Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[bryant.coleman]

England need 322 runs in this innings and have lost one player so far.  If they manage to form a perfect partnership this run target can be easily achieved.At this time, it is important for England to build a solid and strong partnership among their players, so that they can easily reach the target.  This position can be difficult for them but a good partnership can make it easier for them.  Somerset and teamwork are important now and if these two factors come together England  target is possible.  In this era, it is most important that every player has a sense of responsibility and helps each other.India  scoreboard is good but India did not perform well in this innings especially Jaiswal he shockout of India team he made 209 run in Frist inning but second inning he made only 17 run .

Quite decent performance by England so far in this series.They won the first test match in amazing manner, and now they have performed well in the second test as well. Some of the newcomers, such as Tom Hartley have performed beyond what was expected from them. James Anderson now has 695 test wickets and he also bowled well in this match. All that said, it will be difficult for England to score another 322 runs.

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[dezoel]

At the end of the third day, England lost 1 wicket and collected 67 runs. England managed to collect 50 runs from the opening pair. Ben Duckett was dismissed for 28 off 27 balls. Duckett should have batted carefully. Because the target is very big.

Batting against a big target of 399 runs is much more difficult to win. England won the first match. So India will try their best to win this match. India's chances of victory are high if the bowlers perform their duties properly. If England do not lose any wicket in the first session of the next day, then I think England will win. But it is less likely.

Even this match is over for me because having 400 targets in fourth inning is surely one of the most difficult job specially while you are playing in India against spinner trio and Bumrah is also at his top with impressive performance but as we have start from the England it's looking good and positive approach by them even they lost their first wicket in Ashwin first over but still Crawley is doing good job, and we have Rehan Ahmad as nightwatchman which can make some contribution.

Tomorrow first session could be interesting between ball and bat because if we have some good runs from England then surely we can expect good entertaining end of this match but if we have early breakthrough then surely things could be one-sided for the India for coming on level against England in this series.

[Sithara007]

Even this match is over for me because having 400 targets in fourth inning is surely one of the most difficult job specially while you are playing in India against spinner trio and Bumrah is also at his top with impressive performance but as we have start from the England it's looking good and positive approach by them even they lost their first wicket in Ashwin first over but still Crawley is doing good job, and we have Rehan Ahmad as nightwatchman which can make some contribution.

Tomorrow first session could be interesting between ball and bat because if we have some good runs from England then surely we can expect good entertaining end of this match but if we have early breakthrough then surely things could be one-sided for the India for coming on level against England in this series.

Scoring 399 in fourth innings is almost impossible. But at the same time, don't forget that England scored 420 batting third during the first test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Back then Ollie Pope scored 196. And he's yet to bat in the 4th innings. The good news for England is that Mukesh Kumar looked clueless so far in this test. So India is effectively down to 4 bowlers, including the part-timer Axar. Also, it puts enormous amount of workload on Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav.

[Bitcoin Smith]

Another batting failure by the Indian team and it is evident that they have zero understanding. If guys from this team get selected for the upcoming T20 World Cup it would result in a major disaster.

Rohit Sharma being the captain and known as a hitman is not able to even reach 50 runs. In the first innings India survived because of Yash Jaiswal and in the second innings Shuhman Gill did what he expected.

The game is still well poised as England is known to make a comeback suddenly. Without the proper team, the Indian team is doing well in the second test match.

Too many soft dismissals and some mind game played by Ben stokes also a reason why some batters chose to throw away their wickets. As a team they managed to get very good total and 399 is not easy to score and I expect the pitch to break from tomorrow, so India has to keep the ENG under check in the morning session then from Lunch the ball will turn and bounce and still I feel England batters won't last more than two sessions but an interesting match cause any result can be possible.

[Mahdirakib]

Another batting failure by the Indian team and it is evident that they have zero understanding. If guys from this team get selected for the upcoming T20 World Cup it would result in a major disaster.

There is big difference between the test and T20 format. Indian team selector won't consider the performance of this test series to select the players for the upcoming T20 world cup.

