At 227/8, this is even more true now than when you wrote it. Warner’s 18 isn’t going to change people’s minds.
In NZ, England declared on Day 1 with 359 then got 3 quick wickets in the evening light in a further display of positive attitude. Crawley’s 14 means I at least still have questions about him, but if the mission is to take risks then sometimes you will go out quickly. NZ have fought back to 305 and Day 2 finishes with England 79/2 (should have been 3 but for a hilarious/agonising mix up between keeper and bowler when Broad as nightwatchman skied an easy chance which dropped to the ground between the two Kiwis.
Scotland are playing Nepal in the World Cup League 2, and are defending 274/9. Nepal need 26 from 17 with 7 wickets down. Tense!
263 all out. Not enough but a shade better than I hoped.
India have 9 overs to bat.
A couple of wickets will be very handy and we’ll open with Marnus!!??
Surely not, it will have to be Cummins and Lyon.
Nepal take it, I don’t think it was ever 27 required from 17. Looks to me from the (limited) commentary on Cricinfo that Scotland bowled well in overs 44-46, conceding only 12 in total, at which point Nepal needed 16 from 24. They got them all in over 47, which included 5 wides (off one ball) and a no ball.
A good one to be sure, but Cricinfo tells me not unique, even for Australia. Nathan Haurwitz opened the bowling on his debut, in the third innings v India in 2004. Kuhnemann is however the first Australian to open the bowling on debut at the first opportunity (i.e. in the first innings the team bowls) since GE Palmer in 1880. Looks like it has happened in most teams at some point (though not England since 1921, unsurprisingly), but rarer of course in the first or second innings. R Ashwin and Axar Patel both opened the bowling on their debuts (albeit in the 3rd and 4th innings respectively) and both are playing in this match. Source: Bowling records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPNcricinfo.com
Broad had picked up 4 wickets in 10 straight overs to put England right on top in NZ. Her really is one of the most destructive bowlers in world cricket when he gets going.
The good and the bad of Bazball - England were spectacular, but they probably left at least 100 runs on the pitch through sheer recklessness. Batsmen repeatedly got out when well set, no-one made a big innings and they ended up needing lower-order runs to get over 350. OTOH, barring something outrageous, they’re going to wrap up a comfortable win with a day and a half to spare.
Meanwhile things are getting very interesting in Delhi – Australia had India down at 140-7, as Nathan Lyon ripped up the top order. Then R Ashwin and Axar Patel got India back to first-innings parity, but Australia are off to 61-1 in their second innings with Travis Head looking good. 250 looks like a winning lead here, so India need quick wickets tomorrow.
The interesting bit is he has also suffered a hairline fracture (being struck both times by Siraj).
When 36yo batters start getting lidded while hooking, especially off a spinners deck by somebody under express pace, there are inevitable questions about longevity and viability. With the fracture, the selectors now have the option of not picking Warner for the remaining Indian Tests from injury rather than form which brightens his prospects of an Ashes swansong. Where he’ll likely get castled with monotonous regularity by unremitting barrage of right-armers bowling around the wicket.
Aus at 95-7 now. I turned it in like 30 minutes ago and just watched 6 wickets. Noticed they subbed out Warner with Renshaw for concussion. But they still list Warner as one of the 11 on the scorecard. Not sure of the rule there. Do they still get 10 wickets?
I applaud this approach of the Australian batting line-up.
It makes every district, sub district, park or school cricket team feel so much better about their own gormless efforts with the bat for the balance of the season.
Well, that didn’t take long. I think Australia had prepared a plan to use the sweep against the Indian spinners and I think we can file it under “failed plans”.
In other news, are we sure Jimmy Anderson doesn’t have a portrait in the attic? Cleaning up the New Zealand tail brought his career average back under 26 - for the first time since his second Test.
In the Women’s T20 World Cup, NZ have just buried SL, winning by 102 runs in 16 overs. WI had a narrower victory over Pakistan, who were just 3 runs short after 20 overs.
Australia and England are top of their respective tables, Oz having played 4 won 4, and England going 3 for 3. Top 2 in each group go to the semis, which currently looks like NZ and India joining Australia and England, but SA could pip New Zealand if they beat Bangladesh; with one match to play in Group 2 there are more moving parts but Ireland shouldn’t trouble India too much.
Also, Scotland are playing Namibia in their triangular series. We set them a target of 222. They are currently 138/5 after 31 overs. Namibia were comfortably above the RRR but some quick wickets have dragged them back to about parity. RRR now 4.40; CRR 4.45. More to do.
Just looking at the stats and Jimmy is currently 26 test wickets behind Shane Warne. There are potentially 7 tests he could play in up to the last ashes match.
Are the fates combining to set this up to take him past Warney with the last wicket in the final test? His historical stats see him with nearly 4 wickets per test.
Career yes, but he’d be doing much better than that on home decks I would have thought?
The only question is he going to play the 7? Would have thought 4 maybe 5 … which probably would be just enough.
