Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[JSRAW]

Fortunately for Pakistan, despite the loss of two quick wickets, their star batsman Babar Azam is still there. Both Azam and Azhar Ali are playing very cautiously, as they should against the Lankan spinners. The run rate as of now stands at just 1.33. Prabath Jayasuriya has already picked up one wicket, and Maheesh Theekshana is also looking very threatening. Actually I am more concerned about the 4th innings. It is going to be a very tough task for the Pakistani batsmen, to come out and face the spinners on the 4th and 5th days of this match.

They were bowling with very discipline yesterday but Lankan's bowlers do have a habit of trying too many things when pitch is assisting them and in doing so they leak runs all the time so they need to avoid looseners against Babar and Azhar Ali. Both of em are great players of spin but they also score very slowly so may be keep things tight and just dry the runs from both ends, this might help Lankan's cause.

[YinShuiSiYuan]

Fortunately for Pakistan, despite the loss of two quick wickets, their star batsman Babar Azam is still there. Both Azam and Azhar Ali are playing very cautiously, as they should against the Lankan spinners. The run rate as of now stands at just 1.33. Prabath Jayasuriya has already picked up one wicket, and Maheesh Theekshana is also looking very threatening. Actually I am more concerned about the 4th innings. It is going to be a very tough task for the Pakistani batsmen, to come out and face the spinners on the 4th and 5th days of this match.

IMO srilanka are right back in the game as they have 222 in first innings and have picked up both openers early in the innings. Now its all on Babar and Azhar they must bat with caution and must not get out early like openers. The match is very much on and we must have a winners.

[UmerIdrees]

Fortunately for Pakistan, despite the loss of two quick wickets, their star batsman Babar Azam is still there. Both Azam and Azhar Ali are playing very cautiously, as they should against the Lankan spinners. The run rate as of now stands at just 1.33. Prabath Jayasuriya has already picked up one wicket, and Maheesh Theekshana is also looking very threatening. Actually I am more concerned about the 4th innings. It is going to be a very tough task for the Pakistani batsmen, to come out and face the spinners on the 4th and 5th days of this match.

They were bowling with very discipline yesterday but Lankan's bowlers do have a habit of trying too many things when pitch is assisting them and in doing so they leak runs all the time so they need to avoid looseners against Babar and Azhar Ali. Both of em are great players of spin but they also score very slowly so may be keep things tight and just dry the runs from both ends, this might help Lankan's cause.

Azhar Ali is gone already and he had scored only 3 runs in 41 balls. This will not help paksitani team cause as they should score at a faster rate.

Baber Azam and Rizwan is probably the best pair for the Pakistani team and they are now batting at a good strike rate too.

Edit: Rizwan is gone too. 64-4  Are we going to see another typical Pakistani batting collapse as Pakistan is never good when chasing low totals???

[Swordsoffreedom]

Azhar Ali is gone already and he had scored only 3 runs in 41 balls. This will not help paksitani team cause as they should score at a faster rate.
Baber Azam and Rizwan is probably the best pair for the Pakistani team and they are now batting at a good strike rate too.

Edit: Rizwan is gone too. 64-4  Are we going to see another typical Pakistani batting collapse as Pakistan is never good when chasing low totals???

Pakistan is in trouble now. Now it is very difficult for Pakistan to collect more than 200 runs. But I would say Pakistan's last hope Babar Azam is still at the crease. As long as he stays at the crease, Pakistan's innings will continue to grow. Pakistan's innings will not go far if Babar Azam is out. So Babar Azam needs to play carefully and stay at the crease in any way.

[virasog]

Azhar Ali is gone already and he had scored only 3 runs in 41 balls. This will not help paksitani team cause as they should score at a faster rate.
Baber Azam and Rizwan is probably the best pair for the Pakistani team and they are now batting at a good strike rate too.

Edit: Rizwan is gone too. 64-4  Are we going to see another typical Pakistani batting collapse as Pakistan is never good when chasing low totals???

Pakistan is in trouble now. Now it is very difficult for Pakistan to collect more than 200 runs. But I would say Pakistan's last hope Babar Azam is still at the crease. As long as he stays at the crease, Pakistan's innings will continue to grow. Pakistan's innings will not go far if Babar Azam is out. So Babar Azam needs to play carefully and stay at the crease in any way.

