**Official** Australia in India Thread

[ReallyCrazy]

210 runs to win on the last day with all wickets in hand. Chasing runs in the last innings has always been tough in Chennai. But I feel Sehwag is key. If he plays the way he usually does, then the runs are going to come at a brisk pace. Warne is key for Australia.

This has been a great Test match! And I love that it's happening in my home city of CHENNAI!!

 

[ReallyCrazy]

I couldn't hold my drink. My hands were shaking, and when Yuvraj edged it through the slips for 4 I jumped from my seat.

Great hundred from Marto. That was fantastic, he's making a habit of scoring when everything expects him not to. Also Gillespie is in my mind, officially the most annoying tailender EVER! (unless you're an Australian fan). He's so stubborn.

Lehmann's wicket was SOOOO crucial. If Lehmann had not played that shot, Clarke and him could have taken the lead to 250-270 and put it out of reach. Amazing how quickly a game can turn.

oh ya, I was following the match online till lunch. And Gillespie that guy totally annoys me.

 

[Slow Love™]

if india bat really well, they will also win

LOL

I'm surprised so many people are giving it 60:40 to Australia - I give it 60:40 to India. I have this terrible premonition that tears will be running down my cheeks and I'll be wringing out my underwear in the sink at around 8pm my time tomorrow.

 

[maxpower]

traget is 50 runs more than what should've been, couple of wickets for IND will ensure a draw or a AUS win, opening partnership is the key for both teams.

 

[a massive zebra]

Glenn McGrath has played in 99 test matches for Australia and Australia has won 65 of them. That's a personal win percentage of 65.3%.

He has taken 5 or more wickets in an innings on 24 occasions, but rather oddly, Australia's win percentage in these matches is 'only' 58.3%!

Although Australia performs awesomely well when he plays for them, it seems they do better when he's not top of the bill himself. Very strange.

 

[SJS]

traget is 50 runs more than what should've been, couple of wickets for IND will ensure a draw or a AUS win, opening partnership is the key for both teams.

There is no way this will be a draw.

Sehwag is critical because of the pace at which he scores. Australia will become very aggressive if he falls early and the Indian batting becomes defensive. Ideally Sehwag should stay at one end with Dravid at the other. If this pair lasts till lunch the battle is almost won. But this is a big if

 

[Arjun]

I didn't see much of the fourth day. How many chances did schoolboy miss? Hmmm...keeping is thankless... By the way, do you think Dravid should play as a regular keeper? Even he's not done as badly!

 

[maxpower]

There is no way this will be a draw.

Sehwag is critical because of the pace at which he scores. Australia will become very aggressive if he falls early and the Indian batting becomes defensive. Ideally Sehwag should stay at one end with Dravid at the other. If this pair lasts till lunch the battle is almost won. But this is a big if

I think draw is possible, ganguly has done that in the past, he will not press for win if couple of wickets fall early, he would rather go with 1 down then 2 down in the series, sure AUS will press hard but playing for a draw is still very likeable and doable.

 

[Swervy]

LOL

I'm surprised so many people are giving it 60:40 to Australia - I give it 60:40 to India. I have this terrible premonition that tears will be running down my cheeks and I'll be wringing out my underwear in the sink at around 8pm my time tomorrow.

you should never underestimate the difficulty of batting last on the fifth day of a test (especially in India). Australia has the best bowlers in the world and arguably the best spinner in the world as well.That adds up to suggesting that vs an Indian batting lineup lacking in confidence,Australia has the edge. Of course that edge can quickly go if Sehwag really gets going early on.

I think someone posted the odds on an Australian win before (I think 11/4)...I would certainly be putting my money on Australia with generous odds like that.

 

[SJS]

I think draw is possible, ganguly has done that in the past, he will not press for win if couple of wickets fall early, he would rather go with 1 down then 2 down in the series, sure AUS will press hard but playing for a draw is still very likeable and doable.