The game is still well poised as England is known to make a comeback suddenly. Without the proper team, the Indian team is doing well in the second test match.

I won't address it as an improper squad of India. England might try the Bazball style to win the match. I hope Bumrah and Ashwin will help India to win the match by taking some wickets quickly tomorrow. The odds is completely in favour of India now.

[JSRAW]

The India vs England test match is truly on. The Indian team was not able to replicate the first innings total today. Gill's hundred helped India to a respectable total. With 332 runs to win, England will try to dominate in the 4th day morning session to put pressure back on the Indian bowling lineup. India needs Bumrah's heroics from the first innings to win the match. England has 9 wickets in hand, but the total is too much, and it is difficult to chase down such a total in 4th innings in the sub-continent.

I disagree. The game is pretty much over at this point in India's favour thanks to excellent batting plus bowling performances.

In recent times, if any can team chase down such totals out of nowhere, it's England Only because they show no fear and not playing for a draw. 

There are only 2 individual performances with the bat from India's camp, otherwise, our batting has been a shit show and lacking experience. We could have finished the game in the first test match as well by batting them out completely but Indian batters threw away good starts and here no one turned up except Gill-Jaiswal.

And don't forget pitch is still very good to bat on and yet to show drastic deterioration. Only low-high bounce is in play right atm, I still back Indian bowlers but Rohit's defensive mindset worries me.

[tsaroz]

Another batting failure by the Indian team and it is evident that they have zero understanding. If guys from this team get selected for the upcoming T20 World Cup it would result in a major disaster.

Rohit Sharma being the captain and known as a hitman is not able to even reach 50 runs. In the first innings India survived because of Yash Jaiswal and in the second innings Shuhman Gill did what he expected.

The game is still well poised as England is known to make a comeback suddenly. Without the proper team, the Indian team is doing well in the second test match.

Too many soft dismissals and some mind game played by Ben stokes also a reason why some batters chose to throw away their wickets. As a team they managed to get very good total and 399 is not easy to score and I expect the pitch to break from tomorrow, so India has to keep the ENG under check in the morning session then from Lunch the ball will turn and bounce and still I feel England batters won't last more than two sessions but an interesting match cause any result can be possible.

Getting too similar to the first test. India batted well on the first inning and got dismissed early in the 2nd. The only difference is it was India who was changing a target and it's England now. England just needs 332 runs more and they have two full days and 9 wickets remaining.
What can be said for sure is this test too is going to end in a result. Likely win for England if they are able to hold onto wickets and a chance of India if they took the 9 wickets fairly soon. England's first innings had less run than India's 2nd so that's still a chance. But I guess England is in a favorable position.

[jasonjm]

The India vs England test match is truly on. The Indian team was not able to replicate the first innings total today. Gill's hundred helped India to a respectable total. With 332 runs to win, England will try to dominate in the 4th day morning session to put pressure back on the Indian bowling lineup. India needs Bumrah's heroics from the first innings to win the match. England has 9 wickets in hand, but the total is too much, and it is difficult to chase down such a total in 4th innings in the sub-continent.

I disagree. The game is pretty much over at this point in India's favour thanks to excellent batting plus bowling performances.

Apart from Jaiswal in the first innings and Gill in the second innings, I don't think any other batter did much for the cause. The blowing performance was excellent.
India can win Only if they pick some wickets in the first session. England will play attacking cricket. Although this target is very difficult to chase, let's not forget what England did in the 3rd innings of the 1st test match. I am also favouring India in this match, but things can go south for them with a single innings (i.e. Ollie Pope in 3rd innings of 1st test).

[Bitcoin Smith]

Getting too similar to the first test. India batted well on the first inning and got dismissed early in the 2nd. The only difference is it was India who was changing a target and it's England now. England just needs 332 runs more and they have two full days and 9 wickets remaining.
What can be said for sure is this test too is going to end in a result. Likely win for England if they are able to hold onto wickets and a chance of India if they took the 9 wickets fairly soon. England's first innings had less run than India's 2nd so that's still a chance. But I guess England is in a favorable position.

