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wisden wrote:Another hundred for Kamindu Mendis! Averages 83 now in tests, 922 runs in 8 test matches!

amazing

Yes I think we can say India are now reduced to praying for rain. Don't think they expected this outcome on winning the toss. Underestimating NZ a bit ?

Kohli falls off the the last of the day that jumped a bit to deflate the miracle hopes a bit, that fans would have started harboring overnight.
DRS wasted, he knew he nicked it.

A day that produced 460 runs...India is trying to bounce back & all of top-4 have scored and for them to have any chance of a fight all down to No. 10 should score some 30 and 40s and 50s and one of them should convert to a 100 , hopefully Sarfaraz and wishfully a big one.

India was embarrassed at making the wrong selection at toss, bundled for 49, tried too hard to blast away NZ, panicked, shoddy fielding and ended up conceding 150 more than they should have.
Pitch still has some seam and swing and there is sharp but not a lot of spin with bounce.
But it wasn't just India's shoddiness, applaud Rachin's brilliance-temperament, footwork, cleverness , 2 steps ahead of India and old Southee cashing in all but crushed India.

Pitch is up & down , cracked, spinning a bit, but NZ has only one frontline spinner, Philips is not threatening inspite of his wicket and seamers are easier to handle now but still potent.

Pant will bat and India need to find a way to get 150 ahead from 125 behind to have something to fight with

So far, so good as drizzle starts on ground, India 12 runs behind without losing a wkt this morning.
Sarfaraz gets first 100 brings the joy of us seeing old fashioned late cuts,  rarely seen these days
Also showing you don't have to be muscular, toned body to be successful in sport.
Pant doing his thing...
Nothing for seamers today...there should be spin but Indian batters haven't let the spinners settle.
Philipp bowls like a medium pacer cutting the ball, more effective then he looks initially.

Excellent fight back by India ...only 12 behind now and seven in hand with rain persisting. Still time in the match (weather permitting !) for anything to happen ; but I'm thinking what looked like a guaranteed NZ win is moving rapidly in another direction.

If these two bats keep going at the current rate , India could get a solid lead with time to really pressure the Kiwis. You'd think India's spinners would be more effective than NZ can muster ; but they'd still want to be a long way ahead before feeling comfortable so my money would be on a draw even if the rain relents soon. After that 46 all out , a draw would be an exceptional result for India !

I do not sense a great deal of interest on here in the Women's t20 WC - or women's cricket in general

But I think it worthy of notice that previous winner West Indies has now bitten the dust , like the previously eliminated England and Australia (along with regular aspirants India) . So their conquerors , NZ , will now meet SA to see which new name ends up on the trophy. Has to be good for the women's game that there seems to be a bit more competition across the board - at least in this shortest format.

Anyone who had a bet on those two finalists before the event would be making a pretty decent profit !

Good to see Sarfaraz get a ton. He came close, multiple times, when England toured, but just couldn't get over the line, once being denied by a run out.

Very interesting bit of play coming up now. NZ coming out refreshed, with a new ball in nine overs, hoping to spark another collapse.

Sarfaraz goes for 150, but more down to an aggressive shot not coming off than it being the new ball.

Net 52/4 and NZ finally have an opening.

Wow, Pant bowled on 99 through an inside edge. Stunning. He'd just hit an outrageous 107m six off Southee, one of the best I've ever seen.

The game has turned back to NZ in this new ball phase. Both set bats removed, net 77/5 now.

And another for O'Rourke, last ball before tea, to remove Rahul.

Two wickets in eight balls for O'Rourke. India net 82/6, with just Jadeja/Ashwin/Yadav/Bumrah/Siraj to bat.

3-3-0-3 in this spell now for O'Rourke, as he takes out Jadeja.

And Henry tidies it up with the last three wickets.

An astonishing collapse there, started by Sarfaraz's misplaced aggressive shot. 400/3 when NZ took the second new ball. 462 all out 19.3 overs later.

O'Rourke and Henry with all the damage. They've taken a combined 15 wickets in this test. Southee with just two in comparison, in what has been a tough year for him.

Just 107 for NZ to score a stunning upset, in what has been a very strange test. They might win it tonight, if the rain holds off and the light stays good. Or can India conjure a minor miracle?

