Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Sithara007]

From 1992 when they were allowed to return to cricket they had the best team which was able to compete against the dominating Australia and during the 1999 world cup like every other world cup before that they were the favorites to win the world cup and like every other cup they were unfortunate to loose out and the fielding standards they set in world cricket was exemplary and do not forget Herschelle Gibbs in the squad and he was the best fielder in the team along with Rhodes and the catch Gibbs dropped while throwing the ball in air to celebrate gave Australia the chance to win the match and later the world cup.

It is hard to find a replacement for those legendary players but ABD carried the fielding legacy but they are yet to find a legit all rounder like they used to have and i remember when Pat Symcox used to come out as the second last batsman even he could change the match with his batting and even has a Test century and the only player who does not bat in the team was Allan Donald and the rest of the players were all rounders  .

When Nelson Mandela was the president of South Africa, he adopted a reconciliatory stance towards the white population. One he was succeeded by Thabo Mbeki, the racial issues were restarted. Mbeki was a very incompetent president (much like those who succeeded him) and to hide his incompetence he resorted to implementing racial quotas everywhere and confiscating white owned farmland. So there is a difference in the South African team from 1992 to 1999, and the team after 1999. Until 1999, all the players were being selected based on merit. And from 2022, only 4 players will be selected based on merit, and the remaining 7 will be selected based on their skin color.

[pakhitheboss]

From 1992 when they were allowed to return to cricket they had the best team which was able to compete against the dominating Australia and during the 1999 world cup like every other world cup before that they were the favorites to win the world cup and like every other cup they were unfortunate to loose out and the fielding standards they set in world cricket was exemplary and do not forget Herschelle Gibbs in the squad and he was the best fielder in the team along with Rhodes and the catch Gibbs dropped while throwing the ball in air to celebrate gave Australia the chance to win the match and later the world cup.

It is hard to find a replacement for those legendary players but ABD carried the fielding legacy but they are yet to find a legit all rounder like they used to have and i remember when Pat Symcox used to come out as the second last batsman even he could change the match with his batting and even has a Test century and the only player who does not bat in the team was Allan Donald and the rest of the players were all rounders  .

When Nelson Mandela was the president of South Africa, he adopted a reconciliatory stance towards the white population. One he was succeeded by Thabo Mbeki, the racial issues were restarted. Mbeki was a very incompetent president (much like those who succeeded him) and to hide his incompetence he resorted to implementing racial quotas everywhere and confiscating white owned farmland. So there is a difference in the South African team from 1992 to 1999, and the team after 1999. Until 1999, all the players were being selected based on merit. And from 2022, only 4 players will be selected based on merit, and the remaining 7 will be selected based on their skin color.

There are other controversies too surrounding the board and its member. There has been a corruption allegation against the board. Last year in the month of October they were on the verge of getting banned from international cricket. There are three main things that have resulted in the downfall of South African cricket and they are the Racism issues, payment row, and corruption charges.

[Sithara007]

There are other controversies too surrounding the board and its member. There has been a corruption allegation against the board. Last year in the month of October they were on the verge of getting banned from international cricket. There are three main things that have resulted in the downfall of South African cricket and they are the Racism issues, payment row, and corruption charges.

Corruption is an issue with the cricket boards everywhere. If you check the other sports bodies such as FIFA, IHF and FIBA, you can see that they are being managed by former players. But in case of ICC and the regional cricket bodies, most of them are being managed by politicians and businessmen. Apart from corruption, this has also resulted in the death of cricket in smaller nations such as Kenya and West Indies.

BTW, the pig 3 has once again cemented their control of the ICC. Manu Sawhney (CEO of the ICC) has been kicked out and replaced with Geoff Allardice.

[JSRAW]

~snip~

BTW, the pig 3 has once again cemented their control of the ICC. Manu Sawhney (CEO of the ICC) has been kicked out and replaced with Geoff Allardice.

PIG 3 could be behind this.

But some reports are claiming that he was asked to leave after findings of routine investigation by one audit firm. It was reported that all his staff found him authoritarian. Don't know what he did to his staff but he really ticked off majority of his staff.

[bryant.coleman]

Anyone watching the match between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe? Afghanistan declared at 545/4, with Hashmatullah Shahidi becoming the first Afghan to score a double hundred. The captain (Asghar Stanikzai) also made a sizable contribution, by making 164. Remember that during the last match, Afghanistan made totals of 131 and 135, losing to Zimbabwe by 10 wickets (and that too, in two days).

