Rest of the World

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Duty281 wrote:

JDizzle wrote:

Duty281 wrote:So the most likely scenario is an Australia/New Zealand final at Lord's.

There are many things wrong with the WTC - points system is convulsed and perhaps not particularly fair - but Test cricket at neutral venues is something worth getting excited about! Shame it is only one game.

Yeah, I can't personally say that I am a fan of the WTC. The points system doesn't work properly, fixtures are of unequal value and weighting, and boiling an entire test championship down to one solitary fixture to decide the winner doesn't seem right to me.

That said, I think that Australia and New Zealand are the two best test teams in the world right now and, if that is the final, it would be the right fixture. A shame, as you say, that it's only one game and not, at least, a three-game series.

The current system is a temporary fudge to get around the unforseen situation and make the best of whatever fixtures could be fulfilled.

Had it gone to plan all the teams wouldve played home and away fixtures and had equal opportunities to earn points. That hasnt been the case, but at the same time I dont think anyone can argue theres not a clear top 3 teams with England sat just behind them and the rest of the world a significant step back from that.

One off game may be a bit unfair in that the toss could well play a major part in deciding it, but its always been about providing a focused big televised event rather than genuine competition. However the remaining fixtures pan out we should end up with two teams who deserve to be in the final even if New Zealand have just played at home. A long series in a neutral country just isn't viable in the modern calendar or that interesting to anything other than the hardcore fans.

Soul Requiem wrote:Liton Das has scored a century for Bangladesh against Pakistan. A highly frustrating player, has all the ability in the world but across all formats is prone to brain farts once reasonably set, good to see him make a telling score for a change.

Caught the highlights - did his best to run himself out on 99, would’ve been gone by a few bat lengths!!

214-2 to 296 all out for NZ today - 142.3 overs batted and 296 runs isn't...good. Need to be showing a bit more intent on wickets like these, because as we've already noted many times, wickets fall in clusters!

India did lose Gill before close, but are 63 runs ahead going into day four. In a very strong position now, albeit NZ will have a shot at batting out for a draw you'd think

Pakistan had a great day 2 in Chittagong - Bangladesh went from 255-4 to 330 all out, and now Pakistan are 145-0 in return. Believe Bangladesh have gone in with only 4 frontline bowlers, so a potentially long day and a bit in the field ahead...

This one really turned on the last over before lunch...

You wouldn't exactly say NZ were "cruising" ; but with Latham and Williamson at the crease they appeared to be building a strong position approaching 200 with just one down. Then Yadav pinned the Kiwi skipper with what became the last ball before the interval - and thereby opened the door for the previously rather ineffective Axar to waltz right through it and demolish the NZ middle order.
Being NZ , they battled their way to 296 rather than just folding up meekly :but given they have to bat last against an Indian side with considerably superior spin resources I think that 49 run deficit will prove enough to seal their fate. Two days to go and the pitch will get harder yet to bat on so I can't see a draw as an option.
A good match so far so I hope NZ can make a real fight of it but not optimistic. Really would like to have seen Latham get his century after all his hard graft but he had a bit of a brain fade at an inconvenient time for self and team...so it goes. Credit to India for sticking to their work with patience and reaping the rewards eventually.

Well that's likely sealed the test for India. NZ require some bowling heroics just to keep the lead below 250; even then it would be a difficult chase!

Interesting to see the Bangladesh test closely mirroring the India one:

Close of day one - India 258/4; Bangladesh 253/4.
Close of day two - India 345 ao and NZ 129/0 in reply; Bangladesh 330ao and Pakistan 145/0 in reply.

Bangladesh will be hoping the pattern continues and Pakistan crumble like the Kiwis on day three.

alfie wrote:This one really turned on the last over before lunch...

