Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[DanWalker]

Like the first test match, the South African team is likely to win the second match as well. South Africa batted well in the first innings. And their performance is good in the second innings too. South Africa collected 266 runs losing 6 wickets. And South Africa is now leading by 335 runs. And I think that is enough collection to win against West Indies.
West Indies bowler's performance is bad I would not say that. But the performance of West Indies batsmen is very bad. West Indies batsmen are not suitable for the Test format. Apart from Jason Holder, no other batsman on the team could collect up to 30 runs.

South Africa now lead by 356 runs and they still have three wickets in hand. The important thing is that Temba Bavuma , the captain of south Africa, is playing at 171 runs and is still not out. Although this lead should be enough for the South African team but ideally they would like to post a lead of 400 runs and Temba can help to achieve this Psychological lead.
I would agree with your point that West Indies needs to improve their batting. Their bowling is reasonably ok but if the batting gets a bit improved they could give tough competition to the South African team.

I think South Africa should just post a target of 400 for the West Indies and they will be very safe. I seriously do not want South Africa to play any more time than just the first session of the fourth day. Because the chance of South Africa winning the test match is going to reduce as time goes on.

I do not want South Africa to play any further than the first session, doesn't matter if they are able to post a target of 400 or not. Considering the fact that they only need 44 runs to post a target of 400 which if they are unable to get in, the first session is going to be very weird.

I think the best approach is going to be laying attacking cricket from the start of day four. They should get as much as they can and not worry about losing wickets. After that, they can get to work with bowling.

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[ilovealtcoins]

Uff 167.2 overs !!
There are surely lots of tired legs in the Indian camp atm and they have to face tricky 10 overs. 9th wicket partnership between Lyon and Todd Murphy is going to hurt us badly, never a good sight when pure tailenders put up 70 odd runs partnerships as it breaks your confidence.

LOL... when we talk about tailenders scoring runs in Border–Gavaskar Trophy, the ones that come to my mind are Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Shami. Never expected the Australian tail to put up such a tough fight. The 70 run partnership between Todd Murphy and Nathan Lyon destroyed the morale of the Indian team. And in the end it was Ashwin who got both these wickets. India needs another 245 runs to avoid follow on. So far the two openers looked comfortable out there, but we never know. One or two quick wickets can put them in trouble. 

Tail wagging is a nightmare for any team so agree haha
Well if the pitch stays the same then we can expect India to cross at least 300 runs at the end of day 3 (without losing many wickets) as guys like Gill, Rohit and Iyer won't take a conservative approach and will surely play attacking cricket. India also needs a couple of daddy hundred from their top 5 batsmen. If not then they are doomed.

It will be very difficult for India to score 500 runs in the first innings. I don't think the pitch is entirely conducive to batting. But if India manages to play well in the first session of the next day and not lose wickets, they will collect a big score. It is difficult to stay at the crease in the first session. To collect big, the top-order players must bat responsibly. But India's top-order players are not in good form. My guess is Australia will win this match.

[romero121]

Uff 167.2 overs !!
There are surely lots of tired legs in the Indian camp atm and they have to face tricky 10 overs. 9th wicket partnership between Lyon and Todd Murphy is going to hurt us badly, never a good sight when pure tailenders put up 70 odd runs partnerships as it breaks your confidence.

LOL... when we talk about tailenders scoring runs in Border–Gavaskar Trophy, the ones that come to my mind are Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Shami. Never expected the Australian tail to put up such a tough fight. The 70 run partnership between Todd Murphy and Nathan Lyon destroyed the morale of the Indian team. And in the end it was Ashwin who got both these wickets. India needs another 245 runs to avoid follow on. So far the two openers looked comfortable out there, but we never know. One or two quick wickets can put them in trouble. 

Tail wagging is a nightmare for any team so agree haha
Well if the pitch stays the same then we can expect India to cross at least 300 runs at the end of day 3 (without losing many wickets) as guys like Gill, Rohit and Iyer won't take a conservative approach and will surely play attacking cricket. India also needs a couple of daddy hundred from their top 5 batsmen. If not then they are doomed.

It will be very difficult for India to score 500 runs in the first innings. I don't think the pitch is entirely conducive to batting. But if India manages to play well in the first session of the next day and not lose wickets, they will collect a big score. It is difficult to stay at the crease in the first session. To collect big, the top-order players must bat responsibly. But India's top-order players are not in good form. My guess is Australia will win this match.

