Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[erikalui]

5 overs less today but not much would have happened in those 5 overs. Rabada took Rohit's wicket early so he couldn't even make 50. Looks like they'll be able to easily make 350-400 if Virat is still batting but if his wicket goes, they may settle for less than 400 runs. Still not bad considering SA's last performance. Just checked Saha's track record. He doesn't have a good SR (infact it's quite poor) and he's quite senior with little experience in ODIs and test matches. Why did they choose him to come in at 4th or 8th place is something I can't understand.

[teosanru]

Pune's pitch is kind of a flat pitch without much on it for bowler I think which is why India decided to go with 5 bowlers so there could be more bowlers searching for something out of the pitch as all of them have separate strengths. I consider Jadeja a full time batsmen so it's not 6 batsmen I think it's certainly 7 batsmen out of which one is all rounder and not to forget Ashwin can be a great night watchman at times. So India has a lot of batting strength and surely an extra bowler would improve their bowling stats.

I was watching the match on TV, and one of my friends who was sitting besides me commented that there seems to be a lot of grass on the pitch (which we normally don't expect on flat tracks). I am not that knowledgeable and therefore not sure whether he was right or not. But if that is the case, then India made the right decision by going ahead with 3 pacers.

But in case the pitch is offering support for the pacers, then we can expect both Nortje and Philander to perform well tomorrow. They looked dull today, as Kagiso Rabada was the only South African bowler who managed to trouble the Indian batsmen. And Keshav Maharaj had another poor outing. He is proving to be very expensive and the Indians looked very comfortable against him.

Actually yes it's not that flat of a pitch this time. There is some grass and help for bowlers. But bounce is pretty good something what we call the batsmen bounce. that is why India went with extra pacer and South Africa chose to keep things bouncy for india today.

South Africa is looking clueless out there and today only one of their players (Rabada) looked like he could compete against the Indians. I am not sure about their recent drop of form, but I still remember the time when South Africa was regarded as one of the heavyweights in cricket. When cricketers such as Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Jacques Kallis.etc were playing, South Africa was almost invincible. And look at the current state of affairs. I feel bad for them.

Yes that is pretty correct i never expected spinner to rock on this pitch and that really did happen . However I thought Philander could give some troubles with his pace.

~snip~

~Edited out~
India has a reputation of being weak against the short balls.

Indians did okay today, let's hope India doesn't lose any early wickets tomorrow.  

Yeah I agree but this is the best thing south africa have in their pockets to beat India. Their spinning department isn't working while the extra pace has never hearted India.

[ene1980]

I think South African bowlers are hardly finding any swing like the ones they have in South Africa which is why they might have just changed their strategy to short balls. India has a reputation of being weak against the short balls.

India did have a bad reputation of having a weakness against short pitch bowling in the past but now a days majority of the players are good in the back foot too and in Indian pitches how much the short pitch bowling can cause issues, if it is a green wicket then they could have troubled the batsman, unless they play reckless shots against the short pitch bowling they will not fetch any wickets in this pitch.

[eaLiTy]

but I still remember the time when South Africa was regarded as one of the heavyweights in cricket. When cricketers such as Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Jacques Kallis.etc were playing, South Africa was almost invincible. And look at the current state of affairs. I feel bad for them.

South Africa had some of the greatest talents and all rounders the world have seen and they had some incredible fast bowlers and they were unbeatable at home when Hansie Cronje was their captain and after the corruption and all the controversy i saw some major changes in the team and now it ended up like this.

India is playing well and if South Africa is able to take some wickets in the morning session and trouble the batsman then there is a game in hand, if not India will win the match easily and playing in the last two days will not the easy and winning the toss is a major factor in this series.

[Sithara007]

South Africa had some of the greatest talents and all rounders the world have seen and they had some incredible fast bowlers and they were unbeatable at home when Hansie Cronje was their captain and after the corruption and all the controversy i saw some major changes in the team and now it ended up like this.

India is playing well and if South Africa is able to take some wickets in the morning session and trouble the batsman then there is a game in hand, if not India will win the match easily and playing in the last two days will not the easy and winning the toss is a major factor in this series.

It was not just Hansie Cronje who built the team them. The major contribution came from Bob Woolmer, who coached the team. Younger individuals may have never heard about him, but he was the master brain behind South Africa back then. He brought innovation in to the South African team. For example, it was Woolmer who made use of TV recordings to finalize their strategy against the opposition bowlers. Sadly, both Cronje and Woolmer died in suspicious circumstances, which some people blame on the betting mafia.

