need the tail to wag now.

they could muster a lead of only 20 odd....not enough....not nearly enough
herath has 325 wickets in his 73rd test running....that's a Hadlesque / Lillesque strike rate for wickets per test

One thing though ; picking Shaun Marsh more or less because he made runs in Sri Lanka , what , five years ago ? ...has paid off . Talk about successful gambles...

I guess any change could only improve on the previous batting lineup.

Need to bowl Sri Lanka out very cheaply. Wouldn't fancy chasing anything over 200.

its seems the pitch is spitting cobras....lanka ahead by 90odd and with 6 wickets still intact.
150 will be a difficult to chase and 200+ will shut Aus out i think

As much as its painful to be an England fan right now, Im glad Im not an Aussie one. Wouldnt fancy facing Herath and Sandakan in a 4th innings.

Holland though ...well I have to temper my opinions on Ali as a bowler when I see this guy trotted out as an specialist spinner.

Cracking series, test cricket is in a good state in terms of producing drama and comeptition if not an audience.

Gooseberry wrote:As much as its painful to be an England fan right now, Im glad Im not an Aussie one. Wouldnt fancy facing Herath and Sandakan in a 4th innings.

Holland though ...well I have to temper my opinions on Ali as a bowler when I see this guy trotted out as an specialist spinner.

Cracking series, test cricket is in a good state in terms of producing drama and comeptition if not an audience.

Am not sure its too painful being an England fan. We won an exciting Ashes last year, a great victory away to SA. Massively improved and exciting in short formats including getting to the T20 final. There have been a few disappointments such as losing that final and not beating Pakistan, but it is not like we lost that one and hard to come back from 1-0 down in a 4 Test series to win

Anyway, this thread is of course about SL vs Aus, and its looking like a very tough chase for Aus that I think is going to be beyond them. Their batting has really struggled this series, but its no surprise as this is just as alien to them as SL playing in Durham in May. Am not convinced these short away tours do much for the quality of the Test cricket

VTR wrote: Am not convinced these short away tours do much for the quality of the Test cricket

Personaly I think Aus continuing to select two Marshes and them looking like the good players in the side doenst do much good for the quality of test cricket

This side is pretty weird and shows a real lack of faith in their specialists. Theres 9 bowling options (4 specilists, 2 all rounders and 3 part timers) , but only 4 proper batsmen. Their tail starts at 5 which is just a bit much when you have struggled to post good scores.

Hijacking this back to England again .. it does cross into that debate about whether guys like Stokes and Ali should bat in the top 5 or not.

I wouldn't say its ideal a wicketkeeping Bairstow, Ali or Stokes bat 5 or above, but I think its looking like the best option as at now.

Basically the selectors have tried this summer players who aren't up to standard and are still stuck with a pretty poor top 5. I guess that's why they persist with Ballance as he did at least look the part at some point whereas the likes of Hales, Lyth, Compton and Vince have not come off

182 ahead lanka with 5 wickets in hand and 27 over remaining in the day.
and they could well be 270 ahead at the end of the day

two additional factors come into the equation now

--will they declare
--draw is a possibility given how Neville and their spinner stone-walled in T1