Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Essential10]

England went into bat in the first innings of the second day with three wickets for 68 runs in the third Test of the Ashes series. Having lost wickets early on, Joe Root's side lost 5 wickets before their 100. England's first innings was bundled out for 237 on the back of Ben Stokes' 80. Meanwhile, Pat Cummins picked up 6 wickets off your brilliant bowling. Strac two wickets and Mitchell Mars T Murphy one wicket each. Australia started their second innings with a lead of 26 runs. As in the first innings, David Warner was caught by Zak Crawley off Stuart Broad for a team-high 11 runs. Usman Khawaja and Labuschange tried to build a partnership of 57 runs and Steven Smith could not take advantage after Labuschange was dismissed. Usman Khawaja was the victim of the fourth wicket after the team scored 90 runs. Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh are batting for the fifth wicket partnership. The team ended the second day's play in their second innings with a lead of 142 runs over Australia.

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[JSRAW]

Ali is on a roll taking out Marnus and Smith just like that. Also, Warner is probably Broad's favorite batsman since he keeps removing him again and again.

Australians are marginally ahead in this series as far as catching goes, otherwise, fielding has been piss poor from both sides. So far England dropped about 16-ish catches in this series. So i don't mind if Aussies are returning the favor to Stokes.

Damn. I knew that fielding was pretty poor from both sides, but I didn't know that it was this bad. I guess Bairstow is one of the worst offenders since he is easily one of the worst wicketkeepers in this sport.

Marnus is turning out to be a dud tbh, he failed in India and going through the same bad phase in this series.

A match is almost in balance, some might favor the Poms as their batting does look heavy on paper, given they click but the opposite outcome is also true. I reckon if they manage to lose the Ashes which is very much possible, then English pundits will talk about dropping those catches more.

[Gulttam2a2]

Two teams are fighting equally.The pacers of both teams are getting more advantage. Pat cummins single-handedly destroyed England's batting line-up. On the other hand team Australia is batting in the 2nd innings. Warner and Smith failed again in the 2nd innings. The partnership of Khawaja and Labuschagne was going to be big but England's bowlers dismissed both of them before that. Australia's 1st innings centurion Mitchell Marsh and Head are now at the crease and they have put on a 26-run partnership. Australia has taken a lead of 142 runs. 2nd day's play is over today. 3rd day is expected to be Australia's full day but  It is now to be seen how long England's bowling can last. I think Australia can beat England if they set a target of 300+ runs.

[teosanru]

Two teams are fighting equally.The pacers of both teams are getting more advantage. Pat cummins single-handedly destroyed England's batting line-up. On the other hand team Australia is batting in the 2nd innings. Warner and Smith failed again in the 2nd innings. The partnership of Khawaja and Labuschagne was going to be big but England's bowlers dismissed both of them before that. Australia's 1st innings centurion Mitchell Marsh and Head are now at the crease and they have put on a 26-run partnership. Australia has taken a lead of 142 runs. 2nd day's play is over today. 3rd day is expected to be Australia's full day but  It is now to be seen how long England's bowling can last. I think Australia can beat England if they set a target of 300+ runs.

I think the one very big advantage of the Baz-Ball strategy of England is that much less matches are going for draw now, even this match looks like a complete thriller if England can grab some quick wickets tomorrow and settle Aus below 200 this game might be in their pockets but anything above 250 will be a nightmare to chase on this track, to be honest even 250 is hard enough.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Two teams are fighting equally.The pacers of both teams are getting more advantage. Pat cummins single-handedly destroyed England's batting line-up. On the other hand team Australia is batting in the 2nd innings. Warner and Smith failed again in the 2nd innings. The partnership of Khawaja and Labuschagne was going to be big but England's bowlers dismissed both of them before that. Australia's 1st innings centurion Mitchell Marsh and Head are now at the crease and they have put on a 26-run partnership. Australia has taken a lead of 142 runs. 2nd day's play is over today. 3rd day is expected to be Australia's full day but  It is now to be seen how long England's bowling can last. I think Australia can beat England if they set a target of 300+ runs.

Australia started the second innings well. Usman Khawaja and Labuschagne batted well. But the team could not maintain continuity. At the end of the second day, they collected 116 runs. But they are still leading by 142 runs. It will be difficult to stay at the crease in the first session of the coming days. If Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh can bat well and stay at the crease in the first session, Australia will be able to collect big tomorrow. But I think Australia will not be able to collect more than 250 in the second innings. And the target will be less than 300.

