Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[eaLiTy]

India might score close to 200 runs and declare and South Africa might have to chase a mammoth score which is why this match is almost over. Expecting another fine innings from Mayank.

If India is able to score a quick 100 runs then it will be more than enough to put South Africa again to bat and it is simply because the Indian bowlers need some rest before they bowl again, Maharaj and Philander batted really well while all the specialized batsman should be ashamed as these bowlers put on a 100 run partnership while the rest of the batsman was struggling to put up a partnership.

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[erikalui]

SA have crossed 250  Maharaj and Philander are relentless, they have already batted out nearly 45+ overs and have scored over 109 runs. Most of the time, India fail to pick up the tail-enders. Looking at the current situation, I am expecting Maharaj batting through the day and to score a ton

Shocking! I thought they would max get 220-230 runs with two wickets left but a partnership of 109 is tremendous when 8 batsmen could manage just 168. Maharaj played very well. His family is from India I guess but may be he's brought up in SA.

India now just need to put up 150-200 runs and the game is over for SA.

[uray]

The max that South Africa can hope for at this stage is a draw which is possible only if they bat exceptionally well and I don't think they will since most of them are out of form and a single good innings by a tail-ender won't change that.

They are not getting a good start and they were not playing that good even when Srilanka visit them as they lost both the test, looks like they are finding it hard to find talented players in their country and If the batsman could learn from the tail end players and spend some time in the crease rather than trying to play the shots all the time.

[SaShiRaJaVu]

Shocking! I thought they would max get 220-230 runs with two wickets left but a partnership of 109 is tremendous when 8 batsmen could manage just 168. Maharaj played very well. His family is from India I guess but may be he's brought up in SA.

Keshav Maharaj and Vernon Philander frustrated the Indian bowlers and i am sure all the Indian fans were also frustrated as India picked the rest of the wickets easily and when it came to the ninth wicket they were not able to do anything, they batted really well and full credits for their performance.
Keshav Maharaj might be of Indian heritage but he is born in South Africa.

India now just need to put up 150-200 runs and the game is over for SA.

South Africa still trail by 326 runs and India still need to put some quick runs on the board and attack South Africa and see how long they can bat in the last two days.

[onrise]

Shocking! I thought they would max get 220-230 runs with two wickets left but a partnership of 109 is tremendous when 8 batsmen could manage just 168. Maharaj played very well. His family is from India I guess but may be he's brought up in SA.

Keshav Maharaj and Vernon Philander frustrated the Indian bowlers and i am sure all the Indian fans were also frustrated as India picked the rest of the wickets easily and when it came to the ninth wicket they were not able to do anything, they batted really well and full credits for their performance.
Keshav Maharaj might be of Indian heritage but he is born in South Africa.

India now just need to put up 150-200 runs and the game is over for SA.

South Africa still trail by 326 runs and India still need to put some quick runs on the board and attack South Africa and see how long they can bat in the last two days.

It would have being better if India would have asked SA to bat again and get them all out and they could have won the match by innings and few runs rather than now decided to bat and then give SA to bat last and win by some margin of runs if it happens as per the plan.

[SaShiRaJaVu]

It would have being better if India would have asked SA to bat again and get them all out and they could have won the match by innings and few runs rather than now decided to bat and then give SA to bat last and win by some margin of runs if it happens as per the plan.

From the past performance we know that it is impossible for South Africa to chase a score of 326 runs in the fourth innings and the pitch starts turning too but then if their batsman plays some incredible innings as there is two more days left, you never know what will happen and the risk is higher and hence India will go for the safe route, to score an impossible score to chase and put them on the defense and win the match.

[FIFA worldcup]

It would have being better if India would have asked SA to bat again and get them all out and they could have won the match by innings and few runs rather than now decided to bat and then give SA to bat last and win by some margin of runs if it happens as per the plan.

From the past performance we know that it is impossible for South Africa to chase a score of 326 runs in the fourth innings and the pitch starts turning too but then if their batsman plays some incredible innings as there is two more days left, you never know what will happen and the risk is higher and hence India will go for the safe route, to score an impossible score to chase and put them on the defense and win the match.

