Green top - NZ wants to keep India winless

by truthbetold Thu Feb 13, 2014 4:40 pm

NZ is preparing a really green top at wellington and is likely to go in with all fast bowlers. India is going in with same team. Time for Indian batsmen to restate their ability to play in away grounds and Indian bowlers to surprise NZ with some sensible bowling.

But the big question is dhoni. Widespread rumors of Dhoni's involvement in match fixing raise the question about his ability to lead the team? He is a cool customer who may compartmentalize like Bill Clinton and do his job. or he may lose control of the team leading to major collapse in this test.

In any case, a loss in this test means winless in 12 tests in a row and 11 out of 12 test losses.

by nevada Thu Feb 13, 2014 4:50 pm

India chose to bowl first after winning the toss. Let's see if our bowlers can make this so called greentop appear as a batsman's paradide or not Smile

Dhoni is okay as long as Srini is in charge.

by truthbetold Thu Feb 13, 2014 5:02 pm

It is too much to ask . But could they have accommodated U Yadav? Is he not showing enough pace in practice? why is he kept aside?

It would be nice to see Sami blossom into a top class bowler.

by truthbetold Thu Feb 13, 2014 5:23 pm

Bowling OK but not yet successful.

by nevada Thu Feb 13, 2014 5:27 pm

Yadav breaks down way too frequently. Maybe Dhoni doesn't have confidence in him due to that reason.

by nevada Thu Feb 13, 2014 5:43 pm

Nice, 1 wicket down!

by nevada Thu Feb 13, 2014 6:03 pm

Oh, wow! Ishant Sharma on fire with 3 wickets!

by truthbetold Thu Feb 13, 2014 6:06 pm

These wickets are not just poor shots from batsmen. Ishant is bowling well.

by truthbetold Thu Feb 13, 2014 8:31 pm

Wow. ishant gets Corey Anderson. India's nemesis kane w is still there. A 150 first inning total would be a great follow up for Indian bowlers .

by nevada Thu Feb 13, 2014 9:28 pm

Sad to say but Zaheer is done. CD was right - his time is over. Shami looking tired now, serving up boundary balls every over. Dhobi should have picked Bhuvi instead of Jadeja.

by truthbetold Fri Feb 14, 2014 10:04 pm

Not a bad day so far at tea. 109 lead with 4 wickets in hand. Kiwis hope - new ball.
Indian hope - rahane and dhoni. A 200 lead would put some pressure on Nz.

by nevada Fri Feb 14, 2014 10:35 pm

Rahane is batting beautifully. Dhoni is muscling the ball well. If these 2 manage to stay together for an hour 200 lead is very much possible.

by nevada Fri Feb 14, 2014 11:25 pm

Nice! Century to Rahane and the lead is 214.

by nevada Fri Feb 14, 2014 11:28 pm

Some effortless strokeplay there by Rahane. I think he should bat ahead of Rohit Sharma hereafter.

by truthbetold Sat Feb 15, 2014 6:12 am

Good show by India. Rahane is developing into a good test batsman.

Based on rohit's up and down performance I suspect he got a drug problem.

Can India get Nz within 300? That means Indian bowlers delivering twice in the same test. Recent history does not inspire confidence. May sander can lead the way and others can chip in. There is too much time in this match and pitch is not helping either side that much yet.

by b_A Sat Feb 15, 2014 12:05 pm

Ok. Puajara for Dravid and Rahane for Laxman.

by truthbetold Sat Feb 15, 2014 5:54 pm

Khan saab is rattling nz with 3 wickets .

by MaxEntropy_Man Sat Feb 15, 2014 5:55 pm

do we know dhoni is not fixing the match?

by truthbetold Sat Feb 15, 2014 5:58 pm

If India wins srinivasan's phone is still working.

by MaxEntropy_Man Sat Feb 15, 2014 5:58 pm

is cricinfo showing the game with a delay?

by truthbetold Sat Feb 15, 2014 6:16 pm

I am not watching now. but when i saw it yesterday it was live.

by truthbetold Sat Feb 15, 2014 7:33 pm

87 for 4 at lunch. Not bad.

by truthbetold Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:56 am

bad. Brendon M. stopped India and gave NZ a chance. Under normal test conditions it is a small chance but against suspect Indian bowling and batting NZ is gaining confidence. Still score favors India 80 to 20. A score of 350 is ok. anything around and above 400, things get dicey.

by confuzzled dude Sun Feb 16, 2014 8:37 pm

NZ takes 144 runs lead. I think India will bundle out for 140 runs in their second dig.

by MaxEntropy_Man Sun Feb 16, 2014 8:38 pm

confuzzled dude wrote:NZ takes 144 runs lead. I think India will bundle out for 140 runs in their second dig.

depends on what the instructions from chennai high command are.

by southindian Sun Feb 16, 2014 8:39 pm

Remembering Dravid-Laxman against Australia. Go NZ.

by truthbetold Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:12 pm

How often a test side can go without getting a wicket for 35 0 runs? seldom. if it is 6th wicket ? never before today. This defies probabilities. This is likely to be a dream win for NZ. What a dream like comeback.

