Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[GbitG]

Look like now after India vs England and Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe ICC can reduce five day matches into short format currently just second day of first test match between Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe we are going to have result Afghanistan 131 & 21/5  Zimbabwe 250
Afghanistan need 98 runs to avoid inning defeat and Zimbabwe need only 5 wickets to win first match of this series.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Look like now after India vs England and Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe ICC can reduce five day matches into short format currently just second day of first test match between Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe we are going to have result Afghanistan 131 & 21/5  Zimbabwe 250
Afghanistan need 98 runs to avoid inning defeat and Zimbabwe need only 5 wickets to win first match of this series.

Afghanistan sent an inexperienced side (without Rashid Khan, Mujeebur Rahman.etc), but I wasn't expecting a one sided match such as this one. 41 overs are remaining today and Afghanistan still need another 88 runs to avoid follow on. Looks like we will be having another two-day test match. To make matters worse, this was one of the "home" tests for Afghanistan.

Zimbabwe was also missing some of their key players such as Brendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis, but they managed to put up a decent show. Again and again, Zimbabwe rises up like a phoenix, when everyone writes them off. Just imagine what they could have achieved, if the players were supported by a competitive cricket board. Unfortunately their board is still corrupt and a large part of the ICC funding is stolen or wasted every year.

[Juggy777]

Look like now after India vs England and Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe ICC can reduce five day matches into short format currently just second day of first test match between Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe we are going to have result Afghanistan 131 & 21/5  Zimbabwe 250
Afghanistan need 98 runs to avoid inning defeat and Zimbabwe need only 5 wickets to win first match of this series.

Afghanistan sent an inexperienced side (without Rashid Khan, Mujeebur Rahman.etc), but I wasn't expecting a one sided match such as this one. 41 overs are remaining today and Afghanistan still need another 88 runs to avoid follow on. Looks like we will be having another two-day test match. To make matters worse, this was one of the "home" tests for Afghanistan.

Zimbabwe was also missing some of their key players such as Brendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis, but they managed to put up a decent show. Again and again, Zimbabwe rises up like a phoenix, when everyone writes them off. Just imagine what they could have achieved, if the players were supported by a competitive cricket board. Unfortunately their board is still corrupt and a large part of the ICC funding is stolen or wasted every year.

@GbitG the shorter format of test matches is a dream that’ll never really materialise, because ICC will not allow it as they’ll lose out on revenues from advertisers as the advertisers pay for 5 days. @Vishnu.Reang I believe that you have highlighted the success of Zimbabwe in the past too, and while I’m not keenly following them but this was indeed a solid performance by the Zimbabwean team.

[bryant.coleman]

Very poor performance from the part of Afghanistan. I don't know what happened to them, but 2-3 years ago they were giving stiff competition even to the big 3 sides. I understand that the absence of Rashid Khan (due to injury) impacted them negatively. But there is no excuse for the failure from the part of their batsmen. After all these years, Afghanistan still doesn't have a stable top order. They are experimenting with new players every now and then.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Very poor performance from the part of Afghanistan. I don't know what happened to them, but 2-3 years ago they were giving stiff competition even to the big 3 sides. I understand that the absence of Rashid Khan (due to injury) impacted them negatively. But there is no excuse for the failure from the part of their batsmen. After all these years, Afghanistan still doesn't have a stable top order. They are experimenting with new players every now and then.

Afghanistan is not a good team. They play well occasionally. But I didn’t think they would play so badly against a small team like Zimbabwe. Afghanistan has many talented players. Yet their batting has been a disaster. The Afghanistan team is well aware of Rashid Khan's absence. Afghanistan would have played better if he had.

[newwest]

Very poor performance from the part of Afghanistan. I don't know what happened to them, but 2-3 years ago they were giving stiff competition even to the big 3 sides. I understand that the absence of Rashid Khan (due to injury) impacted them negatively. But there is no excuse for the failure from the part of their batsmen. After all these years, Afghanistan still doesn't have a stable top order. They are experimenting with new players every now and then.

This was really sad to see that there was no one ready to stay on the pitch and they in both innings they were out in 130's in test match which is like certainly not up the mark. Also, they are playing against Zimbabwe so considering that was expecting some better performance from them because they have potential and showed that over some time.

[bryant.coleman]

Very poor performance from the part of Afghanistan. I don't know what happened to them, but 2-3 years ago they were giving stiff competition even to the big 3 sides. I understand that the absence of Rashid Khan (due to injury) impacted them negatively. But there is no excuse for the failure from the part of their batsmen. After all these years, Afghanistan still doesn't have a stable top order. They are experimenting with new players every now and then.