Off after four balls for bad light. India completely embarrassed themselves by arguing the toss with the umpires, and it took a while to get off the field. Terrible behaviour from Rohit and Kohli.

The whole argument about light was pointless as the rain hammered down a couple of minutes later. Likely to be it for the day. NZ just need a session of clear weather tomorrow.

New ball started nipping and jumping unevenly off the length.ans exposed the true nature of pitch , camouflaged by the brilliance of Sarfaraz and Pant.
Jadeja and Sarfaraz fell to bad shots , rest to good bowling.
India needed 150 to make it 50-50
107 as it stands now will test them, but NZ should get over the line.
Bad light stops play and rain in air will prevent a restart
After 1988 NZ on the verge of a famous win

alfie wrote:I do not sense a great deal of interest on here in the Women's t20 WC - or women's cricket in general

But I think it worthy of notice that previous winner West Indies has now bitten the dust , like the previously eliminated England and Australia (along with regular aspirants India) . So their conquerors , NZ , will now meet SA to see which new name ends up on the trophy. Has to be good for the women's game that there seems to be a bit more competition across the board - at least in this shortest format.

Anyone who had a bet on those two finalists before the event would be making a pretty decent profit !

England’s performance against the Windies was atrocious. Far too over reliant on NSB with the bat still, and the only England player to hit a six all tournament was a bowler in Ecclestone. They are all professional cricketers now, there is no excuse given all the investment that goes into their strength and fitness to not all be able to clear the ropes with ease or be able to take the game to the opposition with the bat like the Windies did. And the catching… calling it under 13 level is kind!

Could be a serious fork in the road coming soon the women’s team - the best batters in NSB and Knight are getting on now, and whilst Ecclestone is still top quality with the ball, who was the last young player to come into the side and make that step up to world class? No-one has even come close. And notable they gave a 33yo Kate Cross the captaincy for the Ireland warm up series… there is no succession plan. NSB is the vice, and judging by the meltdown in the field vs Windies she would be more Flintoff/Botham than Stokes!

Nice start for India after the delayed action ... Bumrah trapping Latham second ball...    Ball doing plenty early for the seamers.

Only 107 needed but NZ aren't going to get an easy ride ...

Conway gone now after a good lbw review by India
(That really shouldn't have been needed as it looked obvious live !) But they are nearly halfway to the target now at 52/2.... Ravindra starting brightly two fours in three balls. Jadeja on to try and assist the excellent Bumrah bring off a miracle...but Young is after him already , two boundaries....

A historic & fantastic win for NZ.
India needed another 100 to seriously trouble NZ.
While a.o for 46 made the headlines it papered over a more realistic 125 to 150 runs extra India gave away to NZ after getting them 7 down, in shoddy catching & panicky bowling.
Lesson should be learnt, you are strong at home, but you take even a Mediocre side for granted and before you realize you are out of the game.
As Eng found out in T3 vs SL
BTW neither NZ nor SL are mediocres,  they can be as good as any in patches.
Sarfaraz may have to sit out next game when Gill is fit and although Ind should rest Bumrah, he will want to play.

Talk less and bring out your top A game is India's task for T2 at Pune .

Easy in the end for NZ. Ravindra went on from his first innings , Young was solid (did a great job getting through that difficult early period against Bumrah and Siraj) and saw it through nicely. Bumrah bowled an excellent early spell but far too much to ask him to save this one...

If you get bowled out for 46 on day one you aren't going to win many Test Matches

First touring team other than England or Australia to win a Test in India for 14 years...and NZ first since 1988. Well done NZ

Yes indeed , KP_fan : will make that second Test much more enticing. Expecting India to hit back hard.

(A good weekend for NZ : first their sailors win the America's Cup and then this... just need the women to knock over SA in the t20 WC !)

A terrific win by NZ after India's inexplicable decision to bat first. The home side will, at least, be pleased with their second-innings fightback.

It's so difficult to win away in Test cricket thanks to short tours which lead to a lack of match practice and acclimatisation. Tourists also have to contend with pitches prepared by the home side as well as having to play against the crowd.

So it's heartening to see some of the recent away-from-home triumphs such as today's, Bangladesh's in Pakistan, SL in England and WI in Australia.

Watched some of the Bengaluru match on BT Sport. Ravindra looks a good player. Southee's six-hitting is remarkable. Has anyone scored so many of his Test runs in 6s?

sirfredperry wrote:A terrific win by NZ after India's inexplicable decision to bat first. The home side will, at least, be pleased with their second-innings fightback.

