Topic: Bitcointalk IPL Prediction Pool & Discussion - page 46. (Read 17723 times)

^^ Damaged done for good and only Kohli could give correct answer. last over might give some hope and momentum to RCB. Pitches are getting slow at every ground so who knows if team batting second might fail to chase even sub par total.

Is there any chance to drop Smith? 

Can someone help me to understand the logic behind sending Sundar and Dube?
- Hit big and take as much run as possible in the middle over.

This is the only reason I can figure to send those two batsmen before AB de Villiers. But on the pitch it was not looking that Sundar and Dube were in big hit mood (except the 15th over 2 sixes from Dube). Why did not they try the big hits? I do not think they can not is an excuse.

De Villiers is a batsman who can play any bowler in any direction, that's why he is called 360. Him playing more balls mean more runs and him getting set in the pitch is a nightmare for the opponents. But Kohli and team management made this stupid decision to send him at number 6. An inform batsman, did not have many balls to play obviously demoralized him and result is the shot and out after playing only 5 balls. The way RCB were progressing if they had their regular batting order then I think we would see more runs in the score board. Sundar and Dube plays better in their own order when there are not many balls to face.

For some reason I feel RCB will need to pay for this stupid experiment. They were in winning mood and I think this experiment is a result of getting too much confident on their game. There are still a long way to go and if RCB miss this season without having anything then it will be another sad story for them.

Such a low score in Sarjah and wrong batting order from RCB. I really didn't get why RCB didn't send ABD at the place of Shivam Dube. ABD didn't get enough ball to set up, he had to go for bigger from the start. I don't think RCB can win with this low score.

That was good thinking from the part of Shreyas Iyer. 29 runs were needed from 3 overs and at this point, Rabada, Nortje and Deshpande each had one over left in their quota. Iyer asked Nortje and Rabada to bowl the first two out of the three, and that was an exceptional move. By the time Deshpande was called in, the target was very much out of reach for RR.

Rabada and Nortje was chosen before Deshpande to make the match easy. If Deshpande was picked at 18th or 19th over, it would be possible that RR chased the target, 1 healthy over for them would do the job but since Rabada and Nortje bowled and took wicket, the match was easy win for DC, Deshpande was not in much pressure as both Rabada and Nortje had two good overs.

I was thinking exactly the same. Uthapa and Buttler can open up while Samson on number 3 and Smith on number 4 and Stokes on number 5 followed by Riyan Parag and Rahul Tewatia. This in itslef looks like a pretty solid line up. Utahappa obviously is not able to perform at any place so giving him a chance to open might give him time to set his foot in. If he is successful RR would get a great opening pair otherwise they might as well decide to drop Utahappa. Another shocking experiment could be to give Riyan Parag a chance to open up. Samson who started the tournament so well is now struggling so badly to score runs.

I think now Rajasthan need some serious soul searching and need to make few change on the batting order. Their middle order is in very bad shape due to bad form of Smith-Samson-Utahappa. If its possible then they should open the inning with the Buttler-Utahappa combination, so far Utahappa looking clueless and pretty useless in the middle order and he's more comfortable as opener, not finisher and move Ben stokes down the order it might give them some stability in the middle order.

And don't know what's happening with the Smith-Samson duo, they both are failing especially Smith's form should be major concern for Royals as he's the captain.

17th and 18th overs were critical for DC. After the 16th over they had three bowlers Nortje, Rabada and Deshpande where Deshpande was the less inexperienced one there. It was hard call to use him in the last over instead of Nortje, Rabada especially Rabada but Dhawan/Iyer  made the right call to give the ball to Nortje and then Rabada. Job was to bowl as economic as they can and these two did exactly what the team asked them. And why would not they? They have been in this business from years. This is where experience matters. In the last over Deshpande's job was very easy.

This is where captaincy matters. I am pretty sure if this was KL Rahul then he would think okay let's finish with Deshpande and I have my most experienced bowlwers Nortje, Rabada. They will defend any run in the death over. But reality is - once Deshpande would go expensive then there are so fewer runs to defend that Nortje, Rabada would not do much.

In this IPL all these team has the same strength, all these players are best in their business but leadership, team management, team bond is making the difference. Someone was joking by saying Tiwatia, I get the joke. KXIP, RR are as good as other teams but KL Rahul and Smith are not helping their team.

Not sure who to pick yet but I have RCB in mind. I will wait for the final XI and the last news before making my final pick. I really hope Rahul do not mess up in this match and makes some good decision in the field also he does not waste many balls if he plays a long innings.

