Warne-Muralidaran Trophy (Australia in Sri Lanka) Aug-Sep 2011

[angryangy]

doherty using the breeze well, getting drift, but not really turning it much the other way, just enough to keep the batsmen honest. big sweep with the wind by mahela, but the outfield is large and contains a hussey.

will be interesting to see the rest of the spinners. reverse seems to have died off, but 230 would be a good total from this position.

 

[angryangy]

i'm sick of haddin getting beaten and then jumping about excited while the ball goes for byes or runs or whatever. no point being excited if the gloves are nowhere near it.

 

[Doodlesweaver]

i'm sick of haddin getting beaten and then jumping about excited while the ball goes for byes or runs or whatever. no point being excited if the gloves are nowhere near it.

He does it all the time, doesn't he? He just doesn't really know how to keep to spin bowlers.

 

[bill_123]

punter back in solid form...wish he got a hundred here...but he never looked like wanting to go for it....he rather looked satisfied to just lead the team to a victory

 

[angryangy]

it's weird, in the first game they looked like they were just trying too hard, in this one, not hard enough. whether it's more bad batting or great bowling, the sri lankan batsmen don't have an answer for the bowlers. they start well, but can't hold on.

australia looked like they could make 280 both times, but they've done things differently too. in the first game, the openers hit two thirds of the boundaries in spite of both being out after 12 overs. the rest of the innings was a comfortable 4 rpo mostly relying on singles. in the second game, the start was slower, but the innings was overall more even. ponting and clarke were not particularly kind and instead it was they who scored about two thirds of the boundaries.

 

[Rehan_24]

The way Ponting played today is giving me the feeling that his original style of play is coming back. Watched Australia's match after a long time, after World Cup Infact, The team is coming back to its roots looks like. Great Wins over Sri Lanka

 

[aussie1st]

The team seems to be performing a lot better under Clarke, will be good seeing how they go in the Test matches. Johnson should be useful come that series, the other guy that looks to be useful has been left out for "fitness" reasons.

 

[sifter132]

i'm sick of haddin getting beaten and then jumping about excited while the ball goes for byes or runs or whatever. no point being excited if the gloves are nowhere near it.

He learned from the best. Ian Healy used to do that (although not as often as Hadds) - most famously when he missed stumping Inzy in that epic last wicket stand to win a Test in Pakistan, 1994.


Nicely played by Australia so far, 2 really dominating wins over the World Cup finalists in their own backyards. Will be interesting to see if and when they start tinkering with the XI. Watson to get a rest at some point? Rotate some quicks into the side?

And I feel a bit for Steve Smith, his chances of bowling the other night were foiled by Doherty being the #1 spinner. They would have needed the same end with that cross wind. And they both spin the ball the same way, which seems to be a big no-no in the modern game. Every captain seems obsessed with bowling offies at lefties almost exclusively.

 

[cricket_icon]

The Aussies have turned it around in the space of a week, will be interesting to see if they can keep this up for the rest of the tour. A healthy Australia is always good for cricket. I really need to catch highlights some where.

 

[sami ullah khan]

Nice to see Ponting getting back into groove.

 

[Left_Hander]

Well, Johnson has bowled well in back to back games. If he carries that onto the Test series then I'll be pleased.

 

[Doodlesweaver]

Well, Johnson has bowled well in back to back games. If he carries that onto the Test series then I'll be pleased.

He likes these condtions. Most pacemen don't, but then he's not most pacemen, that's for sure.

 

[angryangy]

There's a reputation for Sri Lanka being a bad place to bowl fast, but I don't think it is well earned. There are belters, sure, but there are lots of games where there seems to be something there for bowlers.

 

[cricket_icon]

^^^ Totally agree and the same can be said for a couple pitches in Pakistan, if I remember correctly many pace bowlers have done ok in Karachi.

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My point being the subcontinent is not as barren for fast bowling as everyone makes it out to be.

 

[sami ullah khan]

Karachi stadium favors reverse swing especially in the evenings. Fact of the matters if you bend your back, most pitches will reward your effort.