Surly Cricket Thread

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

First day went to AUS, second day to IND.  Today is moving day.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

Mr. Vihari, what exactly is it you do around here?

Guy no longer bowls, you hardly ever see him make a play in the field and his batting is total shite.  There has to be someone better than this scrub; he has done nothing in three tests.

[UDontKnow 10,571]

Just saw Pant (after a nasty hit on the forearm by the ball) and Pujara lose their wickets in successive overs. Barring some great miracle, India needs to play hard for the draw. Sigh.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

India in deep shit.  Pathetic batting down 143 runs and already into the tail. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

2 minutes ago, UDontKnow said:

Just saw Pant (after a nasty hit on the forearm by the ball) and Pujara lose their wickets in successive overs. Barring some great miracle, India needs to play hard for the draw. Sigh.

Yep, need a miracle to get this close enough to make AUS bat a long time before declaring in their second innings. I think they will declare at around +275 the way things are going. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

Going forward I’m all for dropping Vihari and bring in H Pandya.  I know he’s a ghetto T20 superstar but ffs Vihari is useless. 
 

Never mind, Warne just said the same thing and he’s never right about these things. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

How the hell does Jadeja go four overs without the strike when he’s partnered with the #9?

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

Three fucking run outs in an innings?  Are you kidding me?

Edited January 9, 2021 by Fudge Nuggets

[UDontKnow 10,571]

India trail by 94 runs after their first innings.

Here is a slightly crazy idea. Why not open with Jadeja?

1) Rohit, 2) Jadeja, 3) Shubman (he was a natural #3 on all the junior India teams, IIRC), 4) Pujara, 5-10) Fuck it all. Pant might be out after that forearm injury

EDIT: Saha is warming up for Australia's second innings. Pant has to be out for the rest of this Test.

Edited January 9, 2021 by UDontKnow

[APMP 688]

They gonna lose big unless Bumrah does something magical.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

Vihari continues to do Vihari things by dropping Labuschsgne on the second ball of the day.  I’m not sure which has been worse this match, fielding or running between the wickets. 
 

India may not have enough fit players for the final test. 
 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

19 hours ago, UDontKnow said:

India trail by 94 runs after their first innings.

Here is a slightly crazy idea. Why not open with Jadeja?

1) Rohit, 2) Jadeja, 3) Shubman (he was a natural #3 on all the junior India teams, IIRC), 4) Pujara, 5-10) Fuck it all. Pant might be out after that forearm injury

EDIT: Saha is warming up for Australia's second innings. Pant has to be out for the rest of this Test.

I doubt Jadeja could handle the new ball against class bowlers. If everyone is fit for ENG series I go with

KLR
Rohit
Gill
Kohli
Rahane
Pant
Jadeja
Ashwin
One of Ishant/Kuldeep/Yadav
Bumrah
Shami

Hell, I might let Pujara open and drop KLR to 5.  Rohit isn’t cut out for tests it seems. Pujara could see off the new ball by scoring 5 runs off 90 deliveries. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

Chalking this test up as a loss puts IND in a bad position to make the WTC finals.  IND will have 390 pts out of a possible 570 pts with five tests remaining (last AUS test and 4x tests against ENG).  AUS will already clinch one of two finalist spots since the worst they can finish is 0.7333 which is above NZ's 0.7000.  For IND to move ahead of NZ over the course of the last five tests, they require a minimum 4x wins and 1x draw.

Things get really scary if rumors of the ENG series being cancelled come true.  In that case IND has to win the last test to go to the finals.  Lose or draw and it's NZ who takes the last finalist position.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

Do something, Vihari you worthless shit.

[UDontKnow 10,571]

5 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Do something, Vihari you worthless shit.

That blitz from Pant breathed life into the batting attack. At the second session's drinks break, down 145 runs, Pujara is anchoring the attack nicely. I'm also okay with Vihari being selective because there is a full session left to bat and right now wickets are at a premium. Jadeja is allegedly available to bat, but really can't count on him to do much with a dislocated thumb on his playing hand. Not sure what Ashwin will bring, so it's really up to Pujara to guide the team to victory. It can happen.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

Vihari pulls a hammy.  Go fucking figure.  Entire squad is made out of glass.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

Pujara is doing everything he can to keep India alive.  He either has to see us across the line or be there at stumps for a draw.  If he loses his wicket this match is over.

Edited January 11, 2021 by Fudge Nuggets

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

Welp, that should do it.  Pujara bowled by Hazlewood.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

Opening partnership at the fourth test:

[satyanash 15,586]

Pujara getting bowled takes winning out of the equation entirely. And Ashwin simply cannot deal with the short ball, he's had a few miracle escapes early.

Not looking promising

Edited January 11, 2021 by satyanash

[satyanash 15,586]

Hooooly shit Ashwin is living a charmed life. He's not going to be able to last the day.

[remoh 87]

Pant is the man. Almost pulled a rabbit out of the hat. But still Australia’s game to lose with an hour to go and 5 wickets in hand. 

