Dhondy Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 You know that feeling every Test aficionado dreads? The last of the summer wine feeling? The knowledge that after the current NZ-Ind series and the final Test in SA, it will be a death by thousand cuts by IPL? I was determined to stay up and watch even if it meant being bleary eyed at work. A stubble is not a disciplinary offence, is it? Is it just my Indian bias or were those first two hours poetry in motion? Replace Keats & Byron with Zaheer and Ishant. In, out, beaten on the forward prod, cherry whizzing past the bat, juggled catches caught and dropped, the shape on Ishant's induckers reminding me of all that's bright & beautiful. The warm feeling sinking in...we have a pace attack at last. NZ 56 for 5...surely even India couldn't go wrong from here? Time to hit the sack. When I saw 279 all out next morning, it was the same sick old feeling in the pit of the stomach. It had happened again. Why, all ye sporting Gods? Why do You always have to take the micky out of us? Flat deck, sun on the pitch, whatever, it shouldn't have come to this. Our seamers gave us six for next to nothing, but couldn't finish the job off. The ghosts of Karachi and Calcutta all over. Just a different cast, on a different stage. The fact that the bowling superstars in other parts of the world have had similar floggings recently, a la Johnson and Siddle at Melbourne, is scant consolation. They haven't suffered the indignities that we have in the past. There's was an one-off, ours is a refrain. Tonight, if Sehwag goes early, we'll all be condemned to the most turgid cricket imaginable from a man playing from memory and India will have come full circle. The more things change... Link to comment
Holysmoke Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Could watch yesterdays play :(( Link to comment
observer1 Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 i switched the tv off at 60 for 6 or whatever it was around midnight. switched it on again 0440ish this morning, and my heart sank when i saw ryder batting. bcos my first instict said - jeez, this is the second innings for nz, and india have already been bowled out. memories of that series in 2002/03 or whenever it was have scarred me for life! Link to comment
coffee_rules Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Can't wait to see today's game..Sehwag, Tendulkar in red hot form. Dravid can hold one end up.. That's a good writeup... Link to comment
Sachinism Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Its a decent wicket to bat on, they are bound to score runs, ours seamers bowlers exceptionally to get us those early wickets If Sehwag gets past the 1st 30 mins, he'll hammer NZ into oblivion Link to comment
Shehezaada Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 You know that feeling every Test aficionado dreads? The last of the summer wine feeling? The knowledge that after the current NZ-Ind series and the final Test in SA, it will be a death by thousand cuts by IPL? I was determined to stay up and watch even if it meant being bleary eyed at work. A stubble is not a disciplinary offence, is it? Is it just my Indian bias or were those first two hours poetry in motion? Replace Keats & Byron with Zaheer and Ishant. In, out, beaten on the forward prod, cherry whizzing past the bat, juggled catches caught and dropped, the shape on Ishant's induckers reminding me of all that's bright & beautiful. The warm feeling sinking in...we have a pace attack at last. NZ 56 for 5...surely even India couldn't go wrong from here? Time to hit the sack. When I saw 279 all out next morning, it was the same sick old feeling in the pit of the stomach. It had happened again. Why, all ye sporting Gods? Why do You always have to take the micky out of us? Flat deck, sun on the pitch, whatever, it shouldn't have come to this. Our seamers gave us six for next to nothing, but couldn't finish the job off. The ghosts of Karachi and Calcutta all over. Just a different cast, on a different stage. The fact that the bowling superstars in other parts of the world have had similar floggings recently, a la Johnson and Siddle at Melbourne, is scant consolation. They haven't suffered the indignities that we have in the past. There's was an one-off, ours is a refrain. Tonight, if Sehwag goes early, we'll all be condemned to the most turgid cricket imaginable from a man playing from memory and India will have come full circle. The more things change... we'll be ok even if Sehwag goes early. I have faith in this batting lineup. Link to comment
umpire Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 We will we will rock you. Only dangerous bowler is Kyle Mills, Martin can only swing it one way. O Brien bowls too short. Not sure about Franklin, if he has improved. Link to comment
punjabi_khota Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 i switched the tv off at 60 for 6 or whatever it was around midnight. switched it on again 0440ish this morning, and my heart sank when i saw ryder batting. bcos my first instict said - jeez, this is the second innings for nz, and india have already been bowled out. memories of that series in 2002/03 or whenever it was have scarred me for life! :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: Link to comment
fineleg Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Flat deck, sun on the pitch, whatever, it shouldn't have come to this. Our seamers gave us six for next to nothing, but couldn't finish the job off. The ghosts of Karachi and Calcutta all over. Just a different cast, on a different stage. Cannot agree more with you. Whatever the reason, from 65-6 we should not have allowed NZ to have scored beyond 150, 170. 279 is bloody ridiculous! The fact that the bowling superstars in other parts of the world have had similar floggings recently, a la Johnson and Siddle at Melbourne, is scant consolation. They haven't suffered the indignities that we have in the past. There's was an one-off, ours is a refrain. Exactly. What we needed was a bundling out of NZ rather than watch a darn Vettori century! Tonight, if Sehwag goes early, we'll all be condemned to the most turgid cricket imaginable from a man playing from memory and India will have come full circle. The more things change... The middle order has to score the runs, else we can stop saying they are the world's best (ok, thats a hyperbole before someone jumps up and down). Cannot rely on Sehwag each and every time! I hope Sehwag does well, but with his style of batting, fielding side will always have an opportunity early on. Link to comment