The early wickets will decide the winning of the match. I expected fall of wickets yesterday, but India managed to stand wicket. Based on the performance I believe India will play better in the first session. The team have got good batting line-up and if one of the player fails, upcoming player needs to understand the situation and play accordingly. This could make the team move forward against the attacking bowling from Australia. For India Ashwin was dominant in bowling with 91/6. For Australia Lyon is predicted to be the dominant bowler as the pitch is favouring spinners.

[ene1980]

~
It will be very difficult for India to score 500 runs in the first innings. I don't think the pitch is entirely conducive to batting. But if India manages to play well in the first session of the next day and not lose wickets, they will collect a big score. It is difficult to stay at the crease in the first session. To collect big, the top-order players must bat responsibly. But India's top-order players are not in good form. My guess is Australia will win this match.

If Australia could score 480 runs which includes two players scoring centuries in this track, do you really think that Indian batsman will find it difficult to score runs. I am expecting a few centuries from the Indian batsman as well as none of the batsmen were able to score big runs and this might be the pitch finally for everyone to score runs and save face and the match would probably end up in a draw.

[Sithara007]

If Australia could score 480 runs which includes two players scoring centuries in this track, do you really think that Indian batsman will find it difficult to score runs. I am expecting a few centuries from the Indian batsman as well as none of the batsmen were able to score big runs and this might be the pitch finally for everyone to score runs and save face and the match would probably end up in a draw.

Today's play is very crucial for the outcome of this match. IMO, the only way there can be an outcome is if India follows on. And they still need another 245 runs to avoid the follow on. Given the batting friendly conditions, chances are that India will also pile up a score in excess of 400 and the match ends in a draw. But if Nathan Lyon or Todd Murphy can get 2-3 quick wickets in the first session, then Indian batsmen will be under a lot of pressure and Australians may sense an opportunity to win this match. Half of the Indian batsmen are not in good form anyway.

[Vaskiy]

If Australia could score 480 runs which includes two players scoring centuries in this track, do you really think that Indian batsman will find it difficult to score runs. I am expecting a few centuries from the Indian batsman as well as none of the batsmen were able to score big runs and this might be the pitch finally for everyone to score runs and save face and the match would probably end up in a draw.

Today's play is very crucial for the outcome of this match. IMO, the only way there can be an outcome is if India follows on. And they still need another 245 runs to avoid the follow on. Given the batting friendly conditions, chances are that India will also pile up a score in excess of 400 and the match ends in a draw. But if Nathan Lyon or Todd Murphy can get 2-3 quick wickets in the first session, then Indian batsmen will be under a lot of pressure and Australians may sense an opportunity to win this match. Half of the Indian batsmen are not in good form anyway.

The quick wickets will be the deciding factor. The ground is batting friendly which need to used by the batsmen. Indian batsmen were out of form, yet someone to score good too can give hands. Nathan Lyon with his previous match form would try to pick wickets than restricting to score.

At the drinks break, Sri Lanka vs New Zealand match have reached an unexpected situation. Sri Lanka scored 355 runs in the first innings. New Zealand losing its 6^th wicket at 188 have ended the innings at 373 runs with lead of 18 runs. The match result is still underway.

[Swordsoffreedom]

At the drinks break, Sri Lanka vs New Zealand match have reached an unexpected situation. Sri Lanka scored 355 runs in the first innings. New Zealand losing its 6^th wicket at 188 have ended the innings at 373 runs with lead of 18 runs. The match result is still underway.

New Zealand's first innings performance was very good. At the beginning of the innings, I thought that New Zealand would not be able to collect even 300 runs. However, New Zealand managed to score 373 runs and took a lead of 18 runs. Now if the bowlers of New Zealand can restrict the Sri Lankan team to 250 then New Zealand will win this match.

Sri Lanka managed to collect 50 runs and lost two wickets. Although Karunaratne scored 50 runs in the first innings, he did not play well in the second innings. If the Sri Lankan batsmen do not play well in the first session of the fourth day, it will be difficult for them to collect 200 runs.

[pakhitheboss]

Well if the pitch stays the same then we can expect India to cross at least 300 runs at the end of day 3 (without losing many wickets) as guys like Gill, Rohit and Iyer won't take a conservative approach and will surely play attacking cricket. India also needs a couple of daddy hundred from their top 5 batsmen. If not then they are doomed.