Salman Ali is also out. He had taken the review but the decision of the third umpire was in the favor of the ground umpire's decision. Baber Azam is losing batsmen at other end.  Someone needs to stand with baber if not then it looks like the Pakistan team will be bowled out by the Srilankan team and they might even get a decent lead in the first innings.

[pakhitheboss]

As expected the pitch is very good for bowlers. Srilankan bowlers have done good job by taking down 5 important batters of the Pakistani side. Pakistan still has Babar Azam but he is also struggling to score runs. If Pakistan continues to lose wickets in regular intervals then it will be hard for the Pakistani captain to keep on batting.

[laurenB7742]

As expected the pitch is very good for bowlers. Srilankan bowlers have done good job by taking down 5 important batters of the Pakistani side. Pakistan still has Babar Azam but he is also struggling to score runs. If Pakistan continues to lose wickets in regular intervals then it will be hard for the Pakistani captain to keep on batting.

The situation in Pakistan is now very bad. They lost 7 wickets. Although Babar Azam is still at the crease. But no batsman is able to build a partnership with Babar Azam. Pakistan lost their seventh wicket by 85 runs. Now their collection is 104/7. Babar Azam scored 34 runs. Probably Pakistan's innings will end within 160. Pakistan's batting performance depends on certain players like Babar Azam, Rizwan and Shafique.

[pakhitheboss]

As expected the pitch is very good for bowlers. Srilankan bowlers have done good job by taking down 5 important batters of the Pakistani side. Pakistan still has Babar Azam but he is also struggling to score runs. If Pakistan continues to lose wickets in regular intervals then it will be hard for the Pakistani captain to keep on batting.

The situation in Pakistan is now very bad. They lost 7 wickets. Although Babar Azam is still at the crease. But no batsman is able to build a partnership with Babar Azam. Pakistan lost their seventh wicket by 85 runs. Now their collection is 104/7. Babar Azam scored 34 runs. Probably Pakistan's innings will end within 160. Pakistan's batting performance depends on certain players like Babar Azam, Rizwan and Shafique.

Out of the 7 wickets 5 have been claimed by Jaisurya the spinner. It seems Pakistani batters are struggling to play spin. Babar Azam is still on the pitch but the problem with Pakistan is that none of the other batters are able to form a partnership because Srilankan bowlers are going after other batters. Not much batting left in the Pakistani side now.

[noormcs5]

As expected the pitch is very good for bowlers. Srilankan bowlers have done good job by taking down 5 important batters of the Pakistani side. Pakistan still has Babar Azam but he is also struggling to score runs. If Pakistan continues to lose wickets in regular intervals then it will be hard for the Pakistani captain to keep on batting.

The situation in Pakistan is now very bad. They lost 7 wickets. Although Babar Azam is still at the crease. But no batsman is able to build a partnership with Babar Azam. Pakistan lost their seventh wicket by 85 runs. Now their collection is 104/7. Babar Azam scored 34 runs. Probably Pakistan's innings will end within 160. Pakistan's batting performance depends on certain players like Babar Azam, Rizwan and Shafique.

Out of the 7 wickets 5 have been claimed by Jaisurya the spinner. It seems Pakistani batters are struggling to play spin. Babar Azam is still on the pitch but the problem with Pakistan is that none of the other batters are able to form a partnership because Srilankan bowlers are going after other batters. Not much batting left in the Pakistani side now.

In the Srilanka innings,  fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi took four wickets whereas in the Pakistani innings the spinner Prabath Jayasuriya took 5 wickets till now. Does this mean that the wicket has changed a lot or does Srilanka does not play pace well and the Pakistani struggling with
spinners 
I think the pakistan team has gone under a lot of pressure and the srilankan bowlers are taking full advantage of it.

[Iranus]

As expected the pitch is very good for bowlers. Srilankan bowlers have done good job by taking down 5 important batters of the Pakistani side. Pakistan still has Babar Azam but he is also struggling to score runs. If Pakistan continues to lose wickets in regular intervals then it will be hard for the Pakistani captain to keep on batting.

The situation in Pakistan is now very bad. They lost 7 wickets. Although Babar Azam is still at the crease. But no batsman is able to build a partnership with Babar Azam. Pakistan lost their seventh wicket by 85 runs. Now their collection is 104/7. Babar Azam scored 34 runs. Probably Pakistan's innings will end within 160. Pakistan's batting performance depends on certain players like Babar Azam, Rizwan and Shafique.