You wouldn't exactly say NZ were "cruising" ; but with Latham and Williamson at the crease they appeared to be building a strong position approaching 200 with just one down. Then Yadav pinned the Kiwi skipper with what became the last ball before the interval - and thereby opened the door for the previously rather ineffective Axar to waltz right through it and demolish the NZ middle order.
Being NZ , they battled their way to 296 rather than just folding up meekly :but given they have to bat last against an Indian side with considerably superior spin resources I think that 49 run deficit will prove enough to seal their fate. Two days to go and the pitch will get harder yet to bat on so I can't see a draw as an option.
A good match so far so I hope NZ can make a real fight of it but not optimistic. Really would like to have seen Latham get his century after all his hard graft but he had a bit of a brain fade at an inconvenient time for self and team...so it goes. Credit to India for sticking to their work with patience and reaping the rewards eventually.

Hi Alfie - strongly share those thoughts and feelings.

I watched most of the final session. Although the pitch was generally behaving (and so it still should on day 3), the ball from Axar to bowl Blundell kept horrendously low. Can't but feel there'll be more instances of that in the Kiwi's final dig which should enable India's spin trio to clean up and take this Test.

Pujara gone early today (took a drs to get the decision - those leg side glove calls are tricky , to be fair) and Jamieson has been bowling well.

Balls keeping low for Ajaz so batting not easy for India at present. Lead of 85 already so NZ need a few more wickets sharpish...

There's one...Rahane stone dead lbw to another low one. No problem for the umpire with that one.

41/3 . Interesting.

51/4 now as Southee has Agarwal caught at slip. Should have had Shreyas Iyer too earlier , but for Williamson's inexplicable choice to give him only one slip originally , and that in that silly "wide" position. Has a proper cordon in now !

But Jadeja has now gone for a duck so this game is alive : 51/5...

Good partnership from Ashwin (who injected some much needed positivity) and Iyer sees India to 84/5 so 133 ahead.
Problem for NZ in that Ajaz Patel couldn't manage the sort of control the Indian spinners exert. Southee and Jamieson were excellent. But I think they will need some help to get the wickets needed after lunch.

Been a valiant effort from Southee and Jamieson, unfortunately NZ’s spinners just aren’t upto standard
India’s lead past 200 now, still 4 wickets to get - India back in control

So frustrating for NZ, knowing they're just one good spinner away from being a great test side. Think 216 is enough, but another 50+ runs for India in the evening will make it safe.

Duty281 wrote:Interesting to see the Bangladesh test closely mirroring the India one:

Close of day one - India 258/4; Bangladesh 253/4.
Close of day two - India 345 ao and NZ 129/0 in reply; Bangladesh 330ao and Pakistan 145/0 in reply.

Bangladesh will be hoping the pattern continues and Pakistan crumble like the Kiwis on day three.

The pattern continuing here!

Day three - NZ collapse from 129/0 to 296ao, giving India a lead of 49; Pakistan collapse from 145/0 to 286ao, giving Bangladesh a lead of 44.

Very good position for Bangladesh, Taijul Islam a man transformed from yesterday and taking 7/116.

Bangladesh is a spot of bother now though at 15/3

I don't understand why India aren't trying to score more quickly

Was a top spell of new-ball bowling from Shaheen, getting Pakistan back into it. Bangladesh effectively 83/4 at stumps, still ahead in my view. Mushfiqur at the crease, Liton Das still to come, and anything above 200 will be a very tough chase on a pitch with plenty of turn and low bounce.

Perfect day for India as they close in on victory. Another dismal decision from the biased Indian umpires - not reviewed bizarrely - has put them nine away from victory. Lot of positives to take for New Zealand, but picking three spinners was certainly an error.

Duty281 wrote:Was a top spell of new-ball bowling from Shaheen, getting Pakistan back into it. Bangladesh effectively 83/4 at stumps, still ahead in my view. Mushfiqur at the crease, Liton Das still to come, and anything above 200 will be a very tough chase on a pitch with plenty of turn and low bounce.

Perfect day for India as they close in on victory. Another dismal decision from the biased Indian umpires - not reviewed bizarrely - has put them nine away from victory. Lot of positives to take for New Zealand, but picking three spinners was certainly an error.

