Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[JSRAW]

or they can declare at around 700 and try to bowl Ireland out during the 5th day.

Matches such as this one are the reason why no one watches test cricket these days.

This is a more realistic goal for SL. They have 70-ish overs today, given rain stays away if not then it would be around 55-60 overs.

It should be okay as well because they are going okay with a healthy run rate and considering they have plenty of wickets in hand, they could go ballistic in the end and get a lead of 270-300.

[BobK71]

Lankans are just making a mockery of Irish spinners, virtually no respect whatsoever.
The way Lankans are handling opposition bowlers, I believe they could take a lead before the day ends. They are going with 4.75 runs per over and we still have 44 overs, hope there is no rain drama.

Sri Lanka would easily take a lead today if the game wasn't interrupted by rain. A session was lost today for the bad light and rain. Bad light had also created an impact in the match on day 2. Now we shouldn't expect anything else than a draw from this batting friendly pitch condition. Sri Lanka still has a little chance to win the match. They have to finish day 4 with a good lead, then they need to allow Ireland to play their second innings on the final day. But there is pretty high chance of rain in the next two days.

The pitch is completely batting favourite. I thought Ireland have played well, looking the performance from Sri Lanka what Ireland did is nothing. As said if the session haven't got disturbed Sri Lanka would've come closer making 400+ runs. Somehow it looks like Sri Lanka will try to win the match giving a good lead tomorrow. Even without the interruption of rain the match is more likely to end in draw. Rather than a serious match, it looks like a friendly practice match looking the batting and the scoring.

Iceland made a score of 492 runs in the first innings of the second Test. Many in the cricketing world had an expectation that Ireland would dominate the match. But when Sri Lanka opened the innings that perception slowly began to change. There is no doubt that the pitch favored for batters. Sri Lanka lost only 1 wicket and managed to score almost the same score as Sri Lanka scored 489 runs. Currently Sri Lanka trail by 3 runs. Looking at the current condition of this match, it is very natural to assume that Sri Lanka is very likely to win the match.

[Sithara007]

or they can declare at around 700 and try to bowl Ireland out during the 5th day.

Matches such as this one are the reason why no one watches test cricket these days.

This is a more realistic goal for SL. They have 70-ish overs today, given rain stays away if not then it would be around 55-60 overs.

It should be okay as well because they are going okay with a healthy run rate and considering they have plenty of wickets in hand, they could go ballistic in the end and get a lead of 270-300.

That would mean a first innings total of 750-800 for Sri Lanka. Right now Irish bowlers are looking clueless. Andy McBrine is the only bowler with experience, and the remaining 3 are very young and inexperienced (Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys and Ben White). Allrounder Curtis Campher is the only bowler who has picked up a wicket till now. Nishan Madushka is batting at 202, and I won't be surprised if he gets to 300, or even 400. Kusal Mendis is at 160 right now, and he may have his own 300 in sight. Overall, one of the most lop-sided matches I have ever watched in test cricket.

[YinShuiSiYuan]

Lankans are just making a mockery of Irish spinners, virtually no respect whatsoever.
The way Lankans are handling opposition bowlers, I believe they could take a lead before the day ends. They are going with 4.75 runs per over and we still have 44 overs, hope there is no rain drama.

Sri Lanka would easily take a lead today if the game wasn't interrupted by rain. A session was lost today for the bad light and rain. Bad light had also created an impact in the match on day 2. Now we shouldn't expect anything else than a draw from this batting friendly pitch condition. Sri Lanka still has a little chance to win the match. They have to finish day 4 with a good lead, then they need to allow Ireland to play their second innings on the final day. But there is pretty high chance of rain in the next two days.

The pitch is completely batting favourite. I thought Ireland have played well, looking the performance from Sri Lanka what Ireland did is nothing. As said if the session haven't got disturbed Sri Lanka would've come closer making 400+ runs. Somehow it looks like Sri Lanka will try to win the match giving a good lead tomorrow. Even without the interruption of rain the match is more likely to end in draw. Rather than a serious match, it looks like a friendly practice match looking the batting and the scoring.

Iceland made a score of 492 runs in the first innings of the second Test. Many in the cricketing world had an expectation that Ireland would dominate the match. But when Sri Lanka opened the innings that perception slowly began to change. There is no doubt that the pitch favored for batters. Sri Lanka lost only 1 wicket and managed to score almost the same score as Sri Lanka scored 489 runs. Currently Sri Lanka trail by 3 runs. Looking at the current condition of this match, it is very natural to assume that Sri Lanka is very likely to win the match.

