***Official England in India***

[silentstriker]

A collapse and a quick start and India could win this by 7 wickets.

There is a long way to go in this game.

You don't chase down 250+ on this pitch, let alone 300. Absolutely will not happen.

 

[Prince EWS]

Definitely counts as a drop for the purposes of FCA IMO, but it's not something Dhoni would have taken more times than he'd drop it.

 

[GIMH]

My tip for the start of play tomorrow is that we will be all out by lunch or shortly after, but with a 300 lead that shouldn't be a problem.

Would love to see Strauss ton up again. Would cream my pants. Hope Colly does as well, then Flintoff can come in for some declaration runs

 

[Richard]

Uhm, no not really. It didn't spin THAT much, and if Dhoni had kept his weight on his right foot he could have reacted to the edge. He wouldn't have caught it with bad keeping. But especially considering he's crocked, criticism of him for missing it isn't really fair. It's something someone that, say, Sangakkara at his peak might have got to.

I see.

Pissed-off that I'm Synyster Gates-ing it up later rather than watching the highlights now.

 

[GIMH]

Don't go then?

edit, plus there are highlights on at 4.30, SSE

 

[Richard]

You don't chase down 250+ on this pitch, let alone 300. Absolutely will not happen.

It's unlikely on any surface, 270-280 is almost always something you're distinct second-favourite if you've been set it. But with Gambhir, Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, and even Yuvraj and a half-fit Dhoni in the batting, and an attack that can quite easily revert at ANY POINT to a Flintoff one-man-show, you're taking one hell of a leap of faith if you take victory(\defeat) for granted.

England should win this, easily. But it's no foregone conclusion, far from't.

 

[Richard]

Don't go then?

edit, plus there are highlights on at 4.30, SSE

Mate's b'day. Thus, a) not going is not an option and b) it's a round-your-place-for-5:30 job (I'm walking, so it's 3\4-hr's journey) so no highlights for me.

Can't remember if he's got Sky or not tho, so might be some element of saving-grace there.

 

[GIMH]

Hmm, well when we wrap it up tomorrow, I am sure they will use the spare time in the schedule on Monday to do a highlights package of the whole Test

 

[TT Boy]

I was doing the G/F so I missed most of the play but from the bits I caught here and there, the wicket looks still pretty decent. Fair bit of turn but its too slow to cause much or any concern. Bell got a decent one though...

 

[Richard]

Definitely counts as a drop for the purposes of FCA IMO, but it's not something Dhoni would have taken more times than he'd drop it.

Something has to be obviously catchable to be a "chance" in my book. Has to be something you can say "he should catch that every time and if he ever doesn't he's made a genuine, obvious error".

That's why I hate the term "half-chance". Yes, there's the odd thing that might be caught on a minority of occasions, but something is either obviously catchable or it's not obviously catchable.

I'm gonna scour around SS.C and see if I can find some web 'lights now, this is gonna annoy the hell out of me else.

 

[GIMH]

It's probably on youtube you know

 

[Richard]

I was doing the G/F so I missed most of the play

One of the most blatant posts in CW history.

 

[Prince EWS]

Something has to be obviously catchable to be a "chance" in my book. Has to be something you can say "he should catch that every time and if he ever doesn't he's made a genuine, obvious error".

That's why I hate the term "half-chance". Yes, there's the odd thing that might be caught on a minority of occasions, but something is either obviously catchable or it's not obviously catchable.

I'm gonna scour around SS.C and see if I can find some web 'lights now, this is gonna annoy the hell out of me else.

It obviously was catchable - it's something I'd expect a Test-class keeper to take about 45% of the time TBH.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Metric system is the work of Satan himself. I have to convert everything into inches, feet and miles for it to have any meaning.

Likewise but reverse, thank you

 

[Neil Pickup]

It obviously was catchable - it's something I'd expect a Test-class keeper to take about 45% of the time TBH.

I don't know - Dhoni is significantly into the process of going up with the ball turning in towards Strauss when there was a fairly strong outside nick that took it right in the other direction. He does not move his hands between the nick and the ball clipping the outside of the protection at the end of the glove.

The only way you're catching that is if your gloves are in a completely different position, far more down the off-side, and if your gloves are there and one turns then you set yourself for a raft of byes. Don't see it as a catch.

 

[JBH001]

Looks a riveting test match. Pity they are not showing it on Sky here in NZ.

Come on, England!

 

[B.Scott4England]

Imagine the batting if we added Owais Shah in as well!

 

[Scaly piscine]

Imagine the batting if we added Owais Shah in as well!

I'm trying not to because that sounds even more horrible.

Still if he comes in for Bell that's a like-for-like replacement, as they're both mentally fragile massively over-rated batsmen who'll struggle to average more than a mediocre amount.

England are lucky they're playing on a pitch with something in it, on a flat pitch they're screwed because they don't have the quality to consistently score big totals like India would.

 

[NZTailender]

Collers

 

[Uppercut]

I was doing the G/F so I missed most of the play but from the bits I caught here and there