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KP_fan wrote:

msp83 wrote:So India is getting back on the field tonight, kicking off their WTC campaign. Rohit has already confirmed Jaiswal will open, and Gill drop down to 3. When all the talk of Yashasvi taking over from Pujara at 3 was going on, I felt he should open, particularly since the team views Gill as the eventual successor to Virat Kohli at 4. Going forward, I see a top 4 of Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran/Devdutt Padikkal/Rohan Kunnummal, Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Eswaran has been hard done by......Jaiswal was jumped over him
Mayank Agarwal should not be ruled out...he has batted very well in FC and has a decent test match showing also.

And don't forget the favorite boy of seniors and BCCI in KL Rahul...as soon as he is fit he will walk back into the 11

Its been tough on Easwaran. Think Mayank and KL might find it difficult to now fight their way back in. Particularly if Yashasvi has a good start to his career. KL might still make a comeback when Rohit leaves, but I hope Easwaran, Rohan and even Padikkal will make better cases for themselves.
As for Yashasvi jumping over Abhimanyu, though its tough on the latter, think is the right call. Jaiswal scored hundreds on his Ranji, Duleep and Irani trophy debuts. He's versatile and has shown adaptability as indicated by his IPL success. And, its not much noted these days, but he's a handy parttimer with the ball, he very much was for the U-19s, hope he'll get a few chances right away to work on that secondary skill of his...

Aah...no century for Jamal , as he falls at last to Lyon , caught at long on for 82. Pakistan 313 all out : a lot more than it looked like being for much of the day. This young chap has done pretty well on the tour with some good late batting as well as one good wicket haul : when he sorts out some of the rough edges from his bowling he could be quite a find for Pakistan.

Ten minutes for Warner to make what could conceivably be his last walk to the crease in a Test ? (Though I'd actually expect Australia will need to bat twice now that Pakistan have mustered a decent total ). Only going to be one over , it seems. Will Warner face it ? Will see in a minute...

Guard of honour for Warner from the Pakistan team. Warner indeed to take strike ; spinner Sajid to bowl...

And bang ! Cut away first ball for a boundary...

But the penultimate ball slips off Warner's bat and narrowly misses his stumps : could have easily been an unwanted end for the local hero ! As it is , 6 not out at the close of another interesting day of Test Cricket.

While in SA , both sides have gone quite bowler-heavy : SA bringing in Maharaj to bat eight and add spin to the pace attack - which has the fit again Ngidi in for Coetzee. But the absence of Bavuma has led to a debut for Tristan Stubbs , while Petersen is dropped.

India have a long tail with Bumrah listed at eight. Though Jadeja replacing Ashwin might make them feel more comfortable. Prasidh gets another go , with Thakur out , replaced by Mukesh.

SA win the toss and bat. Reports of "big cracks" in the pitch so that might be a good toss to have won ...

Impressive recovery from Pakistan.

SA/India looks a typical bowler friendly wicket. Would be surprised if it goes beyond three days.

Wow...SA may be regretting taking first knock ! 15/4 after ten overs not the start they would have wanted...

Going to need some work from the all rounders to get this up to a semi-respectable score , you'd think. Just 11 runs between the top four bats. Pressure on Bedingham in his second game , and keeper Verreynne. But Bumrah and Siraj will need a rest soon so how the Indian backup bowlers fare will be important...

34/5.

This isn't a good pitch at all. Ball doing all sorts. Some keeping low, that last one leaping off a length. Advantage tilted too far in favour of the bowlers. It's like a vastly deteriorated day 4/5 pitch.

Might not go even two days at this rate !

Five for Siraj as Jansen follows Bedingham back to the pavilion in the seamer's eighth successive over - he will be glad he's stayed on

34/6. Only Bedingham has managed double figures. Can Maharaj and the rabbits possibly even help Verreynne get this up to 100 ? Wouldn't put money on it ...

55ao. Some nice slip catching in amongst all that. Siraj 6/15, his best figures.