[romero121]

Two teams are fighting equally.The pacers of both teams are getting more advantage. Pat cummins single-handedly destroyed England's batting line-up. On the other hand team Australia is batting in the 2nd innings. Warner and Smith failed again in the 2nd innings. The partnership of Khawaja and Labuschagne was going to be big but England's bowlers dismissed both of them before that. Australia's 1st innings centurion Mitchell Marsh and Head are now at the crease and they have put on a 26-run partnership. Australia has taken a lead of 142 runs. 2nd day's play is over today. 3rd day is expected to be Australia's full day but  It is now to be seen how long England's bowling can last. I think Australia can beat England if they set a target of 300+ runs.

Australia started the second innings well. Usman Khawaja and Labuschagne batted well. But the team could not maintain continuity. At the end of the second day, they collected 116 runs. But they are still leading by 142 runs. It will be difficult to stay at the crease in the first session of the coming days. If Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh can bat well and stay at the crease in the first session, Australia will be able to collect big tomorrow. But I think Australia will not be able to collect more than 250 in the second innings. And the target will be less than 300.

Based on the opening partnership is the scoring from Australia, because whenever Khawaja scores good the team used to have big score. In the ongoing test match it is Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head who had contributed good to the match. Even now Australia is to take better position through them. A target less than 300 runs will be really advantageous for England, but how things gonna work and we can't be sure of the performance from England team. Lets see whether this is going to be a series winning match for Australia.

[laurenB7742]

Two teams are fighting equally.The pacers of both teams are getting more advantage. Pat cummins single-handedly destroyed England's batting line-up. On the other hand team Australia is batting in the 2nd innings. Warner and Smith failed again in the 2nd innings. The partnership of Khawaja and Labuschagne was going to be big but England's bowlers dismissed both of them before that. Australia's 1st innings centurion Mitchell Marsh and Head are now at the crease and they have put on a 26-run partnership. Australia has taken a lead of 142 runs. 2nd day's play is over today. 3rd day is expected to be Australia's full day but  It is now to be seen how long England's bowling can last. I think Australia can beat England if they set a target of 300+ runs.

I think the one very big advantage of the Baz-Ball strategy of England is that much less matches are going for draw now, even this match looks like a complete thriller if England can grab some quick wickets tomorrow and settle Aus below 200 this game might be in their pockets but anything above 250 will be a nightmare to chase on this track, to be honest even 250 is hard enough.

I think you are right. Given a target of 250 runs on this pitch, it will be difficult for the opposition to chase this run. Scoring 250 runs in the last innings will not be an easy task for England. Australia managed to take a lead of 142 runs. They lost four wickets. If they don't lose quick wickets the next day then they can collect at least 140-150 runs. But it will not be easy to collect 150 runs in the coming days for Australia. The pitch is helping the bowlers a lot. It is challenging for batsmen to stay at the crease on such a pitch.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Two teams are fighting equally.The pacers of both teams are getting more advantage. Pat cummins single-handedly destroyed England's batting line-up. On the other hand team Australia is batting in the 2nd innings. Warner and Smith failed again in the 2nd innings. The partnership of Khawaja and Labuschagne was going to be big but England's bowlers dismissed both of them before that. Australia's 1st innings centurion Mitchell Marsh and Head are now at the crease and they have put on a 26-run partnership. Australia has taken a lead of 142 runs. 2nd day's play is over today. 3rd day is expected to be Australia's full day but  It is now to be seen how long England's bowling can last. I think Australia can beat England if they set a target of 300+ runs.

Australia started the second innings well. Usman Khawaja and Labuschagne batted well. But the team could not maintain continuity. At the end of the second day, they collected 116 runs. But they are still leading by 142 runs. It will be difficult to stay at the crease in the first session of the coming days. If Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh can bat well and stay at the crease in the first session, Australia will be able to collect big tomorrow. But I think Australia will not be able to collect more than 250 in the second innings. And the target will be less than 300.

Based on the opening partnership is the scoring from Australia, because whenever Khawaja scores good the team used to have big score. In the ongoing test match it is Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head who had contributed good to the match. Even now Australia is to take better position through them. A target less than 300 runs will be really advantageous for England, but how things gonna work and we can't be sure of the performance from England team. Lets see whether this is going to be a series winning match for Australia.

If Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh can get off to a good start tomorrow, Australia can collect big and win. These two players are among the most experienced and talented players in the Australian squad. And so if these two players can bat responsibly and stay at the crease then it will be easy for Australia to give a target like 300. And England won't win if Australia sets a target of more than 300. At least this can be said considering England's performance in the last two matches. But we are also not sure whether the start of the day will be in favour of Australia.

[Sithara007]

Marnus is turning out to be a dud tbh, he failed in India and going through the same bad phase in this series.

