Which team will chase down 500 in Tests?

[Richard]

And we will be for some time, IMO. Yesterday showed how hard it is to do.

Perfectly conceivable that we'll be waiting forever. If it never happens as long as Test cricket goes on it won't be remotely surprising.

If it ever does however it will indeed almost certainly take something like we saw with England this just-concluded game - needlessly early declaration, resulting in setting fewer than should have been set.

 

[Faisal1985]

SL was quite close, with Sanga's double against the Aussies.............. who came close anyways.....post some close ones at least........

 

[Trumpers_Ghost]

Perfectly conceivable that we'll be waiting forever. If it never happens as long as Test cricket goes on it won't be remotely surprising.

If it ever does however it will indeed almost certainly take something like we saw with England this just-concluded game - needlessly early declaration, resulting in setting fewer than should have been set.

Really? I thought England needlessly batted too long.
However I was glad that I mostly kept that opinion to myself when Aus looked a remote chance. However as captain, I would definetly have liked to bowl 5-6 overs the night before. If you can't defend 450 then you probably can't defend 550.

The reason in my mind to get 500+ is to set fields of 7 catchers for basically the whole innings; and this didn't happen.

 

[Jamee999]

I think that Lords showed just how hard chasing 500+ is, Australia scored 300 in the fourth innings, which is a pretty gun effort in all circumstances, so the talk started they they could win - despite the fact they still needed to score 200 with just five wickets in hand - that's like being 150/5 chasing 350!

 

[pasag]

I think that Lords showed just how hard chasing 500+ is, Australia scored 300 in the fourth innings, which is a pretty gun effort in all circumstances, so the talk started they they could win - despite the fact they still needed to score 200 with just five wickets in hand - that's like being 150/5 chasing 350!

400, even.

 

[Jamee999]

Yeah, I was talking about at the close of Day Four.

 

[SJS]

I think that Lords showed just how hard chasing 500+ is, Australia scored 300 in the fourth innings, which is a pretty gun effort in all circumstances, so the talk started they they could win - despite the fact they still needed to score 200 with just five wickets in hand - that's like being 150/5 chasing 350!

When there is a big stand on, people tend to forget that just two wicket taking deliveries can change the entire complex of the game.

A great wicket taking delivery or a single error of judgement on the part of the best of batsmen is always round the corner but somehow the longer the partnership the more the fans appear to believe it cant happen. Actually the probability is not reduced, in fact the chances of a batsman finally making a mistake keep increasing.

The only mitigating circumstance is the morale of the fielding side. If they start believing they are getting into a tight spot instead of thinking the the wicket taking delivery could be the next ball, they are in a spot of bother.

 

[Richard]

Really? I thought England needlessly batted too long.

Yeah, because "no team has ever chased 450". If you give needless opportunities for someone to do something, it's more likely they'll do it.

There is no sense whatsoever in leaving an easier target than you have the option to leave. If you can set 600 in 5-and-a-half sessions, why on Earth would you settle for setting 500 in 6-and-a-half? Why do something that has no benefits at all and has some small drawbacks?

Far too many people get caught-up in what's never been done before rather than concentrating on each individual match. You have five days to win a game - as long as you win it, it doesn't matter in the slightest whether you win on the fifth morning or the fifth evening. A win is a win. But a loss because you declared for the sake of "well no-one's ever got this before" is very different from a win.

 

[kp4captain]

Why aren' england an option in the poll???

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Why aren' england an option in the poll???

..............................

I don't know why I didn't put England down, I just didn't.

 

[Dissector]

The SL-Pak test today is yet another data point that the 500 mark isn't going to last long. SL was a very comfortable 391 for 4 at the end and would likely have reached their target of 492 if they had enough overs.

Of course this could end up like the ODI double hundred which has been threatened for 25 years but is still to be achieved.

 

[Jamee999]

England is now added to the poll.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

England is now added to the poll.

18 months and 87 votes too late. I demand a recount.

 

[Uppercut]

I made a post in the Ashes forum about how fourth-innings chasing is much easier than it was. A recent article in cricinfo backs that up statistically. Personally i think a team chasing 500 will happen, and it'll happen in the next few years. The problem isn't just that it's so difficult, it's that it's extremely rare for a batting lineup good enough to be left with a target that size and enough time to manage it.

 

[Richard]

England is now added to the poll.

At least it'll put a stop to the "why aren't England in the poll", in the likely event that this thread keeps being resurrected whenever a 500+ target is set.

 

[Blackjane]

I choose India because of its strong batting line...After India I think England can chase down. If we refer to past history Egland and SA chased nearly 400 runs and won...

 

[Athlai]

Bangladesh vs. Australia

Tamim: 158
Shakib 203*

Bangladesh win by 2 wickets.

 

[cover drive man]

Its a tough one to answer really, we may be able to get an idea of who is most likely to do it now, but teams change over time.

 

[Athlai]

I was just thinking about how if teams seem more likely to score 500 in the 4th innings how the other team will start posting 600 or so. It seems that whenever a score that high is set to chase it is due to a declaration.

 

[Richard]

Yeah, it is - and mostly an unneccessarily early declaration.

Hopefully soon teams will learn their lessons and stop taking such pointless risks.