Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Haunebu]

PS : Lyon is a good spinner but not as good as Ashwin, period. You can call me biased but i can back my argument with the stats. After all that's what matters and don't forget to compare his stats with Ash.

My point was actually regarding whether Lyon is a good spinner or not. I never compared him to Ashwin because I am an Ashwin fan myself and I know very well that he is far better than Lyon in several departments.

Will England win to set it up for a winner takes all 5th test or will Australia  ruin English hopes & reclaim the urn?

Almost everyone wants England to win in order to setup an awesome final, but it's tough to tell since the current Australian team usually bounce back pretty quickly based on what I observed.

Even if England wins the 4th test, I am expecting Australia to win the 5th test. Let's see what happens.

[God Of Thunder]

Sri Lanka VS Pakistan

While we were enjoying the test match between India and West Indies, India dominated the match, which was a one-sided game.
The 4th match of ashes will start on 19th July. Meanwhile, The first test match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan will be held at Galle international stadium. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first.

Pakistan playing squad: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Babar Azam (c), Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Agha Salman, Nauman Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah

Sri Lanka playing squad: Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Nishan Madushka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Ramesh Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha

What is your prediction?

NB: Squad data collected from Cricbuzz

[Gulttam2a2]

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 1st Test match is going to start after a while. SriLanka won the toss and decided to bat. SriLanka are in good form. They are fielding with their strong XI. Sri Lanka will definitely get a bit more benefit as it is their home ground. On the other hand, there are some changes for Pakistan today.  Sarfaraz has been dropped in the team as Rizwan's replacement. I think Rizwan was good. Pakistan's pace attack is very dangerous with bowlers like Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah. I think the match will be very exciting. But the spinners are more successful in this field of Sri Lanka. I don't think the pace bowlers will have any problem in that case.

[MusaPk]

First test between Pakistan and Srilanka will start in a while at Galle. Srilanka won the toss and elected to bat first. Pakistan had a terrible test record last year while Srilanka had much better recern test record compared to Pakistan. Last time these teams meet at Galle in July 2022 and Sri Lanka won that match by 246 runs. Pakistan a desperate test series win to improve there test ranking.

[Cheema02]

Pakistan Vs Sir Lanka
1st Test Match between Pakistan and Sir Lanka started at Galle. Srilanka won the toss and elected to bat first. Pakistan team included top Order batter Abdullah Shafique, Imam ul Haq, Shan Masood and Babar Azam very good player wicket keeper Sarfraz Ahmad. I think Muhammad Rizwan should have been in the team as a batter in place of either Shakeel or Salman. I'm shocked to see Pakistan are playing only 2 fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afraid and Naseem Shan but the Pakistan team playing with 3 spinners Noman Ali, Agha Suleman and Abrar Ahamed. Where is spin bowler Sajid Ali? The Pakistan team looking strong team than Sirlanka.

[Fuso.hp]

England vs Australia 4th Ashes Test -

All eyes on Old Trafford - Wednesday July 19th to Sunday July 23rd.

It’s crunch time, looking forward to this. Will England win to set it up for a winner takes all 5th test or will Australia  ruin English hopes & reclaim the urn?

A win for England in the fourth match is mandatory because if England lose to Australia in the fourth match they will lose the series. England's brilliant comeback in the third Test match against Australia is waking up England. After winning two matches in a row against England, Australia entered the field to win the third match as well, but in the end, despite creating a chance of victory, Australia failed to win in the end. Australia will definitely want to win the fourth test match to confirm the series. If England win the fourth match then you think about the final match how competitive the final match will be between these two teams. A very competitive match to watch but may England win the fourth match.

[onecall123]

First test between Pakistan and Srilanka will start in a while at Galle. Srilanka won the toss and elected to bat first. Pakistan had a terrible test record last year while Srilanka had much better recern test record compared to Pakistan. Last time these teams meet at Galle in July 2022 and Sri Lanka won that match by 246 runs. Pakistan a desperate test series win to improve there test ranking.

Pakistan really wants to win the Test series, and their recent stats demonstrate why they're hungry to win. They must focus on improving their performance in red ball cricket because they had a terrible test record last year. Now, they are facing Sri Lanka in Galle, and we'll see if the stats remain the same or this times around new journey begins for them.

[noormcs5]

First test between Pakistan and Srilanka will start in a while at Galle. Srilanka won the toss and elected to bat first. Pakistan had a terrible test record last year while Srilanka had much better recern test record compared to Pakistan. Last time these teams meet at Galle in July 2022 and Sri Lanka won that match by 246 runs. Pakistan a desperate test series win to improve there test ranking.

