England in India

[valvolux]

Sickeningly slow batting from england. Having not seen a single ball i can't say whether it's a hard batting pitch, so they might be in with a show. But it seems they are getting all of their runs off the quicks, which doesn't hold them in good stead if they are going to try and defend 300 runs with a predominat pace attack.

With jones gone flintoff has to chance his arm. Runs are what are going to win them this match, not time.

 

[jkartik]

YES !!!! jones gone !! good bowling by bhajji
finally, some hope for india...now the chances of draw are more
instead of a result and who knows if all goes well..india might
win this one

 

[Indiangod]

Another wicket goes down, England needs to get a hurry on with the run rate, its not helping them at the moment, altough I still think England are on top at the moment, India might be relieved about Englands run rate.

 

[valvolux]

You've got to hand it to england though - they sure know how to turn a seemingly one sided test into an exiting test match. How is the pitch playing? Are india are chance to pull this one off if they're set 300 to win?

 

[aditya123]

Hoggard sticking around and irritatingly as well.
I don`t know why Munaf has not ben bought on.
He is the bowler who has ripped through the tail with his yorkers but Rahul`s captaincy sometimes is very irritating indeed.
Hoggard looks reasonably O.K against spin but it was Munaf`s pace which was disturbing his timber.

EDIT :
A huge six for Freddie but Dravid still sticks with the spinners.
We could have closed down the innings below 300 had we brought on the quicks but now 350 is on.

313 to win now.

Will India throw up a surprise by sending Pathan or Dhoni in to open or will Dravid open ??
We are set up for a classic.

 

[barmyarmy]

A lead of 312 any 30 mins to have a pop at India tonight. I feel that we've not left ourself enough time.
Interesting who will open the batting with Jaffer. Hopefully Dravid and we can nip him out with the new ball...

 

[LionKing]

Jaffer and Dravid opening... please guys hold the match for a draw... dont win nor lose please :upray

 

[barmyarmy]

Jeffer and Pathan opening in fact. Dravid will stay at 3.

 

[Eddie]

Pathan opening!

Sehwag can't bat higher than 7. So India loose wicket and need to bat out the game, they'll have Sehwag batting for a draw.

However, also means they can use him to chase the runs too..shoudl they get that close.

 

[angryangy]

Wow, what a turnaround for India. They should think themselves in the hunt now, at least a very strong chance to secure a draw, which is certainly unfavourable for England.

England certainly have batted unreasonably slow although no batsman has gone on far enough to show whether they were willing to score faster or if it was some sort of tactic.

However, just look at the spinners; Kumble 4/49 in 31 overs and Harbhajan 2/40 in 23 overs. Whatever the reason for England's sluggishness, I'm sure it was either because of them or because of England's opinion of them.

 

[aussie1st]

Pathan is just like Sehwag, why not just open with Sehwag cause thats where he is suited to play his normal game. Jaffers is a decent scorer so hes not a bad partner.

 

[Eddie]

Pathan is just like Sehwag, why not just open with Sehwag cause thats where he is suited to play his normal game. Jaffers is a decent scorer so hes not a bad partner.

Sehwag's been off for ages, with a bad back. Not allowed to bat higher than no.7

 

[angryangy]

We could have closed down the innings below 300 had we brought on the quicks
313 to win now.

I think using fast bowlers to take out the tail is always a roll of the dice. If they bowl good, they ought to be able to knock them over, but there's always a considerable chance that the tailenders can get the show going again. With spinners, I think, particularly the way they have performed today, it is more of a cautious decision, the tail might be less likely to fall apart, but also much less likely to make big scores. Caution would seem to be a value of high regard to Dravid, so it's not so surprising.

 

[jdbais]

Pathan gone. India have sent the nightwatchman Kumble in.

 

[aussie1st]

Doesn't look like a nightwatchmen lol, hes doing Pathan's job. 6 off 7 not a bad start. The total is under 300 for the last day so its possible to win if India keep wickets in tack while scoring at a normal rate.