The pitch still looks the same but being aggressive means you would lose wickets. India lost its first wicket to Rohit Sharma. Shubhman Gill seems good and the way he is playing now will surely help India in chasing this massive target. I want Kohli to do something today as he has not scored anything in this entire BGT. This might be his only opportunity to get back to his groove otherwise he might also face the axe as KL Rahul did in this series.

[JSRAW]

Oh well!! Kohli is scoring runs for a change   so BCCI really served a road here, didn't they?

I would have liked it more if they had 320-ish runs on the scoreboard, it didn't happen but that's okay i suppose as they just lost 3 wickets so the match is still in the balance. Pitch is still looking good for batting so maybe we can expect more runs from India on day 4 and who knows if they get lucky then they can take a lead too?  

[mm2543363580]

Well if the pitch stays the same then we can expect India to cross at least 300 runs at the end of day 3 (without losing many wickets) as guys like Gill, Rohit and Iyer won't take a conservative approach and will surely play attacking cricket. India also needs a couple of daddy hundred from their top 5 batsmen. If not then they are doomed.

The pitch still looks the same but being aggressive means you would lose wickets. India lost its first wicket to Rohit Sharma. Shubhman Gill seems good and the way he is playing now will surely help India in chasing this massive target. I want Kohli to do something today as he has not scored anything in this entire BGT. This might be his only opportunity to get back to his groove otherwise he might also face the axe as KL Rahul did in this series.

India is in good form they have end the day on 289 runs 3 wickets,  Shubman Gill scored his century and Virat Kohli is playing strong.  If they continue to bat like this tomorrow this match can end in a draw .

[MoonOfLife]

At the drinks break, Sri Lanka vs New Zealand match have reached an unexpected situation. Sri Lanka scored 355 runs in the first innings. New Zealand losing its 6^th wicket at 188 have ended the innings at 373 runs with lead of 18 runs. The match result is still underway.

New Zealand's first innings performance was very good. At the beginning of the innings, I thought that New Zealand would not be able to collect even 300 runs. However, New Zealand managed to score 373 runs and took a lead of 18 runs. Now if the bowlers of New Zealand can restrict the Sri Lankan team to 250 then New Zealand will win this match.
Sri Lanka managed to collect 50 runs and lost two wickets. Although Karunaratne scored 50 runs in the first innings, he did not play well in the second innings. If the Sri Lankan batsmen do not play well in the first session of the fourth day, it will be difficult for them to collect 200 runs.

Sri Lanka is only leading by 65. What is certainly not enough for Sri Lanka to win against a team like New Zealand. I believe that even if the target is 350, New Zealand will actually be able to get that. But first of all, I do not think Sri Lanka will be able to give a target of 350 in the first place. Because I believe they are going to be all out before that. Overall I will say New Zealand has the upper hand in this test match.

[pakhitheboss]

I feel that this test match might end in a draw unless India takes an agressive stance. I doubt anything such as agressive attitude would happen from the Indian side. They are not like the England team, which bloomed but are late. Still I am happy to se Virat doing what he is known for in test cricket.

I wouldn't deny the agressive attitude of Shubman Gill. If India wins this test series then forget about KL Rahul being part of the Indian test team. I was expecting a total of 300+ runs but Gill suddenly stalled after his century. Being agressive and being defensive has big repercussions in morder day cricket.

Above everything happening in this world what makes me think good can happen is when Kholi scored a half century after a long span. I hope he continues to do what he did today and get India back in this test match.

[Haunebu]

Oh well!! Kohli is scoring runs for a change   so BCCI really served a road here, didn't they?

I would have liked it more if they had 320-ish runs on the scoreboard, it didn't happen but that's okay i suppose as they just lost 3 wickets so the match is still in the balance. Pitch is still looking good for batting so maybe we can expect more runs from India on day 4 and who knows if they get lucky then they can take a lead too?  

No pikachu face from Kohli this time around. Luck is siding with India at the moment thanks to Sri Lanka being pressured by New Zealand. Even if Lanka manages to win somehow, 2-0 in their favor is extremely unlikely.

South Africa decimated West Indies while India looks like they might post a small lead at the rate at which they are going. Gill and Bavuma were excellent in their respective matches.

Am calling it right now: India vs Australia in the WTC 2023 finals and India emerges as the winner.

