Seeing some frustrated comments on cricinfo with people saying neither team has been aggressive enough to force a result, but their is only one reason this game will be a draw - roady road
Absolutely. And watching this session before the rain I saw a touch more spin but nothing at all that would suggest a result is achievable.
It may be a road but nonetheless if we had've selected another seamer and IFF (with two fs) that bowler had chipped in with 2 wickets early in the piece then we might have gotten amongst Bangers.
Nothing I've seen on 'tv' or read in this thread has drawn me into being anything other than a selection nihilist for this match - as in, nobody else that we could have picked would have made a lick of difference to how our bowling unit performed. Yes Southee would have improved it because he is quality, but he's injured. At a stretch, just
maybe the unknown that is Milne might have made a difference, though I wouldn't count on it. I think the posts along the lines of the above are just wishful thinking - the narrative that Wagner (frequently maligned on this forum as a mediocre placeholder) would have made a noticeable difference on that pace-bowlers' graveyard is a fantasy. If Wagner had been selected (in place of Sodhi as seems to be the consensus here) and I'd been asked to forecast his bowling figures on this wicket I would have come up with something in line with the 2/112 that Sodhi got. Some huff and puff, good effort, running in hard etc, but still someone of his ability trying to get something out of this pitch would be banging his head against a brick wall. And reverse? Nah.
Hard to see either how this could be anything but useful experience for Sodhi, a guy that two years from now may be worth picking and sticking with long term. No he didn't deserve to be in the squad but I don't think it's hurt us in this match. He certainly has more of a future than any other of our spinners. I was never keen on Bartin's flighty high-arm spin in Bangladesh and he duly was our worst bowler conceding 4+ per over and no wickets, but he's been designated our current first choice spinner over the equally sub-mediocre Patel and that was always going to see him selected. And I'd accept that because I don't want the poisoned first-choice-spinner chalice passed to Sodhi yet.
It's a road. And Monimul batted well and Bangladesh did not offer many gifts. This is a pitch where TRENT BOULT scored 52* and looked comfortable doing so. All he or anyone else with a bat needed to do to score runs on this wicket was concentrate, prop forward, defend straight and occasionally hit through the line. Most of the wickets we lost were foolish or overly ambitious shot selection; it is a disgrace that we were ever 342/9 on this and we are damn lucky that Watling and Boult dug us out of that. We should have scored 520+ though.
Bowling attack for next match: Boult, Williamson, Southee if available. Flip a coin for the rest.
Edit: If I was forced to choose in order to win the next match with Southee unavailable I'd go Boult, Bracewell, Wagner, Sodhi, (Williamson), (Anderson). But then I'd be stuck with Sodhi as the number one spinner after this series and that's not a good idea.