Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Juggy777]

Pakistan start the first test match against Zimbabwe in good form and bowled out the Zimbabwe team in only 176 runs. We know that Pakistani bowlers are superior than Zimbabwe bowlers but the big question was how well they can bat. Pakistan scored 103 runs till now and did not lose any wicket till now. This is a good beginning for them and they should score big score now.

Pakistan are 132/1 and are looking to dominate the match. I think they should score something close to 500 os that they don't need to bat last in this test match. I am not sure if the pitch will remain the same in all the 5 days of the match.

@UmerIdrees this is an one sided match and I’m not at all surprised by Zimbabwe player’s performance because no one really expected them to play well. Also I feel that Pakistan will target at least 600 runs, and then declare and put more pressure on Zimbabwe. It’s also pertinent to note that they have currently scored 162 runs, hence I feel that 600 runs is achievable.

Source:

https://www.cricbuzz.com/live-cricket-scores/35897/zim-vs-pak-1st-test-pakistan-tour-of-zimbabwe-2021

[7788bitcoin]

The pitch doesn't offer any support to the bowlers and even if they extend the duration to 10 days instead of 5 days, it will still end up as a draw. These matches are a reason why test format is dying. You waste 5 days consecutively to watch them playing and the match still end with no result.

If you looks at the matches in the past 6 to 8 years we have results in Test matches most of the time and the matches that ended up in a draw was really competitive where the team was fighting to defend from the brink of a defeat, so things have changed and rarely we see matches like this that are played in dead pitches that do not help the bowlers and hopefully the ICC gives out warning to make pitches better the next time around.

[vella85]

The SL and Bangladesh looks to be heading into another draw as SL are still batting and have only lost 6 wickets in two days of play. If they can get to say 550+ then they could try and bowl Bangladesh out twice without batting again but it doesn't look like this pitch is offering much to the bowlers so SL might also have a hard time trying to bowl Bangladesh out twice.

[Clement Kaliyar]

The SL and Bangladesh looks to be heading into another draw as SL are still batting and have only lost 6 wickets in two days of play. If they can get to say 550+ then they could try and bowl Bangladesh out twice without batting again but it doesn't look like this pitch is offering much to the bowlers so SL might also have a hard time trying to bowl Bangladesh out twice.

It is a smart move by the Sri Lankan cricket board to create flat wickets so that none of the bowlers will get any undue advantage and they might be afraid of the Bangladesh spinners who could extract the pitch if that favors the spinners and knowing those they might have gone with a flat pitch that will not assist anyone and so is the reason we are seeing a run fest in the last match as well as this match and closing in to another boring draw.

[Sithara007]

The pitch doesn't offer any support to the bowlers and even if they extend the duration to 10 days instead of 5 days, it will still end up as a draw. These matches are a reason why test format is dying. You waste 5 days consecutively to watch them playing and the match still end with no result.

If you looks at the matches in the past 6 to 8 years we have results in Test matches most of the time and the matches that ended up in a draw was really competitive where the team was fighting to defend from the brink of a defeat, so things have changed and rarely we see matches like this that are played in dead pitches that do not help the bowlers and hopefully the ICC gives out warning to make pitches better the next time around.

I am not saying that most of the test matches are like this one. But this series has been disappointing so far. Let's not forget the fact that these two teams rank among the bottom half of the World Test Championship. So in order to improve their ranking, they needed a few wins. I am especially disappointed with Sri Lanka, who are the hosts. If they are so defensive against a team such as Bangladesh, then how they can compete against the big three teams?

[UmerIdrees]

Pakistan start the first test match against Zimbabwe in good form and bowled out the Zimbabwe team in only 176 runs. We know that Pakistani bowlers are superior than Zimbabwe bowlers but the big question was how well they can bat. Pakistan scored 103 runs till now and did not lose any wicket till now. This is a good beginning for them and they should score big score now.

Pakistan are 132/1 and are looking to dominate the match. I think they should score something close to 500 os that they don't need to bat last in this test match. I am not sure if the pitch will remain the same in all the 5 days of the match.

@UmerIdrees this is an one sided match and I’m not at all surprised by Zimbabwe player’s performance because no one really expected them to play well. Also I feel that Pakistan will target at least 600 runs, and then declare and put more pressure on Zimbabwe. It’s also pertinent to note that they have currently scored 162 runs, hence I feel that 600 runs is achievable.

Source:

https://www.cricbuzz.com/live-cricket-scores/35897/zim-vs-pak-1st-test-pakistan-tour-of-zimbabwe-2021

It is difficult to reach 600 runs because Pakistan have already lost 6 wickets at 374. Their lead is not about 200 runs and i think a lead of 200 will be enough to bowl out the Zimbabwe batsmen. Though the match is one sided one, there is still an interest for us for being the home side.

