to be the first sub continent team to win a test series in South Africa. With a wearing pitch taking turn (described by both Indian and South African players as an Indian pitch), if you were a betting person, you'd have to back India's chances on day 5, with SA already two down.
There has been some really good test cricket in this series, much more competitive than the much hyped and so utterly one sided Ashes. The umpiring has been rather ordinary though, which assumed farcical proportions in the 2nd test especially. It was quite astonishing to see the blatant errors and the sheer number of them. Umpiring is a thankless job though, in the current state of media climate and no help from any sort of technology.
Regardless, the important thing has been the fact that India have been very competitive in South Africa, something not expected by many. Test cricket badly needs that kind of competition, where a lot of contests can be comfortably predicted in advance these days, depending upon the sheer mismatch of skills or the conditions.
This would be a 2-1 result either way (with no dead rubber wins), and the chances are India should be able to do what no team from sub continent has ever done before, not even the much talented Pakistan team of the 90s (though it was riddled with ‘issues’ – the kind which can’t be talked about openly on a public forum)
If India lose this game their fans will know what it felt like to be English after the Adelaide Test last month. Im telling you now- It aint a good feeling.
The thing about long batting orders is that often there is no safety in numbers. SA have always liked to have a long batting, but sometimes quality is more important than quantity. That famous 99 WC semi final for example, where the quantity of SA batting could not win against the quality of Aussie team (who did not have that long a batting line up).
Not just Kumble, the part timers Sachin and Sehwag can be quite a handful on a pitch taking turn, and this one is. Fifth day - you'd have to back India's chances.
Watermelon - if SA really bat well, your prediction of tied test just might come true. What a cracker of a match that would be.
Speaking of this match i think SA has the edge i say this not because IND don't have enough runs on the board but because i feel that the Indians are scared to win. Just the way the Indians batted today there was a sense of panic and the approach was almost as negative as ENG's approach at Adeliade. So if the Indians take the field with the similar attitude tomorrow then i have no doubt in my mind that SA will run away with the match.
Originally posted by fcxx: Great game and series so far.
Speaking of this match i think SA has the edge i say this not because IND don't have enough runs on the board but because i feel that the Indians are scared to win. Just the way the Indians batted today there was a sense of panic and the approach was almost as negative as ENG's approach at Adeliade. So if the Indians take the field with the similar attitude tomorrow then i have no doubt in my mind that SA will run away with the match.
I have talked about Dravid's (and for some time now Sachin's as well) negative approach to batting many times on this forum before. Not only it has cost India test matches and series (their last home series vs Pakistan was one example), it also has resulted in them drawing matches which they might have won if they played more positively. But then again, Dravid is hampered by the fact that he is not a stroke player and is limited in his capacity to score runs. He is a grinder, and will always remain so. Sachin though is a great batsman, though in decline. I take it SA bowled some negative lines in the 2nd innings, but my over all point is much larger.
Fortunately from Indian viewpoint, they are not dependent not on Dravid but on Kumble to win this match. The captain would have no choice but to set reasonably attacking fields, though that may not matter much - Kumble on a 5th day wearing pitch might be enough. There are not a lot of scoring opportunites in such cases and 160+ to get with 2 down already might be too much for SA
I remember Aus needing 120 something with 7 wickets left in Sydney against Pakistan back in the mid 90s, and Mustaq was able to spun them out - as there was enough turn. That was a dead rubber though - but at least it was a test win over Australia in Aus - as it turns out, Pak haven't had that since that match, neither in Aus nor anywhere else, Colombo, Sharjah, Moscow, Paris, Beijing...Mars...
This could be a real classic finish to a test and series....
Rain may fall, but is unlikely to persist for long. The relatively low target versus the fact that this is the ground most favourable for Indian spin on the last day probably weigh up well against each other...