I don't think England can hold even for a day and I expect they to fold by Tomorrow itself. As I said 399 is not easy target in red ball if you have been following test cricket but the criticism is about Indian batting line-up who were at 212/4 but all out at 255 which isn't the way you supposed to bat in Test cricket.

I miss those old days of grinding down and tiring the opponent bowlers.

[Webetcoins]

Sri Lanka managed to collect only 29 runs on the third day. Sri Lanka took the lead by 241 runs. Naveed Zadran took four wickets for Afghanistan. Afghanistan is now batting in the second innings. Afghanistan's opening pair, Ibrahim Zadran and Noor Ali batted with great patience in the second innings. Afghanistan have taken 103 runs for no wicket so far in the second innings, Afghanistan are now 138 runs behind. There are still 39 overs left to play today. If this wicket holds up, I think it can make the difference in the match.

Afghanistan batted very badly in the first innings. They lost all their wickets for just 198 runs. But in the second innings, Afghanistan players are playing very responsibly. Afghanistan lost their first wicket by 106 runs and now Afghanistan's total is 154 runs with the loss of 1 wicket. Ibrahim Zadran scored 77 runs unbeaten and Rahmat Shah scored 25 runs. Afghanistan is playing very well, but they are still behind by 83 runs. It will be very difficult for Afghanistan to give a big target in this match. Sri Lanka will easily win this match if they give a target of less than 200.

Even match is still under complete control of the Sri Lanka after having big total on board but in second Inning we have impressive fight back from Afghanistan with 100+ opening stand give good confidence to them with Rahmat Shah again stand after having very good first inning nerves nineties Afghanistan trailing by 62 runs with nine wickets in hand and two days left in this test match things till not favorable, but they can create some hype from nowhere.
Now we have 10 overs left in this day's play with hopefully these two will be to survive, and we will have good and entertaining fourth day play at Colombo stadium tomorrow which still can make some good things for the Afghanistan.

After having good control of two days suddenly we have amazing change of performance from the Afghanistan which is also debatable as it's their improvement or fall of quality by Sri Lanka because as expected we have 439 from Sri Lanka which was looking good and winning lead, but suddenly we have 199 for 1 from Afghanistan which create good entertainment in this only test match of the series because as things works on third day of the match if we have same on fourth day then surely we can have good things for the visitors on last day of the match which will have not ideal for the Sri Lanka because batting could be not easy for them while they will be chased on this pitch.

Afghani bowlers work good on third day and have few quick wickets with now their batting is also on his best hopefully after Zardan now we will have good batting from Rahmat which done good work in first inning as well.

[MusaPk]

After having good control of two days suddenly we have amazing change of performance from the Afghanistan which is also debatable as it's their improvement or fall of quality by Sri Lanka because as expected we have 439 from Sri Lanka which was looking good and winning lead, but suddenly we have 199 for 1 from Afghanistan which create good entertainment in this only test match of the series because as things works on third day of the match if we have same on fourth day then surely we can have good things for the visitors on last day of the match which will have not ideal for the Sri Lanka because batting could be not easy for them while they will be chased on this pitch.

Afghani bowlers work good on third day and have few quick wickets with now their batting is also on his best hopefully after Zardan now we will have good batting from Rahmat which done good work in first inning as well.

Excellent recovery from Afghanistan side in second innings. On stumps day 3, Afghanistan lead by 42 runs and they still have 9 wickets in hand. Ibrahim Zadran scored his first test hundred and is still on crease with Rehmat Shah. Sri Lanka need to get rid of them as quickly as possible to stop Afghanistan from extending lead beyond 250. Afghanistan openers have done a decent job, now it responsibility of middle order to capitalise on that early advantage. 

[Patrol69]

I cannot understand why India batted so badly in the second innings. India, who scored close to 400 runs against England in the first innings, scored only 250 plus runs against England in the second innings. Basically, the Indian team fell behind by coming to this place. India need 322 runs to win this match with nine wickets still in hand. If the England team against India still plays as an ODI match, then England will win this match. 

