[kavensri]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

I guess the plan was to be aggressive with Finch at the top. But once he went cheaply trying to play a big shot too early, the others have been too defensive. Looks like we have a good match on our hands .

I agree with you. Playing a home test, bowling opposition for 250 and still scoring at around 2 RPO, even after 60 overs? I don't think they would have scored this slow even during 70s-80s when the RR in test matches was low.
They are surely missing Warner and Smith here!

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by rovingeye

Hear Kolhi's bat doing the talking.....
Sad, we were derived of this kind of shot play when the actual time came.

Hope he practiced a lot to leave the full balls. Indian batsmen aren't lame ducks against the short ball any more- the last one I remember is Raina.

After you leave balls in the first 20 overs, there are tons of scoring opportunities. Indian batsmen (except Pujara) left the crease by the 20th over. Being 35-1 is okay for the first 20 overs. Vijay, Rahane and Rahul got out to unnecessary drives. "Gone fishing" they'd say. VK was a little unlucky, Rohit was fluently scoring, but by the time talent
establishes himself in Test cricket, he'll be 37.

Speaking about 'talent, ' it has become the new bad word in Indian cricket- Rahul is the next one.

Originally Posted by vibbs

Great come back by Indians....

Bowling is our strong suit. As you say, once the top order plays well, we can easily win.

[vibbs]

SO we have not managed to get the final 3 wickets. Otherwise a good day after the batting debacle yesterday. I hope we do get the remaining three wickets tomorrow morning within the first hour, before they score too many runs. First Innings lead will be crucial and we should try to get as much as possible.

[selfdrive]

NZ have gotten Pak into trouble at lunch on Day 5. 55/5 chasing 280.
They have 2 sessions or 58.2 overs to get the remaining 5 wickets to win the series.

Awesome batting from Williamson and Nicholls on day 4 & 5. Some blows from de Grandhomme and Southee helped them add 80 odd in quick time today.

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

NZ have gotten Pak into trouble at lunch on Day 5. 55/5 chasing 280.
They have 2 sessions or 58.2 overs to get the remaining 5 wickets to win the series.

Awesome batting from Williamson and Nicholls on day 4 & 5. Some blows from de Grandhomme and Southee helped them add 80 odd in quick time today.

Aand they win it. Quite admirable considering the fact that they have one more session to go.

[NPV]

India have done a good job of getting the Aussie wickets and keeping scoring rate low so far, just hope Travis Head, Starc and the tailenders don't hang on too long, we can't be complacent at this stage.

New Zealand have beaten Pak in the 3rd test, they deserved it after playing both their innings well

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by NPV

India have done a good job of getting the Aussie wickets and keeping scoring rate low so far, just hope Travis Head, Starc and the tailenders don't hang on too long, we can't be complacent at this stage.

The match is well poised for India- they can maintain their vice grip on the game if they bowl out Australia within 10 overs and then get through the first session by losing 1 wicket at best.
Respect the bowlers for the first few overs after lunch and then score heavily.

The Australian batting is very fragile now.

New Zealand have beaten Pak in the 3rd test, they deserved it after playing both their innings well

Pakistan is rather (in)famous for batting collapses. More of them self inflicted rather than outside factors. Not taking anything away from NZ, they were brilliant.

[hemanth.anand]

I was worried because Indians are known to give away more runs after 7 wickets.but thsy have done well with 10.4 overs 44-3 today. Overall a good small 15 runs lead.
BUT the rain which had stopped play for quite some tine is what is worrying me now. It has made it better for bowling and i expect our top order to collapse. Hope they fight it out well...

[landcruiser123]

Good start by India. Disciplined play for the first 10 over. Rahul getting a bit adventurous now- a few lucky shots and lot of great full-blooded drives.

This is what they missed in the first innings.

Respect the new ball, respect the bowlers after breaks- we can get high scores.

[NPV]

So far so good, fingers crossed!
India ended Day 3 on 151/3 with Pujara and Rahane at the crease. I hope they can get another 100-150 runs (lead of 250-300) at least to put the Aussies under pressure.

[landcruiser123]

Batting 1.5-2 sessions tomorrow will be the key. This pitch will be difficult for batsmen on day 4 and 5.

And India also better be worried about the rain forecast.

[Santoshbhat]

I think India is on top now. I saw the last few overs of the day. Pity Kohli got out, but Lyon was getting the ball to turn and bounce sharply and was quite difficult to handle. Given that India will bowl last, Ashwin should have even better conditions to bowl.

Credit to the way KL Rahul batted. He got out playing a big shot in the first innings. To come out and play aggressively again takes a lot of courage. That six over cover off Cummins was marvellous! I suppose the brief from the think tank was to play positively and he did just that without being selfish. India should be thinking of setting a target of 300 min for the Aussies. Let's hope we start an overseas series with a win this time

[ninjatalli]

Excellent situation the Indian team's put themselves in - we aren't decimating the opposition like we could have (basis the rankings), but we seem to have pulled back from the mistakes of the top order done on day 1 to a position of strength. Siddharth Monga pens an incredible article on how the toss win in this match further certifies our position.

Btw on a side note, I'm amused to see the usual bashing (/negative outlook) of the Indian cricket team temporarily absent on this thread. I guess we seem to be doing something well now. Or maybe it's just the Auzzie team that's just gone soft

[pratyush6]

India has their noses slightly ahead however, what the hell was KL Rahul doing? He got 44 extremely lucky runs. Edges flying over slips and gullies. I wonder whats the brief? Or maybe he has absolutely zero confidence in his defensive game.

There is a difference between playing aggressively a la Sehwag and being totally irresponsible. Honestly, I am disgusted to see this approach from our front-line opening batsman.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by pratyush6

India has their noses slightly ahead however, what the hell was KL Rahul doing? He got 44 extremely lucky runs

I think India is well ahead, and chasing 200 on this pitch is going to be very hard. Add to the fact that we've got the part timer who's got two hat-tricks in IPL. I'm actually serious that Rohit can make a difference while bowling- I'll not be surprised if he bowls about 8-10 overs in two spells.

I think Rahul played well. He was a bit lucky in two shots, but overall he played will until that ugly shot. Disappointed with Vijay as he did all the hard work and then unnecessarily went for the drive.

The first session is going to be hard as Australia will get the new ball towards the end of the session. Rahane and Pujara have to really capitalize on the second session.