[BobK71]

At the drinks break, Sri Lanka vs New Zealand match have reached an unexpected situation. Sri Lanka scored 355 runs in the first innings. New Zealand losing its 6^th wicket at 188 have ended the innings at 373 runs with lead of 18 runs. The match result is still underway.

New Zealand's first innings performance was very good. At the beginning of the innings, I thought that New Zealand would not be able to collect even 300 runs. However, New Zealand managed to score 373 runs and took a lead of 18 runs. Now if the bowlers of New Zealand can restrict the Sri Lankan team to 250 then New Zealand will win this match.

Sri Lanka managed to collect 50 runs and lost two wickets. Although Karunaratne scored 50 runs in the first innings, he did not play well in the second innings. If the Sri Lankan batsmen do not play well in the first session of the fourth day, it will be difficult for them to collect 200 runs.

In the New Zealand and Sri Lanka Tests, the Sri Lankan top and middle order performed well in the first innings but in the second innings lacked that consistency. The fall of 3 wickets for 83 runs will naturally reduce the run rate so even if New Zealand are a bit behind, it will not be too difficult to cover those runs. In the first innings Karunaratne had 50, Kusal Mendis 87 and Mathews 47 but in the second innings Karunaratne 17, Kusal Mendis 14 and Angelo Mathews remained unbeaten.

[mm2543363580]

At the drinks break, Sri Lanka vs New Zealand match have reached an unexpected situation. Sri Lanka scored 355 runs in the first innings. New Zealand losing its 6^th wicket at 188 have ended the innings at 373 runs with lead of 18 runs. The match result is still underway.

New Zealand's first innings performance was very good. At the beginning of the innings, I thought that New Zealand would not be able to collect even 300 runs. However, New Zealand managed to score 373 runs and took a lead of 18 runs. Now if the bowlers of New Zealand can restrict the Sri Lankan team to 250 then New Zealand will win this match.

Sri Lanka managed to collect 50 runs and lost two wickets. Although Karunaratne scored 50 runs in the first innings, he did not play well in the second innings. If the Sri Lankan batsmen do not play well in the first session of the fourth day, it will be difficult for them to collect 200 runs.

In the New Zealand and Sri Lanka Tests, the Sri Lankan top and middle order performed well in the first innings but in the second innings lacked that consistency. The fall of 3 wickets for 83 runs will naturally reduce the run rate so even if New Zealand are a bit behind, it will not be too difficult to cover those runs. In the first innings Karunaratne had 50, Kusal Mendis 87 and Mathews 47 but in the second innings Karunaratne 17, Kusal Mendis 14 and Angelo Mathews remained unbeaten.

Sirlanka managed to maintain a good position in 1st innings and they controlled Newzealand to score big and the reason the lead is small . Sirlanka has fair chances of winning this test or this might end in a draw.

[laurenB7742]

At the drinks break, Sri Lanka vs New Zealand match have reached an unexpected situation. Sri Lanka scored 355 runs in the first innings. New Zealand losing its 6^th wicket at 188 have ended the innings at 373 runs with lead of 18 runs. The match result is still underway.

New Zealand's first innings performance was very good. At the beginning of the innings, I thought that New Zealand would not be able to collect even 300 runs. However, New Zealand managed to score 373 runs and took a lead of 18 runs. Now if the bowlers of New Zealand can restrict the Sri Lankan team to 250 then New Zealand will win this match.
Sri Lanka managed to collect 50 runs and lost two wickets. Although Karunaratne scored 50 runs in the first innings, he did not play well in the second innings. If the Sri Lankan batsmen do not play well in the first session of the fourth day, it will be difficult for them to collect 200 runs.

In the New Zealand and Sri Lanka Tests, the Sri Lankan top and middle order performed well in the first innings but in the second innings lacked that consistency. The fall of 3 wickets for 83 runs will naturally reduce the run rate so even if New Zealand are a bit behind, it will not be too difficult to cover those runs. In the first innings Karunaratne had 50, Kusal Mendis 87 and Mathews 47 but in the second innings Karunaratne 17, Kusal Mendis 14 and Angelo Mathews remained unbeaten.