90 overs is too long to play without scoring 210 runs. Just try and imagine the scenario. At the end of 28 overs what could be the score. (Lunch time) Then another 28 overs, score and wickets(Tea time) and another 34 overs in the last session

Less than 210 doesnt mean India will get within 10 runs with wickets in hand . Thats laughable. So lets say India will be say, 30 runs short with wickets in hand (after all its a draw). This means scoring at 2 runs per over for 90 overs. This is impossible.

 

[marc71178]

Not sure how difficult 70-odd a session is, really... If the Indian batting lineup performs, they tend to score at a reasonable rate.

So do Australia's, and look how slow they went today.

 

[marc71178]

if india bat really well, they will also win

And if it rains all day, it wil be a draw

 

[Slow Love™]

So do Australia's, and look how slow they went today.

Much of that is down to Gillespie's innings (26 off 165 balls) - but in any case, the fact remains that they still averaged over 70 per session for the day.

 

[marc71178]

The bookmakers have India at 2/7 and Australia at 11/4.

If I were making odds, I'd be looking more like 5/6 the pair.

Eurobet have 9-4 so I'm having some of that.

 

[JustTool]

Well nobody has yet told me how you can justify blaming the umpires for a poor decision when the player walks before he's made a decision.

Technology is still not as good as people like to think, and lets face it, had a couple of those decisions gone against Australia, you wouldn't be making a fuss about the whole issue.

Glad to see you are open-minded and I must commend your ability to reach erroneous conclusions without the facts. I have been supporting intro of technology for eons, literally

 

[JustTool]

The key will be Sehwag, Dravid and Kaif. Yuvraj should have been out caught in slips yesterday...he soon will be. Ganguly couldn't reach double figures with 2 lives. VVS refuses to move his feet - he might as well be batting sitting on a chair. If Sehwag and Dravid go in the first session, it's curtains for India.

 

[viktor]

About VVS, I think if he gets past 10-15, he'll see us through. No logic, just a feeling

 

[a massive zebra]

If I were making odds, I'd be looking more like 5/6 the pair.

Eurobet have 9-4 so I'm having some of that.

Bet365 and William Hill 11/4.

 

[la28]

Parthiv Patel's keeping

No doubt- he IS the world's worst wicketkeeper. u cant even call the kid a keeper, he's the ugly midget with the gloves who talks too much. A wicketkeeper should be able to keep, doesnt matter whether he can get a 50 or not. He gave away 24 runs and missed an easy stumping chance. ganguly shouldve taken patel's gloves and given them to dravid. he's even gotten in trouble for sledging. for all u parthiv patel fans, i'm not attacking him but COME ON. he's had enough chances. there are better wicketkeepers- look at KKD Karthik. he's also 19 and only got two chances in one-day cricket and one chance to bat and people have wrote him off as a bad batsman. those people were ignorants who dont know crap about domestic cricket. karthik, as far as i can see, is a great test batsman (averages above 46). i've seen him play and he's got class. and i dont think anyone would disagree when i say that he's got better keeping skills than parthiv. remember the micheal vaughan stumping on his debut? anyways, i just hope parthiv is replaced, it doesnt even have to be karthik, just anyone who can keep "fairly decently". this is just too much. kiran more, the selector, is there in chennai and i heard the commentors say that before the chennai test, More was concerned with parthiv. This test, he's twice as bad.

 

[Neil Pickup]

I think you're getting a little over excited a little earlier about Dinesh Karthik's batting abilities. He can do what he wants at FC level (Wasim Jaffer, anyone?) but his International record is currently one ODI, one examination at the hands of Steve Harmison, one unclassified.

As for the test... it's a last day track, it's not going to be easy to bat on. 229 is a harder chase than it looks on this kind of pitch, we've been spoilt in the last few years with flat tracks and 300-400 chases being common - it's not so long ago that 229 was a very big 4th inns target. Having said that, Aus need early breaks and I have india as 70-30 favs from hereon in - but Dravid will be the key man, as if it becomes 30-2 early on tomorrow, it could all very easily implode.