England V India cricket

[Gargamel]

thegreenhell said:

Bairstow's second golden duck in two matches.

He has succumbed to a couple of peachy deliveries, plus I think it was a mistake to come back to bat in this match with a broken finger.

He is still the second best bat in this team.

[Black can man]

Root Run out , fking madness .

[Murph7355]

Gargamel said:

thegreenhell said:

Bairstow's second golden duck in two matches.

He has succumbed to a couple of peachy deliveries, plus I think it was a mistake to come back to bat in this match with a broken finger.

He is still the second best bat in this team.

Coming back too soon and being moved up the order is not a wise move. Root and the selectors?

Cook has had his day...if his typical scoring is to go by he's due a double century at the Oval...but it's just not good enough. He needs to go IMO. And I'm increasingly convinced that some of the previous top order batsmen who have "failed" may end up being able to succeed.

Lets hope Anderson, Moeen and Broad can get us out of bother. (And that Curran puts another stand in...he and Buttler could feasibly see us with a decent score still - 300+ needed).

[TheAngryDog]

Our best batsman is now in. Another big partnership with Butter hopefully. I think setting India 250 to win would be enough.

[Black can man]

Time at the crease is all we need & theres a lot of that left.

[Testaburger]

TheAngryDog said:

Were we not the number one side in test cricket not that long ago? I know India are now but this is a home series and it is widely known that India haven't always travelled well. We need some resolve and a partnership of 100 plus.

I was thinking the same. That said, India are useless at chasing in the 4th innings, so we’ve got that going for us.

265 to chase is par, I think.

[Gargamel]

Stokes played a very in Stokes innnings. S/r 27. 100 odd balls faced. Gave us time, and settled things. Shame he couldn’t push on.

Think 250 will be enough, especially if Ali bowls the same way he did in the first innings.

[Testaburger]

Gargamel said:

Stokes played a very in Stokes innnings. S/r 27. 100 odd balls faced. Gave us time, and settled things. Shame he couldn’t push on.

Yup. Very mature stuff from Stokes - just like his 23 from 80-odd in the first innings, and his lengthy dig with Buttler in the last test. Solid mental game.

[TheAngryDog]

Buttler gone. Still need another 40 to 50 else I think it's India's game.

Could do with a 20 from Rashid and other half century from Curran.

[Testaburger]

If Rashid and Broad add 25 between them, and Curran gets to 50, that’d be dangerous territory for India, I reckon.

[Dr Z]

This Curran kid is a nightmare

[Murph7355]

Dr Z said:

This Curran kid is a nightmare

All depends on your pov

[spikeyhead]

Arse, poor end to a half reasonable day.

Still, nothing can go wrong from here.

[Gargamel]

spikeyhead said:

Arse, poor end to a half reasonable day.

Still, nothing can go wrong from here.

Agree - think we are more or less home here. 280 would be better, but I think even 200 is going to be hard going on this pitch.

[Murph7355]

Not a great time to lose a wicket. Could have done with Rashid hanging in there for a few overs.

Need a score from Broad and for Curran to hold his nerve. A 250 lead will make it interesting but I reckon we are going to need 280.

[thegreenhell]

Shame to lose Rashid at the end - he hasn't really justified his inclusion in the squad at all in this series. It looks like tomorrow should be an exciting day of play. I may even elect not to watch the F1 live if we're at a critical stage in the match, otherwise it will be TMS commentary while I watch the race with the sound muted.

[Gargamel]

I don’t think they will make 200.

Agree Rashid is looking a bit of a passenger in this series, but then you could say that about a couple of players.

[Dr Z]

Murph7355 said:

Dr Z said:

This Curran kid is a nightmare

All depends on your pov

From where I'm sitting, he's definitely a nightmare.

Nice to see both teams battling hard yesterday.

Ashwin tried too many variations for me. Bowled too long too. England bats negotiated him pretty well and hence they are still batting.

I fear this is England's match. I can't see India chasing anything over 200 batting last. However, I'd like to see them give it a good go. We need a Sehwag like character come and get a quick 60-70 at the top and mess with England's field plans. Get 'em on the defensive.

Would be very disappointed if they return to form and capitulate now after the spirit they have shown to get back in the series.

[snake_oil]

I think England need another 40 runs which, frankly, looks a long way away.

[WindyCommon]

Eng 60%, Ind 40%, Draw 0%?