It's so difficult to win away in Test cricket thanks to short tours which lead to a lack of match practice and acclimatisation. Tourists also have to contend with pitches prepared by the home side as well as having to play against the crowd.
South
So it's heartening to see some of the recent away-from-home triumphs such as today's, Bangladesh's in Pakistan, SL in England and WI in Australia.

Watched some of the Bengaluru match on BT Sport. Ravindra looks a good player. Southee's six-hitting is remarkable. Has anyone scored so many of his Test runs in 6s?

Has indeed been a good thing for Tests that a few touring teams have produced recent upsets. Was getting a bit too predictable .

As to the six hitting : a bit early but Carse is off to a fine start : in three knocks he has 40 runs - and 24 of them from sixes

Alfie. My maths may be a bit dodgy but it seems that Michael Holding (36 Test 6s out of a total of 910 runs) and Tim Boult (30 sixes out of 759 runs) are/were slightly ahead of Southee in the 6s/runs ratio.

Obviously much easier for the lower order to register good stats but Jaiswal is going well with 32 sixes in 1,265 runs.

Clearly, far more 6s being hit these days helped by the shorter boundaries. But when you see balls sailing into the crowd you realise that some of these are still very big hits.

Full credit to NZ, an astonishing upset. Just need to win/draw one of the final two tests to end India's near 12 year winning run at home.

Duty281 wrote:Full credit to NZ, an astonishing upset. Just need to win/draw one of the final two tests to end India's near 12 year winning run at home.

Sadly they are about to be served up two complete and utter dungheaps in all likelihood. I would be surprised if it's not 2-1 to India

Got a two test series, between Bangladesh and South Africa, starting in the early hours of tomorrow.

The build up has been dominated by Shakib Al Hasan. Some political stuff involving him has gone on. He was originally picked for the squad, probably to be a farewell test, and was then unpicked after protests and threats. Fighting between supporters and opposers of Shakib Al Hasan broke out earlier.

On the cricketing front, Bangladesh are trying to take forward the momentum of their win over Pakistan. They've got a South Africa team in their sights who have been dreadful in the sub continent recently - South Africa have lost ten of their last 11 tests in the sub continent, the last one they won was in Galle in July 2014!

This is South Africa's first tour of Bangladesh since 2015. That was a 0-0. Bangladesh have never beaten SA in a test.

Expected teams:

Bangladesh XI (probable): 1 Zakir Hasan, 2 Shadman Islam, 3 Mominul Haque, 4 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 5 Mushfiqur Rahim, 6 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 7 Litton Das (wk), 8 Nayeem Hasan, 9 Taijul Islam, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Hasan Mahmud

South Africa (probable): 1 Aiden Markram (capt), 2 Tony de Zorzi, 3 Tristan Stubbs, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 David Bedingham, 6 Kyle Verreynne (wk), 7 Wiaan Mulder, 8 Senuran Muthusamy, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Dane Piedt

Expected to turn lots. South Africa's ability to handle it may well decide the series.

Frustratingly, doesn't appear to be on TV in the UK.

alfie wrote:Yes indeed , KP_fan  : will make that second Test much more enticing. Expecting India to hit back hard.

(A good weekend for NZ  : first their sailors win the America's Cup and then this... just need the women to knock over SA in the t20 WC !)

They did it! A great weekend for the Kiwis.
They also beat Aus in a netball match in Wellington.

India's various selection conundrums for T2

Pant had a swollen knee, and while he batted alright, he did not keep wickets.
How was a WK-ing sub allowed, I dunno if rules have been changed lately?

Pant is reporteldy not a 100% especially to keep wickets
But if he is fit to bat & field....they should play him as a batter....will they?

Gill will be fit and should be back & ideally in place of Sarfaraz.
But there is a growing clamor in SM to bring Gill for KL rahul....and retain the 150 scoring Sarfaraz

KL Rahul can also keep wkts b.t.w

Then Siraj's selection is under doubt...he has been expensive and unable to take wickets & can't bat or field.
Akashdeep is better on all counts and should be natural replacement

However T2 pitch expected to be dry, slow and spin friendly and Washington has been recalled.
He might play for Siraj, leaving only 1 seamer in 11.
And although a 4th spinner will not be needed but he's availbale as a 5th bowler if needed.