Still wouldn't rule South Africa out. The pitch is horrific.

woke up early and uncharacteristically decided to watch the Pak-Aus game when normally I merely  look at CI scorecards

And witnessed an excellent passage of short bowling by Aus seamers again  in unhelpful conditions to pluck out the middle order of Pak to short pitch trap.
And then a brilliant rear guard from Amer Jamaal. He showed shades of Shardul's inning in Brisbane on our famous last tour there
There is spin in the pitch and Pak although probably 35 short of par  of per commentators ...they did get many more runs on the board than it appeared one time they would.

And Aus bat last.....and Pak have the spin bowling....a spin batting all-rounder in Agha Salman and spin bowling allrounder in Sajid khan

The latter looks slippery.....bowls with somewhat of a Rashid khan like action and slips in a top-spinning leg-break  type delivery that slided in to the LHB and will shape away from RHB

Hope Pak can run Aus deep.

Meanwhile India surprised us all with this fiery display of bowling
Siraj used to blow away Lankans like this ...but this was a special effort & totally unexpected collapse from SA
The pitch was not deemed to be as seaming & bouncy as in T1 and that's why they brought Maharj in and chose to bat first

And as I have written before...Mukesh Kumar ain't fast but bowls so close to the stumps and so stump to stump and moving both ways...the goodish / fullish length......he is like McgRath
( call him a Poor man'y McGrath now but even that is a huge compliment)

India need to stand up and bat BIG...their tail starts at 8 ...so the top order aught to deliver.....get a 250 run lead atleast

55 all out. Good luck defending that

Rohit making sure SA aren't getting back into this game quickly ...

But now Rabada thinks he has him : nope ; missing leg.

Given India's long tail , a bunch of wickets could turn things around , I guess. But if the pitch gets worse rather than better , even a lead of a hundred ought to guarantee a win for the tourists.

Pitch is Bouncy which is why Rohit survived 2 DRS

Rohit has been moving his feet better & trying to play the ball late

Rohit falls to one that bounced a bit more off a length and went to gully
almost like a Jadeja dismissal on Indian pitch

The pitch now has juts bounce and sometimes uneven bounce off a length......movement is gone
Therefore Gill is able to hit thru the line

Terrible from South Africa, that was so bad I'd actually drop most of the players for their upcoming tour. Oh hang on....

India not messing about here : Gill and Kohli were scoring briskly ... Probably reckon one with your name on it will arrive sooner or later so get it while you can ? Maybe the best tactic.

Burger has gone for runs ...but has a second wicket now due to a great catch from Jansen in the gully. 105/3 so India will want another partnership to cement their advantage ; but already fifty ahead and I reckon they are well on the way to levelling the series.

Ha ... another successful jinx

Three for Burger as Shreyas Iyer goes for a duck.... 110/4 and that lengthy tail not so far away now...

Pitch is bouncy and LBW not easy to eek out of umpires
on the contrary the edges are flying quite easily to hands at catchable heights because of good bounce

Jadeja, Kohli and KL have to get 130 runs between them...and 10 from 4 tailend bowlers...to get to 250

On the other hand...SA could be batting again today

KP_fan wrote:Jadeja, Kohli and KL have to get 130 runs between them...and 10 from 4 tailend bowlers...to get to 250

On the other hand...SA could be batting again today

Must be a strong chance of that , no ? If SA can get one of these and Jadeja , can't see a last four -with Bumrah the number eight - lasting too long on this. I reckon India would be happy enough getting 120 ahead and having another bowl tonight.

First half hour after tea vital. I think SA really have to skittle them or this is practically over.

alfie wrote:

KP_fan wrote:Jadeja, Kohli and KL have to get 130 runs between them...and 10 from 4 tailend bowlers...to get to 250

On the other hand...SA could be batting again today

Must be a strong chance of that , no ? If SA can get one of these and Jadeja , can't see a last four -with Bumrah the number eight - lasting too long on this. I reckon India would be happy enough getting 120 ahead and having another bowl tonight.

First half hour after tea vital. I think SA really have to skittle them or this is practically over.

yup they'd be happy if they can get that
2 wkts in 2nd over after tea

3 in the over

Treble wicket maiden for Ngidi, then Kohli falls in the next over.

18 wickets inside 60 overs. Another terrible day for test cricket.

153/4.

Eleven balls later.

153ao.

May just be the greatest collapse in the history of test cricket. But what a farce all round. Not even 59 overs and 20 wickets are down. If we get a full day's play then it could conceivably be all over in one day, if SA get rolled in around 25 overs again.

