5 October 2010

Laxman guides India to dramatic win

I realised India must have won as Cricinfo isn't accessible at the moment - the whole of India must be on there. A one wicket win with the last wicket partnership making 11.

3 comments:

Ed said...

To be fair to Ponting, Bollinger was off injured so he was a bowler down.

Dhiraj said...

I've watched a fair bit of this Test match and here are my thoughts on it.

1) For such an excellent match, shame there wasn't a crowd to watch it.

2) Also with such a close contest, a 2 test series doesn't do it justice. With a near empty crowd India has a real problem supporting its home Test matches.

3) Ponting made a few bad fielding decisions today. With the ball coming off the edge regularly and Tendulkar deliberately using the pace of the Australians to guide it between the slips and the gully, not having a third man was a poor decision. Even defending a small total and chasing wickets, a gully and third man were required, even if it meant removing mid-off.

4) North appears to be a better bowler than Hauritz, and only as a bowler do I see North remaining in this team.

One idea Australia could use in the next Test is replace Hauritz with Steven Smith and have North as the main spin bowler, leaving Smith to acclimatise to Test cricket as the fifth bowler.

5) The ICC needs to pay up and ensure the UDRS is available for all Test series, not just the ones where the relevant broadcasters can afford the technology.

This Test had a few errors (for both teams) which the UDRS would have cleared up quickly.

Ed said...

I think it's great that there's lots of debate about the wrong umpiring decisions because the BCCI might wake up to the need for technology now. In a way it's a pity that there wasn't a wrong decision to give Australia the game as that would have sealed the deal.

I'd love Australia to pick Smith. I don't think India or England will be scared of him in the slightest. I'm sure he'll get wickets now, but he seems at the same level as Rashid (an all-rounder who the international team want to be a specialist bowler), and he can't make England's squad, let alone 1st team.