Now coming back to the topic, I don't have any doubt about the results for the second test. We watched the first match, and saw how meekly South Africa surrendered to the Indian bowlers and how clueless were their own bowlers (especially Maharaj). They can try hard, but what can be done when the opposing team is a few levels ahead of them, as far as the skills are concerned?

[ene1980]

They can try hard, but what can be done when the opposing team is a few levels ahead of them, as far as the skills are concerned?

If the South African batsman can stay in the crease for a longer period of time and have the patience to defend and frustrate the Indian bowlers then they can go for a draw but winning the match with a bowling line up who does not pose any major problem to the experienced Indian players is worrying if you are a fan of South Africa. Morning session is important if South Africa need to have a grip on the match and if they are able to pick quick wickets then we will have an interesting day.

[JSRAW]

Well nervous period of first hour with New ball is gone and its seems to me that South Africa's suffering not going to finish anytime soon because they just lost a review and both the batsmen Kohli (91) - Rahane (41) looking set as well, Let's hope India go wicket less in the first session now its safe to say India is set for the Big target, unless middle-lower order collapse.

India : 326/3

Test Stats Of Indian Batsmen

[Ayiranorea]

Well nervous period of first hour with New ball is gone and its seems to me that South Africa's suffering not going to finish anytime soon because they just lost a review and both the batsmen Kohli (91) - Rahane (41) looking set as well, Let's hope India go wicket less in the first session now its safe to say India is set for the Big target, unless middle-lower order collapse.

India : 326/3

In this match the middle order is performing extremely well, when the batsmen gets strong automatically a pressure gets developed over the bowlers. This can be now felt over the bowling from South Africa. This time we can see the score above 500 as the previous match. Anyhow by today India will declare. Other than Rohit everyone has scored a 50+ and Rahane is reaching close to the 50 runs.

[onrise]

Well nervous period of first hour with New ball is gone and its seems to me that South Africa's suffering not going to finish anytime soon because they just lost a review and both the batsmen Kohli (91) - Rahane (41) looking set as well, Let's hope India go wicket less in the first session now its safe to say India is set for the Big target, unless middle-lower order collapse.

India : 326/3

In this match the middle order is performing extremely well, when the batsmen gets strong automatically a pressure gets developed over the bowlers. This can be now felt over the bowling from South Africa. This time we can see the score above 500 as the previous match. Anyhow by today India will declare. Other than Rohit everyone has scored a 50+ and Rahane is reaching close to the 50 runs.

Mayank Agarwal start on both the test match has given a huge relief to India as they can build on partnership in middle order and get the score pass 400 easily . With Kohli making century India stand a good chance to surpass 500+ runs and put pressure on SA right away .

[Haunebu]

Well nervous period of first hour with New ball is gone and its seems to me that South Africa's suffering not going to finish anytime soon because they just lost a review and both the batsmen Kohli (91) - Rahane (41) looking set as well, Let's hope India go wicket less in the first session now its safe to say India is set for the Big target, unless middle-lower order collapse.

India : 326/3

The run machine is on fire at the moment and it won't be long before he crosses Ganguly's record in test matches. I feel like he will score another double century today while Jadeja will support him from the other side.

South Africa will probably lose this one by an innings at this rate unless their batsmen perform well like in the first match. Am expecting India to declare around the 550 point and South Africa will be under immense pressure.

[JSRAW]

~snip~
The run machine is on fire at the moment and it won't be long before he crosses Ganguly's record in test matches. I feel like he will score another double century today while Jadeja will support him from the other side.

South Africa will probably lose this one by an innings at this rate unless their batsmen perform well like in the first match. Am expecting India to declare around the 550 point and South Africa will be under immense pressure.

He's swinging bat now ( 2 half chances on slip at the same over against Maharaj) but he should reach another 200 runs mark and his eyes are on Sachin's record, its tough nut to crack though. As far as South African is concern they looks frustrated and it shows in their body language as well (Rabada-De Kock were about to get into verbal fight with each others)

Anything above 500 looks solid, it would be great if they can get last 100 runs as quick as possible.

