There are cliques everywhere, CL and even the England Cricket Team. Surprised the nipper Root got a game, bit out of left field that one. Wish him the best.
80 overs of dot ball and 16 overs of runs. India won't play for a draw so I think they will want to get a sizeable lead on us which I think will play into our hands. Going to be an interesting test but can't see this one lasting the full 5 days.
To force a result India will need to bad at a decent rate. Assuming England can last to lunch tommorrw, India will be looking at 300 just to take the lead, and reasonably needing 550+ to be able to have a chance at not batting again. At the rate England batted that would mean India batting for the best part of 3 days, leaving them just half a day to bowl England out. So ideally they need to score 550+ in 4 sessions. Seeing as England scored 200 in 3 sessions that means batting at well over double the scoring rate we've seen thus far. Can they realistically keep enough wickets in hand to score the necessary runs whilst trying to score that quickly? Especially against a confident England bowling attack. I have my doubts that India can win the game without England both batting and bowling poorly. If England survive past lunch-time tomorrow they should be in a position where they can't lose the test match without a batting collapse in their second innings.
Personally I can't see India getting much past 300 on this wicket, which will be a nasty score, England will have 2+ days to play out, needing to score 300+ (or 5 sessions, doesn't particularly matter which) themselves to ensure the draw.
sorry RA, just can't see this one ending in a draw. My take on it is that we will be all out before lunch with a score under 250 - India will then bat & get 350 + and will score quicker than us and will only take 120 - 130 overs, thus all out by tea on the 3rd day with a 100 + run lead. We will bat a 2nd time and will be lucky to get 200 by the start of the 5th day, leaving India a target of less than 100 in 70/80 overs and it will be all over before tea.
I agree a draw is unlikely,but I don't think your scenario is much more likely. India are going to have work very hard to score quickly on this pitch. Your scenario requires not only a failing of our bowling and another failing of our batting, but also the Indian batsmen to perform significantly better than they have in the previous 2 tests on better batting surfaces.
Must confess I didn't know much about Root before yesterday and certainly didn't think he was anywhere near a test call up. Superb knock by the 21 year old on a very difficult wicket. Big future ahead for this lad me thinks
Well India are scoring very slightly faster than England (Eng got 199 on first day, so roughly 66 per session, India look like getting around ten more from their first 30 overs), but no where near fast enough to force a result . At their current rate, to score 400+ will take 2 days, leaving less than 5 sessions for them to bowl England out and knock off any runs.
Realistically India are probably not going to pass England's score, or if they do then not by much. This means England have to bat better second time around, though I'd take 330 again, on a deteriorating wicket that still means batting better than they did first time out. I wouldn't fancy batting 4th on this pitch, so India will be under pressure to score big in their first innings, so they need to increase their rate, which will give the bowlers more chances.
Comments
England 133-4 (Pietersen 68* Root 10*).
Personally I can't see India getting much past 300 on this wicket, which will be a nasty score, England will have 2+ days to play out, needing to score 300+ (or 5 sessions, doesn't particularly matter which) themselves to ensure the draw.
225=5 (Prior 46* Root 45*)
ENG 277-7
Root 65 not out, Swann 19 not out
Must confess I didn't know much about Root before yesterday and certainly didn't think he was anywhere near a test call up. Superb knock by the 21 year old on a very difficult wicket. Big future ahead for this lad me thinks
Realistically India are probably not going to pass England's score, or if they do then not by much. This means England have to bat better second time around, though I'd take 330 again, on a deteriorating wicket that still means batting better than they did first time out. I wouldn't fancy batting 4th on this pitch, so India will be under pressure to score big in their first innings, so they need to increase their rate, which will give the bowlers more chances.
64 - 3
Time waits for no man.