***Official*** India in Australia 2014-5

[Swingpanzee]

They almost got to a 3 RPO by the end of their innings due to how much Kohli and Rahul accelerated after getting through the tougher stages. I thought Ryan Harris gave them nothing but they found the rest of the bowlers relatively easy. In the end, both Rahul and Kohli got themselves out with really poor shot options rather than great bowling. You even saw with Bhuvi coming out and getting 30 odd that the pitch wasn't exactly hard and the bowlers weren't asking that many questions. I don't think run-rate will be the issue, it'll be how long they can conserve wickets while going at say 2.5 to 3.5 per over and whether they give stupid dismissals away like they did in this game.

From how I see it Australia bowled superbly - it cannot be understated how disciplined they were - the first session of day 3 and had they got Rahul in either the run out or the Smith I think it would have been real tough going for them as all the momentum was with us. Basically us shelling two easy chances allowed them to start counterattacking. Even then we had many more chances which we screwed up horribly. Misfielded a lot too which prevented the stemming of runs.

You can score runs on this day 5 pitch but they will possess quite a lot of risk. India can win, but in no way is 348 (or more) going to be a breeze for them.

 

[Justo]

Didn't we drop Kohli before he got his century as well? If we could catch this match would be a no contest (the previous test too).

 

[Spark]

Didn't we drop Kohli before he got his century as well? If we could catch this match would be a no contest (the previous test too).

dropped him on 50-something, first over with the new ball. regulation slips chance.

 

[Blocky]

he probably didn't declare at 300 lead because by that stage there were only six or seven overs left anyway. we scored a looooot of runs in the last few overs.

You scored a lot of runs throughout the innings, I don't think Yadav bowled a single ball that couldn't be considered a half tracker... even Rogers was looking like Warner out there :P

The only person that really troubled Australia (except for a great ball by Shami that Smith was unlucky to have been triggered on) was Ashwin - but that was an off spinner against left hand batsmen with a bunch of rough to toss up into. India don't have that issue, they only have Raina as a left hander.

But - New Captain in Smith, inexperienced bowlers in Hazelwood and Starc and an aging war horse who could break down at any point in Ryan Harris... at which point do you start to worry? 120-1 after say 45? Leaving 200 from 45 with 9 wickets?

 

[Noah]

He bowled well by his standard, but look at how easy Kohli and Rahul found batting against him for most of the time they were there, also look at Kohli's numbers for the series.

I thought Kohli looked at ease but Rahul definitely didn't look like he found batting easy. He scored runs reasonably slowly (in the context of this game and series) and gave quite a few chances throughout his innings. It certainly won't be the toughest innings he'll ever go through but I don't think it was easy batting. He certainly didn't score much at all against Starc; it was Kohli who really punished Starc on a few occasions.

 

[Spark]

You scored a lot of runs throughout the innings, I don't think Yadav bowled a single ball that couldn't be considered a half tracker... even Rogers was looking like Warner out there :P

The only person that really troubled Australia (except for a great ball by Shami that Smith was unlucky to have been triggered on) was Ashwin - but that was an off spinner against left hand batsmen with a bunch of rough to toss up into. India don't have that issue, they only have Raina as a left hander.

But - New Captain in Smith, inexperienced bowlers in Hazelwood and Starc and an aging war horse who could break down at any point in Ryan Harris... at which point do you start to worry? 120-1 after say 45? Leaving 200 from 45 with 9 wickets?

3-270 with 20 to go, yeah i'm worried. i've seen too many chases look great early on then fall in a heap to be particularly concerned on a pitch which is by no means a road. most of the deliveries that turned in that last session did that off the main, not the rough.

edit: even writing 3/270 looks ridiculous, frankly.

 

[Justo]

Harris will always save us. Ye of little faith.

 

[Blocky]

3-270 with 20 to go, yeah i'm worried. i've seen too many chases look great early on then fall in a heap to be particularly concerned on a pitch which is by no means a road.

Yeah, same here - but surely the modern technology, batsman training harder, pitches not being so **** and a dearth of quality spin bowling around the world at the moment means some chases will be pulled off.... hell, we're seeing 400 be struck more and more regularly too, Rohit has a 260 in a ODI match for ****s sake. The advantage in tests is that you're not restricted with field settings and one bowler to ten overs but I'm positive that in the very near future, 300-320 on the final day won't be as sure of a thing as it has been.

 

[Spark]

Yeah, same here - but surely the modern technology, batsman training harder, pitches not being so **** and a dearth of quality spin bowling around the world at the moment means some chases will be pulled off.... hell, we're seeing 400 be struck more and more regularly too, Rohit has a 260 in a ODI match for ****s sake. The advantage in tests is that you're not restricted with field settings and one bowler to ten overs but I'm positive that in the very near future, 300-320 on the final day won't be as sure of a thing as it has been.

there are plenty of examples in the last two years alone. we lost the ashes because of it.

 

[Midwinter]

213 in the session

and came off an over early !

When was the last time Aus scored more than this in a session ?

 

[dermo]

i saw pretty much none of todays play but still, i'll be ****ed if im writing off nostrils yadav because of 3 **** overs on this pitch with australia chasing a declaration

 

[Flem274*]

Yeah Yadav is still the best of this bunch and has the most ability.

 

[Antihippy]

I'm not writing him off, but if he wasn't bowling short he was bowling legside pies. He was pretty dire today. It wasn't the pitch, the way he bowled he would have been carted anywhere.

 

[Top_Cat]

Hope everyone's enjoying Watson's last Test on Aussie soil.

 

[weldone]

We should come out for an over or 2 tomorrow and then declare ala Clarke messing with the opposition. Might get another 20 runs too. Win-win.

Haha ya that can really **** India mentally.

But assuming Smith doesn't wait any more, I think Raina might turn out to be the difference between Adelaide and Sydney - as much as I hate to say this he's probably a better option than Pujara when it comes to chasing a score at high rate.

I also think our batsmen can play freely because this lower order of Saha-Ashwin-Bhuvi-Shami-Umesh is dependable to an extent.

 

[GotSpin]

Well for sure we are going to win now. India are relying on Raina.

Hope the guys are having some extra fielding sessions. Maybe a few drills in the hotel rooms.

 

[Daemon]

So Yadav's stock has fallen massively..

I'm absolutely appalled at how aimless and pathetic our bowling bar Ashwin and Ishant at times has been this series. How foolish of me to have expected better.

 

[cnerd123]

So Yadav's stock has fallen massively..

I'm absolutely appalled at how aimless and pathetic our bowling bar Ashwin and Ishant at times has been this series. How foolish of me to have expected better.

It's okay. You weren't the only one.

Bhuvi Ishant and Ashwin in full flow would be something reasonable tho.

 

[Spikey]

gosh daemon give some credit to the amazing australian batting

 

[harsh.ag]

Rahane to just ****ing kill it tomorrow. To end chase by smacking ball straight into the nuts of the square leg umpire.