Commonwealth Bank Series Feb-Mar 2011/12

[swacker]

How the heck is Lee still bowling at 146 km/h and still taking wickets.

 

[Sedition]

Brilliant tactics by Clarke and Watson to save Dave's arm until the finals

 

[aussie1st]

Golden arm Dussey to the fore.

 

[Sedition]

Clarke's getting some sick pleasure out of seeing Hilfy and Patto carted all over the ground. Time to take Hilfy off at least.

Watto looked like he was running on a treadmill out there for that catch.

 

[aussie1st]

Ok this is getting way too close for comfort.

 

[swacker]

If Australia find a way to blow this, I shall laugh a hearty laugh.

 

[Sedition]

We've got it under control, no Chernobyl to see here

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That's how to defend 320 odd. Good fight by the Lankans. Not much to praise except Warner's innings, parts of Lee's bowling and Dave killing it with the ball and in the field.

 

[aussie1st]

Really need to start finding a death bowler, seems Doherty and Watson are the best of the lot and even Watson does look hittable with those slower length balls but seems to do the trick atm.

 

[swacker]

Spirited series of fightbacks all down the order. We've been progressing all through this tournament, you get the sense SL are learning with each match, which is great to see. A lot of the 'lesser lights' delivering too.

Next match is do or die of course

 

[Anjula]

Very Proud to be a Sri Lankan,
Kulasekara Deserve a place at top of the Order

 

[sifter132]

How the heck is Lee still bowling at 146 km/h and still taking wickets.

Was thinking this myself last night. Funny how in 1999 people were saying Lee needed to be a fixture in the team ASAP because at that pace he would burn out fast

Really need to start finding a death bowler, seems Doherty and Watson are the best of the lot and even Watson does look hittable with those slower length balls but seems to do the trick atm.

Yeah Doherty seems pretty good at it, which kinda leads to the question of whether there should be a 2nd spinner in the XI. Hussey does an OK job, but what about having 2 spinners, 2 pacemen plus Watson, Christian and Hussey as your ARs? Someone who could bat a bit and be a decent #8 would be good. O'Keefe comes to find, but unfortunately spins it the same way the X-Man. Lyon's probably the bowler of choice, though Hauritz and Krejza can both bat to help that tail.

Having that first bowling PP from 15-20 has changed the tactics a little I think. As soon as you get that first wicket or two, you can bowl guys like Watson and spinners who bowl tidy lines and keep the field up because the batsmen won't take risks after early wickets. Australia got quite a few cheap overs last night after Dilshan fell, just because SL didn't want to lose anymore.

 

[alexczarn]

Bring back Hauritz maybe or persuade Hogg to play ODIs? :P

 

[aussie1st]

Yeah Doherty seems pretty good at it, which kinda leads to the question of whether there should be a 2nd spinner in the XI. Hussey does an OK job, but what about having 2 spinners, 2 pacemen plus Watson, Christian and Hussey as your ARs? Someone who could bat a bit and be a decent #8 would be good. O'Keefe comes to find, but unfortunately spins it the same way the X-Man. Lyon's probably the bowler of choice, though Hauritz and Krejza can both bat to help that tail.

All depends on who the 2 quicks are, we need 2 opening bowlers and McKay probably is in our best lineup so is he up to taking the new ball? Easiest way is having Dussey take a few of Doherty overs from the middle period and possibly Clarke having a roll. Throw some Christian overs in there as well and that should give Doherty enough for the death.

 

[sifter132]

As I see it, your 2 opening pacemen need to take wickets - if they can't then your medium pace and spin will have to be VERY good. If you take wickets at the top, particularly if bowling first then you can just bowl line and length and let pressure build up - and right now Watson seems to bowl the best line and length of any bowler in the side (sad, yes...). I don't think McKay could be that 2nd paceman if he needs to take wickets first up. It has to be Lee and a wicket taker.

And yeah if you start well, there should be no problem relying on Watson, Christian and Hussey/Clarke to keep the batters to 4-5 an over in the middle overs. That way Doherty could save 4-5 overs for the last 15 if necessary.

Anyway, 2 spinners might well work better in overseas conditions. They are taking Lyon to WI, so it could be worth a run there to see how it goes.

 

[aussie1st]

That is where a Maxwell would come in handy, put him in place of Christian and you have 3 spinning options and 4 if you include Clarke.