Any team would take the follow on if they are in this position but remember this is Indian team who have a practice of not taking the follow-on. They may repeat the same practice tomorrow. The exact decision will be known later but South Africa will be hoping that they do not have to bat again tomorrow.

[eaLiTy]

Any team would take the follow on if they are in this position but remember this is Indian team who have a practice of not taking the follow-on. They may repeat the same practice tomorrow. The exact decision will be known later but South Africa will be hoping that they do not have to bat again tomorrow.

India should enforce the follow on and make South Africa bat again and see how things goes and i am confident that they will not score 326 runs in the next two days, even if they produce some outstanding performance and score a century i am not expecting a huge double hundred in the second innings from any batsman in the South African line up and force India to bat again and put pressure back to India, so making them follow on is the right decision.

[ene1980]

India has time to pick ten more wickets and win the match by an innings, not sure what plans they have but hopefully they will be forcing South Africa to follow on and put pressure again, Yesterday i saw Ishant Sharma getting warning for landing in the pitch as well as Jadeja too, i have one doubt, does these warning stand the entire match or per innings, i am asking because i know there is a two warning rule and if you still land in the pitch the third time you are not able to bowl and Ishant Sharma has got the warning twice.

[Sithara007]

We still don't know whether the follow on will be imposed on South Africa or not. The Indian captain has another 15 minutes to decide that. Either way, I don't think that it will change the outcome of the match. If they impose the follow on, then the match will be over by today. On the other hand, if they don't do so, then the chances are that it may get stretched to the 5th day.

One factor that may be considered by Virat Kohli is that the Indian spinners may be tired. Jadeja put in 36 overs in the first innings and Ashwin bowled another 29 overs. He may like to rest these two bowlers for half a day or so, while the Indian batsmen can put in another 200 runs on the board. A target of 550 plus is plain impossible for South Africa to achieve.

Edit: India is enforcing the follow on.

[eaLiTy]

One factor that may be considered by Virat Kohli is that the Indian spinners may be tired. Jadeja put in 36 overs in the first innings and Ashwin bowled another 29 overs. He may like to rest these two bowlers for half a day or so, while the Indian batsmen can put in another 200 runs on the board. A target of 550 plus is plain impossible for South Africa to achieve.

To rest the bowlers India could have batted but there is no need as South African top order is not in form and India have five specialist bowlers and hence fatigue will not be a huge issue as they can rotate the bowlers. Enforcing the follow on was the correct decision as South Africa already lost two wickets but what i am impressed is that du Plessis promoted up in batting order which he could have done that earlier because the top order lacks in experience and it will be a huge hurdle to play in wickets like these.

[JSRAW]

So no follow on......

Yeah, we won't have one.  

Kohli thinks differently  

~Edited out~

Edit: India is enforcing the follow on.

So now its good use of Sunday, hope Match get finished today by end of the day. don't know if India ever won by inning against South Africa ever.

Edit

India did won----Kolkatta test 2010 ----

[onrise]

It would have being better if India would have asked SA to bat again and get them all out and they could have won the match by innings and few runs rather than now decided to bat and then give SA to bat last and win by some margin of runs if it happens as per the plan.

From the past performance we know that it is impossible for South Africa to chase a score of 326 runs in the fourth innings and the pitch starts turning too but then if their batsman plays some incredible innings as there is two more days left, you never know what will happen and the risk is higher and hence India will go for the safe route, to score an impossible score to chase and put them on the defense and win the match.

Yes we do have a follow on given to SA which is the right thing beacuse this will put SA under more pressure now as they first will have to reach 326 and then make the score for India to bat on.  In this only the top quality of batting could survive and we could see some extra ordinary innings from any batsman. Though the SA start has being bad and lost 2 wickets for 59 .

[FIFA worldcup]

So now its good use of Sunday, hope Match get finished today by end of the day. don't know if India ever won by inning against South Africa ever.