153-4 to 153 all out
Mother of all collapses

Ummm. What just happened?

6 wickets in 11 deliveries?

According to Cricinfo, it's the first instance in test history of six wickets falling for no run. And the second lowest number of total balls for the first two completed innings in a test, beaten only by Aus v Eng in Melbourne in 1901 (Aussies bowled out for 112, England 61).

Full credit to India, by the way. Getting 153 on that s**theap is a real success. Only three batsmen got into double figures. Sharma with 39, Gill with 36 and Kohli 46. Three superb innings. Worth centuries everywhere else.

I'm not sure the pitch looked too bad in the last 11 deliveries tbh. Jadeja got a steep riser, but otherwise, KL feathered an uppercut having missed the shot 3-4 times before that, Virat chased the game a bit, a run out and a #10 was dismissed in a team where Bumrah is the #8. 210/20 is a bad look, but it was 153/4 like 15 minutes ago

kingraf wrote:I'm not sure the pitch looked too bad in the last 11 deliveries tbh. Jadeja got a steep riser, but otherwise, KL feathered an uppercut having missed the shot 3-4 times before that, Virat chased the game a bit, a run out and a #10 was dismissed in a team where Bumrah is the #8. 210/20 is a bad look, but it was 153/4 like 15 minutes ago

that's true, it's not that bad

from where Ind were 250 was a reasonable expectation

The Roller between innings seems to have settled the pitch
Its lasts max 10 overs

South Africa need to get to at least 300 here. The pitch is lively, but its not like its cracked, so you'd think as the game progresses the deviation should get lesser and lesser or at least slower. To that end, as important as scoring runs will be, they'll probably need to bat 120 more overs, to grt some wear on the pitch. Pretty huge ask, I'm aware

It's not impossible but difficult to bat on a pitch like this that's bouncing off a length
The modern day batsman does not have patience certainly and technique many a times to negotiate this.

Good day for SA. Won the toss, batted first, Markram's still there at stumps and they're only three down...

Will be all over tomorrow.

Have to feel for Elgar being out twice on the first day of his final test. Guess he never will get that double-century.

An hour gone in Sydney and the Australian openers are still in occupation at a cautious 39/0 from 16 overs. Warner is very fortunate to be still there as he edged Jamal to first slip earlier - only to see one of the easiest chances imaginable spilled by the hapless duck-making debutant Ayub : poor fellow's first Test can hardly get worse !

Pakistan bowling has been OK : perhaps too many balls that haven't had to be played ; but generally working to a plan , not giving away easy runs and besting the bat on a few occasions. Pitch looks pretty easy though and I reckon Australia will be looking to turn this steady start into a hefty first innings...450 wouldn't surprise me. Sort of pitch on which Smith is virtually guaranteed a century...

Seen a bit of spin already - or rather , spin bowler : ball hasn't been doing much turning so far . Pakistan might be already wondering what they can do to engineer a breakthrough- other than wait for a mistake.

Update now at 59/0 from 21. They are milking Salman's slow offerings comfortably as the pacers rotate at the other end. Without Afridi they look a bit samey I'm afraid ; and that dropped catch seems to have taken a bit of the edge off them.

I see that last session in SA produced another spectacular clatter of wickets ...hardly surprising after what we saw earlier in the day , I suppose - though 6/0 is a bit special ! Almost regretting I bailed shortly after tea thinking India were going to settle things down with Kohli and Rahul in occupation : got that wrong

What is the story then , after 270/23 in the day ? Unfit for purpose pitch deserving of a minus-5 rating ? Or two pretty feeble batting lineups unable to cope with good pace bowling on a "sporty" surface ? Something in between ?

Result in two days a given unless SA can somehow turn 62/3 into a serious score : I won't be putting money on that happening.

Meanwhile , back in Sydney , Pakistan have struck twenty minutes before lunch... Part time spinner Salman got one to bounce more than Warner expected and had him pouched at slip by Babar. Marnus starting carefully . 74/1.

Should also correct earlier post : was not Salman being milked (he only arrived in the attack a little while ago , in time to nab Warner) , but the first choice spinner Sajid - who has been rather upstaged by his part time colleague. Apologies for my carelessness to Salman - who is really bowling rather well and not giving anything away.