Afghanistan is not a good team. They play well occasionally. But I didn’t think they would play so badly against a small team like Zimbabwe. Afghanistan has many talented players. Yet their batting has been a disaster. The Afghanistan team is well aware of Rashid Khan's absence. Afghanistan would have played better if he had.

I don't think that they are not a good team. Previously against some of the stronger teams they had played well. Don't know what happened this time, but I suspect that going for too many players and lack of exposure to the longer format of the game proved to be their undoing. They need to play more test matches, so that they will get enough experience in this format. There are a lot of T20 specialists in the Afghanistan team. But they don't have any test specialists. 

[JSRAW]

Kohli lost the toss again!!! Dude need more practice with the toss. England is batting first one more time, good chance for them to comeback in this game. England would be very happy side if they able to draw the series. Australian fans are also cheering for them.

-Bumrah is getting married so he's out and Siraj comes in his place.
-No Broad-Jofra this time, Dominic Bess(Spin) and Daniel Lawrence (Batsman) are in. England got only 3 regular bowlers and 2 part timer Joe Root and Stokes(he's not bowling much due to workload etc).



https://twitter.com/BCCI/status/1367319040612470789

[Sithara007]

Kohli lost the toss again!!! Dude need more practice with the toss. England is batting first one more time, good chance for them to comeback in this game. England would be very happy side if they able to draw the series. Australian fans are also cheering for them.

-Bumrah is getting married so he's out and Siraj comes in his place.
-No Broad-Jofra this time, Dominic Bess(Spin) and Daniel Lawrence (Batsman) are in. England got only 3 regular bowlers and 2 part timer Joe Root and Stokes(he's not bowling much due to workload etc).

It is really surprising that England went for just 3 full-time bowlers. I understand that Dom Bess and Jack Leach will be taking most of the work load, but they could have included at least Broad. He has got more than 500 test wickets to his name and is useful with the bat as well. If the pitch turns out to be flat, then England could be in big trouble with less number of bowling options.

[pakhitheboss]

England has already lost two wickets for just 19 runs. Axar patel back in action infront of the home ground. Root is on the pitch let's see how he performs in this match. Another wicket and I assume England will be struggling to reach 100 this time.

[bryant.coleman]

England has already lost two wickets for just 19 runs. Axar patel back in action infront of the home ground. Root is on the pitch let's see how he performs in this match. Another wicket and I assume England will be struggling to reach 100 this time.

It is getting boring. I never watch one sided test matches and therefore stopped watching it when the second wicket fall. I see no improvement in the England batting. And it would be a surprise if they manage to cross a total of 150. I just hope that this time the match doesn't end in two days, as happened with the third test match. As long as Joe Root is there, some hope exists for England. Let's see how it goes for them.

[pakhitheboss]

England has already lost two wickets for just 19 runs. Axar patel back in action infront of the home ground. Root is on the pitch let's see how he performs in this match. Another wicket and I assume England will be struggling to reach 100 this time.

It is getting boring. I never watch one sided test matches and therefore stopped watching it when the second wicket fall. I see no improvement in the England batting. And it would be a surprise if they manage to cross a total of 150. I just hope that this time the match doesn't end in two days, as happened with the third test match. As long as Joe Root is there, some hope exists for England. Let's see how it goes for them.

Root also out.
The way this match is progressing I think this match will also end in just two days. This is going to be a completely one sided match and especially a boring one. England batting has gone from good to bad and now worst.

[Sithara007]

Root also out.
The way this match is progressing I think this match will also end in just two days. This is going to be a completely one sided match and especially a boring one. England batting has gone from good to bad and now worst.

England seems to be in a hurry to reach home (well.. the T20I and ODI series remain in this tour). For a change, one of the pacers got the wicket now. None of the England batsmen are showing any signs of confidence. Their body language suggests that they have lost the match in the first session of the first day itself. It seems to be a formality now and the only suspense is regarding the margin of victory for India.

[mersal]

Root also out.
The way this match is progressing I think this match will also end in just two days. This is going to be a completely one sided match and especially a boring one. England batting has gone from good to bad and now worst.

England seems to be in a hurry to reach home (well.. the T20I and ODI series remain in this tour). For a change, one of the pacers got the wicket now. None of the England batsmen are showing any signs of confidence. Their body language suggests that they have lost the match in the first session of the first day itself. It seems to be a formality now and the only suspense is regarding the margin of victory for India.

