SL is looking to post a gigantic first innings score and will for ZIM to chase it which will be their plan IMO and even if ZIM scored enough runs then SL can win the leading runs in the last day by scoring at high scoring rate per over.And its important to mention ZIM is really playing well at the moment.
Sri Lanka have the batting to post a good total, not sure whether the pitch is difficult to score runs as both teams are moving slowly, Zimbabwe was going under 2 runs and now Sri Lanka is batting under 3 runs per over and the possibility is a draw by the way the match is going. 
Topic: Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod] - page 985. (Read 152403 times)
I am sure that Zimbabwe is looking for a draw at the moment, nothing more. They took their sweet time while batting and managed to putup 350+ runs on board. And while bowling, they avoided bowling few overs by not opting spin. Currently SL are batting well at 113/2. The only chance for SL to get a result is to post a big lead something around 250+ for ZIM and try to wrap them up within a days play which will be a tough task considering how they batted in the first innings.
Either Zimbabwe has to pick up wickets and Sri Lanka is also batting really slow as they do not feel the need to increase the run rate either and as long as Angelo Mathews is in the crease they will build a huge total and they still behind 153 runs and they can reach those runs and this is the third day and unless there is a collapse in the second innings it is going to be a draw.I am sure that Zimbabwe is looking for a draw at the moment, nothing more. They took their sweet time while batting and managed to putup 350+ runs on board. And while bowling, they avoided bowling few overs by not opting spin. Currently SL are batting well at 113/2. The only chance for SL to get a result is to post a big lead something around 250+ for ZIM and try to wrap them up within a days play which will be a tough task considering how they batted in the first innings.
Either Zimbabwe has to pick up wickets and Sri Lanka is also batting really slow as they do not feel the need to increase the run rate either and as long as Angelo Mathews is in the crease they will build a huge total and they still behind 153 runs and they can reach those runs and this is the third day and unless there is a collapse in the second innings it is going to be a draw. 
1st Test between SL and Zimbabwe has started in Zimbabwe and batting first Zimbabwe had scored 358 runs . Top order played well and just that they could not capitalise it for the long innings. SL started their innings and are now 42/1 . SL would like to take some lead in the first innings to put pressure on Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe played really well to get to 358 runs, they were taking a lot of time to score these runs and it is a good approach and if they are able to pick wickets then it will be interesting to see how the Sri Lankan players will cope to the pressure and who will be rising and perform better, if they are able to bat till the third day then Zimbabwe can look for a draw, i know this is just the second day and it all depends upon how the Sri Lankan players are going to approach the game.Mendis & Matthews partnership has helped SL to reach 184 runs with loss of 3 wicket. Mendis would be disappointed as he was really building his innings so well and got out at 80. Zimbabwe would now require to pick up 2 quick wickets so that they would be back in the hunt and try to make them all out quickly and take some first innings lead.
1st Test between SL and Zimbabwe has started in Zimbabwe and batting first Zimbabwe had scored 358 runs . Top order played well and just that they could not capitalise it for the long innings. SL started their innings and are now 42/1 . SL would like to take some lead in the first innings to put pressure on Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe played really well to get to 358 runs, they were taking a lot of time to score these runs and it is a good approach and if they are able to pick wickets then it will be interesting to see how the Sri Lankan players will cope to the pressure and who will be rising and perform better, if they are able to bat till the third day then Zimbabwe can look for a draw, i know this is just the second day and it all depends upon how the Sri Lankan players are going to approach the game.Know what? There is a limit up to which the weather can help. A huge amount of time was lost to rain interruption. And still the Brits won the match comfortably. I missed the last day of action, as I was in office. When I reached home, it was all over and I was surprised to see that Keshav Maharaj was the top-scorer for the South Africans with his 71. Well.. that sums up everything I guess.