Any time a partnership stabilizes to 50 or above, Indian bowling seems to lose all fight and it turns into a massive 200 or 300 plus partnership.

by confuzzled dude Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:15 pm

Walting gone... but NZ got 200 runs lead already lets see if India can take remaining 4 wickets quickly.

by confuzzled dude Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:15 pm

by truthbetold Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:16 pm

confuzzled dude wrote:NZ takes 144 runs lead. I think India will bundle out for 140 runs in their second dig.

Your predictions are becoming more shrill.

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:23 pm

too late... even if NZ folds, India will have to score some 225+ in less than a full session. This is the Indian Team that decided to settle for a draw from a winning position very recently.

So India loses the test series as well.

by MaxEntropy_Man Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:27 pm

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:too late... even if NZ folds, India will have to score some 225+ in less than a full session. This is the Indian Team that decided to settle for a draw from a winning position very recently.

So India loses the test series as well.

i have a feeling there's a chennai high command - dhoni nexus to this result. i picture a lot of money changing hands behind the scenes hidden in cement bags and appaLam packets.

by confuzzled dude Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:28 pm

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:too late... even if NZ folds, India will have to score some 225+ in less than a full session. This is the Indian Team that decided to settle for a draw from a winning position very recently.

So India loses the test series as well.

It's day 4, isn't it?

by truthbetold Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:35 pm

confuzzled dude wrote:
Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:too late... even if NZ folds, India will have to score some 225+ in less than a full session. This is the Indian Team that decided to settle for a draw from a winning position very recently.

So India loses the test series as well.

It's day 4, isn't it?

Minor fact. From an Indian perspective this test may be lost. But from a spectator point of view it just got interesting. Can Indian get rest of the NZ out soon enough? can India survive the fifth day? Can they score 250 or 300? If it is three hundred India may go for draw (if NZ allows them).

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Sun Feb 16, 2014 11:38 pm

confuzzled dude wrote:
Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:too late... even if NZ folds, India will have to score some 225+ in less than a full session. This is the Indian Team that decided to settle for a draw from a winning position very recently.

So India loses the test series as well.

It's day 4, isn't it?

Holy Shyt. Yes...It is only 4th day.

Then India is doomed......And these guys cannot wrap up the NZ tail even with the second new ball and that too in NZ?

by bw Mon Feb 17, 2014 12:35 am

isn't NZ a team that has been losing test after test for several years now? what is going on?

by truthbetold Mon Feb 17, 2014 4:35 am

Spare a thought for bredon m.
True it is against hpless Indian bowling and fielding.
He pulled his team from a near certain defeat to a certain victory. That is a long distance to travel even if it is against India.
India had the test for 21/2 days but could not bring it home due to the great effort of bredon.

by MaxEntropy_Man Mon Feb 17, 2014 6:21 am

bw wrote:isn't NZ a team that has been losing test after test for several years now? what is going on?

match fixing?

by bw Mon Feb 17, 2014 6:36 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
bw wrote:isn't NZ a team that has been losing test after test for several years now? what is going on?

match fixing?

really? with all the riches IPL brings them, this should be chump change and not worth the risk unless they are held hostage by the goons. i think they just don't care much about tests and are probably making sure they don't get injured before the all important IPL.

by nevada Mon Feb 17, 2014 7:50 pm

bw wrote:isn't NZ a team that has been losing test after test for several years now? what is going on?

NZ is a tough opponent at home. Last time India toured there Gambhir had to bat for 2 days to stave off defeat in one of the test matches. And India's bowling is toothless.

by truthbetold Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:38 pm

Indian batsmen are having a tough time hanging in there after nz scored 600. can't bat can't bowl, can't take pressure. my be they are waiting for srinivasan call to bail them out. But this test proved that those calls are no longer very useful.

Some one said the players are saving themselves the bread winner IPL. Could that be possible that Indian players not caring for test cricket?

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:38 pm

....I know which team I will be rooting for in the1-day world cup.

by b_A Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:16 pm

Yep. The current #4 rises to the occasion unlike the predecessor.

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