A match is almost in balance, some might favor the Poms as their batting does look heavy on paper, given they click but the opposite outcome is also true. I reckon if they manage to lose the Ashes which is very much possible, then English pundits will talk about dropping those catches more.

Agreed on Marnus Labuschagne. A few months back, his test batting average was close to 60. Now it stands at 53.80. He hasn't scored any centuries so far in 2023. He has scored a total of 534 runs from 17 innings, at an average of 35.60. It was surprising to see the Australian selectors tolerating his poor form for too long. But there is a good chance of him getting dropped from the test side if his performance doesn't improve.

And regarding the balance of the match, I would say that Australia is slightly ahead at this point. They are leading by 142 runs and if they can get another 100-120 runs, then they will be on top. What made the difference for England this time is the addition of Mark Wood.

[MusaPk]

I think you are right. Given a target of 250 runs on this pitch, it will be difficult for the opposition to chase this run. Scoring 250 runs in the last innings will not be an easy task for England. Australia managed to take a lead of 142 runs. They lost four wickets. If they don't lose quick wickets the next day then they can collect at least 140-150 runs. But it will not be easy to collect 150 runs in the coming days for Australia. The pitch is helping the bowlers a lot. It is challenging for batsmen to stay at the crease on such a pitch.

Australia scored 263 runs in first innings while England scored 237 runs in first innings. This clearly indicates the fact that pitch is supporting bowlers. 24 wickets have already gone down in just 2 days and its very likely that we may see result of match on day 3 or 4. For England to win the game they must try to restrict Australia by 225. If Australia can manage to score runs over 250 then surely it will be curtains for England in third game.

[ZAINmalik75]

England is facing a disaster right now. They have already lost five wickets and they have still not reached 100. That is really bad for England. The only thing which is probably a positive for them right now is that they have Ben Stokes still in the middle.

I don't know what's wrong with england top order, they can't even score a half century or some decent runs, most of the time in this Ashes england middle order take responsibility to add some significant runs, while importance of this match is too high for England as if they got victory they will be inn the game otherwise they will lose the series too badly,
Currently just like other matches stokes scored runs in such a crutial situation and make the trail smaller, now Australian lose four of his important wickets which can be the turning point for England to grab them and not allow them to score big which may create trouble for them during last chased down...

[Haunebu]

If Australia gives England a target over 250 on such a great bowling surface, I feel that the English are screwed since Stokes can't save them everytime. Marsh turned out to be an amazing addition to their squad.

Wood needs to take some wickets since he is bowling really well and Australia just have 4 proper batsmen remaining. This test could end on Day-3(Moving day) itself.

[noormcs5]

Two teams are fighting equally.The pacers of both teams are getting more advantage. Pat cummins single-handedly destroyed England's batting line-up. On the other hand team Australia is batting in the 2nd innings. Warner and Smith failed again in the 2nd innings. The partnership of Khawaja and Labuschagne was going to be big but England's bowlers dismissed both of them before that. Australia's 1st innings centurion Mitchell Marsh and Head are now at the crease and they have put on a 26-run partnership. Australia has taken a lead of 142 runs. 2nd day's play is over today. 3rd day is expected to be Australia's full day but  It is now to be seen how long England's bowling can last. I think Australia can beat England if they set a target of 300+ runs.

I think the one very big advantage of the Baz-Ball strategy of England is that much less matches are going for draw now, even this match looks like a complete thriller if England can grab some quick wickets tomorrow and settle Aus below 200 this game might be in their pockets but anything above 250 will be a nightmare to chase on this track, to be honest even 250 is hard enough.

If you think that Baz-Ball is the strategy of England, then i am afraid this is not a good strategy as it has cost them the first two Ashes match. In both those matches, England looked to come back but failed.

The same is happening in this match. We are thinking that England would stop the Australian to make runs in the 2nd innings., or even if they do, would England be able to chase a total somewhere between 200- 225 runs? They should chase it, but seeing the past two matches record, i can't say this with surety.

[MusaPk]

I don't know what's wrong with england top order, they can't even score a half century or some decent runs, most of the time in this Ashes england middle order take responsibility to add some significant runs, while importance of this match is too high for England as if they got victory they will be inn the game otherwise they will lose the series too badly,
Currently just like other matches stokes scored runs in such a crutial situation and make the trail smaller, now Australian lose four of his important wickets which can be the turning point for England to grab them and not allow them to score big which may create trouble for them during last chased down...

In last Ashes that was played in Australia, England was totally dependent on Joe Root and they lost the series 4-0. England were just lucky enough to avoid a whitewash in last ashes due to a draw at Sydney. Now if Australia will take the target over 250 then it wont be easy for English batsmen to chase that. Its  no doubt a crucial game for England but they didn't came prepared for this big game. Though anything can happen but to me it seems like Australia will win another game.

