Showing posts with label IndvsAus2014. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IndvsAus2014. Show all posts

Friday, December 19, 2014

Indian middle order needs to click if it is to save the Second test at Gabba 2014 vs Australia

India is in a precarious position to save this Test match on the fourth day of the second test at Brisbane.

 Still two days to go in the match, India needs to bat out at least four sessions to save this match. Australia will no doubt fancy it's chances any run chase below 300.

That possibility should be taken seriously by India in order to salvage the Test match if not winning it.

Given the Indian middle order repertoire, the side could wind up without posing a decent total to defend even if it's top batsmen score centuries.

It is not as if the top order batsmen failed on this tour, despite the batsmen scoring centuries other batsmen didn't capitalize on the opportunity. That's where Australia is marginally ahead in this series.

With Rohit Sharma's below the expectations performance, India can hardly afford to loose any more wickets as it is already one down.

So the match is more favorably tilted towards the hosts and it is the tourists I feel that have the work cut out.

Nathan Lyon has already won a match for Australia and Hazlewood has shown great performance in the first innings of the ongoing test, Australia has no dearth of bowling specialists to Test India batsmen.

Can the Indian batsmen particularly the middle order with stand the onslaught from the Aussie pace and spin combo is the question.


 Valleyz.Blog

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Australia replies with 221//4 in reply to India's 408 in the second test at Brisbane 2014

India couldn't capitalize on the second day of the Brisbane test and was bowled out for 408. 

Resuming the play today India lost six wickets at regular intervals adding less than 100 runs to the team total. 

This is another area of concern for the Indian team, that India middle order on a several occasions scored far less runs than expected.  

Australia started of well in reply and Warner was surprised by a delivery which gave him very less room to manoeuvrings and he ended up ballooning the ball behind the wickets to be taken by Ashwin.

Chris Rogers looked solid scoring a well paced fifty driving the bowlers through the covers and mid-wicket with elan. But it was Shane Watson who could have gone on to notch a big score, played a loose shot in the air giving a low catch at mid wicket to Shikhar Dhawan.

Skipper Steve Smith scored briskly barring a loose cut short off Ashwin which went past the vacant second slip region to the boundary.

Umesh Yadav took 3 of the four of the wickets to fall on the second day and was posing questions to the bowlers on and off. 

Varun Aaron was unlucky to have missed bagging a wicket due to a difficult skier that Shaun Marsh played and was dropped by Rahane.

It was mixed back of luck for the both the teams, barring Umesh Yadav the Indian bowling showed signs of perennial bowling problems. Not innovative enough and not showing enough intent to take wickets or keep a disciplined tight line.

More than controlling the batsmen, India bowlers need to focus on how to bowl a batsmen out. Ashwin bowled few tight overs before being taken to runs. Smith unsettled Ashwin and pushed him on the defensive.

The more Ashwin keeps the bowl in the air, more the time batsmen will take guessing the pitch of the ball, that could result in wickets and he could mix it up bowling the wrong ones too. 

Australian batsmen are good at keeping away the quicker ones with their natural instinct of play. If Ashwin loops the ball in the air I feel he has more chances of taking the wickets than with the quicker and flatter ones.

Persistence is the key here for Ashwin, with batsmen will definitely play mind games and will want to push him on the defensive, once he is off on the defensive. The pressure is off from one end and the batsmen will be more comfortable scoring runs. 

Even though giving  away a few boundaries but taking couple of quick wickets will instill that fear factor in the minds of the batsmen of losing the wicket going after the balls that hang in the air a little bit.

And as the pitch wears down hopefully it will provide more support to the bowlers, as been the case on the second day of the match.

 Valleyz.Blog