And Sirlankans are all over the game again they are already on lead of 5 runs just look at sirlankan batting performance. ,Nishan Madushka 205 runs
Dimuth Karunaratne (c)115 runs
Kusal Mendis 171 runs.
Ireland baller are totally clueless how to control them.

[Sithara007]

With 55 overs remaining for the day, Sri Lanka has already taken the lead. And they have lost just two wickets till now. Nishan Madushka was unfortunate to miss his triple century, and he was trapped leg before by the most experienced Irish bowler (Andy McBrine). The scoring rate has come down slightly, and the last 10 overs saw only 24 runs being scored. I guess Sri Lanka will get to a lead of 300 or so sometime by the third session. They may declare slightly before the termination of third session, which should allow their bowlers 10-12 overs against the Irish batsmen. 

[WatChe]

That would mean a first innings total of 750-800 for Sri Lanka. Right now Irish bowlers are looking clueless. Andy McBrine is the only bowler with experience, and the remaining 3 are very young and inexperienced (Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys and Ben White). Allrounder Curtis Campher is the only bowler who has picked up a wicket till now. Nishan Madushka is batting at 202, and I won't be surprised if he gets to 300, or even 400. Kusal Mendis is at 160 right now, and he may have his own 300 in sight. Overall, one of the most lop-sided matches I have ever watched in test cricket.

I think Galle cricket stadium authorities have invited curator of Rawalpindi cricket stadium (Pakistan) for preparation of this pitch. We so far 1002 runs have been scored and still first inning is in progress. Sri Lanka at the moment lead by 21 runs and if they can take lead of 300 by day end then they might declare there innings and try to bowl out Ireland on last day. Nishan Madushka was the second one who got out this morning after scoring 205 runs which is his best score in 4 innings he played so far.

[justdimin]

Lankans are just making a mockery of Irish spinners, virtually no respect whatsoever.
The way Lankans are handling opposition bowlers, I believe they could take a lead before the day ends. They are going with 4.75 runs per over and we still have 44 overs, hope there is no rain drama.

Sri Lanka would easily take a lead today if the game wasn't interrupted by rain. A session was lost today for the bad light and rain. Bad light had also created an impact in the match on day 2. Now we shouldn't expect anything else than a draw from this batting friendly pitch condition. Sri Lanka still has a little chance to win the match. They have to finish day 4 with a good lead, then they need to allow Ireland to play their second innings on the final day. But there is pretty high chance of rain in the next two days.

As Sri Lankans were batting everyone was feeling they will hit 500+ until end of third days play, but sadly rain hit their progress, and we have early ended of third days play with 357 for 1 in 77 overs we lost nearly 35 overs which are surely not ideal situation for the home side now tomorrow if we have another round of rain then surely we will have draw result of this match which could be good for the visitors but still Sri Lankan batsmen and bowlers will give their best for having result.

Currently, they are trailing by 135 runs which mean we need 35 to 40 overs for covering this difference and then surely another 40 to 50 overs for having 200+ target which can give them good chance to home side, but now all things depend on weather which is not good for the last two days of play.

[Minor Miner]

That would mean a first innings total of 750-800 for Sri Lanka. Right now Irish bowlers are looking clueless. Andy McBrine is the only bowler with experience, and the remaining 3 are very young and inexperienced (Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys and Ben White). Allrounder Curtis Campher is the only bowler who has picked up a wicket till now. Nishan Madushka is batting at 202, and I won't be surprised if he gets to 300, or even 400. Kusal Mendis is at 160 right now, and he may have his own 300 in sight. Overall, one of the most lop-sided matches I have ever watched in test cricket.

I think Galle cricket stadium authorities have invited curator of Rawalpindi cricket stadium (Pakistan) for preparation of this pitch. We so far 1002 runs have been scored and still first inning is in progress. Sri Lanka at the moment lead by 21 runs and if they can take lead of 300 by day end then they might declare there innings and try to bowl out Ireland on last day. Nishan Madushka was the second one who got out this morning after scoring 205 runs which is his best score in 4 innings he played so far.

A very boring match. I think that such a bad pitch should not be made in a Test format. Then it becomes very boring to enjoy the match. Ireland managed to collect 492 runs in the first innings. Now the Sri Lankan batsmen have managed to collect 553 runs losing only 2 wickets. Kushal Mendis remains unbeaten with 199 runs. Nishan Maduska was dismissed after collecting 205 runs. The way Sri Lanka is batting, it seems that getting more than 700 is not difficult for them. Sri Lanka may declare the innings after collecting more than 750.