[JSRAW]

Marnus is turning out to be a dud tbh, he failed in India and going through the same bad phase in this series.

A match is almost in balance, some might favor the Poms as their batting does look heavy on paper, given they click but the opposite outcome is also true. I reckon if they manage to lose the Ashes which is very much possible, then English pundits will talk about dropping those catches more.

Agreed on Marnus Labuschagne. A few months back, his test batting average was close to 60. Now it stands at 53.80. He hasn't scored any centuries so far in 2023. He has scored a total of 534 runs from 17 innings, at an average of 35.60. It was surprising to see the Australian selectors tolerating his poor form for too long. But there is a good chance of him getting dropped from the test side if his performance doesn't improve.

Indian tours are tough for every batter, including many Indian batters lol so it was kinda expected as everyone gets a reality check on Indian pitches.

But i wasn't expecting the same form in the Ashes as well. He's very familiar with the condition so his recent failures are surprising to me. I admire his batting so i sincerely hope his fortune changes in the next 2 matches.

[Essential10]

It's only a matter of time before the third day of the third Test of the Ashes series begins. Meanwhile, Australia will start the third day with a lead of 142 runs. If England can take 2 wickets in the beginning then England will have an advantage. 24 wickets fell in two days out of which 21 cricketers got the fast bowlers in that case the advantage of the fast bowlers is a bit more. Australia need to take a lead of more than 320 to win. If England can get all out below 200 runs then England will have a chance to win. As things stand, both teams have equal chances of winning.

[Minecache]

If Australia gives England a target over 250 on such a great bowling surface, I feel that the English are screwed since Stokes can't save them everytime. Marsh turned out to be an amazing addition to their squad.

Wood needs to take some wickets since he is bowling really well and Australia just have 4 proper batsmen remaining. This test could end on Day-3(Moving day) itself.

Ben Stokes again saved the day for England. Otherwise, England wouldn't have been able to get a good score in the second innings. But Australia still had a good lead. Right now Australia has a lead of 142 and it is only the end of the second day. Australia has scored 116/4. I feel like Australia just needs to stay in the middle. They have to save wickets and they will have enough time to get enough runs. England is in trouble again I believe. But England will be able to still win the test match if they can get Australia all out quickly.

[noormcs5]

If Australia gives England a target over 250 on such a great bowling surface, I feel that the English are screwed since Stokes can't save them everytime. Marsh turned out to be an amazing addition to their squad.

Wood needs to take some wickets since he is bowling really well and Australia just have 4 proper batsmen remaining. This test could end on Day-3(Moving day) itself.

Ben Stokes again saved the day for England. Otherwise, England wouldn't have been able to get a good score in the second innings. But Australia still had a good lead. Right now Australia has a lead of 142 and it is only the end of the second day. Australia has scored 116/4. I feel like Australia just needs to stay in the middle. They have to save wickets and they will have enough time to get enough runs. England is in trouble again I believe. But England will be able to still win the test match if they can get Australia all out quickly.

The way things are going, it seems that Ben Stokes might have to save England again in the 2nd innings. On the lunch 3rd day, Australia leads by 142 runs. Still, this match is in balance and can shift to both sides. Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh have played 7 to 8 overs each and have their eye in. Now they need to take responsibility from here.

Australia just needs one big partnership and they will feel much more comfortable. England will be hoping to get a  quick wicket or two and put the nail in the coffin for this Aussies innings.

[eaLiTy]

~
I think the one very big advantage of the Baz-Ball strategy of England is that much less matches are going for draw now, even this match looks like a complete thriller if England can grab some quick wickets tomorrow and settle Aus below 200 this game might be in their pockets but anything above 250 will be a nightmare to chase on this track, to be honest even 250 is hard enough.

The Baz Ball is giving results but the fact is that it is not helping England win any matches against good teams and hence they wanted to find a reason to blame the failure by creating controversies  .  

Rain has stopped the play right now and once the weather clears and if Australia is able to add 120 to 150 runs then they could win the match easily as they already have a 142 runs lead.

[3kpk3]

The Baz Ball is giving results but the fact is that it is not helping England win any matches against good teams and hence they wanted to find a reason to blame the failure by creating controversies  . 

It did help them win matches against some teams, but it isn't really effective against extremely strong teams like Australia, but it's completely worth it for the entertainment factor only since the usual style of playing tests has gotten really boring.

Rain has stopped the play right now and once the weather clears and if Australia is able to add 120 to 150 runs then they could win the match easily as they already have a 142 runs lead.

250+ target is good enough against the English since they are playing like crap and are over-dependent on Stokes currently.