[Sithara007]

It is difficult to reach 600 runs because Pakistan have already lost 6 wickets at 374. Their lead is not about 200 runs and i think a lead of 200 will be enough to bowl out the Zimbabwe batsmen. Though the match is one sided one, there is still an interest for us for being the home side.

The intention should be to win the match without caring much about the personal milestones. Pakistan is already leading by around 200 runs and I guess another 100 runs should be enough for them to secure an innings victory (i.e a total of 480-500). There is no point in wasting another day to get the total past 600. Anyway, they have already lost 6 wickets so far, and it looks as if getting to a lead of even 300 is going to be difficult.

[JohnBitCo]

The SL and Bangladesh looks to be heading into another draw as SL are still batting and have only lost 6 wickets in two days of play. If they can get to say 550+ then they could try and bowl Bangladesh out twice without batting again but it doesn't look like this pitch is offering much to the bowlers so SL might also have a hard time trying to bowl Bangladesh out twice.

The reason why Srilanka have made such a big score is that their openers Lahiru Thirimanne  and Dimuth Karunaratne gave a 200 runs opening partnership and the rest of the batting lineup batted with that confidence. If Bangladesh loses early wickets it would be difficult to show the same performance even if the wicket does not favor the bowlers.

[Swordsoffreedom]

The SL and Bangladesh looks to be heading into another draw as SL are still batting and have only lost 6 wickets in two days of play. If they can get to say 550+ then they could try and bowl Bangladesh out twice without batting again but it doesn't look like this pitch is offering much to the bowlers so SL might also have a hard time trying to bowl Bangladesh out twice.

The reason why Srilanka have made such a big score is that their openers Lahiru Thirimanne  and Dimuth Karunaratne gave a 200 runs opening partnership and the rest of the batting lineup batted with that confidence. If Bangladesh loses early wickets it would be difficult to show the same performance even if the wicket does not favor the bowlers.

Although Lahiru Thirimanne has scored the most runs of this innings, but I would like to appreciate Dimuth Karunaratne's extraordinary batting. In the first match, he played a huge inning of 244 runs. Which was really awesome. And he maintained his consistency in the second Test. He has scored 117 runs in this innings.
Sri Lanka declared the innings with 493 runs. Bangladesh has not lost any wicket for 19 runs yet. I look forward to seeing Saif Hassan's performance. He scored only 1 run in 2 innings in the first Test. He has not been able to score any run in today's match.

[Iranus]

I look forward to seeing Saif Hassan's performance. He scored only 1 run in 2 innings in the first Test. He has not been able to score any run in today's match.

Saif Hassan is not successful in this innings either. He has collected only 25 runs. Lack of opening batsmen in Bangladesh team. An experienced opening batsman with Tamim Iqbal is needed. Although Nazmul Hossain Shanto played a remarkable inning in the first innings of the previous match, he was dismissed for zero in the second innings. And as usual today he was out for zero. Bangladesh lost two valuable wickets for 99 runs. Tamim Iqbal is unbeaten on 74 runs.

[UmerIdrees]

It is difficult to reach 600 runs because Pakistan have already lost 6 wickets at 374. Their lead is not about 200 runs and i think a lead of 200 will be enough to bowl out the Zimbabwe batsmen. Though the match is one sided one, there is still an interest for us for being the home side.

The intention should be to win the match without caring much about the personal milestones. Pakistan is already leading by around 200 runs and I guess another 100 runs should be enough for them to secure an innings victory (i.e a total of 480-500). There is no point in wasting another day to get the total past 600. Anyway, they have already lost 6 wickets so far, and it looks as if getting to a lead of even 300 is going to be difficult.

Pakistan lost quick wickets today and now they won't be able to give them a target of even 300 runs. Only Fawad is playing well with at 133 runs but no one is supporting him at the other end. Updated score is 416/9. The innings will come to an end any time and we will see how Pakistani bowlers will bowl today.

[JSRAW]

Okay ladies, it looks like result is back on the menu in SL vs Ban match. At one point Bangladesh were batting at 214/4 comfortably and it looked like that this game is dead but they faced a fine collapse and everything came to alive, thanks to debutant Jayawickrama.

-----
In response Srilankans already lost 2 wickets

[Mahdirakib]

Okay ladies, it looks like result is back on the menu in SL vs Ban match. At one point Bangladesh were batting at 214/4 comfortably and it looked like that this game is dead but they faced a fine collapse and everything came to alive, thanks to debutant Jayawickrama.

Seems like the pitch condition is changing everyday. Sri Lanka lost only one wickets at their first day, on second day they lost 5 wickets. Today they have given declaration after losing one more wickets. Opening partnership of Bangladeshi batsman was also good but things changed there so quickly. Jayawickrama bowled really well in his first test match and Bangladesh lost all their wickets today. Sri Lanka made the decision to bat their second innings. And two of their big scores got out early today!

I can't imagine that how the pitch will behave on day 4. Today we have seen 13 wickets fall in total. Probably we will see a clear winner of this test match, not a draw like the previous one.