punjabi_khota Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Dhondy, maybe the guy playing from memory can recall his performances from 2002/03 tour and do an encore.... Link to comment
veer Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 i am loving this test.. after 60/6 i was thinking damn not another 1 sided contest.... now we are in for a fabulous test match.. watch and enjoy... (cus I know at the end we are going to win this series.. :cantstop: )" Link to comment
Rajiv Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 i switched the tv off at 60 for 6 or whatever it was around midnight. switched it on again 0440ish this morning, and my heart sank when i saw ryder batting. bcos my first instict said - jeez, this is the second innings for nz, and india have already been bowled out. memories of that series in 2002/03 or whenever it was have scarred me for life! http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1998-99/IND_IN_NZ/SCORECARDS/IND_NZ_T3_02-06JAN1999.html For me it was this one, 211-7 , was tipsy and slept..woke up and saw Dravid still there..didnt sleep after that Link to comment
Ram Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Ideally, I would like us to bowl them out for 180-190. I knew the pitch would ease out after lunch and there was bound to be a rear-guard partnership, but I didn’t expect that ‘rear-guard’ partnership to be worth a massive 180 runs. Getting them out for a sub-200 total would have been ideal, not just because it means less runs for us to chase in the 4th innings, but it also means we would have already faced 20-odd overs of the new ball on day 1 evening itself, when the ball does not swing that much. So, come morning of day 2, even when the conditions are conducive for swing bowling, the ball is already quite old. Alas, that possibility is now ruled out. Starting out day 2, I am both hopeful and fearful. Hopeful because I trust this Indian batting line-up to deliver its goods and I also saw how the Vettori-Ryder combination were scoring runs at will against this decent Indian attacks, which showed how good the pitch was and how the outfield paid full value for your shots. But, I am also fearful that, If Sehwag goes early and NZ manage to bottle-up one end, they can end-up striking at the other as they choose and we may get dismissed for a sub- 220 total by late afternoon. I have no doubts that Sehwag and Sachin are our two key players in the first innings. Even if one of them delivers, we will probably be well ahead by the end of day 3. If both of them fail, we’ll certainly be chasing the game from then on. And unless we take a substantial lead in the first innings (around 150), things could become almost impossible for us because, there is no way this rather long batting line-up of NZ is going to fold for another paltry total. I back NZ to score atleast 330 in their second innings, irrespective of what India does in its first. So, its vital that we take as substantial a lead as possible in the first innings. The recent Eng-WI series showed how a test match series could won or lost in 40 mins. England played well right throughout the series, but paid heavily for that one hour of bad batting in the first in Antigua. The only difference here is that, we can actually make giant strides towards our goal of winning this series, by mere two hours of good batting. I am convinced that, if we end the first session of day 2 being the team on top, we’re certainly our way to becoming the first Indian team in many years to win a test series in NZ. Link to comment
fineleg Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 I am convinced that' date=' if we end [b']the first session of day 2 being the team on top, we’re certainly our way to becoming the first Indian team in many years to win a test series in NZ. Just based on one session of one Test, you are calling the series? Link to comment
Ram Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Just based on one session of one Test' date=' you are calling the [b']series? I am not saying the first session of day WILL decide the series, I am saying it MAY. Just look at the previoud WI-Eng series if you want proof. Link to comment
coffee_rules Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Take a look at this: Thsi test's gone to the pooper!!! http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/weather/27 Rain today and then again on Sat and Sun. Rain Today: 2.0 Humidity: 95% Updated: 19/03 08:45 Today's Forecast Showers, increasing fine spells. Southwest developing. Link to comment
umpire Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 cloudy condition means lot of swing and seam. We are doomed Link to comment
fineleg Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 cloudy condition means lot of swing and seam. We are doomed :(( But this is the test our batsmen need to come fighting out against. Lets see. Last NZ tour our batsmen came a cropper. This time they need to give it back to NZ. Link to comment
Mr. Wicket Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Doc, Any thoughts on Harbhajan's bowling performance? :winky: Link to comment
Holysmoke Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 :(( This time they need to give it back to NZ. Sachin wont. He's selfish, remember?:giggle: Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now