[UDontKnow 10,571]

I know India are playing for the draw here, but you can't help but wonder with 11 overs left and 88 runs to win. Vihari hit 2 4s off of Cummins with his bum hamstring last over.

[remoh 87]

There are no batsman after these two. Jadeja dont count. These guys cant get out. No dreams of a win. 

[satyanash 15,586]

Incredible job by Vihari and Ashwin. They've taken India to the verge of a match-saving draw.

Vihari with 15 from 140 deliveries, slowest Indian innings in Test history.

[UDontKnow 10,571]

1 minute ago, satyanash said:

Incredible job by Vihari and Ashwin. They've taken India to the verge of a match-saving draw.

Vihari with 15 from 140 deliveries, slowest Indian innings in Test history.

Actually Yashpal Sharma (1980) had the lowest strike rate of any Indian cricketer in a first class international match.

If India pulls off the draw, the fourth and final test is potentially the series decider, barring yet another draw.

Then it will be seeing the English all the way into the autumn season, but at least Virat will be back in the squad.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

Is my nemesis Vihari going to see this through?

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

29 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Vihari with 15 from 140 deliveries, slowest Indian innings in Test history.

And exactly what was required given the situation. Vihari, you beautiful bastard!

[UDontKnow 10,571]

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

This is up there with the Eden Gardens follow on win with Dravid, Laxman and Harbajan pulling it off. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

The Great Escape. For four days this was a crap test match, but wound up being one of the all time best. 

[remoh 87]

Pant is a player you have to keep around for 15 matches. Average at best (but mostly garbage) in 14 of those. Then the one where he makes you question if he is the best batsman on the team. If he played another 10 overs, India would have won. 

[UDontKnow 10,571]

 

 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

5 minutes ago, remoh said:

Pant is a player you have to keep around for 15 matches. Average at best (but mostly garbage) in 14 of those. Then the one where he makes you question if he is the best batsman on the team. If he played another 10 overs, India would have won. 

Pant is the one that got the Boxing Day test turned around in India's favor and he lit the spark for this draw as well.  I think he and Gill have cemented their spots going forward.

[UDontKnow 10,571]

Jadeja officially out for the 4th Test and is being sent back to NCA in Bengaluru to rehab. Bumrah might have some type of abdominal injury. Might have to pull randos off the street in Brisbane to field a playing XI.

[UDontKnow 10,571]

How many Indian bowlers are making their Test debut? Insanity, I tell ya.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

Looked like India was trying to claw their way back into it then in typical India fashion they let the tail beat the piss out of them.  Starc, Lyon, Hazlewood have gone for close to 60.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

And Natarajan finishes it off AUS all out for 369 at lunch day 2.

[satyanash 15,586]

From 6-201 to 6-307 in India's 1st innings! Sundar and Thakur have put on a hell of a stand, both have half-centuries batting at the No. 7 and 8 spots and the Aussie bowling attack is getting tired.

[satyanash 15,586]

motherfucker I jinxed it...Thakur falls on 67. India are 60 runs behind with three wickets in hand.

[remoh 87]

India got really really strong bench. Ipl doing wonders even for test matches. 

[APMP 688]

The mental and intestinal fortitude from this India squad is incredible.

[UDontKnow 10,571]

11 hours ago, satyanash said:

From 6-201 to 6-307 in India's 1st innings! Sundar and Thakur have put on a hell of a stand, both have half-centuries batting at the No. 7 and 8 spots and the Aussie bowling attack is getting tired.

It was that lefty, righty action in my opinion. Fine job by Washington Sundar and he just might be ready to be a regular feature in all formats. As for this Test, if only the top of the order didn't lose their wickets so cheaply India could have been in the lead after the first innings.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

Harris and Warner look too comfortable today. Need something to shake them up.

[satyanash 15,586]

This is going to be a really, really, really tough pitch for India to bat on last... it's degenerating quickly.

[remoh 87]

Yeah, hard to see India making even 150 on this pitch now. Only chance is to promote Pant and Thakur as 3 and 4 and just go bang bang and see if they can luck in with some runs - time to play T20. If not, Pujara, Ajinkya, Agarwal, and Washington to block it out. And lots of prayers. 

[satyanash 15,586]

I was promised rain damnit ⛈️

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

The saving grace is AUS have Tim Paine as captain.  His shitty field placements most of day 5 in Sydney took pressure off the Indian batsmen and allowed for the Great Escape. I doubt he does that again but he finds new ways to choke away almost certain victories all the time.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,453]

11 hours ago, remoh said:

Yeah, hard to see India making even 150 on this pitch now. Only chance is to promote Pant and Thakur as 3 and 4 and just go bang bang and see if they can luck in with some runs - time to play T20. If not, Pujara, Ajinkya, Agarwal, and Washington to block it out. And lots of prayers. 

Washington apparently can throw the bat around as well.  Bring him in as the left hand bat when / if Pant gets out.

[satyanash 15,586]

How the hell did Pujara survive that??