The whole of the India will be glued in front of the TV to see them taking 10 wickets and make their Sunday enjoyable and memorable one.
Already 2 wickets are gone and 8 more wickets to take to get an historic win by an innings.

[Sithara007]

Nigel Llong made a huge mistake when he gave Aiden Markram out LBW to Ishant Sharma. And Markram made an even bigger mistake by not going for the DRS, when the ball was clearly missing (~5 cm) the stumps. There was no justification to that decision and they need to avoid these sort of blunders if they want to perform in a credible manner. 2 reviews were remaining and I don't know why he didn't took that. Markram asked Elgar his opinion, and the latter probably told him that he don't know. By the time Markram was considering the review, it was already too late. This was a huge mistake from the part of the South Africans. They lost the first wicket even before any runs were added on the scoreboard. 

[eaLiTy]

So now its good use of Sunday, hope Match get finished today by end of the day. don't know if India ever won by inning against South Africa ever.
Edit
India did won----Kolkatta test 2010 ----

The 2010 match was a great performance by the Indian batsman dominated the match where Sehwag, Tendulkar, Laxman and Dhoni scored centuries and for South Africa Amla scored centuries in both innings and they lost by an innings and 57 runs. Is there any tours planned to South Africa in recent times, i would like to see Indian touring South Africa with the form they are in and see whether they will make history as India never won a Test series in South Africa and won just three Test matches so far .

[JSRAW]

So now its good use of Sunday, hope Match get finished today by end of the day. don't know if India ever won by inning against South Africa ever.

The whole of the India will be glued in front of the TV to see them taking 10 wickets and make their Sunday enjoyable and memorable one.
Already 2 wickets are gone and 8 more wickets to take to get an historic win by an innings.

Not whole but very good amount of...

3rd Wicket down ladies , caught by Saha - bowled by Ashwin- . With this terrific catch Saha clearly shut-up his critics if there are any.

Holy moly 4th down as well  

~Edited out
India did won----Kolkatta test 2010 ----

The 2010 match was a great performance
~Edited out~

I will check out the Highlights.

[bryant.coleman]

South Africa just lost the 4th wicket. Now it looks like the match will end before the tea break today. That is unless the lower order batsmen such as Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy could put some resistance. Anyway, what to expect from them, when the top order batsmen surrendered so meekly? De Kock has come to the crease now.

* South Africa team is going through some transition period after their legend players took retirement so i am willing to give them benefit of doubt. Only time will tell.

The real problem is that once their "legend" players retired, there was no one to replace them. Because the younger white players had migrated to all over the world (mostly to England, but also to Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands.etc) to escape from the transformation quota system. Close to 3 dozen South African players are currently playing county cricket in England, using the Kolpak loophole. This is the real reason behind the decline of South African cricket.

[akhjob]

So no follow on......

Yeah, we won't have one.  

Kohli thinks differently  

Yeah. The Indian bowlers were pretty tired after bowling for a full day. Ideal situation would be to bat for a session and score about 100+ runs give them a target over 450+ runs and bowl them out in a day and 2 sessions. But as far as India is taking wickets and winning there is nothing to blame. Maybe he thought that the bowlers got enough rest over night 

[Sithara007]

Yeah. The Indian bowlers were pretty tired after bowling for a full day. Ideal situation would be to bat for a session and score about 100+ runs give them a target over 450+ runs and bowl them out in a day and 2 sessions. But as far as India is taking wickets and winning there is nothing to blame. Maybe he thought that the bowlers got enough rest over night 

Right now it looks like he made the right decision. After all, the South African first innings lasted only 105 overs (compared to 156 overs for India). And more importantly, India went ahead to this match with an extra bowler (Umesh Yadav), so they have more bowling options and this can relieve some pressure from the two spinners (Ashwin and Jadeja).

And apart from Quinton de Kock, all of the South African top order batsmen are back in pavilion after the first session of play. I wouldn't even consider Temba Bavuma, because only god knows how he got selected to the playing XI despite repeated bad performances. The only thing for India to remember here is not to relax once the lower order batsmen comes to bat. Get them out quickly and the match will be firmly in India's control.