Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Sithara007]

New Zealand are stronger than Zimbabwe in any format, so it will be very difficult for Zimbabwe to compete against New Zealand. This series will be one-sided. Zimbabwe were all out for 149 runs on the first day, no batsman for Zimbabwe could score even a half-century, Craig Ervine was the highest scorer, he was out for 39 runs. This series is being played on Zimbabwe's home ground, so they should have done better. However, so far New Zealand have scored 92 runs without losing any wickets, both the New Zealand opening batsmen have performed brilliantly. So far New Zealand are trailing by 57 runs, now if New Zealand scores 350+ in the first innings then maybe Zimbabwe can lose by an innings. Looking at Zimbabwe's performance, it seems that Zimbabwe will lose by an innings.

Apart from a few players such as Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner, New Zealand squad was second-string. There is no Kane Williamson or Kyle Jamieson. And then, New Zealand is not even a pig-3 nation. Given all this, look at Zimbabwe's performance. They got bowled out for just 149 runs, even with the UK-based players such as Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, Sean Williams and Craig Ervine included in the squad (without them, it would have been even worse). And in return, the Zimbabwe bowlers never looked capable of taking wickets.   

[Popkon6]

Zimbabwe is very weak in batting but their bowling is showing more weakness, so far they have not been able to take any wickets from New Zealand. New Zealand has scored 92 runs without a wicket and if they can score only 57 runs, they will be able to meet the target of 149 runs set by Zimbabwe. As a result, if New Zealand can perform better and can list more runs, then I think Zimbabwe will fail to meet the target given by New Zealand even in two innings.
Because Zimbabwe is weaker in both batting and bowling compared to New Zealand, I think New Zealand will be able to meet the target of 149 runs without a wicket in this match.

[Gost ms]

It's a bad choice by New Zealand board to have a test series with Zimbabwe. There's nothing much each team would gain from it. Zimbabwe has recently lost a test and T20 series with zero wins. It's not that Zimbabwe are not getting exposure or New Zealand not getting a better team to play.

New Zealand and other teams are playing against Zimbabwe as Zimbabwe still has the test cricket status. They are following the rules of ICC. None of these countries will arrange series against Zimbabwe if they lose their test status. Like the last few test matches, Zimbabwe is going to lose the match by an innings for sure.

Yes, if a team loses a Test match against Zimbabwe, then that team will face problems with its Test status. That's why no country wants to play Test matches against Zimbabwe. But New Zealand will beat Zimbabwe by an innings in the Test, that's why New Zealand has agreed to play the Test with Zimbabwe. It is clear that they will beat Zimbabwe by an innings in this Test, I heard, because how well can they bat in the second innings, when Zimbabwe was all out for 149 in the first innings.

We cannot say for sure whether Zimbabwe will lose by an innings or not but their first innings was not good at all. Team captain Craig Ervine made a top score of 39 runs off 116 balls but the rest of the players did not play well at all. The top order batsmen should have played better and had a longer batting mentality but the New Zealand bowlers bowled brilliantly especially Matt Henry who took 6 wickets and Nathan Smith who took 3 wickets. New Zealand is ahead of Zimbabwe in the ICC rankings. It is almost certain that New Zealand will win the Test but Zimbabwe should try to reduce their margin of defeat.

Zimbabwe could not do anything good on the field. Zimbabwe's bowling was also very bad and their batting was also bad. If Zimbabwe could have improved one thing out of batting and bowling, it would have been very good for Zimbabwe. The current situation seems like New Zealand can win very easily. But it is not possible to say whether it will happen or not because there is still a lot of time. New Zealand may easily overcome Zimbabwe without their wickets. If Zimbabwe continues to play like this, then it will be very impossible for them to win.

[Bitcoinsummoner]

I have posted about this before that Zimbabwe's Test career was ended. They were all out for 149 runs on the first day of the Test match. Which is a shame for Test history. If New Zealand had come out to bat first, it turned out that the New Zealand player could have broken Lara's record. Maybe we will see another new record very soon, against Zimbabwe.

[Haunebu]

Would have offered Stokes a handshake if I knew he was sitting out due to his injury. Jokes aside, both teams are not playing at full strength though the odds are still skewed in England's favor as of now.

Maybe we will see another new record very soon, against Zimbabwe.

