*Official* First Test at Lord's

[slowfinger]

Knowing India, if VVS or Dravid stays in through the next 2 sessions, who knows? Maybe they can knock them off! So glad I support neither team.

 

[Howe_zat]

If India do end up drawing this test match, it will reaffirm their position as no. 1 side in the cricket. Because If England can not win tomorrow, with half the batting lineup injured, they probably do not deserve the no. 1 spot.

I am just surprised to see the match so close, despite the fact that England have dominated India except for few bursts of wickets by Indian bowlers.

Yup, England dominated except for the parts where they didn't.

 

[Spark]

Hmmm... Dravid is a wonderful batsman but I don't think scoring at close to 4 an over for 2+ sessions is something he would be willing to do with a match on the line.

 

[weldone]

England badly need a win here as India will be getting stronger and stronger as series goes on with Sehwag returning and Sachin & Gambhir getting more game time under their belt also if Zaheer gets fit then India pace attack looks good with all 3 fast bowers in form, Harbhajan form remains a concern though.

Yeah.

If England can't win this one, they might even be advised to start playing a defensive game from test 2 onwards - this is their best shot for winning a test against the no. 1.

 

[Spark]

Wasn't this a inked-on draw before the Test? People jumping the gun tbh.

---

Now that's a queue.

 

[John Blaze]

Yeah.

If England can't win this one, they might even be advised to start playing a defensive game from test 2 onwards - this is their best shot for winning a test against the no. 1.

What do you mean by that? Bowling negative lines?

 

[Howe_zat]

Test deserves either a Cardiff 09 or Sydney 08 ending IMO.

Which would be funnier? Ishant's batting or Trott's bowling?

 

[Spark]

England's stock bowling plan is actually quite "defensive" tbh despite their reputation - bowl a tight line outside off with a heavily weighted offside field. Even when they were in strong positions in the Ashes they used this plan a lot, banking on pressure to take wickets (needless to say it worked).

Really I think both teams' best shot at getting the result they want is to just play normally.

Which would be funnier? Ishant's batting or Trott's bowling?

Given history, definitely Trott's bowling, although I was more thinking KP.

 

[Stapel]

That's what's made Broad so impressive. It's not necessarily his ER or even his wickets, it's that during his best spells the batsman has been forced to play at almost every ball.

It's what I've always liked about Broad. A decent, sometimes ordinary bowler, but every now and then he spits out a top spell. SA 2008, Oval 2009, this Test.

 

[Spark]

Apparently the ground is already full, great stuff for Day 5 of a Test, but this one deserves it

 

[John Blaze]

What are the odds on an extremely unlikely Indian victory?

 

[Daemon]

Most excited I've been about cricket since the recent WC finals.

 

[centurymaker]

Hmmm... Dravid is a wonderful batsman but I don't think scoring at close to 4 an over for 2+ sessions is something he would be willing to do with a match on the line.

session 1:
27 overs , 90 runs

session 2 :
27 overs, 90 runs

runs remaining 200 off 44 overs

next 24 overs, 80/90 runs

last 20 overs 110/120 to get!!
game on.

but it won't happen, i'll bet my car on it not happening.

raina, dhoni are **** batsmen. gambhir won't be able to hold his bat/play his strokes properly because of his injury, tendulkar will forget to move his feet due to fever and therfeore get lbw or caught in teh slips playing a drive, dravid will get a beauty, laxman will get caught fending at a delivery etcc etc

match will be over 10 overs into teh last session.

 

[Howe_zat]

Any early calls for Motm? Between KP, Dravid, Prior and Broad right now.

 

[John Blaze]

session 1:
27 overs , 90 runs

session 2 :
27 overs, 90 runs

runs remaining 200 off 44 overs

next 24 overs, 80/90 runs

last 20 overs 110/120 to get!!
game on.

but it won't happen, i'll bet my car on it not happening.

raina, dhoni are **** batsmen. gambhir won't be able to hold his bat/play his strokes properly because of his injury, tendulkar will forget to move his feet due to fever and therfeore get lbw or caught in teh slips playing a drive, dravid will get a beauty, laxman will get caught fending at a delivery etcc etc

match will be over 10 overs into teh last session.

How bad is this fever **** anyway?

 

[Howe_zat]

One of those fevers you had when you were 11 that was just bad enough to get out of PE.

(Or in this case, fielding)

 

[John Blaze]

Any early calls for Motm? Between KP, Dravid, Prior and Broad right now.

If Broad bowls well enough to force an Eng victory today, it should be him. If Dravid bats long and hard to get the draw, it'll be him. Between KP and Prior, I would rather give it to Prior because he came good in both innings, but KP's double century was nonetheless magnificent.

 

[Cevno]

England badly need a win here as India will be getting stronger and stronger as series goes on with Sehwag returning and Sachin & Gambhir getting more game time under their belt also if Zaheer gets fit then India pace attack looks good with all 3 fast bowers in form, Harbhajan form remains a concern though.

To add to that this is the type of pitch on which India struggle most as i also said before the match(Have a real poor record at Lords too) plus the first test of the series which is a weakness will be out of the way too.

 

[Uppercut]

England's stock bowling plan is actually quite "defensive" tbh despite their reputation - bowl a tight line outside off with a heavily weighted offside field. Even when they were in strong positions in the Ashes they used this plan a lot, banking on pressure to take wickets (needless to say it worked).

To an extent that was situation-specific though. The pitches were bouncy so you're always going to be looking for nicks rather than attacking the stumps, and Australia were beyond awful at leaving.

They've bowled quite attacking lines in this match.

 

[Spark]

That's a fair point but they'll have no qualms about swapping to that sort of plan should the need arise.