Lunch at 78/1. Thirty overs done so a respectable 29 bowled in the session - makes a nice change

Even session : but think Pakistan needed more than the one wicket there as batting is likely to be fairly easy against the older ball , at least for the next couple of days. Warner won't be happy with an underwhelming 34 ...and lucky to get that to be honest : he will be hoping for a lively second innings run chase , perhaps ?

alfie wrote:I see that last session in SA produced another spectacular clatter of wickets ...hardly surprising after what we saw earlier in the day , I suppose - though 6/0 is a bit special ! Almost regretting I bailed shortly after tea thinking India were going to settle things down with Kohli and Rahul in occupation : got that wrong

What is the story then , after 270/23 in the day ?  Unfit for purpose pitch deserving of a minus-5 rating ?  Or two pretty feeble batting lineups unable to cope with good pace bowling on a "sporty" surface ?  Something in between ?

Result in two days a given unless SA can somehow turn 62/3 into a serious score : I won't be putting money on that happening.

It's not a good pitch, but according to CricViz, the expected average for the day was 18, and instead both teams lost 210/20, so I guess it was a sporty deck and one of those days where everything hit the edge.

Added to that, all but one of the wicket balls on the day where threatening the stumps. Now obviously this is often the case, but paired with the fact that the run rate for the day was almost 4 to the over as wickets fell all throughout the day, and I so think a part of it was also some injudicious stroke play.

Hour after lunch has seen the score advance slowly to 113/2 (just 35 runs from 15 overs - bowling has been tight , especially Hamza , ten overs for 11 runs ) Khawaja the only casualty , found to be strangled down leg off Jamal after an excellent review by Rizwan for 47.

Smith just in ; and Marnus (22 from 58) with some work to do now...

Sydney crowd unhappy now as the umpires take them off for bad light... Apparently they offered Masood the option of bowling spin both ends - but he understandably declined as his mix of pace and spin was exerting some pressure .

So at 116/2 we wait for the clouds to clear...and hope no rain.

Thanks for that info , kingraf. The parts I saw certainly suggested the pitch was a bit too much in favour of the bowlers , but maybe it shouldn't have produced all out 55 ! Or six going down for nothing...

Possible I guess it will be slower and a little less difficult on day two ; but hard to see SA getting enough to put India under chasing pressure unless it really flattens out - in which case they'd need quite a lead , no ? We might have a pretty good idea by lunch. If it goes like day one , it could actually be all over by lunch

Well, it's a 17 over old ball, instead of a brand new nut, so that's something of an advantage today, but its a woefully inexperienced batting line up. Verreynne has 576 Test runs to his name. I think Bedingham has around 100, and Jansen has 400-odd. India would need to fluff their lines pretty badly to lose from here.

Well the good old Sydney weather has done for day two....bit of a pattern around New Year I'm afraid , but you sort of have to hold a Test here at this time of year - holidays , crowd , etc.

Leaves plenty of time to get a result anyway with better weather promised so just a pain for today's spectators.

As to state of game : slightly surprised Australia were unable to assert themselves , with a glacial scoring rate throughout and more trouble against both modest spin and less than blinding pace . But Pakistan deserve credit for maintaining great discipline and forcing them to graft. Their bowlers get a bit of extra rest so we will see if they can keep this up tomorrow. I still suspect they'll be ground down and the later Australian stroke makers will have a party against an older ball ; but we will see in due course...

kingraf wrote:Well, it's a 17 over old ball, instead of a brand new nut, so that's something of an advantage today, but its a woefully inexperienced batting line up. Verreynne has 576 Test runs to his name. I think Bedingham has around 100, and Jansen has 400-odd. India would need to fluff their lines pretty badly to lose from here.

Yes you are right about the inexperience. Must be frustrating for SA fans that even as they seem to have good fast bowlers popping up everywhere they can't seem to unearth any new batsmen who really look the part ? With Elgar now stepping away that only becomes more of a problem - though perhaps this Bedingham chap may be a prospect ? Have to see more of him...

97/5 now with Bedingham and Verreynne gone...Markram hanging in on 52 . So at least India will have to bat again. But not much left in the hutch after this pair...