Regardless of the track, Test match bowlers need to be of Test match quality and especially against a side as good as India. NZ picking 3 ordinary spinners does not equal 1 let alone 2 Test spinners as their combined return of 3/293 across both India's digs clearly shows. Wagner would certainly have been my choice here.

Very poor by Young and Latham not to review Young's dismissal in time. Slightly in their defence the ball from Ashwin kept extremely low - as I was harping on about yesterday - and that may have disconcerted both batsmen.

Anyway, India in a very strong position now. I know Ali above and some of the tv comms thought that India's batters should have tried to give it more welly earlier but I feel they played it well as did Rahane with the declaration. As so often though, a view will be formed on that with the hindsight of knowing the result tomorrow.

Perhaps contrary to many expectations , game remains "live" at tea on day five. Has been a bit of an old fashioned day so far : NZ haven't exactly been chasing the target , though it remained theoretically within reach , but had looked pretty safe until the last over before tea when Taylor got out. Bit like Williamson before lunch on Friday !
Now Nicholls gone early after the break so India need five more in about thirty overs. If NZ had any thoughts of a late charge they are gone now.
Williamson still there so too early to call an Indian win but they will be fired up with those two quick wickets...

Big moment : Williamson plays back to Jadeja and is pinned by another low one.

Pretty clear that one. Bowler basically ran off to celebrate without even looking at the umpire, which is a little rude ... but Williamson knew he was gone.

Team might be too. Six out and still 25 overs to go.

Now the second new ball ends Jamieson's resistance... Just two wickets left and I can't see them holding out for the last 12 overs. Think India have this - though they've been made to work for it.

Eight gone as Jadeja gets Jamieson. Some confusion as to whether he was caught at silly point or lbw on the back leg. The latter confirmed. Strange the batter didn't review. He should have done if only to take 2 minutes out of the game - that's become increasingly relevant with probably only 20 to 25 minutes of actual playing time left given how the light fades.

And India just can't take the 10th as the light finally gives up. Brilliant match.

NZ''s 3 spinners don't look as they can win a Test but they sure as hell saved this one!

Time for India to fire up the two day test wickets to beat another under manned side at home…

guildfordbat wrote:And India just can't take the 10th as the light finally gives up. Brilliant match.

NZ''s 3 spinners don't look as they can win a Test but they sure as hell saved this one!

Yes that had occurred to me while everyone was dissing the NZ selection In fact their three spinners all played vital parts today in scraping an unlikely draw with the bat...

Doesn't mean picking Wagner might not have been a better idea though. Unusual for a visiting team to make the mistake of picking too many spinners in India !

In any case this was an admirable effort from NZ to bat the day and stay level. They are a tough mob , these Kiwis. As you say , a brilliant Test Match

Just caught up with it - fantastic from New Zealand. An old-fashioned rear-guard which many say has gone out of the game. A memorable test debut for Ravindra.

I don't believe that India declared too late - though hindsight merchants will differ - this was just a failure of the bowling to get over the line.

Hopefully New Zealand win the toss for the second (and disappointingly final) test and pick three seamers. I actually think they have a decent chance of victory if they do that.

Didn't see Bangladesh, but they ended up toothless on day four. They set Pakistan 202, which should have been enough to defend, but Pakistan ended stumps at 109/0 in cruise control. Taijul Islam went from taking 7 wickets on day three to none on day four. They really missed Shakib for this one.

Pakistan cruised to victory, 203/2 in the end. Puts them second in the World Test Championship, very early days, and if they can follow up with another victory they'll be on a good track to make the top two.

The second test of Sri Lanka-West Indies is well poised - Sri Lanka bowled out for 204, the West Indies 69/1 in reply.

West Indies are fielding Roston Chase as their third spinner. The England batting lineup c.2019 must be thinking "of course they are going to do well"!

VTR wrote:West Indies are fielding Roston Chase as their third spinner. The England batting lineup c.2019 must be thinking "of course they are going to do well"!

