Stonewalling Tactic

[Texan]

Hey, I am not complaining here, would actually love to see all opposing teams in India use this tactic in the 4th innings.

 

We saw SA use this earlier with moderate success. Though they could not save the match, they played out 143 overs. England tried it in Vizag and failed miserably after some early success (playing out 50+ overs for the opening wicket).

 

Do you see such a tactic succeeding in India?

 

My opinion is that visiting teams would be better off mixing some aggression with some defense, the kind of innings that Bairstow played. Ashwin and Jadeja are at their devastating best when batsmen are in a defensive mindset. Sooner or later they are going to bowl "THE ball" that will dismantle even the greatest of defenses. On the contrary, both Ashwin and Jadeja can start panicking when batsmen go on the offensive. So, I feel opposing teams are better off scoring runs and trying to target that 4th innings total than attempting to stonewall.

[fineleg]

Yes, even Kohli has said opposing teams better off playing the ball on merit and scoring runs 'normally'.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-england-2016-17/content/story/1067603.html

 

 

India v England, 2nd Test, Visakhapatnam, 5th day November 21, 2016

Kohli surprised by England's defensive tactics

[YCCC]

There's no easy way to play in that situation. I'd rather England play it as they did than play daft shots chasing an impossible total

[diga]

If Cook had remained not out overnight, they would have had to chase about 310 in 90 overs with 9 wkts in hand... It would have given a fair chance to Eng

[rkt.india]

such tactics can only work when ball does not turn much like Delhi test vs SA and this test in Vizag. Both did not offer much turn to spinners.

[rkt.india]

2 hours ago, diga said:

If Cook had remained not out overnight, they would have had to chase about 310 in 90 overs with 9 wkts in hand... It would have given a fair chance to Eng

chasing 310 in 90 overs was never possible on that pitch.

[putrevus]

The moment England here and South Africa in Delhi decided that they were not going to win the match they lost half the battle.It was just matter of time they lost the match which they did eventually.

 

Chasing 4th innings totals requires a positive outlook that does not mean going for shots or slogging, it just means taking runs on offer instead of offering dead bat for everything, it forces bowlers to do something different.

[TheWall]

Bad decision by Eng team.....

Its extremely difficult in sub continent by trying to play out the overs.....

 

Ofcourse you need a sehwag to chase big totals or a combo of Dravid & VVS to play for 2 days continuously..... not some bucket....

[diga]

2 hours ago, rkt.india said:

chasing 310 in 90 overs was never possible on that pitch.

Hypothetically it would have been possible if Cook had stayed overnight.. Eng had the firepower and our bowlers were tired on the 4th evening.. Who knows what could have happened? 

 

And 310 in 90 overs is under 3.5 rpo, which is not an impossible task

 

 

[sandeep]

49 minutes ago, diga said:

Hypothetically it would have been possible if Cook had stayed overnight.. Eng had the firepower and our bowlers were tired on the 4th evening.. Who knows what could have happened? 

 

And 310 in 90 overs is under 3.5 rpo, which is not an impossible task

 

 

Anything above 3 RPO on that wicket was impossible.  If they had added 50-60 runs more even with 3 down, they would have been better placed.  But hind-sight is always 20-20.  They chose a tactic and it didn't work.  Good that our team was able to force a result in a session and change against a deep batting team that wasn't trying to score runs.  That's not always easy to do.  

[Cricketics]

England players who play shots should stick to playing shots. I am not talking about being over aggressive and play aerial shots. But look for those singles instead of trying to defend everything. You do not have to go for the target and end up losing. At least try to play straight bat shots and not just defend even the straighter delivery. 

 

I thought Cook played well, but both Hameed and him together were really slow on day 4. They closed the day 4 with England needing 310ish, and that could have been easily been 120-130 runs in 50 some overs which India bowled. 

 

Next day they would have been needing 260ish, which would have been not been to easy make but would have seriously questioned Kohli's captaincy and made our bowlers think and put them under pressure. For a 19 years old,Hameed was impressive to not give away his wicket easily, but blocking everything with cook and scoring just 70 odd runs in 50 overs, decided the fate of this game on day 4. 

[Vijy]

16 hours ago, Cricketics said:

England players who play shots should stick to playing shots. I am not talking about being over aggressive and play aerial shots. But look for those singles instead of trying to defend everything. You do not have to go for the target and end up losing. At least try to play straight bat shots and not just defend even the straighter delivery. 

 

I thought Cook played well, but both Hameed and him together were really slow on day 4. They closed the day 4 with England needing 310ish, and that could have been easily been 120-130 runs in 50 some overs which India bowled. 

 

Next day they would have been needing 260ish, which would have been not been to easy make but would have seriously questioned Kohli's captaincy and made our bowlers think and put them under pressure. For a 19 years old,Hameed was impressive to not give away his wicket easily, but blocking everything with cook and scoring just 70 odd runs in 50 overs, decided the fate of this game on day 4. 

Scoring 400 was anyway next to impossible, and I think they took inspiration from SA's 140.