If that is truly the case, I hope we won't have to see another Mulder making some stupid sacrifice and would go all the freaking way.

[WatChe]

Apart from a few players such as Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner, New Zealand squad was second-string. There is no Kane Williamson or Kyle Jamieson. And then, New Zealand is not even a pig-3 nation. Given all this, look at Zimbabwe's performance. They got bowled out for just 149 runs, even with the UK-based players such as Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, Sean Williams and Craig Ervine included in the squad (without them, it would have been even worse). And in return, the Zimbabwe bowlers never looked capable of taking wickets.   

New Zealand not in big-3 but their game is as good as any big-3 team. We saw second-string South African team beating Zimbabwe quite easily in test series and not it looks like Zimbabwe won't be able to give any tough time to this New Zealand team. Not even a single Zimbabwe batsmen was able to score a half century in first innings and in reply New Zealand batsmen are free to score runs. The real concern is that Zimbabwe is given the opportunity to play test against top test teams but their performance shows they are not ready to play against such teams.

[Crypto Library]

New Zealand not in big-3 but their game is as good as any big-3 team. We saw second-string South African team beating Zimbabwe quite easily in test series and not it looks like Zimbabwe won't be able to give any tough time to this New Zealand team. Not even a single Zimbabwe batsmen was able to score a half century in first innings and in reply New Zealand batsmen are free to score runs. The real concern is that Zimbabwe is given the opportunity to play test against top test teams but their performance shows they are not ready to play against such teams.

This is actually a very disappointing performance from the New Zealand team because the Zimbabwean cricket team is a much weaker team than them in both batting and bowling formats, but here it is seen that although Zimbabwe is doing badly in batting, they are not doing too badly in bowling.
Because they have already managed to take 5 wickets of the New Zealand team for just 189 runs, which will definitely reduce New Zealand's lead run a lot because most of the good players of New Zealand play in the top order. Although the New Zealand team could not score much, I still hope that they will score more than 300 runs in this match, which will be enough lead runs for them, but in the next innings, they will have to bowl out the West Indies with a few runs, only then will New Zealand win this match and I still think that is it.

[BALIK]

England won the toss and decided to field in the last Test match of the series. England got off to a good start. India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal and Kl Rahul for just 38 runs. Jaiswal scored just 2 and Rahul returned to the dressing room with 18 runs.

The decision to field was a good one after winning the toss. This pitch at Oval cannot be called batting friendly. It is quite difficult to collect 350+ on this pitch. If England's bowlers can bowl in a controlled manner, it will not be possible for India to collect a big total. The possibility of this match being drawn like the last match is very low.

[GigaBit]

Apart from a few players such as Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner, New Zealand squad was second-string. There is no Kane Williamson or Kyle Jamieson. And then, New Zealand is not even a pig-3 nation. Given all this, look at Zimbabwe's performance. They got bowled out for just 149 runs, even with the UK-based players such as Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, Sean Williams and Craig Ervine included in the squad (without them, it would have been even worse). And in return, the Zimbabwe bowlers never looked capable of taking wickets.   

New Zealand not in big-3 but their game is as good as any big-3 team. We saw second-string South African team beating Zimbabwe quite easily in test series and not it looks like Zimbabwe won't be able to give any tough time to this New Zealand team. Not even a single Zimbabwe batsmen was able to score a half century in first innings and in reply New Zealand batsmen are free to score runs. The real concern is that Zimbabwe is given the opportunity to play test against top test teams but their performance shows they are not ready to play against such teams.

Zimbabwe team is not eligible for playing Tests cricket especially against big teams. If this team starts playing Tests against big teams, they will be severely criticized. Because their ability is much less than the team they are playing against. It is true that even though New Zealand team is not in the big 3, the New Zealand team is not inferior to the big 3 teams in any way. Therefore, it will definitely not be easy for Zimbabwe to compete against the New Zealand. I don't think they are fit to play Test cricket yet. They need to gain more experience.

[ZAINmalik75]

I have posted about this before that Zimbabwe's Test career was ended. They were all out for 149 runs on the first day of the Test match. Which is a shame for Test history. If New Zealand had come out to bat first, it turned out that the New Zealand player could have broken Lara's record. Maybe we will see another new record very soon, against Zimbabwe.

