India may believe they have the advantage, but a collapse here will put South Africa right on top. Three or four wickets in the first session, and we’ve got a sure result on our hands. The series is 1-1, and no one wants to lose. India would like nothing more than an away series win to make up for their recent travails, but batting third, and even fourth, is a tricky proposition after you've put up good runs in the first innings. Will both sides force a win at Cape Town?
Comments
Posted by: R.Manohar on 01/05/2007
India *must* press for a win. They cannot afford to slip down the rung, now that they have set themselves a good platform. Yes, they got a scare after losing both their openers quickly, and by now, Dravid and others would have gotten used to this. Dravid and Ganguly have done well to steady the ship, but there is still a lot of work to be done. India must set a score of 350 for SA. This pitch is tailormade for Kumble. India simply cannot afford to let go of this opportunity!
Posted by: Vikram Madhavan on 01/05/2007
Now what???
India climbing the ladder, however like a steady snail! Should they start moving fast! I guess, not at this stage. They need to hold on for some time to make the later stage standees worry not abt their wickets and push the balls outside the inner circle too often.
Handing over the center for the S.Africans to face the desi bowling towards the end of the day and to pickup two or three wickets today itself WOULD MAKE THE INDIANS TAKE AWAY THE SERIES WHILE RETURN... Thats what the plan should be...
But how suddenly, Indians are looking a better Test team. Feels great.
Posted by: Asit Ghosh on 01/05/2007
From where I am sitting - it is not poised on a knife edge - it is all gone for india! After a successful 1st innings opening partnership why they had to experiment with it in the 2nd innings is beyond me! and with 121/6 with likes of Kumble, Sreeshanth, Patel, Zaheer to bat even god will not be help them to set a decent target for SA to chase! With 4 sessions to go in the match and weather god not on their side, only a fool will hope for a draw let alone win for India! I might sound pesimistic but Dravid and company has done nothing to make me think otherwise!
Posted by: Sury Patel on 01/05/2007
It cannot be a 'knife-edge' game - what with the 'terrible' decisions against India...SA are playing with 12 men (includes the umpire) - I would say 'one-sided game'....especially when decisions against SA are 'not given'. This is just a farce... I think time has come to refer 'almost all' decisions to the third umpire..can you see what this does to the 'lives' of players.
Posted by: Sricharan on 01/05/2007
Might be a knife edge game for the viewers.. But it looks Sehwag wants to use the knife to cut apples.. With such a drastic form, i would like to see a news tomorrow that "he would like to call it quits for the moment" and participate in ranji and stay away until he gets his form back upto the international standards and not ranji standards..
Posted by: Senthil on 01/06/2007
Three wickets in the first session and the balance in the second session will make India to win this match by 15 runs.
Posted by: fali on 01/06/2007
Has anybody looked at the scoring rate per over? When India was batting we had 10 maiden overs against one or two runs an over. That is not called a winning teams strategy. My only suggestion to the selectors is to have more bowlers with some batting training too and write off all the so called batsmen. Our bowlers have taken wickets and scored too more than the batsmen. I have stopped following the score out of utter disgust. Very pitiful and pathetical show, its a shame out of a billion people we cannot select 15 good people.
Even God is not going to come to save the Indians at this stage. Its bad for his records too to help a losing team always.
Regards
Fali, Lugano, Switzerland
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