Out of the 7 wickets 5 have been claimed by Jaisurya the spinner. It seems Pakistani batters are struggling to play spin. Babar Azam is still on the pitch but the problem with Pakistan is that none of the other batters are able to form a partnership because Srilankan bowlers are going after other batters. Not much batting left in the Pakistani side now.

Another wicket has fallen for Pakistan. Babar Azam is not getting any partner yet. Pakistan managed to collect 117 runs. Pakistan is still behind by 105 runs. If Pakistan can score 160/170 runs then maybe a good second innings performance will win the match. But if Pakistan is behind by more than 80 runs, then it will be difficult for Pakistan to win this match.

[wiss19]

Sri Lanka lost 4 wickets for just 68 runs. After that they managed to collect 222 runs. I would say this is a good enough collection for them. As the pitch is not conducive to batting. So Sri Lanka can control the match if they bowl well. And the Sri Lankan bowlers have already sent Pakistan's two openers to the dressing room for just 21 runs.

Here we have nothing new because if you are able watch recently England vs New Zealand and then England vs India it's all happening top order fail to score runs and then middle order and lower order are producing good innings and giving their teams good advantage, so it's same happened here in this match, and I am feeling after having poor start at then end Sri Lanka manage to end their inning at the total of 222 is very good from their point of view and now ball is in Pakistan side.

They have done very good bowling and now need some good innings from their top ranked batsmen which can give them good advantage right now Captain Babar Azam and former Captain Azhar Ali at the crease and these both need to stay at for most time which can give them healthy lead and strong position in this match if these both not able to stay at crease then surely they are going to lose this match with Sri Lanka can do better in second inning like they have done against Australia.

[BobK71]

As expected the pitch is very good for bowlers. Srilankan bowlers have done good job by taking down 5 important batters of the Pakistani side. Pakistan still has Babar Azam but he is also struggling to score runs. If Pakistan continues to lose wickets in regular intervals then it will be hard for the Pakistani captain to keep on batting.

The situation in Pakistan is now very bad. They lost 7 wickets. Although Babar Azam is still at the crease. But no batsman is able to build a partnership with Babar Azam. Pakistan lost their seventh wicket by 85 runs. Now their collection is 104/7. Babar Azam scored 34 runs. Probably Pakistan's innings will end within 160. Pakistan's batting performance depends on certain players like Babar Azam, Rizwan and Shafique.

Sri Lanka's run in the first innings did not look satisfactory but Pakistan's batting disaster suggests that Sri Lanka's run has been relatively good. As the game is still in progress we have to wait till the end. 3 players from Sri Lanka performed very well Chandimal M Theekshana Oshada Fernando among the three Chandimal scored 76 runs for the team.

[YinShuiSiYuan]

Sri Lanka's run in the first innings did not look satisfactory but Pakistan's batting disaster suggests that Sri Lanka's run has been relatively good. As the game is still in progress we have to wait till the end. 3 players from Sri Lanka performed very well Chandimal M Theekshana Oshada Fernando among the three Chandimal scored 76 runs for the team.

Srilanka performed well against Australia and now they are in complete control of first test match. Pakistan still trail by 70 runs while they have only one wicket left. Babar Azam is still batting, may be he can perform for Pakistan like Dinesh Chandimal for Srilanka.

[DanWalker]

As expected the pitch is very good for bowlers. Srilankan bowlers have done good job by taking down 5 important batters of the Pakistani side. Pakistan still has Babar Azam but he is also struggling to score runs. If Pakistan continues to lose wickets in regular intervals then it will be hard for the Pakistani captain to keep on batting.

The situation in Pakistan is now very bad. They lost 7 wickets. Although Babar Azam is still at the crease. But no batsman is able to build a partnership with Babar Azam. Pakistan lost their seventh wicket by 85 runs. Now their collection is 104/7. Babar Azam scored 34 runs. Probably Pakistan's innings will end within 160. Pakistan's batting performance depends on certain players like Babar Azam, Rizwan and Shafique.

Sri Lanka's run in the first innings did not look satisfactory but Pakistan's batting disaster suggests that Sri Lanka's run has been relatively good. As the game is still in progress we have to wait till the end. 3 players from Sri Lanka performed very well Chandimal M Theekshana Oshada Fernando among the three Chandimal scored 76 runs for the team.