No I don't think it's a shame for a weak team like Zimbabwe to scored 150 around especially against top side, because if team like India can lose rest of his wickets at 36, Australian at 42, south African at 43, English side at 46 and black caps I mean new Zealand at 47 then it's fair enough for Zimbabwe to have such high number on board against top side. Anyway I taught black caps will scored 400 around before declared his innings, but Zimbabwen really delivery unexpectedly majestic performance especially the bowling lineup and thus kiwis has scored 230 and lose his most of wickets. Hope things will be more excited as soon as Zimbabwe scored enough and done exactly same performance at target defend.

[Nanga Parbat]

Zimbabwe is very weak in batting but their bowling is showing more weakness, so far they have not been able to take any wickets from New Zealand. New Zealand has scored 92 runs without a wicket and if they can score only 57 runs, they will be able to meet the target of 149 runs set by Zimbabwe. As a result, if New Zealand can perform better and can list more runs, then I think Zimbabwe will fail to meet the target given by New Zealand even in two innings.
Because Zimbabwe is weaker in both batting and bowling compared to New Zealand, I think New Zealand will be able to meet the target of 149 runs without a wicket in this match.

Zimbabwe match against New Zealand is a very bad defeat because the way they play with their ability and hard work New Zealand will weak them very easy and victory the match. Good effort and hard work is being see from New Zealand because they are a strong and excellent team. Zimbabwe batsmen play bad in the first innings while they should have play well in the test match. Their batsmen have score only 149 runs which show their weak and the tough of New Zealand bowling. New Zealand bowlers have achieve an easy target by getting all the wicket out with a lot of hard work. And now their batsmen have scored 257 runs which makes it impossible for Zimbabwe to victory this match. No matter how well they play they will not have a chance to victory against New Zealand.

[Bitcoinsummoner]

New Zealand collected 254 runs from losing 7 important wickets. I know New Zealand will win the match, but I think they will reach a smart figure of runs against Zimbabwe. But really, the score upset me rapidly. The top leading players of New Zealand are disappointing their nation in this game.

[JSRAW]

India just forgot how to win toss and new skipper Gill is following and keeping the traditional alive.

Overcast conditions and probably most hostile first day deck of this series, considering this i reckon India did okay to weather the storm and lucky to not lose more than 2 wickets. Poms were not deciplined but still, conditions are way too good for bowling.

[Haunebu]

Rain interference is really bad for India since that would imply that the odds of England winning or draw increase which directly decides the final verdict of this test series. Hope rain stops interfering for just a couple more days.

Also, what the heck happened to Jaiswal? Such a poor run of form at the worst possible time. They should have given Kuldeep a chance too in my opinion.

[cxtreenal]

Zimbabwe is very weak in batting but their bowling is showing more weakness, so far they have not been able to take any wickets from New Zealand. New Zealand has scored 92 runs without a wicket and if they can score only 57 runs, they will be able to meet the target of 149 runs set by Zimbabwe. As a result, if New Zealand can perform better and can list more runs, then I think Zimbabwe will fail to meet the target given by New Zealand even in two innings.
Because Zimbabwe is weaker in both batting and bowling compared to New Zealand, I think New Zealand will be able to meet the target of 149 runs without a wicket in this match.

The second day of play is underway and New Zealand have been batting fairly well so far but the fact that a batsman has been unable to bat for a long time. Zimbabwe bowlers are consistently losing wickets. In my opinion, the bowlers have been bowling relatively well especially Muzarabani who has taken three wickets and Tanaka Chivanga who has taken two wickets. In the first innings, Zimbabwe batting was disappointing, which created the possibility of losing by an innings but Zimbabwe bowlers are bowling brilliantly and are not giving the batsmen a chance to extend their innings. I think if Zimbabwe batsmen can bat better in the second innings they might be able to reduce the margin of defeat or create a possibility of a draw.

[CryptoBuds]

The second day of play is underway and New Zealand have been batting fairly well so far but the fact that a batsman has been unable to bat for a long time. Zimbabwe bowlers are consistently losing wickets. In my opinion, the bowlers have been bowling relatively well especially Muzarabani who has taken three wickets and Tanaka Chivanga who has taken two wickets. In the first innings, Zimbabwe batting was disappointing, which created the possibility of losing by an innings but Zimbabwe bowlers are bowling brilliantly and are not giving the batsmen a chance to extend their innings. I think if Zimbabwe batsmen can bat better in the second innings they might be able to reduce the margin of defeat or create a possibility of a draw.

