[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

India need 7 wickets to win
England need 178 runs to win
Australia need 6 wickets to win

2 out of the above three will turn into reality tomorrow.

England have a good chance to get the 178 for victory. If Woakes can stick around for some time and Root can finally convert his 60 odd to a big hundred, the stage will be set for Bairstow, Moeen and Broad to support their push towards a fantastic come from behind victory. A lot rests on Lyon tomorrow.

By the way Sri Lanka needs 379 to win

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

India need 7 wickets to win
England need 178 runs to win
Australia need 6 wickets to win

2 out of the above three will turn into reality tomorrow.

Statement 3 came true. I expected to see more fight though from England

Waiting for the Statement 1 to become true. But SL players have shown grit. They would be hoping to save this game

Originally Posted by selfdrive

By the way Sri Lanka needs 379 to win

with around 7rpo required, this is anything but possible.
I'm talking about RPO in a test match...The game has changed so much

[NPV]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

India need 7 wickets to win

India still need another 5 wickets to win (or least 4 since one batsman is back in pavillion retired hurt and may not bat again)

If Sri Lanka manage to save this test, it will be a commendable achievement.

[Arjun Reddy]

Originally Posted by NPV

India still need another 5 wickets to win (or least 4 since one batsman is back in pavillion retired hurt and may not bat again)

If Sri Lanka manage to save this test, it will be a commendable achievement.

15 overs and 120 runs, 2 set batsmen, can they push for a win and salvage the series? Going down 1-0 or 2-0 makes no difference.Not seeing the match, not sure how the pitch is behaving?

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by NPV

India still need another 5 wickets to win (or least 4 since one batsman is back in pavillion retired hurt and may not bat again)

If Sri Lanka manage to save this test, it will be a commendable achievement.

They have managed to draw it. Really commendable. they would go into the ODI series with a positive frame of mind. Overall will be good for the game because otherwise the series would've been boring. Not that it'll be easy for them, but still they'll give a better fight.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by Arjun Reddy

15 overs and 120 runs, 2 set batsmen, can they push for a win and salvage the series? Going down 1-0 or 2-0 makes no difference.Not seeing the match, not sure how the pitch is behaving?

Disagree. They way SL has been batting, they need a gritty performance where they save a match on the last day. That'll help them more than going for the target and risk losing.

Well done SL.

[NPV]

This thread is very understandably quiet today - the Sri Lankan bowlers have silenced the indian batsmen with an amazing performance, let's see if Dhoni and the tailenders can redeem anything.
What a way for Rohit to make his debut as ODI captain.
Some dubious records as well like lowest powerplay score in ODI cricket history.
I think India have at least couple or more scores of under 100 against SL in the past, will this be another one ?

[PPS]

This was a nice preview to what we can expect in the Ind-SA test series next month. Our batsman are struggling against the likes of Lakmal, against Steyn,Morkel, Rabada its going to be an even more stern test! SL bowled well & made best use of the early start.
On one hand team management talks of givng more game time to Rahane & then they drop him for today's game, I'm completely perplexed. Agreed he doesn't have a confirmed spot in the ODI team but once Virat opted out he should have automatically been the no.3 ahead of the likes of Shreyas Iyer & Manish Pandey!

[AltoLXI]

What a heart break for Karnataka - just lost in the Ranji trophy semi finals to Vidarbha.
Congratulations to Vidarbha for coming back into the game and being the first time finalists
Excellent performance by Gurbani.

[Eddy]

Yep, it was a thrilling match. And it ended better from my PoV because I wanted Delhi to play Vidarbha in the finals

Mayank Aggarwal has been stellar this season. Great timing also, with the IPL auction coming up. That's the best he can hope for currently, he is still far away from the India cap.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Yep, it was a thrilling match. And it ended better from my PoV because I wanted Delhi to play Vidarbha in the finals

The loss, and your comment, struck a knife right through my heart . Karnataka and Vidharbha have both been excellent this season. Kudos to them! This match in particular is a superb testimony to the thrills of a five day game.

Mayank Aggarwal has been stellar this season. Great timing also, with the IPL auction coming up. That's the best he can hope for currently, he is still far away from the India cap.

Mayank will certainly have to wait for his turn and going by the way Indian top order is performing, he might still be a long long way off. Interestingly, Karun Nair, the triple centurion, isn't back in the Indian team yet. Problem of plenty indeed.

[NPV]

K L Rahul is out of the squad for the limited overs games on the South Africa tour. I'm not sure if choosing Dhawan over Rahul is a great idea.

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by NPV

K L Rahul is out of the squad for the limited overs games on the South Africa tour. I'm not sure if choosing Dhawan over Rahul is a great idea.

Dhawan likes bouncy, true pitches. He is in good form.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Dhawan likes bouncy, true pitches. He is in good form.

And now India have a problem of plenty with lots of options. Hope it pays off, and KL being young will get his chances.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by NPV

K L Rahul is out of the squad for the limited overs games on the South Africa tour. I'm not sure if choosing Dhawan over Rahul is a great idea.

There is already Rahane in the ODI squad who is a backup opener so it would have been difficult to fit KL Rahul into the squad.
Coming back to the Tests, it looks like the 5 bowler theory which was extensively used during the home season will be given a miss on the upcoming SA tour. Rohit Sharma at no.6 seems like a certainty. Graeme Smith during his commentary stint today suggested KL Rahul at no.6 to face the 2nd new ball which would be an interesting choice. With Ashwin as the 4th bowler , we will be relying very heavily on the 3 seamers to pick 20 wickets.