[7788bitcoin]

it looks like result is back on the menu in SL vs Ban match. At one point Bangladesh were batting at 214/4 comfortably and it looked like that this game is dead but they faced a fine collapse and everything came to alive, thanks to debutant Jayawickrama.

I thought this match is also going to be a draw but Sri Lanka changed the match altogether with their bowling performance and now they have a healthy lead of 259 runs and there is plenty of time left in the match and they can set a target of over 350 runs and put them to bat and Sri Lanka can win the match.

Pakistan won the match by an innings as expected and it is a shame that Zimbabwe is playing Test cricket .

[vella85]

it looks like result is back on the menu in SL vs Ban match. At one point Bangladesh were batting at 214/4 comfortably and it looked like that this game is dead but they faced a fine collapse and everything came to alive, thanks to debutant Jayawickrama.

I thought this match is also going to be a draw but Sri Lanka changed the match altogether with their bowling performance and now they have a healthy lead of 259 runs and there is plenty of time left in the match and they can set a target of over 350 runs and put them to bat and Sri Lanka can win the match.

Pakistan won the match by an innings as expected and it is a shame that Zimbabwe is playing Test cricket .

I thought the same, it was looking like a draw but the SL bowlers found something in the pitch and were able to bowl Bangladesh out for 251 runs. If there is going to be a result in this match, SL will need to score as many runs as they can within 2 session which will give them 4 sessions to try and bowl Bangladesh out. I think 350+ is enough so it will be interesting to see if SL will go for the win.

[ene1980]

Pakistan won the match by an innings as expected and it is a shame that Zimbabwe is playing Test cricket .

Pakistan needs to sharpen their game as well as Zimbabwe needs to learn how to Play Test cricket again and none of the other teams are ready to face them may be because of monetary reasons. I wish the odds were better consider Pakistan can always play the odd game.

SL will need to score as many runs as they can within 2 session which will give them 4 sessions to try and bowl Bangladesh out. I think 350+ is enough so it will be interesting to see if SL will go for the win.

In recent times Sri Lanak does knows its limitations and they always look for the safer option than playing for the win. The match depends upon how Bangladesh will bat in the final two days of the match.

[Sithara007]

I thought the same, it was looking like a draw but the SL bowlers found something in the pitch and were able to bowl Bangladesh out for 251 runs. If there is going to be a result in this match, SL will need to score as many runs as they can within 2 session which will give them 4 sessions to try and bowl Bangladesh out. I think 350+ is enough so it will be interesting to see if SL will go for the win.

These scenarios are applicable only if Sri Lanka wants to win. From the first test, it looked as if they are playing just for formality and have no interest in getting a result other than draw. If they were really aiming for a win, then they would have asked Bangladesh to follow on. And it was not like the bowlers had 150-200 overs of work. Bangladesh in the first innings was bowled out in just 83 overs, and most of these overs were bowled by spinners (Ramesh Mendis and Praveen Jayawickrama bowling 63 overs in total).

[UmerIdrees]

Pakistan won the match by an innings as expected and it is a shame that Zimbabwe is playing Test cricket .

A moment of joy for the visitors to beat the home team convincingly.

Hasan Ali's  took five wickets and captured the show in his name.

[JohnBitCo]

I thought the same, it was looking like a draw but the SL bowlers found something in the pitch and were able to bowl Bangladesh out for 251 runs. If there is going to be a result in this match, SL will need to score as many runs as they can within 2 session which will give them 4 sessions to try and bowl Bangladesh out. I think 350+ is enough so it will be interesting to see if SL will go for the win.

These scenarios are applicable only if Sri Lanka wants to win. From the first test, it looked as if they are playing just for formality and have no interest in getting a result other than draw. If they were really aiming for a win, then they would have asked Bangladesh to follow on. And it was not like the bowlers had 150-200 overs of work. Bangladesh in the first innings was bowled out in just 83 overs, and most of these overs were bowled by spinners (Ramesh Mendis and Praveen Jayawickrama bowling 63 overs in total).

Srilanka can still win this match pretty easily. There are still five sessions left in the match and they have to take nine more wickets in these sessions. the only hope for Bangladesh is to avoid losing wickets and see where they stand by the lunch on the 5th day. If they have wickets in hand at that time, they could take on this chase against srilanka at that moment.

[JSRAW]

~snip~

Srilanka can still win this match pretty easily. There are still five sessions left in the match and they have to take nine more wickets in these sessions. the only hope for Bangladesh is to avoid losing wickets and see where they stand by the lunch on the 5th day. If they have wickets in hand at that time, they could take on this chase against srilanka at that moment.

Srilanka does have edge over Bangladesh as pitch is deteriorating and it would be tough to bat on against Srilankan's spinners. Remaining Bangladeshi batters need to come up with their A game and may be some miracle. One thing is sure that we'll see result in this game.