thoughts on second days play...

shared by straight point on Tuesday, November 17, 2009

sri lanka started the first session of this test match with clear advantage and must say that they have ended the last session of 2nd days play by regaining most of that...

they not only bowled india rather cheaply today but scored at decent pace to be at 275/3 at the close of play... and if they can see off first hour tomorrow without any flutters they will hold the aces in this match...

sri lanka should look to bat big and bat once in this match and see if the pressure of strong lead can force the result in this match which seems to be the only way we might see a result in this strip specially when team india’s opening seems bit wobbly...

from india’s point of view they must capitalise the early morning hour much the same way sri lanka has managed to do on two consecutive days or they will be the team who will be chasing the leather in this match... though sri lanka will start tomorrow play with bit of an advantage in a way that new ball is still 10 overs due... so by the time india will take new ball they would have eased themselves in...

spin bowlers from both sides have failed to make an impact... though some balls are bouncing sharply and some are spinning out of rough but the pace of wicket is such that batsmen are finding time to adjust...

if i were dhoni i will give spinners relatively hard ball to see if they can induce some errors from the batsmen... mishra should take heart from the fact that on many occasions he came close to taking a wicket and if he can adjust his bowling to the pace of the wicket... he can still bounce back in this match...

i expect ishant and zaheer to bowl bit fuller on this wicket specially early in the morning to see if they can swing or seam the ball... while using short pitch deliveries as surprising weapon on this pitch... contrary to what zaheer did at the start of innings today when i felt that he laid his cards open too early to dilshan with his line of attack...

it will be interesting to see if india can again manage to fight back in the game this time with ball in its hand...


PS: on side note... is it me or you also noticed the difference...? imagine what would have been the hoopla in media and alike had sachin achieved 11000 runs milestone with the type of scintillating innings dravid played yesterday... goes to show however well they do... some are never equals...

14 comments:

Wasim said...

Too bad Dravid couldn't reach 200 he really deserved it.

Once again the Indian bowlers have wasted all the initiative siezed by one of their batting greats.

SriLanka's lower order looks quite thin early wickets tommorrow can bring India back on top.

straight point said...

yes he deserved that double... but somehow he appeared bit flustered at crease today... may be its me only...

i dont think we bowled that badly and but for dilshan's century we have not let them run away with the game...

yes couple of wickets tomorrow morning can change things quickly but he wicket will remain as true as it is now as i cant see it deteriorating much it will be hard to force the result...

lets see... :)

Soulberry said...

Off Topic:

I love your new header image.

Back to topic, here's hoping Ishant wakes up on the right side of form tomorrow morning.

India get to bowl in the fresh part of the day tomorrow. Today they began bowling after the freshness was gone. After all, Sri lanka took most of their wickets in the first hour of both days when there was some help to the pacers

Nathan said...

Well, it was a solid piece of work from Sri Lanka, some brilliance with the ball when they had that morning freshness to work with (shame about Dravid), and a lot of very restrained, responsible batting. Welegedara was the star appearance for me, I think, more so than Dilshaan. Why on earth did they wait this long to introduce him to the Test side?

Match could definitely go either way, its shaping up like quite the contest.

@ Wasim
Yes, I think you're right, I don't know how far down the order the Sri Lankan's can be expected to bat. There is one more recognisable batsman, two tail-enders who might be expected to slap the ball around a little, then people with sub-10 run averages.

Purna said...

Is this a batting pitch SP? The bowlers seem to be having no impact after a while...

Nathan said...

Purna, it apparently keeps some life for the first ~30 minutes (no telling if that will still apply on day 3 & 4 though) but after it dries it sounds like a flat-track batathon.

Nathan said...

And the new ball is in now, so its do or die time; Sharma and Khan either get this pair out or Sri Lanka will bat through the day and put on 550+.

So I'm guessing anyway :x

straight point said...

yes nathan... solid work from SL and as i said they are looking to score big and bat once...

regarding welegedara taking nothing away from him but we have this tendency to give wickets to a new comer lets see how he progresses in further matches...

one more wicket now and we can be in for a gripping contest...

straight point said...

purna but for that early half an hour or so... it is as flat wicket as one can get...

straight point said...

i loved you being off topic... :)

although he got wicket today too but he is very inconsistent with his line and length may be body is not keeping up with the willingness of mind... and by the time second innings will come i can already see him dragging himself in field...

Nathan said...

And there is your one more wicket! Should keep the total more restrained, looking for a fairly balanced score. Hopefully the pitch cracks up a bit next two days and we can get a result.

straight point said...

nathan... i dont think pitch is going to deteriorate much... if sri lanka dont get big lead i find if hard to see result tho i have seen funny things happening...

scorpicity said...

I had a bet that Rahul will get out in the 170s. And I won... There are some freakish coincidences on these 170 scores in recent times. If Laxaman gets a mind blowing 170, I will be convinced that the three signed a deal with the devil. The fourth one retired playing a mind blowing 170 once... Looks like he was the key maker to getting these guys to the devil.

How is this for a conspiracy. Will make the makers of 2012 and the mayans proud.

straight point said...

hahaha... scorpy this is good enough to merit a post in itself...

what say...?

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