Nothing scarier than a straight break bowler to batsman that hallucinate revolutions on the ball.

Good finish building up in Galle. The West Indies collapsed from 166/2 to 253ao (Mendis 6/70), throwing away their strong position. But two Sri Lankan run-outs (no wonder Arthur always looks stressed) means that Sri Lanka are effectively -3/2 going into day four...possibly three down as Mathews may be unable to bat.

If it stays dry it should be an excellent conclusion, Sri Lanka need to bat through at least two sessions to get themselves into a decent position.

This SL-WI Test and the I v NZ one just completed have thrown up, to my mind, an interesting thought.

That is, that sides that opt to go slow seem these days to have chosen the wrong tactic. We saw NZ and WI reduce run scoring to a trickle in these Tests. Yet they still collapsed.

Back in the 50s and 60s the opposite seemed the case, as sides dug themselves out of trouble with slow rearguards (often initiated by Ken Barrington).

If I'm following England and the runs suddenly dry up I get worried as the slow scoring tends to lead to wickets tumbling.

Of course there are batsmen capable of playing the long, slow innings to perfection (Pujara for one). And sometimes a defensive mindset is necessary given the state of the match.

Also, a long but slow-scoring innings can take the legs out of the fast bowlers. But blocking it out, and then getting out, against spinners who can bowl all day seems the wrong way to go about things.

sirfredperry wrote:This SL-WI Test and the I v NZ one just completed have thrown up, to my mind, an interesting thought.

That is, that sides that opt to go slow seem these days to have chosen the wrong tactic. We saw NZ and WI reduce run scoring to a trickle in these Tests. Yet they still collapsed.

Back in the 50s and 60s the opposite seemed the case, as sides dug themselves out of trouble with slow rearguards (often initiated by Ken Barrington).

If I'm following England and the runs suddenly dry up I get worried as the slow scoring tends to lead to wickets tumbling.

Of course there are batsmen capable of playing the long, slow innings to perfection (Pujara for one). And sometimes a defensive mindset is necessary given the state of the match.

Also, a long but slow-scoring innings can take the legs out of the fast bowlers. But blocking it out, and then getting out, against spinners who can bowl all day seems the wrong way to go about things.

I think there is still a place for a Pujara-esque knock, maybe more in Aus/NZ/SA conditions where the ball will get soft after 30-40 overs so there is value in sitting in, and then "cashing in" when the ball is doing nothing.

But do think in the sub-continent, and more and more in England too, where the ball is going to either continue to spin or swing all the way through it's life, going a bit more proactive is becoming the way to go. Thinking of how Joe Root has batted in both conditions this year as the prime example (particularly against spin).

Funny to think of the different pressures in the different formats of the game.

Batsmen in the middle of a 15-session, five-day Test can suddenly be under pressure even if there are hours to go.

Conversely, a batter in the closing stages of a T20 match needing 4s and 6s to win the match is under no pressure really. He just HAS to go for it and no one is going to blame him if he's caught on the boundary or clean bowled attempting the necessary big hit.

Sri Lanka now in a dominant position after an unbeaten 150 from Dhananjaya, probably his best test innings.

West Indies were well in the game until a 100+ partnership between Dhananjaya and Embuldeniya (!) took the lead past 275. The West Indies were hapless in the final session - a pretty simple chance was spilled early on, then the fielding side appeared to give up fairly quickly afterwards.

Instead of chasing around 200, it'll be around 300. Sri Lanka's lead is 279, they'll bat for a few overs tomorrow then declare. Can't see the West Indies batting it out with no chance of rain to assist them.