No need to make that kind of conclusion just after the first session of the first day in this match, after the 3 wickets Bairstow and Stokes is making good partnership and it is nearing 45 at very good run rate which is a good fight back after the two early wickets. Hope this may give them the lost confidence and they also have deep batting order so if one or two partnership from now on will give good fighting total for them and don't forget the pitch is going to be more worse when the match progress.

[bryant.coleman]

No need to make that kind of conclusion just after the first session of the first day in this match, after the 3 wickets Bairstow and Stokes is making good partnership and it is nearing 45 at very good run rate which is a good fight back after the two early wickets. Hope this may give them the lost confidence and they also have deep batting order so if one or two partnership from now on will give good fighting total for them and don't forget the pitch is going to be more worse when the match progress.

Jonny Bairstow is gone, trapped leg before by Mohammed Siraj. Now they are down to Ben Stokes and Ollie Pope. One good news for England is that they included one additional batsman in the playing XI. So apart from Ben Foakes, they have Dan Lawrence also yet to come. Perhaps that should help them to make a total of 150 plus. Also, may be Dom Bess and Leach could add some valuable runs this time around.

[pakhitheboss]

No need to make that kind of conclusion just after the first session of the first day in this match, after the 3 wickets Bairstow and Stokes is making good partnership and it is nearing 45 at very good run rate which is a good fight back after the two early wickets. Hope this may give them the lost confidence and they also have deep batting order so if one or two partnership from now on will give good fighting total for them and don't forget the pitch is going to be more worse when the match progress.

Jonny Bairstow is gone, trapped leg before by Mohammed Siraj. Now they are down to Ben Stokes and Ollie Pope. One good news for England is that they included one additional batsman in the playing XI. So apart from Ben Foakes, they have Dan Lawrence also yet to come. Perhaps that should help them to make a total of 150 plus. Also, may be Dom Bess and Leach could add some valuable runs this time around.

After the initial struggle at last England reached 100. Stokes is looking good, not out at 40. England have already lost four wickets and all hopes are on stokes. Indian bowlers will be looking for his wicket now.

[Vishnu.Reang]

After the initial struggle at last England reached 100. Stokes is looking good, not out at 40. England have already lost four wickets and all hopes are on stokes. Indian bowlers will be looking for his wicket now.

Stokes gone. Got out just when it looked as if he has settled down and may allow England to reach a decent total. Anyway, England total has now reached 154. That itself is a big achievement, considering how they had batted in the second and third tests. The pitch seems to be flat, without too much advantage to the spinners. Still, a total of above 250 will be good news for England.

[mersal]

After the initial struggle at last England reached 100. Stokes is looking good, not out at 40. England have already lost four wickets and all hopes are on stokes. Indian bowlers will be looking for his wicket now.

Stokes gone. Got out just when it looked as if he has settled down and may allow England to reach a decent total. Anyway, England total has now reached 154. That itself is a big achievement, considering how they had batted in the second and third tests. The pitch seems to be flat, without too much advantage to the spinners. Still, a total of above 250 will be good news for England.

166 and lost 5 wifkets but they entered into the 3rd session of the day which is not much horrible as 3rd test, due to the older ball it is possible to make better strokes now so they are keep ticking the score board with good partnership from the middle order, still one batsman to come so they can hopefully cross 200 which may give some confidence for the bowlers to work on.

[bryant.coleman]

166 and lost 5 wifkets but they entered into the 3rd session of the day which is not much horrible as 3rd test, due to the older ball it is possible to make better strokes now so they are keep ticking the score board with good partnership from the middle order, still one batsman to come so they can hopefully cross 200 which may give some confidence for the bowlers to work on.

It's the usual story. Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes got out in quick succession and now they are struggling at 174/7. Dan Lawrence looks to be in good touch, but he is about to run out of partners. The tail has started and now Dom Bess is at the crease. Jack Leach and James Anderson to come next. England can consider themselves lucky in case they manage to get past 200.

[7788bitcoin]

Once again England is struggling to go past 200 runs and the only positive aspect is that England recalled Dom Bess when he was forced to sit out even though they were playing in spinning tracks and glad to see that they rectified their selection stupidity. I am not expecting a huge lead by India as i am expecting them to struggle in this pitch as well if the match extends to the final two days but now they have the advantage and i am expecting the pitch to get tougher in the final two days if the match goes that long  .