Bangladesh bowled out for 106, but they're scrapping hard with SA reduced to 99/5. Taijul Islam taking 4/25 to move to 200 test wickets.

Pal Joey wrote:

alfie wrote:Yes indeed , KP_fan  : will make that second Test much more enticing. Expecting India to hit back hard.

(A good weekend for NZ  : first their sailors win the America's Cup and then this... just need the women to knock over SA in the t20 WC !)

They did it! A great weekend for the Kiwis.
They also beat Aus in a netball match in Wellington.

Indeed they did. Terrific performance from Amelia Kerr : anchored the innings with her 43 and then took 3/24 including two of the key wickets , despite being injured in the field and having to limp in to bowl ! Deservedly PoTM and PoTS

anyone else seen any of the ban vs sa test?

Not seen but it appears SA more than doubled their score after fall of 6 wickets to take the game far beyond BD

As I was traveling last week, couldn't join here though could catch up with the cricket from time to time. An embarrassing collapse from India first time around, only saving grace being I didn't have to watch any of it, even on Cricinfo! Then a steady batting performance from NZ before a collapse of sorts that I did watch somewhat. Brilliant ton from young Rachin Ravindra, whom I've really rated from the outset. Old man Southee went for it as usual, and for a change by recent standards, connected well more often than not, and more than India's 2nd new ball collapse, I felt it was the Rachin Southee partnership that really took the game beyond India's 2nd innings comeback... Sarfaraz played brilliantly, and Rishabh did his thing, including getting out in the 90s yet again!! He's just behind Sachin and Dravid for most 90s for India in tests! I'd take these 90s any day over an early dismissals, but somewhere, this is hurting a bit...
After India's 2nd new ball collapse, there was no chance left despite Bumrah's first over strike. Rachin again was brilliant, and William Young produced a decent innings, just when questions about such a player with sucha mediocre record being kept on as NZ's first batting back up for so long!

Bangladesh, after getting bowled out for next to nothing, did make a comeback of sorts, taking 6 SA wickets for a 6 run lead only. But they ended up giving away a lead of 202 in the end. Wiaan Mulder beginning to deliver on all that early promiss at last, and Kyle Verreynne continues to find ways to score test runs, and he's also beginning to do it more consistently. Bangladesh putting up a better showing in the 2nd innings, but I have a feeling it'll take the pattern of the SA first innings batting come tomorrow...

As for India-NZ 2nd test, the pitch, its being reported, that it is likely to be a slow turner. More like the England series pitches, reverse will give something for seamers, and there will be spin throughout, but good batters should be able to do well.
Will have to see what is dished out only on the match morning!
Think India should use this opportunity provided by Gill's return to dump for good Mr Inconsistent KL Rahul! It is criminal to keep pick a 32 year old averaging 34 after well over 50 tests as a specialist bat! If they need experience, bring back Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored yet another double for Saurashtra in the ongoing Ranji Trophy. Rahul, despite his abilities to deal with different conditions and types of bowling, is a liability because of his inconsistency.
Also, time to rest Siraj, Bumrah would want to play, and as we are behind in the series, its no time to rest him. So rest Siraj who is struggling to pick wickets, bring in Akash Deep, and may be bring Siraj back in for the last test and rest Bumrah, provided all goes to plan in the next test.
Washington is more like cover for Ashwin I suppose. Don't see any real role for the 4th spinner, and its not smart ot leave all the pace bowling duties to Bumrah alone.
Rishabh is good to go according to reports, and he didn't keep also because they didn't want to take a chance with him. In any case, he has a case to be picked as a batter only, as he has been India's best test bat along with Jadeja over the last 4 years or so...
Rohit, Jaiswal, Gill, Kohli, Pant, Sarfaraz, Jadeja, Ashwin, Kuldeep, Deep, Bumrah...

msp wrote:Think India should use this opportunity provided by Gill's return to dump for good Mr Inconsistent KL Rahul! It is criminal to keep pick a 32 year old averaging 34 after well over 50 tests as a specialist bat!