[vella85]

Anyone watching the match between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe? Afghanistan declared at 545/4, with Hashmatullah Shahidi becoming the first Afghan to score a double hundred. The captain (Asghar Stanikzai) also made a sizable contribution, by making 164. Remember that during the last match, Afghanistan made totals of 131 and 135, losing to Zimbabwe by 10 wickets (and that too, in two days).

I have not watched the match as I don't get the coverage here but I did see the highlights and I must say that Afghanistan batted well even though they are playing a poorly ranked team in Zimbabwe but still I thought they batted well to score 500+ with only losing 4 wickets. Afghanistan look to be a much better team from the last time they played Zimbabwe but the pitch does look like a batting pitch so we shall see how well Zimbabwe bat which so far are doing well at 0 for 50.

[Sithara007]

I have not watched the match as I don't get the coverage here but I did see the highlights and I must say that Afghanistan batted well even though they are playing a poorly ranked team in Zimbabwe but still I thought they batted well to score 500+ with only losing 4 wickets. Afghanistan look to be a much better team from the last time they played Zimbabwe but the pitch does look like a batting pitch so we shall see how well Zimbabwe bat which so far are doing well at 0 for 50.

Both the teams have to deal with their own issues. Consistency is a big issue for Afghanistan, as they were bowled out for less than 150 runs in both the innings during the first test. And for Zimbabwe, their key players are unavailable most of the time and that affects their performance. At this point, both the teams (and Ireland) stand no chance against the top tier test playing nations. I had high hopes for Afghanistan, but their performance in the last couple of years have been disappointing.

[Iranus]

I have not watched the match as I don't get the coverage here but I did see the highlights and I must say that Afghanistan batted well even though they are playing a poorly ranked team in Zimbabwe but still I thought they batted well to score 500+ with only losing 4 wickets. Afghanistan look to be a much better team from the last time they played Zimbabwe but the pitch does look like a batting pitch so we shall see how well Zimbabwe bat which so far are doing well at 0 for 50.

Both the teams have to deal with their own issues. Consistency is a big issue for Afghanistan, as they were bowled out for less than 150 runs in both the innings during the first test. And for Zimbabwe, their key players are unavailable most of the time and that affects their performance. At this point, both the teams (and Ireland) stand no chance against the top tier test playing nations. I had high hopes for Afghanistan, but their performance in the last couple of years have been disappointing.

Looks like this match will be a draw. Afghanistan has collected huge runs. It is not possible for Zimbabwe to win this match. So the Zimbabwean players will want to survive at the crease anyway and draw the match. After batting so poorly in the first match, Afghanistan scored 545 runs in this match but lost only 4 wickets which surprised me.

[bryant.coleman]

Looks like this match will be a draw. Afghanistan has collected huge runs. It is not possible for Zimbabwe to win this match. So the Zimbabwean players will want to survive at the crease anyway and draw the match. After batting so poorly in the first match, Afghanistan scored 545 runs in this match but lost only 4 wickets which surprised me.

To avoid follow on, Zimbabwe need 345 runs, which by itself is going to be a challenge. Zimbabwe had a good start yesterday, but surviving against Rashid Khan is going to be difficult from third day onwards. If Afghanistan could get the wickets of the experienced batsmen (Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza), then the remainder of Zimbabwe batting lineup will fall like a pack of cards. Probability is that Afghanistan will win this match, but let's see what is going to happen.

[pakhitheboss]

Looks like this match will be a draw. Afghanistan has collected huge runs. It is not possible for Zimbabwe to win this match. So the Zimbabwean players will want to survive at the crease anyway and draw the match. After batting so poorly in the first match, Afghanistan scored 545 runs in this match but lost only 4 wickets which surprised me.

To avoid follow on, Zimbabwe need 345 runs, which by itself is going to be a challenge. Zimbabwe had a good start yesterday, but surviving against Rashid Khan is going to be difficult from third day onwards. If Afghanistan could get the wickets of the experienced batsmen (Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza), then the remainder of Zimbabwe batting lineup will fall like a pack of cards. Probability is that Afghanistan will win this match, but let's see what is going to happen.

Zimbabwe is a far better team than Afghanistan. The problem with the Afgan team is that they are highly inconsistent, I do not think it will be a problem for Zimbabwe to reach 345 runs. They have started well and they will easily win this test too.

[ene1980]

Zimbabwe is a far better team than Afghanistan. The problem with the Afgan team is that they are highly inconsistent, I do not think it will be a problem for Zimbabwe to reach 345 runs. They have started well and they will easily win this test too.