With nine wickets in hand, the target is 322, so I still want England to win this match and England have more chances to win this match than India. England are playing defensively enough so they are less likely to make mistakes and if England don't make big mistakes they will surely succeed in chasing this target.

[BALIK]

After having good control of two days suddenly we have amazing change of performance from the Afghanistan which is also debatable as it's their improvement or fall of quality by Sri Lanka because as expected we have 439 from Sri Lanka which was looking good and winning lead, but suddenly we have 199 for 1 from Afghanistan which create good entertainment in this only test match of the series because as things works on third day of the match if we have same on fourth day then surely we can have good things for the visitors on last day of the match which will have not ideal for the Sri Lanka because batting could be not easy for them while they will be chased on this pitch.

Afghani bowlers work good on third day and have few quick wickets with now their batting is also on his best hopefully after Zardan now we will have good batting from Rahmat which done good work in first inning as well.

Excellent recovery from Afghanistan side in second innings. On stumps day 3, Afghanistan lead by 42 runs and they still have 9 wickets in hand. Ibrahim Zadran scored his first test hundred and is still on crease with Rehmat Shah. Sri Lanka need to get rid of them as quickly as possible to stop Afghanistan from extending lead beyond 250. Afghanistan openers have done a decent job, now it responsibility of middle order to capitalise on that early advantage. 

In the first innings, Afghanistan players collected only 198 runs for the loss of 10 wickets, and in the second innings they collected 199 runs for the loss of only one wicket. It was unimaginable that after such a poor performance in the first innings on a batting friendly pitch, Afghanistan would see such a great comeback in the second innings.

Ibarhim Zadran scored 101 runs and Rahmat Shah remained unbeaten with 46 runs. Afghanistan is still behind by 46 runs. But if they continue such great batting in the coming days, Afghanistan will be able to provide a target of at least 200+ runs.

[Compromise me]

After having good control of two days suddenly we have amazing change of performance from the Afghanistan which is also debatable as it's their improvement or fall of quality by Sri Lanka because as expected we have 439 from Sri Lanka which was looking good and winning lead, but suddenly we have 199 for 1 from Afghanistan which create good entertainment in this only test match of the series because as things works on third day of the match if we have same on fourth day then surely we can have good things for the visitors on last day of the match which will have not ideal for the Sri Lanka because batting could be not easy for them while they will be chased on this pitch.

Afghani bowlers work good on third day and have few quick wickets with now their batting is also on his best hopefully after Zardan now we will have good batting from Rahmat which done good work in first inning as well.

. On stumps day 3, Afghanistan lead by 42 runs and they still have 9 wickets in hand. Ibrahim Zadran scored his first test hundred and is still on crease with Rehmat Shah. Sri Lanka need to get rid of them as quickly as possible to stop Afghanistan from extending lead beyond 250. Afghanistan openers have done a decent job, now it responsibility of middle order to capitalise on that early advantage. 

Sri Lanka played brilliantly in their first innings and their run tally went up nicely.  But Afghanistan failed to complete their first innings in just two innings.  Now Afghanistan will have to show their best bowling performance to have a chance to get back into the match.  They will need their bowlers to stick to the right line and length and keep the Sri Lankan batsmen under pressure.  If Afghanistan improve their bowling they can turn the match around.  Hopefully, their bowling unit will be consistent and composed allowing them to stop the Sri Lankan players.

[lixer]

In recent times, if any can team chase down such totals out of nowhere, it's England Only because they show no fear and not playing for a draw. 

There are only 2 individual performances with the bat from India's camp, otherwise, our batting has been a shit show and lacking experience. We could have finished the game in the first test match as well by batting them out completely but Indian batters threw away good starts and here no one turned up except Gill-Jaiswal.

And don't forget pitch is still very good to bat on and yet to show drastic deterioration. Only low-high bounce is in play right atm, I still back Indian bowlers but Rohit's defensive mindset worries me.