Pakistan really wants to win the Test series, and their recent stats demonstrate why they're hungry to win. They must focus on improving their performance in red ball cricket because they had a terrible test record last year. Now, they are facing Sri Lanka in Galle, and we'll see if the stats remain the same or this times around new journey begins for them.

Pakistan will be the favorite to start this series but later we never know how they will perform. They are the most unpredictable team and if the opponent against them is weaker, they often tend to lose. So be careful when you are placing a bet on a match where Pakistan is involved.

It started raining at Galle and now the outfield is wet due to which the match has been stopped. Before then we have 5 overs of play where Srilanka lost one wicket to Shaheen Shah Afridi and they made 18 runs. Keep in mind that it was Srilanka who won the toss and decided to bat.

Pakistan with good bowling attack, was it a wise decision for Srilanka to bat first 

[LDL]

SL Vs PAK

SL- 53/3

Shaheen Afridi 8 overs 3 wickets
Shaheen Afridi can be a formidable form for this Test today which has already proved. If Sri Lanka can't deal with Shaheen Afridi's ball in a defensive mood then it will be difficult for Sri Lanka to get through today. Shaheen Afridi has already dismissed three of Sri Lanka's top-order batsmen who were fit to score enough runs for Sri Lanka.

Edited : SL 58/4

[noormcs5]

SL Vs PAK

SL- 53/3

Shaheen Afridi 8 overs 3 wickets
Shaheen Afridi can be a formidable form for this Test today which has already proved. If Sri Lanka can't deal with Shaheen Afridi's ball in a defensive mood then it will be difficult for Sri Lanka to get through today. Shaheen Afridi has already dismissed three of Sri Lanka's top-order batsmen who were fit to score enough runs for Sri Lanka.

Edited : SL 58/4

Again i would say a bad decision by the Sri Lanka to bat first. They could have bowled first and put the Pakistan batting lineup under pressure. Now the game is getting away from them because if Shaheen Afridi continues to get wickets, the Srilankan team may be bowled out under 200 runs.

All three top order batsmen were dismissed by Afridi including their captain Dimuth Karunaratne. How they are going to survive the rest of the day? That will be a question of the day in the Srilankan dressing room.

[Jateng]

SL Vs PAK

SL- 53/3

Shaheen Afridi 8 overs 3 wickets
Shaheen Afridi can be a formidable form for this Test today which has already proved. If Sri Lanka can't deal with Shaheen Afridi's ball in a defensive mood then it will be difficult for Sri Lanka to get through today. Shaheen Afridi has already dismissed three of Sri Lanka's top-order batsmen who were fit to score enough runs for Sri Lanka.

Edited : SL 58/4

First Test Day 1 Session 1 Lunch break, What a Brilliant start by Pakistan and Shaheen Amazing bowling performance by Pakistani bowlers specially Shaheen Shah Afraid pick up top 3 Order wickets by just giving only 28 runs in 8 Overs also he complete the milestone of 100 wickets at the age of 23 and Naseem shah pick up 1 wicket. Sirlanka had 65 runs and lost 4 wickets before the luck break. Dhananjaya 7(15) and Mathews 12(27) are Playing this Partnership is crucial for Srilanka to come back in this match.

[Patrol69]

SL Vs PAK

SL- 53/3

Shaheen Afridi 8 overs 3 wickets
Shaheen Afridi can be a formidable form for this Test today which has already proved. If Sri Lanka can't deal with Shaheen Afridi's ball in a defensive mood then it will be difficult for Sri Lanka to get through today. Shaheen Afridi has already dismissed three of Sri Lanka's top-order batsmen who were fit to score enough runs for Sri Lanka.

Edited : SL 58/4

Hosts Sri Lanka are batting in the first innings against Pakistan in the first match of the only two-Test series. In the first innings, Sri Lanka have already lost four wickets and collected only 74 runs.

The host Sri Lanka suffered a batting disaster early in the first innings of the first Test match. If they can't form a good partnership at this moment then the result of the first test match will never go in Sri Lanka's favour. Since it is a Test match against Pakistan, one must be patient and play according to the Test format. You don't have to rush to get runs but first you have to focus on how to hold the wicket. Sri Lanka have largely failed to focus on how to retain wickets. From where Sri Lanka's batting position is at the moment, they need to make a good comeback but they can do well in this Test.