It was just a sarcastic hope for the South African i mentioned 
. If South Africa is able to find batsman like Keshav Maharaj then they can have some hope in the future other than that their entire batting line up is a failure for a very long time and there are news coming out that Faf du Plessis will be retiring from Test cricket pretty soon. De-villers presence in the team and his battings skills used to change lot of things for SA and now once he is not their in the team they are definitely missing some one of his likes which is impacting them and can be clearly seen. Hope SA will bounce back and find the right combination in the team.
It was just a sarcastic hope for the South African i mentioned . If South Africa is able to find batsman like Keshav Maharaj then they can have some hope in the future other than that their entire batting line up is a failure for a very long time and there are news coming out that Faf du Plessis will be retiring from Test cricket pretty soon.
. If South Africa is able to find batsman like Keshav Maharaj then they can have some hope in the future other than that their entire batting line up is a failure for a very long time and there are news coming out that Faf du Plessis will be retiring from Test cricket pretty soon. du Plessis is an integral part of the South African batting lineup and his retirement will leave them with a huge void. They are still unable to find a suitable replacement for players such as Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers, who retired many years back. Any more retirements are going to make matters really worse for them. If they want to remain among the top cricketing sides, then they should do two things. First, they should try to win back the Kolpak players. And secondly, they should do away with the presence of politics in sports and this will make sure that the talented players remain committed to the team.
Know what? There is a limit up to which the weather can help. A huge amount of time was lost to rain interruption. And still the Brits won the match comfortably. I missed the last day of action, as I was in office. When I reached home, it was all over and I was surprised to see that Keshav Maharaj was the top-scorer for the South Africans with his 71. Well.. that sums up everything I guess.
It was just a sarcastic hope for the South African i mentioned . If South Africa is able to find batsman like Keshav Maharaj then they can have some hope in the future other than that their entire batting line up is a failure for a very long time and there are news coming out that Faf du Plessis will be retiring from Test cricket pretty soon. 
SA has lost quick 6 wickets for a score of 102 runs and still trail by 188 runs. So most likely match would be over soon and England will win it by innings and some runs. SA will have to look back what went wrong with their batting line up as they are not able to score runs.
Only the weather can help South Africa from this situation and that too if the day gets washed out, if not there is no way they are going to survive an hour in the crease, the biggest problem they have is their inform batsman and until they find some young players to fill in the ranks there is nothing they can do to sort the situation. If there is no rain interruption then it is an innings victory for England.Know what? There is a limit up to which the weather can help. A huge amount of time was lost to rain interruption. And still the Brits won the match comfortably. I missed the last day of action, as I was in office. When I reached home, it was all over and I was surprised to see that Keshav Maharaj was the top-scorer for the South Africans with his 71. Well.. that sums up everything I guess.
1st Test between SL and Zimbabwe has started in Zimbabwe and batting first Zimbabwe had scored 358 runs . Top order played well and just that they could not capitalise it for the long innings. SL started their innings and are now 42/1 . SL would like to take some lead in the first innings to put pressure on Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe played really well to get to 358 runs, they were taking a lot of time to score these runs and it is a good approach and if they are able to pick wickets then it will be interesting to see how the Sri Lankan players will cope to the pressure and who will be rising and perform better, if they are able to bat till the third day then Zimbabwe can look for a draw, i know this is just the second day and it all depends upon how the Sri Lankan players are going to approach the game.
1st Test between SL and Zimbabwe has started in Zimbabwe and batting first Zimbabwe had scored 358 runs . Top order played well and just that they could not capitalise it for the long innings. SL started their innings and are now 42/1 . SL would like to take some lead in the first innings to put pressure on Zimbabwe.
One good thing for SA in this test match was that losing quick 6 wickets their lower order batsman in 2nd innings showed some fighting spirit and helped SA reach past their score of first innings which at one point was not looking possible. Rest England really played well and deserved to win this match . Ollie was named Man of the match.
What moral benefit it will have for the team, the top order batsman should be ashamed that the bowlers performed really well while batting and they need to look for another job . If their top order played really well then they could have saved the match because there was a rain int eruption and then when they came out to bat wickets started falling and only the bowlers were able to offer some resistance to the England bowling attack.I want to see Bangladesh touring South Africa in the near future as i expect a much competitive match between them.
