*Official* Compaq Cup 2009 in Sri Lanka

[Zinzan]

Would 200-220 really be a tough job for NZ?

On this wicket under lights against M & M, yes

 

[DIRK-NANNES]

cricinfo suggested 260-270 would be a decent score. Would 200-220 really be a tough job for NZ?

When they said that, I'm not sure they realised how truely slooooooow this pitch is.

And anyway, we always seems to have more trouble chasing scores lower than 200 than those over 300

 

[kingkallis]

Very good fight by Samaraweera and Mathews....

Anything around 210/220 will be a good total!

 

[kingkallis]

Depends on how well the Lankans bowl...

 

[Raghav]

I remember a match vs Aus; Bond takes 6 wickets...Aus reeling at 80 odd for 6 and went on to make 210...

Brett Lee runs through the NZ top order; NZ allout for 110...

Will Lasith just replaces Bret Lee today?

 

[Stapel]

On this wicket under lights against M & M, yes

Well, M doesn't play, unless you mean Slinga M.

Anyway, these two (Matthews & Samaraweera) have put up 100 at 5 rpo, without too many alarms.

 

[DIRK-NANNES]

Ah FFS.

Hope this means the pitch will be easier to bat on when it's our turn

 

[straw man]

I remember a match vs Aus; Bond takes 6 wickets...Aus reeling at 80 odd for 6 and went on to make 210...

Brett Lee runs through the NZ top order; NZ allout for 110...

Will Lasith just replaces Bret Lee today?

We were talking about that match just before - the match of the Andre Adams double bounce .

Was away from about 90/5 and come back to find that Samaraweera is dealing to us just like he did in the tests. Bah!! Looking suspiciously like a matchwinning hundred from him. Especially with NZ selecting so many bowlers, Oram 6, Vettori 7 etc.

Was also thinking that gone are the days where low and slow pitches are a help to NZ in ODIs - about the only guy we have now who thrives in those conditions is Elliott, and he's a South African.

 

[Meridio]

Finally.

 

[_Ed_]

Great stuff from Bond.

That was a fantastic innings by Samaraweera though. Feel a bit sorry for him falling just short of the ton.

 

[Meridio]

Great stuff from Bond.

That was a fantastic innings by Samaraweera though. Feel a bit sorry for him falling just short of the ton.

He's still there. Was Mathews out.

 

[_Ed_]

He's still there. Was Mathews out.

Was too. My bad.

And there is the ton for him. Good stuff.

 

[DIRK-NANNES]

You're not supposed to quote mistakes, so they can be fixed

 

[Meridio]

Ugh, dire bit of fielding there by Elliott.

100 for Samaraweera. Hasn't looked like getting out really.

 

[Meridio]

Reckon Sri Lanka have got enough now. Pitch is sooo slow, can even see the likes of Dilshan taking 3/30 or something similar. Guess we're lucky Murali's not there.

 

[honestbharani]

What can India do? They easily have the best batting lineup among the three, but their bowling lacks individual strike power. Their other problem is the nearly total lack of balance- their bowlers are struggling to get even ten runs each, their batsmen won't last seven overs match after match and their batting is also affected by bowling workload. Moreover, their ODI specialists have been found wanting against strike bowlers. They have to reshuffle their team a little and optimise their resources to win. Then again, this one-round series may be treated as a mere workout for the Champions' Trophy.

Dravid is the best player with Sachin to face the pacers, so he bats at three, obviously. Gambhir and Tendulkar are good batsmen, but need to improve as a pair, and build partnerships. Singles will be the key here in Sri Lanka. Raina struggles against express pace or even close to it, but is good against spin. He comes in at six. Yusuf Pathan is hardly used as a batsman and is under-rated as a spinner; he can play the role of a full fifth bowler here, though Dhoni doesn't rate him highly and favours his overworked top six over him. They'll also need runs from Harbhajan and Praveen as well on the sticky SL pitches, and may have to use Nayar's bowling to full effect. They'll have to bench Mishra and possibly RP Singh in this series, as they won't get much to do here.

The bottom five should be Yusuf, Nayar, Harbhajan, Praveen and Ishant. To strengthen the bowling a little, they can get in Nehra or RP Singh for Nayar. They may pick RP Singh as he's a better fielder, and the Indians are carrying some weaknesses on the field.

I would like to see thsi line up:



Gambhir
Sachin
Dravid
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Raina/Karthik
Nayyar
Harbhajan
Praveen
Ishant
RPS/Nehra



Mishy won't get a game though.

 

[straw man]

Ugh, dire bit of fielding there by Elliott.

100 for Samaraweera. Hasn't looked like getting out really.

Perfect pitch for him really - didn't need to score fast from the outset and was able to play himself in like the test specialist he is. And still able to pick his strike rate up enough at the end to get SL to 216. Might struggle to score quickly enough on a 300 pitch though.

Anyway, as mentioned this will be a tough chase for NZ. For a lowish score on a slow pitch I'm looking at Ryder, Elliott and Vettori to score the bulk of the runs... possibly Taylor too.

 

[Scaly piscine]

We were talking about that match just before - the match of the Andre Adams double bounce .

Was away from about 90/5 and come back to find that Samaraweera is dealing to us just like he did in the tests. Bah!! Looking suspiciously like a matchwinning hundred from him. Especially with NZ selecting so many bowlers, Oram 6, Vettori 7 etc.

Was also thinking that gone are the days where low and slow pitches are a help to NZ in ODIs - about the only guy we have now who thrives in those conditions is Elliott, and he's a South African.

Nah low & slow pitches are still a help to NZ. Don't need good technique to bat on them, need a few hitters and depth to take the risks to get the run-rate moving. Generally speaking slow pitches negate the quality in favour of grinding attritional cricket.

 

[_Ed_]

So who are the grinders in our top order? Ryder and McCullum? No. Guptill? No. Taylor? No.

None of those guys will be at all suited here.

 

[Scaly piscine]

So who are the grinders in our top order? Ryder and McCullum? No. Guptill? No. Taylor? No.

None of those guys will be at all suited here.

Plenty of mediocre hitters though. Don't need high quality free flowing players because they'll do jack on a pitch like this anyway.

Basically to chase that all they need is someone to stay in and then the others just have a dash during the power plays to keep ahead of the run-rate.