Don’t call me Murali out with hamstring injury. 3 spinners and 2 pa cemen on the india team. Sri Lanka bayting after toss win. 14 for 0.
Indian slip cordon off to splendid start - Dhawan at first slip drops sitter off Varun. He and I shan’t bowling well.
Sangakarra farewell series.
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
Indeed Varun and I shan't bowling well. One wicket each. 18 for 2.
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
Sri Lanka 69 for 5 at lunch. Ashwin 3 wickets. All left handers.
Sharp catches by Rahul. One at silly pt. One ar forward short leg
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
Why on earth ashwin get wickets in tests. In ODI it makes sense due to variation in pace but tests ???
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
Why on earth ashwin get wickets in tests. In ODI it makes sense due to variation in pace but tests ???
He was turning the ball like crazy vs lefties. And also giving it air.
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
For a change the Indian fielding was sharp. Saw two nice catches from Rahul. Apparently Nohit took a very nice catch at short leg (forward?)
Nohit continues his form in batting.
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
A day dominated by India from the outset. Lanka seem to have suddenly lost the ability to even play spin well. Did not bat well against Yasir and now struggling against Ashwin. India odds on favourites to win this game on day 3 or 4 (if it goes that far).
Nowadays with so many games finishing on 3rd or 4th day, I think tests should now be 4-day affairs ((i.e. 100 overs (or 7 hours play per day instead of 6h.) x4d starting at 9:30 am and/or last hour or so being played under flood-lights if available instead of 90 overs x5d)). I know Ian Chappell was once in favour of that.
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
Maybe the Ashes and other recent Tests were an exception?
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
Shows how smart catching helps a bowler. Saw Rahul make two sharp catches. The only at silly point was all reflex. Nohits catch which I don't see was apparently fantastic. So Ashwin probably had his gander up.
Dhawan also took a nice one off Varun after dropping sitter. Saha apparently dropped easy edge of flowing Inshant
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
Domination by India. SL need some solid batters at the top order. I hope Sanga plays some magicl 2nd innings.
Dhawan going good as well. I still rmemeber his debut
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
Close of play 2nd day, SL in all sorts of trouble:
India all out 375 a lead of 192 runs
SL 2nd innings 5/2
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
Poor umpiring (I didn't see the decisions). One Lankan given caught off arm guard. Saw that but wasn't watching closely.)
Kohli and Rahane lbw apparently not out. Saha given caught off helmet. Regardless of drs umps should do better. Dhawan apparently was out at 79 lbw. So evened out for both teams
But worked out for india. Got 2 wickets in last 4 overs. (Why Mishra was repacked after getting wicket in 1st over is mystery.
Unfortunately Dhawan scores big on flat track. May pay price in south Africa if he is in the team.
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
Tradition apart the only attraction behind 5-day tests is the prospect of seeing some magic moments of spin and a good contest between bat and ball on a worn-out 4th and 5th day pitch. However, these days because of frequent batting collapses many tests finish in 3-3.5 days esp. for overseas teams (not sure if that is because of poor batting technique and/or batsmen going hard at the ball owing to so much ODI and T20 cricket. Boycott certainly believes both to be the case). You can almost predict the outcome of most tests after day 2, in some cases even after day 1 like this test. The writing was on the wall for arrogant Aussies after the first morning session of the 4th Ashes test at Old Trafford. There was no way in hell, Australia were going to draw that game let alone win it after such a capitulation and it was just a matter of going through the formality of playing the remaining days.
Personally I think tests should be 400-over affairs played over 4 days with one extra day allocated for each test in case of interruptions due to rain/poor light/crowd disturbance etc. This would also bring back fans interest in the longer version of the game.
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
The beauty of having 5 days is
If teams get out early, no problem. But if both teams bat reasonable well there is still chance for outcome.
And a 5 day match will ensure batsmen use the straight bat once in a while. Nothing better 5han a straight drive all along the ground behind the bowler.
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
Sri Lanka batted well 2nd inning. 180 to chase I think..2 without loss.
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
India is in very strong position despite of Chandimal heroics 163* . Dhawan and Kohli are the keys
Sri Lanka 183 & 367
India 375 & 23/1 (8.0 ov)
India require another 153 runs with 9 wickets remaining
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
Regardless of which team got more calls, it appears this match has been extremely poorly officiated. Looks like ICC does not have a good way to rate umpitres. Else some of the ones I have talked abt in the past - thankfully forgot their names - wouldn't be umpires anymore.
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
India reeling against wily Herath and young Kaushal. Brilliant bowling. Brilliant catches by Silva at shirt leg. Wonderful catch off own bowling by Kaushal.
Batsmen stuck in crease. Only time one came out Saha stumped.
Nohit poor technique - front let away from where ball pitched (middle stump). Lost off stump. Failed again.
Good umpiring today.
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
The umpire had no idea of Kohli wicket - cauggt at short let. Kohli walked. Quite sporting.
Other end of spectrum - Harbhajan brilliantly caught off pad bat at shirt leg. Given out. Harbhajan refuses to move.
Re: India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test at Galle
India 78/7 