[Bitcoin_people]

In the first Test match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, Sri Lanka decided to bat. Their batting performance is not very good today as they have already lost 4 wickets. And due to the fall of this wicket very quickly, Sri Lanka came under pressure for which they could not collect many runs. If they don't perform well on the first day against Pakistan, they will lose their entire wicket by very few runs. Right now the two Sri Lankan batsmen Dhananjaya de Silva and Angelo Mathews are batting fairly well and if they both can stay at the crease they can collect good scores. At the moment, Sri Lanka's collected runs are 92/4 in 26 overs, unless their batting performance improves, they will not be able to collect more runs in this match.

[Swordsoffreedom]

SL Vs PAK

SL- 53/3

Shaheen Afridi 8 overs 3 wickets
Shaheen Afridi can be a formidable form for this Test today which has already proved. If Sri Lanka can't deal with Shaheen Afridi's ball in a defensive mood then it will be difficult for Sri Lanka to get through today. Shaheen Afridi has already dismissed three of Sri Lanka's top-order batsmen who were fit to score enough runs for Sri Lanka.

Edited : SL 58/4

First Test Day 1 Session 1 Lunch break, What a Brilliant start by Pakistan and Shaheen Amazing bowling performance by Pakistani bowlers specially Shaheen Shah Afraid pick up top 3 Order wickets by just giving only 28 runs in 8 Overs also he complete the milestone of 100 wickets at the age of 23 and Naseem shah pick up 1 wicket. Sirlanka had 65 runs and lost 4 wickets before the luck break. Dhananjaya 7(15) and Mathews 12(27) are Playing this Partnership is crucial for Srilanka to come back in this match.

Sri Lanka lost 4 of their key batsmen to collect only 54 runs. The top order needed to perform more responsibly. But Dhananjaya de Silva and Angelo Mathews are now batting very responsibly. This pair has managed to collect 50 runs so far. Dhananjaya remains unbeaten on 23 and Mathews on 34. And if this pair performs well then Sri Lanka can collect big. And if this pair does not play well then there is a possibility that Sri Lanka will lose all their wickets before 200.

Shaheen Shah Afridi is bowling brilliantly today. He picked up 3 wickets out of 4. In 30 overs, the Pakistan captain used 4 of his bowlers. Among them, Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled 12 overs.

[Minor Miner]

SL Vs PAK

SL- 53/3

Shaheen Afridi 8 overs 3 wickets
Shaheen Afridi can be a formidable form for this Test today which has already proved. If Sri Lanka can't deal with Shaheen Afridi's ball in a defensive mood then it will be difficult for Sri Lanka to get through today. Shaheen Afridi has already dismissed three of Sri Lanka's top-order batsmen who were fit to score enough runs for Sri Lanka.

Edited : SL 58/4

First Test Day 1 Session 1 Lunch break, What a Brilliant start by Pakistan and Shaheen Amazing bowling performance by Pakistani bowlers specially Shaheen Shah Afraid pick up top 3 Order wickets by just giving only 28 runs in 8 Overs also he complete the milestone of 100 wickets at the age of 23 and Naseem shah pick up 1 wicket. Sirlanka had 65 runs and lost 4 wickets before the luck break. Dhananjaya 7(15) and Mathews 12(27) are Playing this Partnership is crucial for Srilanka to come back in this match.

Sri Lanka lost 4 of their key batsmen to collect only 54 runs. The top order needed to perform more responsibly. But Dhananjaya de Silva and Angelo Mathews are now batting very responsibly. This pair has managed to collect 50 runs so far. Dhananjaya remains unbeaten on 23 and Mathews on 34. And if this pair performs well then Sri Lanka can collect big. And if this pair does not play well then there is a possibility that Sri Lanka will lose all their wickets before 200.
Shaheen Shah Afridi is bowling brilliantly today. He picked up 3 wickets out of 4. In 30 overs, the Pakistan captain used 4 of his bowlers. Among them, Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled 12 overs.

The two Sri Lankan batsmen are batting brilliantly in the fifth-wicket partnership. This pair has already made a partnership of 100 runs. And both the batsmen managed to score half-centuries. Dhananjaya de Silva remained unbeaten on 61 and Angelo Mathews on 55. These two batsmen are batting very responsibly after losing 4 wickets quickly. And now Sri Lanka's total is 163/4. They lost the first 4 batsmen to collect only 54 runs. The Sri Lankan team is heading towards a big collection with the help of Dhananjaya and Mathews.

[ZAINmalik75]

SL Vs PAK
SL- 53/3

Pakistan Bowler show some aggression and sensible bowling in early over of first test match through which they get some important early on wickets, definitely it impel a huge Pressure on upcoming batters to face such a terrible situation, but some how thier professional batter de.Silva and Mathews hold thier nerves stick with thier plan and manage a spectacular partnership of more than 100 runs which will definitely give them huge relief.
Now Pakistan should try something new to broke the partnership in order to make things easy, because they already have some bad experiences in test format, hopefully they will not repeat such kind of things.....