Today bowlers were world class from SA and team watched him playing shots, so they knew he is very strong on leg side, so mostly they were giving him short pitch bowling or far outside off stumps.

1 of the reason he wasn't able to click today.

We have the KXIP vs RCB match tomorrow, at Sharjah. Anyone brave enough to bet in favor of KXIP, after their 5 consecutive losses? 

I am going with RCB for now. They are in good form, and their young players such as Devdutt Padikkal and Navdeep Saini have performed really well until now. There are some rumors that KXIP may include Chris Gayle in the playing XI for tomorrow's match. He is fully fit, as per cricinfo. If he is included, then Mayank needs to be demoted in the batting order. Also, they can include a total of only 4 overseas players. Maxwell or Mujeeb needs to be dropped.

Everything was going smoothly according to my pick and then RR lost it completely in the end by loosing wickets, once Ben Stokes lost his wicket then DC was able to come back into the game and their selection of bowlers when you bowl certain overs was crucial in this match, with Shreyas Iyer injured while fielding Shikhar Dhawan took over the captains role and it was successful in the end.

This is why I feel that people are putting unnecessary pressure on Tewatia because of two match winning innings(One of them had support from Parag). He is not MSD or Jadeja people. He is a youngster with a ton of potential who has a long way to go.

He clearly underperformed today since he scored less than a run a ball. DC bowled really well towards the end as they have done so through out this season.

Uthappa is real culprit here, they were looking so good but run out of Garg changed the momentum and after that he threw away his wicket at the wrong time, he should have finished the game even singles were quite okay at that time. Although it was terrific delivery from the Nortje, sometimes you need to respect the bowler as well. You can't hit every ball out of the park. The next key moment was Tewatia not facing the 19th over.

Tewatia Tewatia. Everyone was looking on him and everyone expected whatever happens, as long as Tewatia is there, RR have the chance to win but they didn't. Tewatia couldn't make the finish and I think Tewatia has consumed so much balls which put them in pressure.
Did I notice Nortje first time, I think he has delivered 156 tonight which seems too good. Has he bowled with such speed before?

^^ Lol they were supposed to win this game haha.. Uttappa ruined the game today and Sanju failed one more time.

He's middle order batsman so there might be some chance of him to get spot as other competitor doesn't look so good and options are kinda limited. In Indian team main competition focused on Top order mainly.

T20 cricket is such an unpredictable game. A couple of overs ago, RR was almost certain of victory. But now they looks to be in trouble. Uthappa is gone and now Tewatia and Archer needs to score the required runs. Can Lord Tewatia rescue them for the third time this season? On paper, the target looks achievable. 26 needed of 14 balls, with 4 wickets in hand.

Edit: 25 needed to win from 2 overs, with 4 wickets in hand. All eyes on Lord Tewatia.

Edit 2: 24 needed from 8 balls. 3 wickets remaining now, and Archer is gone. Only one human/super-human can take RR to a win here. And the name is Lord Tewatia.

Edit 3: 22 needed from the last over. Tewatia on strike.

Yes actually this is the reason why he has been made captain at such an young age. His attitude looks pretty good is absolutely different from Rishab Pant who stll looks pretty kiddish to me. But unfortunately for being in the national team first quality you will need is good batting if he is not able to bat consistently good he might never be able to play for India there is such a huge competition for a spot in the national side. After every IPL we see several new stars which deserve a spot in the national side. i think if we make India A team compete with most of the international teams they would still perform pretty decent.

Every time i see Shreyas Iyer at the ground. I see future Indian captain, not because he's one of the best batsman around here but because of his composure and attitude when on the field. He seems so mature in comparison of his peers.

Who knows? He already did magic twice. And you need to remember that the Rajasthan Royals will be batting second today. So if the top-order batsmen fail, then Tewatia may get a chance to rescue his team for the third time. Unfortunately for him, the Delhi Capitals bowling attack is one of the best in this IPL. They have Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Ravichandran Ashwin. For Tewatia, it is going to be slightly difficult when compared to the last time (when he was facing Khaleel Ahmed and Sandeep Sharma.

Haha the Tewatia fever for RR is so high that they aren't even giving Ben Stokes his place at number 5-6. That poor fellow has to open up due to Lord Tewatia in the lower order. But Delhi is pretty strong team to mess with. Especially in their bowling department. But SRH's bowling was equally good which was mercilessly destroyed by Lord Tewatia. Even Tewatia wouldn't have dreamt that opposition team would be frightened from him. He is the Andre Russell of this season. Lol