India in South Africa

[surendar]

But the worse thing is, they cant play like that and will end up losing the match!

Once again a mind game comes into picture! The players shd never try to burry themselves with negative minds... Its enough if just they manage to strike the ball with the bat in cool tempo

If players enjoy and play cricket rather than getting tensed, i guess, they might even get close to the target. This makes me to remember Ajay Jadeja's cool way of playing cricket

also, here is from cric info,

Keith lane, our man at the ground, has a weather stat which would please the Indian fans. "29 out of a possible 62 days have been affected by light/weather at Durban since 1992"

 

[SaiSrini]

The lights are on after tea break is over! Very sooner or later, the light could be offered to the batsmen

Wow... First ball, four from Jaffer that too great shot! Thats the attitude thats required. Punish the bad balls and respect the good balls. Try to keep down the unplayable balls.

These two guys are capable of going back unscathed today! Can they do it?

edit: well, what was jaffer adviced during tea? second four off the first over after tea!

 

[surendar]

well, The wall departed! India in trouble This is shocking... Dravid departing at the crucial stage!

 

[MUFC1987]

Unlucky for Dravid, seems he didn't touch it. They need a partnership now though you feel.

 

[cricket_lover]

India might escape with a draw, considering the weather. One solid partnership and one aggressive session can change the course. Play the first hour safely, and may be Tendulkar can open up. 310+ runs on the last day, on a tricky pitch is tough, but going in with a defensive approach will do no good for India.

SA played quite well. When they lost 6 wickets in quick time, those two partnerships really helped them declare early to give India some time to bat.

 

[manee]

India might escape with a draw, considering the weather. One solid partnership and one aggressive session can change the course. Play the first hour safely, and may be Tendulkar can open up. 310+ runs on the last day, on a tricky pitch is tough, but going in with a defensive approach will do no good for India.

150% correct!!!

 

[prarara]

I really liked this bit from cricinfo:

Ntini to Dravid, OUT, Ntini gets Dravid with a probing delivery outside the offstump. Full in length, lands outside the offstump, Dravid is sucked into a forward prod, bat comes down ahead of his body, jabs at it and the 'nick' is swallowed up by Boucher. Replays don't reveal a edge. Dravid is also not so happy, the bat must have clipped the pad. South Africa are hot here! 2 down, in comes Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Another semi-crisis to deal with. The story of his life.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Dravid gets another shocker.
So anyways, 320 odd needed tommorrow to win.
Jaffer and Sachin batting.
98 overs in the day, but should end up about 60-70 allowing for the bad light.
I say, if India play well, the should draw here on this belter of a pitch. The only way they can lose is by some extremely poor umpiring, unplayable bowling, or poor batting. Only that last one looks likely.
Jaffer seems to want a big one. Has the stomach, the appetite for a fight. Looks like he'll want to keep on batting and batting, to not get out.
Sachin looks in good touch, he needs to keep his head down and play smart, if defensive and careful, cricket. Should take the odd risk, and use all his expereince.
VVS should shut out the situation and just bat the wonderful, destructively beautiful way he can.
Dada, dig in, use that experience, and just focus on shutting up your critics.
If they work hard, take is session by session, they should draw this.


Anyone else think the commentary team is great? Waz and Sahz recouting all the hilarious incidents of the past with Allan Donald and Symcox (With his Swing wind, Batting wind, and about getting wickets when the tide comes in and all that mumbo jumbo ). Gavaskar views and comments have been excellent and show his true class and cricketing knowledge. Waz and Shaz have been really fun. Harsha Bhogle too, only Alan Wilkonson is a bit dull, but he is doing a good job too. The fun facts they give now and then are great too. Did you know Sachin wanted to be a fast bowler, but the MRF Pace Academy turned him down, so he focused on batting? Another great service to Indian cricket by MRF . And Wasim was kept out of his college team the year he was selected by his skipper who too was a left-arm bowler and was jelous of Wasim? He never saw him again after being selected He was the 12th man the entire year !! And Aleem Dar was in the team too!
Great stuff, really enjoying this series. Sreesanth has been great, that new namaste thing he does when he gets a wicket is awesome! Did to Amla and Prince

 

[hindustani]

wut the hell is wrong with these umpires first it was that steve bucknor screwing us out og the australia-india game in the icc trophy now we have dravid giving wrongly out. is india just hated by all umpires?

 

[aussie1st]

318 is still getable and thats what the Indian batsmen have to think to have any hope of avoiding the loss.

 

[Gunner786]

wut the hell is wrong with these umpires first it was that steve bucknor screwing us out og the australia-india game in the icc trophy now we have dravid giving wrongly out. is india just hated by all umpires?

mate it happens to every team,

nothing we can do about it

 

[SaiSrini]

Come on guys! These umpires are always screwing it up for India! Two decisions went against India today and that too, most important ones (Pollock and Dravid)

316 to win? Last day? On what is still a very good batting pitch? If India lose this, it would be the most idiotic of losses that India have had. They are coming after a big win at Jo'burg and should suck in all the confidence of that famous win when they confront SA tomorrow.

I hear people saying that 60-70 overs would only be possible. I have a question. I think its the batsmen who decided whether to go in for bad light or not, rite? I have been seeing the umpires offering it to the batsmen and then they accepting whether to go in or not. So if India bat positively and aggressively in the first two sessions, they can re-assess the situation at tea and if they are well placed, they can reject the bad light offer and push for victory. I know I might sound over confident here, but this wicket is still very good for batting. The shots that Jaffer played, re-iterates my opinion that the wicket is very good. The conditions are playing into the hands of the South Africans.

I still hope a bit for a near impossible win. But we should definitely draw this one. If we dont, then to heck with this team!!

 

[borncricketer]

i think this match is for anyone right now, evenly positioned. If india play sensibly in the first 2 sessions and can score at a good rate, then after Tea india and acclerate and may be get close to the target, and then they can use Sai's idea of declining bad light and continuing to play, but i think if the Umpires think that the light is bad enough and the bastmen still want to play, its up to the umpires if the want to supsend play or not...

I too still hope for a win its highly unlikely as none of the teams have been able to score 300 runs in 1 day, but it is possible if we bat sensibly. We can draw this one undoubtly...

Will be up at 4 am EST to watch the match...

 

[SaiSrini]

i think this match is for anyone right now, evenly positioned. If india play sensibly in the first 2 sessions and can score at a good rate, then after Tea india and acclerate and may be get close to the target, and then they can use Sai's idea of declining bad light and continuing to play, but i think if the Umpires think that the light is bad enough and the bastmen still want to play, its up to the umpires if the want to supsend play or not...

I too still hope for a win its highly unlikely as none of the teams have been able to score 300 runs in 1 day, but it is possible if we bat sensibly. We can draw this one undoubtly...

Will be up at 4 am EST to watch the match...

Which part of USA are you in? According to my time, it starts at 2:30 am EST. I live in the state 'Ohio'. With the early start of half an hour, it starts at 2:30am for me!

I am worried about Tendulkar more than Jaffer. Sachin doesnt play well when he gets bogged down. When he decides to shut shop, then he becomes vulnerable and invariably gets out. Lets hope he doesnt do the same thing tomrorow. He needs to play his shots and keep the scoreboard moving along with Jaffer, who so far looks the most positive that I have seen him in his entire career! The way he batted yesterday was superb! He took the attack to the bowlers and played some gorgeous strokes!

 

[BigCrickNan]

I think South Africa are in a better place to win this test match with two wickets down early including Dravid. India will need something special if they are going to win tommorow.