New Zealand's two openers batted well on the first day. But New Zealand lost wickets quickly at the beginning of the second day. At the moment, New Zealand has managed to collect 294 runs for the loss of 7 wickets. Devon Conway has managed to collect the highest score of 88 runs. Besides, Daryl Mitchell is unbeaten on 73 runs. New Zealand will probably be able to collect more than 350.

New Zealand has already managed to secure a lead of 145 runs. If New Zealand can take a lead of 200+, there is a big chance of New Zealand winning by an innings. New Zealand will probably try this. Zimbabwe's batting order is quite weak in the Test format. The team has collected only 149 runs in the first innings.

[noormcs5]

England won the toss and decided to field in the last Test match of the series. England got off to a good start. India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal and Kl Rahul for just 38 runs. Jaiswal scored just 2 and Rahul returned to the dressing room with 18 runs.

The decision to field was a good one after winning the toss. This pitch at Oval cannot be called batting friendly. It is quite difficult to collect 350+ on this pitch. If England's bowlers can bowl in a controlled manner, it will not be possible for India to collect a big total. The possibility of this match being drawn like the last match is very low.

India lost a wicket in the 1st ball of the third over when Yashasvi Jaiswal got out. But then Kl Rahul and his partner Sai Sudharsan were trying to stabilize the game and play a long partnership. Jaiswal carried his front foot and it got Leg Before Wicket and he got LBW out. It was looking like it might not be out, but England reviewed it and the results were in favor of the England team.
So far in this series, KL Rahul's performance is going very well. He has always played huge role in game-changing moments but today he was out making 14 runs.

Right now the match is delayed due to rain.

[Smack That Ace]

Also, what the heck happened to Jaiswal? Such a poor run of form at the worst possible time. They should have given Kuldeep a chance too in my opinion.

Jaiswal will not be dropped by the Indian management. Jaiswal is one of the most important batsmen in the Indian squad. Still , Jaiswal's performance is quite erratic. This Indian opener needs to bat more responsibly.

In the first match. Jaiswal scored a century in the first innings. But he scored only 4 runs in the second innings. He scored 87 and 28 runs respectively in the second match. In the third match, we again saw Jaiswal's bad batting. Even in the fourth match, Jaiswal could not play as well as expected. Jaiswal is very talented and experienced. However, Jaiswal needs more consistency in performance.

India lost three wickets before the rain. India lost the wickets of three important batsmen of the top order, Jaiswal, Rahul and Gill. India's total is now 85 runs. India's total is close to 350 in the first innings.

[Mahdirakib]

We cannot say for sure whether Zimbabwe will lose by an innings or not but their first innings was not good at all. Team captain Craig Ervine made a top score of 39 runs off 116 balls but the rest of the players did not play well at all. ~

Zimbabwe has been playing pathetically in test matches. You would also agree with the fact that Zimbabwe might lose the match by an innings if you have observed their recent test matches. However, now it looks like Zimbabwe might avoid the innings defeat. Because New Zealand ended their first innings with 158 runs lead only. Still, this lead is enough to win by an innings against this Zimbabwean team. NZ is going to win the match for sure. Betting sites aren't accepting bets on New Zealand to win.

[noormcs5]

We cannot say for sure whether Zimbabwe will lose by an innings or not but their first innings was not good at all. Team captain Craig Ervine made a top score of 39 runs off 116 balls but the rest of the players did not play well at all. ~

Zimbabwe has been playing pathetically in test matches. You would also agree with the fact that Zimbabwe might lose the match by an innings if you have observed their recent test matches. However, now it looks like Zimbabwe might avoid the innings defeat. Because New Zealand ended their first innings with 158 runs lead only. Still, this lead is enough to win by an innings against this Zimbabwean team. NZ is going to win the match for sure. Betting sites aren't accepting bets on New Zealand to win.

The Zimbabwe team got all out at 149 runs. I think they should go easy and calmly whenever they lose a wicket, their next batsmen are trying to hit boundaries and often try to defend. In short their techniques do not match, and that is why they are losing momentum and losing wickets as well.

New Zealand easily got an impressive lead. Devon Conway was close to his century. He was batting at 88 runs and could not complete his century. They got all out at 307 runs. It wasn't a big score but in the match context they are well placed and will win this test easily.