Thoughts on Day 1... predictions for the rest?

[The Outsider]

I missed quite a bit of the match - watched the first hour and bits and pieces for the rest of the night, but am not overly disappointed with a score of 366/8. We gave away too many runs in the morning for sure, but at least during the first hour not much was happening for the fast bowlers. There was a bit of swing and good carry, but not enough to really trouble the batsmen on a consistent basis. It also took time for the bowlers to get their length right, by which time SL were already off to a flier. My feeling is that it was a conscious effort by SL to dominate the bowling even at the expense of taking some undue risks, but we had come back quite nicely in the match at 180/4. The irritating part was letting Mathooze and Prasanna score so many runs - both very average batsmen. In fact, Prasanna is nothing more than a glorified tailender. Can't fault India for not attacking though. Whenever I was able to tune there were attacking fielding positions. Some might same perhaps too attacking? I felt Sreesanth bowled better than his figures and Ojha much worse. The real trump was Harbhajan - the pitch really seemed to be made for him with the extra bounce and zip. He will have the most important role to play in the second innings to give India a manageable score to chase. Zaheer looked ordinary most of the times - would have liked to see him try more bouncers on this pitch. The pitch looks good for batting though and India has the batting line up to deliver a 100 run lead which it would need having to bat last on the track. It's certainly not a 650+ run belter, but with our line up we should be able to bat 5 sessions which will give us a good lead and hope for a better bowling performance in the second innings. Chasing more than 200 might turn out to be a tough task if Murali gets back into form. I would call it a 60-40 day in favor of Sri Lanka - India would have been more than happy taking 325 from them in the first innings. They have an extra 50 runs, but nothing insurmountable.

[Desi Cartman]

I think its going to be a 3.5 day test match. India will trail by 100-150 .. Both teams will collapse in the 2nd innings and India will lose by 150 runs :isalute:

[kabira]

tomorrow will be best day for batting and we have to take it. The key will be to attack spinners like we did last game. Lot happens in middle overs, when ball is 30 overs old. I think we had poor last session. Real poor last session. Two many boundary balls. We have to bat out of our skin to get any lead.

[coffee_rules]

Thanks for the write-up. Just read CI bulletin on D1. That Moron makes it look like India didn't do well at all. But I think it is the first time 8 wkts has been taken on D1 of a test in this series. It might be 'free' wickets (Dilshan's), but from the scorecard it doesn't look like SL have walked away with the match. If we get them all out before 400 and get a good start, we can still make a match out of it.

[The Outsider]

Thanks for the write-up. Just read CI bulletin on D1. That Moron makes it look like India didn't do well at all. But I think it is the first time 8 wkts has been taken on D1 of a test in this series. It might be 'free' wickets (Dilshan's), but from the scorecard it doesn't look like SL have walked away with the match. If we get them all out before 400 and get a good start, we can still make a match out of it.

Dilshan's wicket was a huge bonus - it was an atrocious decision. However, ideally we really should have capitalized on that and shut them out for under 300-325. Any runs from the bat of Prasanna and Mathooze are zeher. I just hope Tendulkar and Dravid have a special one saved up for here!

[Ram]

Hmm, I'll hold my breath till Lanka have been bowled out and we have batted out our first two hours. I fear making any predictions before that is fraught with danger because a) Lanka could yet still cross 425. I dont care how good/bad a pitch is, a 400+ first innings score is always something to be worried of. b) Irrespective of what Lanka ends up with, our top order batting could yet go AWOL. I didnt get to see a single ball of day 1, but looking at the scorecard, it does look evens stevens, with India being the marginally happier side. Just on day 1, there 3 occasions when Lanka could have ran away with it (the opening partnership, the p'ship b/w Dilshan and Angelo and p'ship b/w Angelo and J'dene) and on all 3 occasions, we struck at just 'bout the right time.

[Ram]

Prediction; Lanka makes around 430. India get bowled out for around 270-330. Lanka bat again and get bowled out for around 270-285. Chasing around 400, we get bowled out for 340-ish total. Lanka wins test by 60 runs.

[Jersey #10]

Wrap it up before drinks and then declare after drinks on the 4th day. a Lead of 200 will be great... Bowl them out before lunch on 5th day. Chase down the remaining trailed runs.

[Sachinism]

Reading the cricinfo commentary, there were quite a few loose deliveries which were punished

[kabira]

those who did not watch. The pitch always had something for bowlers. The key is to be positive and attack spinners. We need to go after them. Scoring against new ball will be easiest so we need Sehwag or Vijay to fire and score hundred

[chinnamama]

this pitch is tailor made for Murali so anything above 400 is asking trouble for India

[DomainK]

Like I said before, at the end of the day's play both captains would have felt like they could have done better. Sanga would feel they lost too many wickets and Dhoni would feel they gave away too many runs. Interestingly the pitch eased up a bit in the third session. Batting won't be very easy or very difficult tomorrow. A couple of good partnerships should take us past the Lankan score. But I have a feeling that chasing on a 4th/5th day pitch will be very difficult. We really need to score those runs tomorrow. We need a big lead.

[Jersey #10]

We also have a Murali It will be a draw :yes: 8 wickets on the first day is not a bad position to be on actually :yay: this test match is interesting(technically) watching it is still :P

[vvvslaxman]

India's goal should be bat 6 sessions. That will eat 2 complete days.

[DomainK]

this pitch is tailor made for Murali so anything above 400 is asking trouble for India

That's my worry. It's one thing to hit him for a 100 on a road. It's another thing to face him on a turner- especially on a 4th/5th day track. Though one has to agree that if there is any team best equipped to face Murali on a turning wicket, it's India.

[vvvslaxman]

That's my worry. It's one thing to hit him for a 100 on a road. It's another thing to face him on a turner- especially on a 4th/5th day track. Though one has to agree that if there is any team best equipped to face Murali on a turning wicket, it's India.

I still think it won't be as bad as say Galle or RPS. Problem with Murali is not just pitch but lack of power to generate the revs. I am more wary of Herath.

[Karan114]

I think Lanka will take a 100+ first innings lead and win the game, with Murali and Rangana doing the honors. Hope I'm proven wrong.

[champ]

the pitch will be best to bat tomo .. we need to get them early before lunch and put a score close to theirs .. batting from 3rd day onwards is diffi c u l t ..

[Gambit]

It will be a test match to remember for a long time. We'll score as much as Lanka in our first innings and from then on, it will be a one inning game. I expect us to restrict Lanka to 290 and we'll end up chasing between 270-310. :potstir:

[sandeep]

50 runs too many - agreed. 8 wickets is great though, only 12 more to go :winky:. I don't expect a great start from the openers - it will be upto our middle order whether they can set the game up for us or SL. I like Tendy and home-bully patiala peg to do well - if they do, then we are in business with a 3-digit lead. Hopefully we can mop up the next 2 < 400. That will give me a chance to watch veeru slap around SL for a bit:--D