Edit :

Session belongs to India : 473/4  Virat : 194

Conversion Rate 

[eaLiTy]

As far as South African is concern they looks frustrated and it shows in their body language as well (Rabada-De Kock were about to get into verbal fight with each others)

Anything above 500 looks solid, it would be great if they can get last 100 runs as quick as possible.

Kohli is getting close to a double century and it is not a surprise that the South African players are getting frustrated because nothing is going their way.
After reaching his milestone i am sure they will increase the run rate and declare the match so that India will have the change to bowl to the tired South African players in the final session.

[7788bitcoin]

India is a very strong position now as they crossed 500 runs and Kohli has crossed his double century and now they have to increase the run rate and declare the innings and it all depends upon how long they are willing to extend the declaration, South Africa looks really tired as they are bowling no balls even by spinners and now Kohli got lucky, not sure how many chances the Indian batsman got.

[ene1980]

South Africa looks really tired as they are bowling no balls even by spinners and now Kohli got lucky, not sure how many chances the Indian batsman got.

Really pathetic situation to see spinners bowling no balls and they are really tired because of the hot and humid climate, they increased their run rate now and they might declare the innings after Jadeja getting to his half century, there is no point in playing further and keep on accumulating runs, Jadeja just need one more run for his half century.

Edit: Jadeja scored his half century and still no declaration  .

[eaLiTy]

Edit: Jadeja scored his half century and still no declaration  .

India is putting some runs on the board at 7 runs per over and we still have 25 overs left in the day and both the players are hitting sixes at ease and South Africa is missing the chances in the field, Kohli gave two chances and both were no balls and South African players are dead tired in the field and India crossed 550 runs and the pitch looks dead and South African players could put some runs on the board as the pitch is not offering any assistance to the bowlers.

[Haunebu]

Wow. This is Kohli's highest score so far in test matches and he is decimating the South African bowlers at the moment. On the other side, Jadeja is also on fire. At this rate, Kohli might be eyeing a triple century and then go on to declare the match.

The South African team has been performing badly from a long time now and they seem to be sinking further into the abyss. They need to make radical changes if they wish to stay relevant in the future. Loving the Indian team performance at the moment.

[ene1980]

Wow. This is Kohli's highest score so far in test matches and he is decimating the South African bowlers at the moment. On the other side, Jadeja is also on fire. At this rate, Kohli might be eyeing a triple century and then go on to declare the match.

What is the point in chasing personal milestones and they are delaying the declaration for Jadeja to score his century and Kohli to score his highest score and they have already scored 600 runs and still batting, they are batting at over 8 runs per over but if South African players can play these kind of innings then it will end up in a draw, the pitch is having some turn but the South African spinners are not able to take advantage of that and the fielding positions are not helping either as the Indian players are scoring these runs with ease.

[akhjob]

At jadeja's dismissal, India declared for 601 and now Umesh Yadav strikes in his 1st over removing Markaram. The score is 2/1 for South Africa. Indian team would be happy with the inclusion of Yadav for the 2nd Test as he started with a bang. Looking at the current situation, I think India won't need to bat the 2nd innings.

Edit : Umesh strikes again in his 2nd over For Elgar, indecision costed his wicket. SA 14/2
Wait did they lose another wicket... No. Bavuma safe

[eaLiTy]

What is the point in chasing personal milestones and they are delaying the declaration

The point is to win the match by an innings as South Africa already lost two wickets  . Now the pitch has turned to a bowling wicket as South Africa is finding it difficult to play the ball and Umesh Yadav has bowled two beautiful deliveries and showed his inclusion as the right decision, before the match i wanted to have three spinners in the team but they know better about the pitch.

[Haunebu]

What is the point in chasing personal milestones and they are delaying the declaration for Jadeja to score his century and Kohli to score his highest score and they have already scored 600 runs and still batting, they are batting at over 8 runs per over but if South African players can play these kind of innings then it will end up in a draw, the pitch is having some turn but the South African spinners are not able to take advantage of that and the fielding positions are not helping either as the Indian players are scoring these runs with ease.

You might be one of the few people in the world who actually thinks that South Africa still has a chance in this game. The only thing that can save South Africa currently is the rain and nothing else since they are already lost 3 wickets.

Personal milestones are worth it if the team is in a good position(India are in a fabulous position) though I did not expect Kohli to declare before a triple century. Yadav is on a roll along with Shami and it is almost game over for South Africa.