I agree with you about this all failure of Rohit Sharma and absence of Virat Kohli is surely hurting badly to Indian team and change of format is also having pressure on Gill as in white-ball he is impressive, but now change is creating problems but still things are good for them at home with they need to work on their batting which is main weapon for them in big games.

England done good job as their positive start of second inning where it will bring them with pitch is having some good favour to batting, and they need to bat calmly if they want to have 0–2 lead in this series with their inexperienced bowlers done good job in second inning Hartley again having good day in bowling which give him another good spell.

[MusaPk]

Sri Lanka played brilliantly in their first innings and their run tally went up nicely.  But Afghanistan failed to complete their first innings in just two innings.  Now Afghanistan will have to show their best bowling performance to have a chance to get back into the match.  They will need their bowlers to stick to the right line and length and keep the Sri Lankan batsmen under pressure.  If Afghanistan improve their bowling they can turn the match around.  Hopefully, their bowling unit will be consistent and composed allowing them to stop the Sri Lankan players.

Afghanistan team bowled out for 198 runs in first innings and in second innings they are 199/1. There is excellent recovery from Afghanistan team in second innings and now they have a lead of 42 runs. Afghanistan must try to retain wickets and should not start losing wickets on 4th day. Sri Lankans must be worried that they are not getting wickets in second innings and they will definitely attack Afghanistan tomorrow. It will be interesting to see who will dominate first session of tomorrow play.

[GbitG]

NZ are dominating the second string South African side as expected thanks to Williamson and Ravindra opening the floodgates against them. This is turning out to be a one-sided test series as expected.

I am really surprised by Ravindra performance because he got tested in recent world cup and he not only passed it well but dominant it with continuous signficant performance. Now today when things were going worse for NewZeland this new guy along with Williamson come out and scored brilliantly 200+ partnership despite pressure were mounting on them due to quick early dismissal, I have no idea what exactly pitch behave but in my mind it look like batting favour track where bowler got no support because same team NewZeland were brutally punished by Bangladesh on thier home ground and the reason was bowling friendly track. Anyway they scored 250+ in 86novers and just lose 2 wickets hope they will scored 400+

[Justin999]

Today there was a 1st test between New Zealand vs South Africa. RSA selected Field and New Zealand went for bat. They have collected total 269-2 in 92 overs. This is a lots if runs. When 2 wickets gone at 39 runs, i thought maybe rest of batsman will also out within 250 something. But i wonder how Kane Williamson and Rachin Ravindra struggle in the whole match and both of them hit the century. Kane Williamson is legend but newcomer Rachin Ravindra proves that he is also going be a gem in upcoming days. Waiting for tomorrow when we can see how much run New Zealand can made. I expect them to score around 400 runs and then it'll be interesting to watch how RSA manage to bat

[onecall123]

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England done good job as their positive start of second inning where it will bring them with pitch is having some good favour to batting, and they need to bat calmly if they want to have 0–2 lead in this series with their inexperienced bowlers done good job in second inning Hartley again having good day in bowling which give him another good spell.

England faces a target of 332 runs to win with 9 wickets in hand. Their aggressive approach and resilience give me confidence that they can chase down this target. While it promises to be a thrilling chase, there's also the possibility of India making a comeback. The runs on the board are defendable, and it's crucial for the bowlers, especially Bumrah, to take regular wickets. Ashwin has been relatively quiet this series, so Bumrah becomes the key bowler. If England can handle Bumrah and see him off, victory is likely for them.

[jasonjm]

New Zealand scored 511 runs in their first innings. They were eying on over 600, but their middle order failed to score big. Ravindra batted beautifully for his maiden test double hundred. Apart from Ravindra and Williamson, no other Kiwi batter stays at the crease for a longer period. A little cameo from Henry pushed the total to over 500 runs. South African stood up to the challenge and led his team from the front. Neil Brand is the pick of the bowler; he picked up 6 wickets in the innings. This series will be a test for this inexperienced SA team.