The pitch is not conducive to batting. Batsmen are facing a lot of trouble scoring runs. The pitch is helping the spin bowlers. And so Sri Lankan captain is using Prabath Jayasuriya. He took 5 wickets. Pakistan has batted 69 overs so far. Among them, Prabath Jayasuriya bowled 30 overs. Babar Azam scored 62 runs off 147 balls. And Naseem Shah has not yet scored any runs in 18 balls.

[minairia3]

Pakistan is able to collect 158/9. Babar Azam and Naseem Shah are batting now. But the interesting thing is that Pakistan scored only 7 runs in the last 10 overs. Naseem Shah faced 24 balls but did not collect any runs. Pakistan needed such responsible batting now. Naseem Shah is now able to support Babar Azam quite well. If this continues, Pakistan's innings will not end before 180. I think 180 will be a good collection.

[virasog]

Pakistan is able to collect 158/9. Babar Azam and Naseem Shah are batting now. But the interesting thing is that Pakistan scored only 7 runs in the last 10 overs. Naseem Shah faced 24 balls but did not collect any runs. Pakistan needed such responsible batting now. Naseem Shah is now able to support Babar Azam quite well. If this continues, Pakistan's innings will not end before 180. I think 180 will be a good collection.

Naseem shah play 38 dot balls and finally hit a four runs. Naseem shah innings is really important here as he is giving champion Baber Azam to play and score a hundred. He is at 94 and each and every run here is a bonus for Pakistan. Its really frustrating for the bowling side when the last pair get stuck . Tea time now and Pakistan are 28 runs behind now. Even though i would say Srilanka played better through out the day but this last one hour belong to Pakistan team.

[JSRAW]

That's some fine batting from the Babar, completely in control and toying with the Srilankan bowlers and fielders. Naseem Shah also hanging out there with the skipper and doing very fine job.

Last wicket partnerships are changing the tide for the both teams, it happened in SL's inning and same thing is happening with Pak too.

[kro55]

That's some fine batting from the Babar, completely in control and toying with the Srilankan bowlers and fielders. Naseem Shah also hanging out there with the skipper and doing very fine job.

Last wicket partnerships are changing the tide for the both teams, it happened in SL's inning and same thing is happening with Pak too.

What an outstanding partnership from Babar Azam and Naseem Shah! Pakistan has already collected 46 runs in the last pair of wickets. Babar Azam is an experienced player, and better performance is expected from him. But Naseem is basically a bowler. He is supporting Babar Azam very well. He faced 42 balls still at the crease. Everyone expected Pakistan's innings to end between 140-150. But now it looks like Pakistan will collect more than 200 very easily.

[Marvell1]

Pakistan is able to collect 158/9. Babar Azam and Naseem Shah are batting now. But the interesting thing is that Pakistan scored only 7 runs in the last 10 overs. Naseem Shah faced 24 balls but did not collect any runs. Pakistan needed such responsible batting now. Naseem Shah is now able to support Babar Azam quite well. If this continues, Pakistan's innings will not end before 180. I think 180 will be a good collection.

Naseem shah play 38 dot balls and finally hit a four runs. Naseem shah innings is really important here as he is giving champion Baber Azam to play and score a hundred. He is at 94 and each and every run here is a bonus for Pakistan. Its really frustrating for the bowling side when the last pair get stuck . Tea time now and Pakistan are 28 runs behind now. Even though i would say Srilanka played better through out the day but this last one hour belong to Pakistan team.

As a result of Babar Azam's devastating batting, Pakistan was just 4 runs behind of Sri Lanka's 222 in the first innings. I never imagined that Pakistan would score 218 runs in this match. Because Pakistan was losing wickets from the beginning of the innings. Babar Azam has managed to do the impossible. He got out after collecting 119 runs. I think we will probably see Pakistan win this match.

[pakhitheboss]

Good, come back by Pakistan! All thanks to Babar Azam. I never expected them to even come near the 200 number I was expecting them to cross the 222 mark but they got all out at 218. Babar Azam scored 119 runs, almost half of the runs by Srilanka. Pakistan still trails by 4 runs but I am not expecting Srilankan batters to perform well. They still need to score more than 200 runs to win this test match. Pakistan bowling has been spot on and it would not be easy for the Srilankan batters to bat on that pitch.