[Marvell1]

Sri Lanka did lose the fourth wicket at 54 runs. But they have turned things around. They are building a good fifth partnership. The score is 185 right now, and both the batsmen in the middle are very set. Mathews is on 64 and DeSilva is on 74.

Damn, looks like I just cursed it while writing this post. Sri Lanka just lost the fifth wicket. Matthews is gone. The huge partnership has finally been broken. The legspinner Abrar Ahmed has taken the important wicket.

In the first Test match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, Sri Lanka decided to bat. Their batting performance is not very good today as they have already lost 4 wickets. And due to the fall of this wicket very quickly, Sri Lanka came under pressure for which they could not collect many runs. If they don't perform well on the first day against Pakistan, they will lose their entire wicket by very few runs. Right now the two Sri Lankan batsmen Dhananjaya de Silva and Angelo Mathews are batting fairly well and if they both can stay at the crease they can collect good scores. At the moment, Sri Lanka's collected runs are 92/4 in 26 overs, unless their batting performance improves, they will not be able to collect more runs in this match.

[MusaPk]

Pakistan Bowler show some aggression and sensible bowling in early over of first test match through which they get some important early on wickets, definitely it impel a huge Pressure on upcoming batters to face such a terrible situation, but some how thier professional batter de.Silva and Mathews hold thier nerves stick with thier plan and manage a spectacular partnership of more than 100 runs which will definitely give them huge relief.
Now Pakistan should try something new to broke the partnership in order to make things easy, because they already have some bad experiences in test format, hopefully they will not repeat such kind of things.....

Pakistan got much needed wicket of Angelo Mathews but its quite late as necessary repair work has already been done. Srilanka are now 194 for 5 and they are now eyeing 300 runs total of first innings. You pointed out very right that Pakistan already are in bad situation in test format.

[JSRAW]

Runs are coming easy for the Lankans, won't be a bad idea if Shaheen comes back for a short burst along with Naseem because the spin attack not threatening the batter enough and they need wickets.

Sri Lanka would be happy if they can avoid lower order collapse in this session. Might be possible if Dhananjaya can hold one end and let others play their shots.

[Jateng]

SL Vs PAK

First Test Day 1 Session 1 Lunch break, What a Brilliant start by Pakistan and Shaheen Amazing bowling performance by Pakistani bowlers specially Shaheen Shah Afraid pick up top 3 Order wickets by just giving only 28 runs in 8 Overs also he complete the milestone of 100 wickets at the age of 23 and Naseem shah pick up 1 wicket. Sirlanka had 65 runs and lost 4 wickets before the luck break. Dhananjaya 7(15) and Mathews 12(27) are Playing this Partnership is crucial for Srilanka to come back in this match.

Sri Lanka lost 4 of their key batsmen to collect only 54 runs. The top order needed to perform more responsibly. But Dhananjaya de Silva and Angelo Mathews are now batting very responsibly. This pair has managed to collect 50 runs so far. Dhananjaya remains unbeaten on 23 and Mathews on 34. And if this pair performs well then Sri Lanka can collect big. And if this pair does not play well then there is a possibility that Sri Lanka will lose all their wickets before 200.
Shaheen Shah Afridi is bowling brilliantly today. He picked up 3 wickets out of 4. In 30 overs, the Pakistan captain used 4 of his bowlers. Among them, Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled 12 overs.

The two Sri Lankan batsmen are batting brilliantly in the fifth-wicket partnership. This pair has already made a partnership of 100 runs. And both the batsmen managed to score half-centuries. Dhananjaya de Silva remained unbeaten on 61 and Angelo Mathews on 55. These two batsmen are batting very responsibly after losing 4 wickets quickly. And now Sri Lanka's total is 163/4. They lost the first 4 batsmen to collect only 54 runs. The Sri Lankan team is heading towards a big collection with the help of Dhananjaya and Mathews.

Session 2 Sri Lanka scores 185 in loss of 5 wickets at Tea Break. A huge partnership between Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya DeSilve 97 runs was very important to take Sirlanka 185 runs score after 65/4. Average bowling only Shaheen Shah pick 3 wickets and bowled well.

The Partnership was broken before the tea break by Abrar Ahmad. This is the first wicket of Pakistani Spinner Abrar Ahmad. Srilanka will look to 350 plus runs in the First inning of the test match and this is a very compatible total on this Galle pitch we will see magic on this wicket from Lankan spinners.