Wtf went for a nap and we’re all out
Vihari should open and we should drop a batsman though
Full credit to Jamieson. I wouldn’t have picked him but that’s a serious performance.
Still, 240 is a decent day 1 score. NZ will need to bat well here. That Watling drop could be critical.
Yes the story of the opening day at this ground about four weeks ago was Michael Rae getting lots of bounce-orientated wickets in the second session. India A were 153/3 in the 41st over and dismissed by the 55th. A 268-run Chapman/Cleaver partnership started building after lunch on day two, spanning the 106th over of the game until the 187th.It's going to be a batting deck by the third session tomorrow IMO. Had a bit in it today though, I'd definitely rather have been bowling seam up on it than doing anything else.
Do you agree or disagree that this test would have gone worse for India (expectedly) if Pant had come in at #6 today?Yes, if Bumrah and Ishant were never injured. And I still won't play Jaddu ahead of Ash as the spinner. The reason given was his batting but what is the point of having a guy who can make 100s at 8, if he is followed by 3 filthy #11 sloggers who can't even get behind the line?
And honestly, I think Pant and Jaddu are good enough to bat 6 and 7 in most conditions, so no, I would like us to play 5 bowlers most of the time. If it is an extreme green top, then yes pick 6 batters, let Vihari bowl the spin and get in 4 seamers but even then we will need someone like Bhuvi to differentiate the attack. Right now we got 3 guys who all bowl short of good length, get seam movement (and a "bit" of swing in Umesh) and all who bowl at the same pace and mostly, the same angle... It is not fast enough to blast batsmen out, its not slow enough to get the ball to swing to a decent extent.
Also maybe if Pandya is back I can see us playing Jaddu as the single spinner on a green top or a track that would aid the seamers so much more than spinners but again, most of the time, we should be able to do well with 5 bowlers.
aka the unlucky "not unlucky" lengthYep, it was the classic go-past-the-edge length, about a foot too short. First few overs they were bang on the money, but then just didn't bowl enough balls to hit the stumps. Latham in particular left quite a few on length.
Do you agree or disagree that this test would have gone worse for India (expectedly) if Pant had come in at #6 today?