It’s been a roller-coaster kind of a Test Match so far. On the opening day/session it looked like India would get bundled out for a small total, but ended the day very strongly, only be bowled out relatively cheaply during the first hour on Day 2. Sri Lankans have posted an enormous total so far and would surely add a lot more to it, from where they almost can not lose this test.
Now the question is would India be able to save this test match? They surely have the batting line up that can play for days but it has also collapsed unceremoniously a few times. As seen many times in the past, Indian team somehow starts almost every test series badly and then tries to come back.
Would that trend repeat itself in Ahmadabad between today and tomorrow?
Watch Sri Lanka vs New Zealand Live Streaming Score, 2nd Test, Colombo (SSC). New Zealand are slated to play two test matches and two Twenty20 Internationals against Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka is really having it good in the ongoing one-day series against Pakistan. They had a bit of a scare before winning the first match and now they have just wrapped up the second game, rather comfortably. What is more surprising is the ineffectiveness of Pakistan’s middle order and the fact that both Ajmal and Afridi haven’t been able to spin the ball and make their overs count for anything substantial. This combination was being looked upon as the core of Pakistan’s strategy to contain the Lankan batsmen but both the bowlers have been found guilty of pitching the ball short or make it hurry on to the batsmen, losing out on guile or any degree of appreciable spin. This has been combined with the problem of the skipper, Younis Khan, not firing and being the mainstay of Pakistan’s batting in the middle overs, it has made the team struggle even more. The decision to send-in Afridi up the order too hasn’t fired, but given his past record that cannot be surprising.
Most of the cricket world wouldn’t even know that Chaminda Vaas, one of Sri Lanka’s most prolific cricketers, has retired from the game. In a way, this retirement too justifies the way he played the game. He never hogged the limelight like some of his contemporaries like Jayasuriya or Muralitharan. In a way, that makes sense too, since he never got to do what makes players grab all the attention these days — staged emotions on the field, unmatched talent like that of Murali or playing outrageous cricket shots. He is perhaps a rare kind of a cricketer who never courted any controversy in such a long career. And considering the fact that he carried the burden of Lanka’s bowling with Muralitharan for more than a decade, this seems a bit unbelievable now. Vaas kept on bowling until his right shoulder started wearing-away. He did try to re-invent himself as a slower, off-breakish bowler but I guess that type of bowling just isn’t suited to test match cricket.
The third test match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan is underway and unless there are some serious batting heroics from the Lankan side, Pakistan should win this one comfortably and make it 2-1 for the series. In the hindsight, Pakistan might feel that they have done a mistake by not playing Kaneria earlier. For that matter, Afridi too could have been a handful on these spinning tracks. It was good to see Kaneria back in action and among the wickets. Shoaib Malik has found form after an eternity and his batting should add more strength to the middle order that has already been boosted by the return of Mohammed Yousuf. Yes, Pakistan has lost this test match series but given the circumstances under which they are playing they have more gains than losses from it. This series should gel together an almost split side and get them ready for international cricket in the coming months.
The Pakistani openers delivered and put-up a match-saving stand as the team struggled to try and save from losing the second successive test match. However, this time it was the volatile middle-order of the Pakistani team that let them down. None of the senior pros in the team including Yousuf, Younis or Misban scored anything substantial and from a secured position of about 180 runs for the loss of just a single wicket, the Pakistanis went on to lose the second test match with nearly two days to spare. It has to be said that Herath, the left-armer from Sri Lanka has really come to the fore in this match. Perhaps, the absence of Murali has led him to believe that he is the frontline spinner in the team, though Mendis too was present. Whatever might be the case, to bowl so well against decent players of spin bowling has to be applauded. The Lankans seem to be finding a lot of bowlers these days who can deliver and hold their own in the most demanding of situations, giving the team managemetn a pool of talented youngsters to choose from.
There has to be something about Asian teams that makes them so good at T20. It is not just a personal opinion but the facts themselves point to this: last edition of the T20 World Cup saw India and Pakistan slug it out in the final and now it will be Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It seems that the Pakistani side has somehow managed to adapt itself to this format of the game and maybe their extremely volatile nature and the unpredictability with which they play suits the T20 format more than the ODIs or the Test matches. It would be a big heartbreak for the Pakistani fans if their team loses two consecutive World Cup finals.
Sri Lanka on the other hand look well-prepared to remain unbeaten in the Tournament and would pose many challenges for the Pakistani side, particularly against performers like Umar Gul, Afridi and Ajmal. It can be guaranteed that the Lankan team will have some sort of a plan against the 12 overs that will be bowled by these three men.
One man who could seek instantaneous redemption is Abdul Razzaq. It is hard to comment on his choice of drifting over to the ICL, but now that he is back, one good match, i.e. the final itself could be his platform to rid himself of all the ridicule that has come his way in the last couple of seasons. My Verdict? I would have to favour Sri Lanka a bit more, although Pakistan’s bowling looks much better.
Some folks may say that it was bound to happen with the Aussie team — being ousted from the World Cup T20. The reasons floated were many, including the off/on presence of Ponting during the practice sessions and the controversies surrounding Andrew Symonds. However, still not many of them would have bet their money on the fact that the Aussies would face such an early exit from the tournament. They played two matches and were totally outplayed in both of them.
Given the seriousness of yesterday’s match, it was unusual to see the Kangaroos not jumping around with the usual aggression that they seem to tap into, every time they are cornered. This is what the Lankans smelled and this is exactly what led to the Aussie defeat. Their bowlers just did not test the Lankan batsmen who were all too happy to wait on the backfoot and cut the loose deliveries. On the other hand, Mendis was at his wily best, mixing-up the straighter ones with his stock deliveries to bewilder the Aussie batsmen, as he picked-up three crucial wickets.
ICC T20 World Cup Twenty20 Live Cricket Streaming Links. The ICC World Cup Twenty20 is scheduled from June 5th to 21st in England. The world T20 campaign features world’s best players representing the countries, to showcase their skills to play the short format of T20 cricket on global platform.
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