Classic Windies, competing well for some of the match before the wheels totally come off. Pretty much the story of their Test cricket for about 20 years now

After that fantastic first test, the second is now underway at Mumbai.
India won the toss and are batting.
Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja are ruled out injured, and Ajinkya Rahane is also ruled out on that basis and not exactly dropped it seems! The skipper is back after his short rest. Jayant Yadav gets a game after 4 years in place of Jadeja, and Siraj is back for Ishant.
For New Zealand, skipper Kane Williamson isn't playing as he's aggravated that elbow injury that he's been managing. No neil Wagner again, and they are going in with the 3 spinners. If he's fit and available, I just can't see NZ not playing Wagner in any conditions, particularly if one of Boult, Southee and Jamieson aren't available! Don't think India would mind much...

Agarwal and Gill putting together a decent partnership upfront, 39 so far, at a good clip.

West Indies mounted some resistance, but then lost their final eight wickets in 13 overs. 11 wickets for Mendis in the match and an expected 2-0 win in the series for Sri Lanka.

Looks like it'll be a long test for NZ - no Wagner, no Williamson, batting last again.

The India-NZ series is shapingup really nicely, despite the low-profile build-up. The first day of the 2nd test saw lots of swings and roundabouts. India started off well by winning the toss, and then the openers putting together a nice partnership. Then Shubman Gill got a stumping reprieve of Ajas Patel on 44, only to edge the next ball to slip. Patel then had Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli for ducks, thus India slipped from 80-0 to 80-3. Mayank Agarwal, witness to the carnage from the other end, then put together another 80 with Shreyas Iyer, only for Patel to then induce a mistake from the latter. India, without Ravindra Jadeja for this test, is light on batting, and Wriddhiman Saha isn't too many people's idea of a number 6 batter. So the door seemed ready to burst for New Zealand. But Mayank played positive cricket, kept putting the bad balls away, and Saha batted as well as he ever did at the top level to give him excellent company all the way up to stumps, with an unbeaten 61 run partnership.
The track has good bounce, and the turn is quicker for spinners. Batters who gets in, can score runs here. Ravichandran Ashwin, and the returning Jayant Yadav can surely bat, and Axar Patel is considered an all-rounder by his Ranji side Gujarat. But New Zealand isn't too far away from the 2nd new ball, and if Southee or Jamieson get their act together in the morning, it could unravel rather quickly.
New Zealand have competed better than most touring sides to India, and they are really giving the hosts a proper run for their money...

Disastrous start for India on day 2 as Ajaz Patel, in the test match of his career so far, nipped out 2 in 2 to reduce them to 224-6. Wriddhiman Saha was out LBW, and Ravichandran Ashwin bowled first ball. Mayank Agarwal has found a bit of support from Axar Patel batting a head of Jayant Yadav since then, to take them to 258-6 at the end of the first hour.

India go to lunch at 285-6, a partnership of 61 reviving them from that doublestrike from Ajaz.

Ajaz gets Mayank soon after lunch. He has taken 7 of 7 so far! Next in after Anil Kumble? A composed 150 from Mayank, held the Indian innings together so far.
How far can the lower order take India now?

A very valuable half-century for Axar Patel. His first in tests . What a debut year he's having in test cricket!

9 out of 9! Come on Ajaz!

The first man to ever take the first 10 wickets to fall in a test match - well done Ajaz!

Ajaz Patel joins Jim Laker and Anil Kumble!!! What a moment for him! All 10 wickets in the Indian innings, as they are bowled out for 325!

Unbelievable. What a feat.

And Ajaz got his 10for in an away test too!

Ajaz didn't have any support from the bowling unit other than from Southee who bowled well with rewards. What can the New Zealand batting lineup do to build on this historic achievement from Ajaz?

With Ashwin, Axar in there, its going to be difficult. Ajaz's performance has already put some serious pressure on Ash and Axar even before they bowled a delivery!

Bet even the Indians were rooting for him. It's amazing to be involved in a feat like this, even if you're the opposition.

Mohammed Siraj with his own double wicket over for India! New Zealand losing their openers early, 15-2. New Zealand had a spinner taking all 10 for then, and then its an Indian seamer with the firstcouple for them!
And could be a 3rd for an Indian seamer as Mitchell is given out and he has reviewed.

Mitchell survives as the ball was missing the wickets!