In the last match Afghanistan was not playing with their full strength team and without Rashid Khan they are just a shell of their strength and in this match he is playing and it will be a different result altogether and the problem is these players focus on franchise cricket.

If their main players focus on the national team then they could defeat this Zimbabwe team with ease.

[JSRAW]

Lol just checked the ICC ranking for the batsmen and Rohit-Pant made a huge career ranking jump. They both having a good time in WTC and test specialist batsmen Pujara and Rahane are not even in top 10 anymore lol. Hope they both will perform when india starts touring in SENA again.


Big crisis in World test cricket as far as all rounders are concern. Can't remember any other name in last 5 years who made into top 5 except existing top 5 (Holder, Stokes,Jadeja,Ashwin,Shakib). Only these 5 players fight among themselves for top ranks.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Zimbabwe is a far better team than Afghanistan. The problem with the Afgan team is that they are highly inconsistent, I do not think it will be a problem for Zimbabwe to reach 345 runs. They have started well and they will easily win this test too.

I don't think that there is a lot of gap between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. Even with their best players (Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams, Kyle Jarvis.etc), Zimbabwe would struggle against Afghanistan. If you are talking about Ireland, then I would agree. These two teams are ahead of Ireland, as the latter has been on a downslide ever since it got the test status. Ireland is overdependent on Paul Stirling (who is not getting any younger), while Zimbabwe and Afghanistan have somewhat balanced sides.

[Iranus]

Looks like this match will be a draw. Afghanistan has collected huge runs. It is not possible for Zimbabwe to win this match. So the Zimbabwean players will want to survive at the crease anyway and draw the match. After batting so poorly in the first match, Afghanistan scored 545 runs in this match but lost only 4 wickets which surprised me.

To avoid follow on, Zimbabwe need 345 runs, which by itself is going to be a challenge. Zimbabwe had a good start yesterday, but surviving against Rashid Khan is going to be difficult from third day onwards. If Afghanistan could get the wickets of the experienced batsmen (Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza), then the remainder of Zimbabwe batting lineup will fall like a pack of cards. Probability is that Afghanistan will win this match, but let's see what is going to happen.

Zimbabwe is a far better team than Afghanistan. The problem with the Afgan team is that they are highly inconsistent, I do not think it will be a problem for Zimbabwe to reach 345 runs. They have started well and they will easily win this test too.

As much as Zimbabwe won the first Test match with respect, they are going to lose the second Test match with the same disrespect. Afghanistan has comeback greatly after the disaster in the first match. But I never thought Zimbabwe would play so badly. Now I think they will lose the match by an innings. I thought they will be able to collect more than 350 runs in the first innings. But they lost all their wickets for just 287 runs.

[vella85]

Looks like this match will be a draw. Afghanistan has collected huge runs. It is not possible for Zimbabwe to win this match. So the Zimbabwean players will want to survive at the crease anyway and draw the match. After batting so poorly in the first match, Afghanistan scored 545 runs in this match but lost only 4 wickets which surprised me.

To avoid follow on, Zimbabwe need 345 runs, which by itself is going to be a challenge. Zimbabwe had a good start yesterday, but surviving against Rashid Khan is going to be difficult from third day onwards. If Afghanistan could get the wickets of the experienced batsmen (Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza), then the remainder of Zimbabwe batting lineup will fall like a pack of cards. Probability is that Afghanistan will win this match, but let's see what is going to happen.

Zimbabwe is a far better team than Afghanistan. The problem with the Afgan team is that they are highly inconsistent, I do not think it will be a problem for Zimbabwe to reach 345 runs. They have started well and they will easily win this test too.

As much as Zimbabwe won the first Test match with respect, they are going to lose the second Test match with the same disrespect. Afghanistan has comeback greatly after the disaster in the first match. But I never thought Zimbabwe would play so badly. Now I think they will lose the match by an innings. I thought they will be able to collect more than 350 runs in the first innings. But they lost all their wickets for just 287 runs.

Not sure if Zimbabwe will lose by an innings as they will be taking their time batting to try and make Afghanistan bat again and maybe if they can get a small lead of say 100 runs, then it puts all the pressure back on Afghanistan to try and win the match. We don't see teams follow-on much anymore and to see Afghanistan ask Zimbabwe to follow-on shows that the Afghan team are confident they can get the job done and win the match.