Poor South Africa, they should change their team nickname "Protea Fire" to "Dud BumB". this suits more to them as they are in very poor form for quite some time now. Be it away tour or home, even in the limited over cricket.
If Top order can't play Joe Root then you really need some serious soul searching.
If Top order can't play Joe Root then you really need some serious soul searching.
One good thing for SA in this test match was that losing quick 6 wickets their lower order batsman in 2nd innings showed some fighting spirit and helped SA reach past their score of first innings which at one point was not looking possible. Rest England really played well and deserved to win this match . Ollie was named Man of the match.
Poor South Africa, they should change their team nickname "Protea Fire" to "Dud BumB". this suits more to them as they are in very poor form for quite some time now. Be it away tour or home, even in the limited over cricket.
If Top order can't play Joe Root then you really need some serious soul searching.
If Top order can't play Joe Root then you really need some serious soul searching.
One good thing for SA in this test match was that losing quick 6 wickets their lower order batsman in 2nd innings showed some fighting spirit and helped SA reach past their score of first innings which at one point was not looking possible. Rest England really played well and deserved to win this match . Ollie was named Man of the match.
Poor South Africa, they should change their team nickname "Protea Fire" to "Dud BumB". this suits more to them as they are in very poor form for quite some time now. Be it away tour or home, even in the limited over cricket.
If Top order can't play Joe Root then you really need some serious soul searching.
If Top order can't play Joe Root then you really need some serious soul searching.
If there is no rain interruption then it is an innings victory for England.
The troubles of South Africa are over as they lost by an innings and 53 runs, Maharaj is their top scorer in both the innings and that says they problem with the batting line up as they are not competent enough to be in the team, really sad to see how they struggle considering they had one of the best players in world cricket for decades and they usually replaces players with equal talent but they are no way to be found in the current generation 
. SA has lost quick 6 wickets for a score of 102 runs and still trail by 188 runs. So most likely match would be over soon and England will win it by innings and some runs. SA will have to look back what went wrong with their batting line up as they are not able to score runs.
Only the weather can help South Africa from this situation and that too if the day gets washed out, if not there is no way they are going to survive an hour in the crease, the biggest problem they have is their inform batsman and until they find some young players to fill in the ranks there is nothing they can do to sort the situation. If there is no rain interruption then it is an innings victory for England. Kock and philander innings help SA to atleast get past 200 runs but was not enough to avoid follow on and rain came in the picture again and halted the match . Though SA still trail by 275 runs and England will try to win it by innings and some runs rather than to bat again in this test match .
de Kock is perhaps the best batsmen in the South African squad right now. But now he is gone (he was the 5th wicket to fall), I don't think that South Africa is going to survive for much longer. My guess is that England will wrap up this match within 30-40 minutes today. Philander can be a thorn in the flash for England, but he needs someone who could give him support. Unfortunately for him, the remaining players (including Maharaj) are not that known for their batting skills.
SA has lost quick 6 wickets for a score of 102 runs and still trail by 188 runs. So most likely match would be over soon and England will win it by innings and some runs. SA will have to look back what went wrong with their batting line up as they are not able to score runs.
Kock and philander innings help SA to atleast get past 200 runs but was not enough to avoid follow on and rain came in the picture again and halted the match . Though SA still trail by 275 runs and England will try to win it by innings and some runs rather than to bat again in this test match .
de Kock is perhaps the best batsmen in the South African squad right now. But now he is gone (he was the 5th wicket to fall), I don't think that South Africa is going to survive for much longer. My guess is that England will wrap up this match within 30-40 minutes today. Philander can be a thorn in the flash for England, but he needs someone who could give him support. Unfortunately for him, the remaining players (including Maharaj) are not that known for their batting skills.
I think when a team gets in that mind set to try and save a test match and also think that the rain can save them makes it worse as we have seen with SA. They have crumbled under the pressure from the England bowlers and its only a matter of time before England win this match, the question is by how much?
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