India are in the process of demolishing the West Indies in Kingston, and Bumrah got himself 6-16 yesterday afternoon, including a hat-trick. Third one for an Indian in text matches.
Bumrah barely even appealed for the LBW on the hat-trick ball, and didn’t seem inclined to use a review. He seemed to think that it was a bat-pad. Also, to the naked eye, it looked like the ball might have been going down leg side. But the captain Kohli made the call from third slip, and the review showed it hitting pad first, and then hitting leg stump.
It’s a shame that the match has apparently attracted a crowd of about 200 at Sabina Park.
Checked the India/WI game just in time for Kohli to go first ball!
Still, not looking like WI will get anywhere with this game. There’s still 2 full days after this one, and India are 345 ahead with the power of 7 wickets to add. If WI pull off this kind of chase, it’ll rightfully put Stokes’ effort in the shade. Their only realistic hope is to slow Indian scoring enough that they can bat out a draw, but that’s almost as unlikely.
I’m pretty surprised that India didn’t enforce the follow-on. They bowled less than 50 overs in the Windies’ first innings, so bowling again probably wouldn’t have tested their fitness too much.
Seems like enforcing the follow on just isn’t the fashion nowadays. Rest seems the most popular excuse but I also think it’s a bit of conservatism - no one wants to get ambushed batting last on a wearing pitch.
I was reading this week that Bumrah (being of a certain age and having watched Thundercats when I was kid, I always mentally append “The Ever Living” to this guy’s name) still hasn’t played a Test in India. His record is pretty extraordinary given that fact. For a World XI at the moment, you’d think he’d be one of the first names down for the bowling attack. Given how much England struggled in the Test series against WI in the winter, India are demonstrating just how far ahead they are of us at least, I think - I can’t see this England side winning in Australia for instance - despite the fact that they lost the Test series up here last year (poor captaincy, bad luck and England’s lower order biffing being the major differentiators). Bit annoyed they haven’t paid me off yet - I’m due some money and given the lack of crowds for the games in the Windies - a swift jaunt to tick a game off in the Caribbean (and one off my bucket list) would have been ideal - though hurricane dodging probably also an issue.
Re: umpires. Don’t think umpires get “stood down” in the middle of series. Usually the appointments are announced well in advance, with a rotation of umpires within a longer series generally a given. Not that I wouldn’t have stood down Wilson at minimum. I thought that decision against Stokes was plumb at the time and no matter how many times I watch the video mhendo has uploaded, I still think it looks stone dead.
You’re probably right. Seems like the decision to go back in won’t change things very much. The Indians ended up setting the West Indies a target of almost 500, of which they managed to get 45 for the loss of two wickets on the afternoon of Day 3. That leaves two more days for 433 runs or 8 wickets. I’m betting on the Indian bowlers.
Yeah, I looked it up and you’re right. Despite the fact that just about every news outlet is reporting it as a sacking, the ICC’s own website makes very clear that Erasmus and Palliyaguruge were always going to be the umpires for the last two tests of the series.
In other news, the PCB has made Misbah, both the Chief Selector and Head Coach.
He is now, officially not only all powerful in PCB but also the most powerful former Pakistan cricket captain at present.
Wonder what the Dope thinks. I must say, I am uneasy, he is like a damn football manager now. Its going to really make the Captains position untenable.
Glad I checked this thread, thought this was starting tomorrow!
Good start by England has now devolved into the usual procession of bowlers failing to get Smith out. Early doors, but this could well become a match-winning partnership for Australia.
I would never support or condone such a tactic, but how many beamers can you bowl before being taken out of the attack by the umpires?
ETA: Aussie run rate looking much healthier for them than for most of the series, too.
I don’t know what to make of this - Pakistani cricket politics is labyrinthine as far as I can tell, and I can’t help but feel I am talking from a position of serious disadvantage on it.
This said, Misbah seems like a good bloke, brought through a bunch of the younger members of the side under his captaincy and might be a good leader for them on that basis. With respect to the captaincy, playing Devil’s Advocate, it might be a good thing. Let Misbah be the leader off the field, concentrate on enacting the plans on it, and keeping people motivated whilst fielding. Might be a good division of labour, which, given the level of computer analysis done nowadays, is maybe more reflective of how captains actually impact the game.
Best of luck to them though. Always had a soft spot for Pakistan and cricket is generally better/more interesting when they’re good.
Misbah was a great captain. Legitamatley. But cricket is a game which requires a leader on the field.
Anyone can execute a great plan when things are going well. But what if they are not.
The World Cup Final was a great match only because of how good a leader Williamson was.
Compare with how much at sea Tim Paine was at Leeds or Joe Root earlier. Unless Misbah is going to come on as a substitute fielder.
Yes, I agree, you need a leader on the field. That’s what this bit
means.
If your captain can’t either a) remember what Plan B is - because surely there will be secondary plans to every batsman that are gone over before a game - or b) come up with something on the fly for an hour before before you go back in the changing room, he’s not much of a captain. If Misbah is able to help the guy leading concentrate on the bits that make the most difference, by being a stronger leader elsewhere, he’s probably doing the captain a favour.
I think, in practice, a very strong link between coach and captain is ever more necessary in the modern era - certainly Fletcher and Hussain/Vaughan were in lock step, as were Flower and Strauss, Marsh and Waugh, etc. I think Misbah deserves a proper bedding in period to see how this works - he strikes me as being capable of doing this with whomever his chosen captain will be.
Williamson is an outlier, I think; an awful lot is being done in the prep room before hand - and even then, I bet Williamson is the best prepped captain in world cricket (following a corollary to Gary Player’s maxim about practice and luck).
To be honest, I was surprised at how tame much of the bowling was today, especially from Archer. I expected him to be bowling at 90 miles an hour and whistling at least one or two an over past the Aussie batsmen’s ears, but he was a good yard or two slower, and there’s wasn’t much fire in his bowling. When he did let a short one go, it was usually far too short, or off target, or both.
I was very happy to see how comfortable Smith looked at the crease. If the blow he took to the head messed with his confidence at all, it certainly didn’t show today. I don’t think he looked troubled once in his whole time in the middle. Labuschagne batted very nicely again, and it was a real beauty from Overton that got him.
After one decent knock in the first innings at Headingly, Warner is back to waving at anything a foot outside off stump. He and Jason Roy should start a club.
They have at least started by swinging their bat like one.
One of my cricket coaches used to describe such gross violations of the coaching manual as “dinosaur shots” ie the gap between bat and pad was wide enough for a dinosaur to pass.
As to what a classassist like Vic would have thought of Steve Smith is imponderable.
Smith reaches a ton- pity not much support. Warner seems a busted flush and aside from Lamburschange (spell check that one) no support from the recognised batsmen. I think I would have Khuwaja before Head- and that is saying something.
