^^ Always a stretch coming into day five for the Kiwis to chase down the target. Despite, though, the 'pressure' of trying to see out the day, I did expect them to be capable of doing that! The Black caps have to be disappointed in some of the dismissals that saw them fall short! Given the pasting SA took in the first match, they did superbly well to bounce back. I didn't think the track aided them as much as it benefitted NZ in the first match.
^^ Given the history on this ground, & the poor batting in the 1st Test, Elgar made a brave call to bat first. It paid off on the final day as the selection of the only spinner by either team paid off. After a good start, aided by a missed chance, the Kiwis lost 6-61, with just less than 40 overs to bat.
Not sure of the reasons, bot the public have been robbed of an exciting deciding match. Either play a one off Test or a 3 match series, but not this.
(01-03-2022 20:00 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote: [ -> ]^^ Given the history on this ground, & the poor batting in the 1st Test, Elgar made a brave call to bat first. It paid off on the final day as the selection of the only spinner by either team paid off. After a good start, aided by a missed chance, the Kiwis lost 6-61, with just less than 40 overs to bat.
Not sure of the reasons, bot the public have been robbed of an exciting deciding match. Either play a one off Test or a 3 match series, but not this.
Agreed!! it seems ridiculous that in a world test championship, there should be such disparity between the number of matches played depending on board agreements between the nations involved. There should be a minimum of three matches to every series (independently arranged and managed), and if individual countries want to 'protect' their 'historic' series and trophies, then they can agree to 4 or five match series, but the test championship must be 3 match series come what may. How can you stay in the hunt for the championship ( I know NZ managed it and ultimately won it) if a number of your series are 2 matches and your rivals 3 matches, with the obvious point being the points that can be won/lost??
Personally, I would have no problem dispensing with this iconic/non iconic status description for series, and have them all the same. How thrilling would a high jeopardy 3 - match Ashes series be, with the ICC preparing the pitches and overseeing the series??............or even the Border/Gavaskar trophy etc!
^^ Possibly the pandemic has played some part, with both Tests played at the same venue, I would imagine to cut down on quarantine time & Limit travel. New Zealand & South Africa play a limited amount of Test cricket with poor attendance with little financial gain.
India v Sri Lanka 1st Test Mohali Day 1 close
India won the toss & elected to bat
IND 359-6 (85 overs) Pant 96 Vihari 58 Jadeja 45 noKohli 45 Mayank 33 Rohit 29 Shreyas 27 Embuldeniya 2-107
Pakistan v Australia 1st Test Rawalpindi Day 1 Close
Pakistan won the toss & elected to bat
Pakistan 245-1 (90 overs) Imam-ul-Haq 132 no Azhar Ali 64 no Shafique 44
IND v SL 1st Test Mohali Day 3
IND 574-8 dec (129.2 overs) Jadeja 175 no Pant 96 Ashwin 61 Vihari 58 Lakmal 2-90 Vishwa Fernando 2-135 Embuldeniya 2-188
SL 174 (65 overs) Nissanka 61 no Assalanka 29 Karunaratne 28 Jadeja 54 Bumrah 2-36 Ashwin 2-49
SL 41-2 (14 overs) F/O Karunaratne 23 no Ashwin 2-17
PAK v AUS 1st Test Rawalpindi Day 2
PAK $76-4 dec (162 overs) Azhar Ali 185 Imam-ul-Haq 157 Shafique 44 Babar 36 Rizwan 29 no
AUS 5-0 (1 over)
BAN v AFG 2nd T20 Mirpur
Bangladesh won the toss & elected to bat
BAN 115-9 Mushfiqur 30 Farooqi 3-18 Omarzai 3-22
AFG 121-2 (17.4 overs) Zazai 59 no Ghani 47 no
Afghanistan won by 8 wickets
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PAK v AUS 1st Test Rawalpindi Day 3
PAK $76-4 dec (162 overs) Azhar Ali 185 Imam-ul-Haq 157 Shafique 44 Babar 36 Rizwan 29 no
AUS 271-2 (73 overs) Kawaja 97 Warner 68 Labuschagne 69 no Smith 24 no
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