KL gets difficult runs......100s on the last two tours of SA in absolute seaming conditions and on the last tour to Eng
KL should be the first pick.....he did well btw in the lone home test he played vs Eng last season before he picked injury and played a stupendous hand vs BD in the 2 day win.
I believe he deserves a run......I also believe he should be named VC for tests to put an end to unfair targeted criticism he faces for a single failure.
Sarafarz has to sit out, just like Karun Nair did after scoring a triple 100.
The man who will make way for Sarfaraz is Kohli, eventually and hopefully soon

Good fightback attempted by Bangladesh.

Nearly finished off at 112/6, Mehidy and Jaker dug in with a 138 run stand. When Jaker fell, Naveem Hasan lent his support. It's now 283/7 at (probably) stumps, which is a lead of 81. Bangladesh need another 100+ to make it interesting.

I see Australia have abandoned the Smith as opener experiment, which is sensible, but I also see Warner is already angling to come out of retirement.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/men-s-t20-world-cup-sub-regional-africa-qlf-b-2024-25-1453889/gambia-vs-zimbabwe-12th-match-1453932/full-scorecard

Zimbabwe have utterly smashed the highest T20i record score by amassing 344/4 versus...Gambia. It broke the previous record by 30 runs. Raza with 133 off 43.

Now means Zimbabwe have two of the four highest T20i scores in history.

India v NZ in the second test tomorrow. As expected, the pitch is anticipated to be a slow, low turner, after NZ's quicks ran riot in the first test. The return of Gill might see Sarfaraz making way. NZ are likely to bring in an extra spinner, and that should mean dropping the ineffectual Southee, not the in-form O'Rourke or Henry, but will they drop such a big, experienced name?

Easy decision for NZ as Henry is injured and replaced by Santner.  Will be delighted to have won the toss too.

India have Gill back , replacing Rahul : must have listened to msp in preference to KP_fan apparently  

Also Akash Deep for Siraj and Washington Sundar for Kuldeep.  Can't have too much depth at one time ? (Sorry)

NZ will miss Henry I think. He was excellent last week. Not sure any of their spinners will strike terror into the Indian ranks. But I must say I am a little surprised India didn't retain Kuldeep and would be interested to see what our Indian posters think about that one ?

7 overs in and already Ashton is into the attack...and he has the break ! Traps Latham lbw - no need for a review , Stone dead. 32/1

Theyd been looking pretty assured against the pace men . Don't think that ball did anything special...Latham just played all round it. Straightened a bit , but he really ought to have done better there. Anyway it looks as if it will spin a bit so Washington Sundar is joining his fellow spinner immediately. Pace men might be doing a lot of fielding in this game...

Every.otyer change in the Indian 11 cam be understood, even though I may not agree

Kuldeep dropped is harder to explain

Except that they wished to counter left handers so Washington
And to strengthen batting

Thought they'd bat pretty deep already really.with Ashwin at eight. But a bit of insurance... Meanwhile I see England have won a toss so will have to do a bit of channel switching...

Yeah it's hard to follow 2 tests
Pitches are almost same in character in both tests.
Nz going well, Ind need to plug easy singles and.be patient.
You won't blast wickets away..
They will come slowly in first inning

Conway has been proactive and in good form

Kiwis ticking over well , 71/1 off 22. Looks a good toss to win

Looks like an even session 92-2 probably 55% in NZ way
But there are opportunities coming every over and sooner India will have wickets also.
On the other hand they need to not let Rachin cut loose

Rewound to see the Young dismissal ..good take by Pant down the leg side...and a brilliant review to uncover a minuscule touch on the glove 92/2 does look pretty even.

Kiwis doing rather better than England in spinning conditions today... though this pitch doesn't seem to have quite the same tricky low bounce effect. At 133/2 they have a decent platform.

alfie wrote:Kiwis doing rather better than England in spinning conditions today... though this pitch doesn't seem to have quite the same tricky low bounce effect. At 133/2 they have a decent platform.

That's true....looking at both games this one seems gentler and almost in slowmo compared to Pindi from 2nd hour
3rd gone....India have to patiently keep plugging.....and would be a great job to get NZ under 300
Nothing for the seamers so far.
Much as I try, I don't see any logic in dropping kuldeep other than batting skill of Washington.
But for a pitch like this ,Ind already has enuf batting with Ashwin at 8 deep at 9

Checking in from time to time ...I see Ravindra is continuing his good form , 55 now , .186/3 with Mitchell in support . Having a great series...