[Sithara007]

Not sure if Zimbabwe will lose by an innings as they will be taking their time batting to try and make Afghanistan bat again and maybe if they can get a small lead of say 100 runs, then it puts all the pressure back on Afghanistan to try and win the match. We don't see teams follow-on much anymore and to see Afghanistan ask Zimbabwe to follow-on shows that the Afghan team are confident they can get the job done and win the match.

Zimbabwe is still trailing by 234 runs. If they want to build a lead of 100 runs, then they need to make a total of 358, which looks very difficult. Both Rashid Khan and Amir Hamza looks to be in splendid form, and as match progresses, the surface will give more and more assistance to the spinners. In the first innings also, only Prince Masvaure and Sikandar Raza showed resistance against the Afghan spin bowlers.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Not sure if Zimbabwe will lose by an innings as they will be taking their time batting to try and make Afghanistan bat again and maybe if they can get a small lead of say 100 runs, then it puts all the pressure back on Afghanistan to try and win the match. We don't see teams follow-on much anymore and to see Afghanistan ask Zimbabwe to follow-on shows that the Afghan team are confident they can get the job done and win the match.

Zimbabwe is still trailing by 234 runs. If they want to build a lead of 100 runs, then they need to make a total of 358, which looks very difficult. Both Rashid Khan and Amir Hamza looks to be in splendid form, and as match progresses, the surface will give more and more assistance to the spinners. In the first innings also, only Prince Masvaure and Sikandar Raza showed resistance against the Afghan spin bowlers.

Collecting 357 runs is certainly difficult for Zimbabwe, but it is not impossible. If Afghanistan 545 runs by losing only 4 wickets, I think the Zimbabwean team has the capacity to score at least 400 runs. There is no possibility of this match being a draw. At the moment the match is completely occupied by Afghanistan. Unless a miracle happens, Afghanistan will win the match today.

[eaLiTy]

If Afghanistan 545 runs by losing only 4 wickets, I think the Zimbabwean team has the capacity to score at least 400 runs. There is no possibility of this match being a draw. At the moment the match is completely occupied by Afghanistan. Unless a miracle happens, Afghanistan will win the match today.

It depends on how the Zimbabwe players play Rashid Khan and the match is played in the UAE which helps the spinners in the final two days and it is going to be a huge task as Zimbabwe still trail by 234 runs and it is going to be a huge task to take a lead and with plenty of time left in the match it is a game for Afghanistan to win and level the series.

[pakhitheboss]

If Afghanistan 545 runs by losing only 4 wickets, I think the Zimbabwean team has the capacity to score at least 400 runs. There is no possibility of this match being a draw. At the moment the match is completely occupied by Afghanistan. Unless a miracle happens, Afghanistan will win the match today.

It depends on how the Zimbabwe players play Rashid Khan and the match is played in the UAE which helps the spinners in the final two days and it is going to be a huge task as Zimbabwe still trail by 234 runs and it is going to be a huge task to take a lead and with plenty of time left in the match it is a game for Afghanistan to win and level the series.

ZIM is trailing by 229 they have not lost any wicket in this session but their chance of winning this test looks very bleak. It is Day 4 and as the match progresses I do not think it will be an easy task for ZIM to avert a defeat. Google probability score also shows Afganisthan has more probability to win this test.

[Swordsoffreedom]

If Afghanistan 545 runs by losing only 4 wickets, I think the Zimbabwean team has the capacity to score at least 400 runs. There is no possibility of this match being a draw. At the moment the match is completely occupied by Afghanistan. Unless a miracle happens, Afghanistan will win the match today.

It depends on how the Zimbabwe players play Rashid Khan and the match is played in the UAE which helps the spinners in the final two days and it is going to be a huge task as Zimbabwe still trail by 234 runs and it is going to be a huge task to take a lead and with plenty of time left in the match it is a game for Afghanistan to win and level the series.

ZIM is trailing by 229 they have not lost any wicket in this session but their chance of winning this test looks very bleak. It is Day 4 and as the match progresses I do not think it will be an easy task for ZIM to avert a defeat. Google probability score also shows Afganisthan has more probability to win this test.

Zimbabwe scored 44 runs without losing a wicket. Kevin Kasuza and Prince Masvaure are batting with great confidence. If the two of them can form a partnership of more than 100 runs, then Zimbabwe will be able to have a good fight against Afghanistan. But if they lose the opening wicket quickly, it will not be happy for Zimbabwe.

Edit : Zimbabwe lost the wicket of Prince Masuvaure. He has collected only 15 runs. His strike night was 20.26. If his innings had been longer, Zimbabwe would have been able to collect a big total.