Sri Lanka vs New Zealand series I thought would be one-sided and New Zealand would win. But the performance of the Sri Lankan batsmen in the first innings was excellent. And so they managed to collect quite a decent amount. And the performance of the Sri Lankan bowlers in the first innings was not bad. However, I do not see a good performance from the Sri Lankan batsmen in the second innings. They collected 83 runs by losing 3 wickets. And three experienced batsmen of the squad are back in the dressing room. If Sri Lanka gives a target of less than 300 then New Zealand will dominate the match and win. But being able to collect more than 300 will make the match competitive.

[eaLiTy]

~
If Sri Lanka gives a target of less than 300 then New Zealand will dominate the match and win. But being able to collect more than 300 will make the match competitive.

If not for the innings of Daryl Mitchell and the lower order battle by Matt Henry New Zealand would not be reaching this score instead concede a lead to Sri Lanka, considering that it would be a hard battle to chase anything around 300 runs in the final days of the match with the way the New Zealand batsman are struggling with the bat. The match depends upon how the Sri Lankan batsman are going to score runs tomorrow.
Finally a half century from Virat Kohli in Test and hopefully he will convert that to a century and so does the tail end and with the way the match is going it will end in a draw and finally some batsman were able to rectify their batting average with the pitch they got in the final Test  .

[crunck]

In the New Zealand and Sri Lanka Tests, the Sri Lankan top and middle order performed well in the first innings but in the second innings lacked that consistency. The fall of 3 wickets for 83 runs will naturally reduce the run rate so even if New Zealand are a bit behind, it will not be too difficult to cover those runs. In the first innings Karunaratne had 50, Kusal Mendis 87 and Mathews 47 but in the second innings Karunaratne 17, Kusal Mendis 14 and Angelo Mathews remained unbeaten.

The top order of Sri Lanka has actually failed in the second innings. So I do not think they will be able to get a good total. This match is heavily in favor of New Zealand. Unless something unbelievable happens the next day. And Sri Lanka gets a huge total of something like 400. I do not believe that New Zealand is going to lose. There is also a very low chance of this being a draw. In the current situation, I do not believe that it is going to be anything else other than New Zealand winning.

[noormcs5]

Like the first test match, the South African team is likely to win the second match as well. South Africa batted well in the first innings. And their performance is good in the second innings too. South Africa collected 266 runs losing 6 wickets. And South Africa is now leading by 335 runs. And I think that is enough collection to win against West Indies.
West Indies bowler's performance is bad I would not say that. But the performance of West Indies batsmen is very bad. West Indies batsmen are not suitable for the Test format. Apart from Jason Holder, no other batsman on the team could collect up to 30 runs.

South Africa now lead by 356 runs and they still have three wickets in hand. The important thing is that Temba Bavuma , the captain of south Africa, is playing at 171 runs and is still not out. Although this lead should be enough for the South African team but ideally they would like to post a lead of 400 runs and Temba can help to achieve this Psychological lead.
I would agree with your point that West Indies needs to improve their batting. Their bowling is reasonably ok but if the batting gets a bit improved they could give tough competition to the South African team.

I think South Africa should just post a target of 400 for the West Indies and they will be very safe. I seriously do not want South Africa to play any more time than just the first session of the fourth day. Because the chance of South Africa winning the test match is going to reduce as time goes on.

I do not want South Africa to play any further than the first session, doesn't matter if they are able to post a target of 400 or not. Considering the fact that they only need 44 runs to post a target of 400 which if they are unable to get in, the first session is going to be very weird.

I think the best approach is going to be laying attacking cricket from the start of day four. They should get as much as they can and not worry about losing wickets. After that, they can get to work with bowling.

Yeah, you were right, South Africa did not need a lead of 400 runs to win the match, infact a mere lead of 110 would have been enough for them to win this test match.

A very poor show by the West Indies batsmen and they really need to do something about their batting now. Joshua Da Silva scored the highest 34 runs and the rest of the batsmen just didn't score anything.

Both test matches has been won by south africa and therefore they won the test series. Let's see how west indies come up in the one day series after this test defeat.

[Mahdirakib]

Finally a half century from Virat Kohli in Test and hopefully he will convert that to a century and so does the tail end and with the way the match is going it will end in a draw and finally some batsman were able to rectify their batting average with the pitch they got in the final Test  .

There is no fun of the test match if the pitch behaves like that. Virat Kohli has scored something good after a long time in test format. But the spectators are getting bored for such pitch condition. This test match is heading towards the draw. I can't see any other possible outcome of this match. Will India qualify for the WTC final automatically if this test match ends as a draw?