[cozytrade]

Sri Lanka started with a great batting performance. Nishan Madushka scored 205 runs off 339 balls. And Kusal Mendis scored 245 runs off 291 balls. Ireland team bowlers are performing poorly. If Ireland team bowlers could have bowled well then Sri Lanka would have scored so many runs.  Couldn't. After watching the game, I can understand that the batsmen of Sri Lanka team are very strong and Sri Lanka is ahead in the bowling line. But I don't think that Ireland can win this match in any way. Ireland can't play very well in a very weak batting line.

[Litzki1990]

Sri Lanka started with a great batting performance. Nishan Madushka scored 205 runs off 339 balls. And Kusal Mendis scored 245 runs off 291 balls. Ireland team bowlers are performing poorly. If Ireland team bowlers could have bowled well then Sri Lanka would have scored so many runs.  Couldn't. After watching the game, I can understand that the batsmen of Sri Lanka team are very strong and Sri Lanka is ahead in the bowling line. But I don't think that Ireland can win this match in any way. Ireland can't play very well in a very weak batting line.

Among the three batsmen who got out, two batsmen have already brought up their career double centuries and the other one has a century  The pitch that Sri Lanka has prepared for the Test match against Ireland is perhaps the most batting friendly pitch. And the kind of pitch that the Sri Lankan batsmen are used to batting on may have been made for them. Because Sri Lanka have never been able to score so much in batting when they toured other countries to play Test matches. 

It is natural for the hosts to take home advantage when playing in their own country but how much home advantage was needed for Sri Lanka in Test cricket against a team like Ireland. If the batsman does not make a big mistake on the pitch on which he is playing then there is no chance of wickets falling on this pitch.

[Sithara007]

Big surprise from Sri Lanka. They declared after taking a lead of just 202 runs. Once Angelo Mathews reached his century, they decided to declare their innings and ask Ireland to bat again. Some 24 overs remain in today's play and 90 overs will be there for tomorrow. So Ireland need to survive for a total of 114 overs. Now there is almost equal chances of a win by Sri Lanka, and for a draw. Given the good form from some of the Irish batsmen, I am hopeful that they will be able to manage a draw. James McCollum and the experienced Peter Moor at the crease now.

[WatChe]

A very boring match. I think that such a bad pitch should not be made in a Test format. Then it becomes very boring to enjoy the match. Ireland managed to collect 492 runs in the first innings. Now the Sri Lankan batsmen have managed to collect 553 runs losing only 2 wickets. Kushal Mendis remains unbeaten with 199 runs. Nishan Maduska was dismissed after collecting 205 runs. The way Sri Lanka is batting, it seems that getting more than 700 is not difficult for them. Sri Lanka may declare the innings after collecting more than 750.

On stumps day 4 the match has gained attention as Sri Lankans have picked up wickets of 2 Irish batsmen. Now Ireland trail by 158 runs and they have 8 wickets in hand for 5th day. This is main problem with Ireland team in test that if there batsmen perform well in first innings then they fail to repeat that in second innings. James McCollum and Moor both openers of Ireland failed in this test match. Its time for Irish middle order to take responsibility once again.

[YinShuiSiYuan]

Big surprise from Sri Lanka. They declared after taking a lead of just 202 runs. Once Angelo Mathews reached his century, they decided to declare their innings and ask Ireland to bat again. Some 24 overs remain in today's play and 90 overs will be there for tomorrow. So Ireland need to survive for a total of 114 overs. Now there is almost equal chances of a win by Sri Lanka, and for a draw. Given the good form from some of the Irish batsmen, I am hopeful that they will be able to manage a draw. James McCollum and the experienced Peter Moor at the crease now.

The fun part is Sirlankans are too much confident about their win and balling that they have declared innings at 202 runs , which went totally right as they took 2 wickets of Ireland by end of day 4 . Sirlanka will easily win tomorrow until or unless Ireland surprises everyone with their batting.

[pakhitheboss]

I never expected the Srilankan board to create a batting friendly pitch. For test cricket, I would always like a pitch that is more bowler friendly as Test cricket is a game that tests the skills and patience of a batter.

Ireland being a new test team was able to give a target of 492 runs proving this pitch is not a bowler's paradise. Srilanka replied with 704 runs and according to me, it is not what I expected. I expected somewhere around 800 runs from Srilanka. I would say it happened because of good bowling by the Irish team.

In the end, Srilanka would win that is for sure.

[YinShuiSiYuan]

I never expected the Srilankan board to create a batting friendly pitch. For test cricket, I would always like a pitch that is more bowler friendly as Test cricket is a game that tests the skills and patience of a batter.

Ireland being a new test team was able to give a target of 492 runs proving this pitch is not a bowler's paradise. Srilanka replied with 704 runs and according to me, it is not what I expected. I expected somewhere around 800 runs from Srilanka. I would say it happened because of good bowling by the Irish team.

In the end, Srilanka would win that is for sure.

Really hoping Ireland comeback stronger on their last day and win this test against Sirlanka. 
Declaring innings at 202 lead is really courageous act by sirlanka either they are very confident or they want Ireland to win this test .

[JSRAW]

Lol Stat padding at best in SL vs Ire match.

Already 2 daddy double hundreds, 4 tons, and 2 80+ scores, so far every batter feasted in this match and we have 1 day left. Although there is some chance of pitch breaking on the 5th day. Both Jayasuriya and Mendis were getting some purchases so SL has some advantage on 5th day deck.

[onecall123]

As a new test playing nation, Ireland put up an outstanding performance by scoring 492 runs. I can't entirely blame SL bowlers for not performing up to the mark. But, high scoring proved proved Galle wickets neither was spin-friendly, nor they face a high-quality spin attack. Sri Lanka displayed some brilliant batting skills as all of their top four players scored centuries against Ireland.

As we move forward to the fifth day, Ireland has eight wickets left. We'll see whether they'll be able to draw the test match or not. However, Galle wicket has always favored Sri Lanka.

[MusaPk]

As a new test playing nation, Ireland put up an outstanding performance by scoring 492 runs. I can't entirely blame SL bowlers for not performing up to the mark. But, high scoring proved proved Galle wickets neither was spin-friendly, nor they face a high-quality spin attack. Sri Lanka displayed some brilliant batting skills as all of their top four players scored centuries against Ireland.

As we move forward to the fifth day, Ireland has eight wickets left. We'll see whether they'll be able to draw the test match or not. However, Galle wicket has always favored Sri Lanka.

In last 10 test matches that were played at Galle, Sri Lanka have won 6 and there is no draw. Galle cricket ground is known for producing test results. Now equation is very simple, Ireland need to survive 90 overs on very last day of the test match or the lose the game. Sri Lanka already have won the first test so they wont mind a draw either but defiantly they will try there best to win the last test.

[CryptoBuds]

As a new test playing nation, Ireland put up an outstanding performance by scoring 492 runs. I can't entirely blame SL bowlers for not performing up to the mark. But, high scoring proved proved Galle wickets neither was spin-friendly, nor they face a high-quality spin attack. Sri Lanka displayed some brilliant batting skills as all of their top four players scored centuries against Ireland.
As we move forward to the fifth day, Ireland has eight wickets left. We'll see whether they'll be able to draw the test match or not. However, Galle wicket has always favored Sri Lanka.

In last 10 test matches that were played at Galle, Sri Lanka have won 6 and there is no draw. Galle cricket ground is known for producing test results. Now equation is very simple, Ireland need to survive 90 overs on very last day of the test match or the lose the game. Sri Lanka already have won the first test so they wont mind a draw either but defiantly they will try there best to win the last test.

I will not be surprised if Sri Lanka wins this test match. And I think Sri Lanka has more chances to win. It is very difficult to stay at the crease on the last day. And already on the fourth day Ireland team lost two wickets to collect 54 runs. The performance of Ireland's batsmen in the first innings was very good. But Ireland's batsmen are not experienced enough. And so there is nothing surprising if they don't bat well on the last day. Balbirnie and Tector must bat well tomorrow. If these two batsmen start well tomorrow, maybe Ireland will be able to draw the match.

[Sithara007]

Really hoping Ireland comeback stronger on their last day and win this test against Sirlanka. 
Declaring innings at 202 lead is really courageous act by sirlanka either they are very confident or they want Ireland to win this test .

ROFLMAO. How do you believe that Ireland is going to win this test match against Sri Lanka? At this point, they are trailing by 158 runs, with 8 wickets in hand. Andy Balbirnie and Harry Tector are at the crease now, and at no point they looked comfortable against the spin of Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis. It is either going to be a win for Sri Lanka, or a draw. 90 overs remain for today and it will be a tough task for the Irish batsmen to survive, especially if there is no rain interruption. Even experienced batsmen will find it tough to confront the Lankan spinners on day 5 at the Galle International Stadium. And the Irish batsmen have hardly any international experience.