The Test Updates

Zimbabwe were so close to a historic win against New Zealand before a mini collapse just got them 34 runs short from their target thanks to Brendan Taylor's century.  Also, Sri Lanka dominate the the 3rd day of play when Pakistan were reduced to 282/6 while we preview the mouthwatering encounter with India and West Indies tomorrow.

 

New Zealand 426 (Guptill 109, Mpofu 4-92) and 252 for 8 dec. (R Taylor 76, Jarvis 5-64) beat Zimbabwe313 (Sibanda 93, Vettori 5-70) and 331 (Taylor 117, Bracewell 5-85) by 34 runs

The currently unranked side, Zimbabwe, went out fighting in the final day in which most elite sides would go defending in which was thrilling battle to the edge. This would prove to many doubters of Test cricket how entertaining it can still be.

Starting at 61/2, Brendan Taylor gave Zimbabwe a rocket start and a spark for Zimbabwe who were going to have a go at reaching the target by the way Taylor was going. He shown patience and the right balls to hit but had his lucky shaves as well. Just before tea, Taylor edged the ball to gully, where Watling claimed to have caught the ball in a close encounter. TV replays with such poor camera angles with the broadcast Neo Sports were broadcasting, the third umpire concluded that there was insufficient evidence to allow the catch to be claimed. 

This had knocked New Zealand's confidence after tea when Zimbabwe were 265/3 with 101 runs needed to win. But Doug Bracewell and Daniel Vettori with the pair of pace and spin did the damage and there was a level of irony when Taylor holed out the same fielder in which he was given not out with a definite comfortable catch this time.

Daniel Vettori setted up a tight line of fielding and bowling and it paid off with Taibu who looked like the only one to get them to victory resisting the urge to sweep finally edging one to mid-wicket to get New Zealand a step closer to victory. Malcolm Waller, the hero for Zimbabwe in the 3rd ODI, looked good and was the only batsmen that could get to the target but when he was dimmissed with a the tight line being bowled by Vettori and the new ball being bowler also, it needed a miracle. 

The mini collapse from 303-6 to 331 all out contributed partly but Zimbabwe have won the hearts of new fans and old around the world with their fighting spirit and they are yet to show the best of their side with years of recovery left for them ahead...

Pakistan 282 for 6 (Younis 122, Azhar 53, Misbah 50*) trail Sri Lanka 413 by 131 runs

Younis Khan showed resistance for Pakistan with his century in what was otherwise a mediocre batting display by Pakistan. 

Azhar Ali and Younis Khan were building a solid partnership with Ali leading the way in 98 runs partnership. Recovering from what was early nerves in the previous session yesterday, Pakistan looked to threaten the Sri Lankan bowling with patient batting but Sri Lanka played the patience game also and it paid off dismissing Ali for 89 with Kulasekara's clean bowling in what was an awkward ball to play. Misbah-ul-Haq played the similar kind of game to his predecessor, Azhar Ali, and got them to a 100 run partnership before being dismissed by Suraj Randiv in a turning pitch that was proving tricky for the batsmen. 

Going into the final session, Asad Shafiq and Adnan Akmal shown the difficulties of the moving pitch with their dismissals. They never felt comfortable while Younis Khan felt at ease leaving the ball and rotating the strike.

At the end of play, Younis Khan looked like during the day that he was about to run out of partners to get them to a formidable score and this might be the case if someone else gets into the pitch quite quickly.


Battered West Indies look to see some light in India


West Indies, coming from a hard earned Test and ODI series victory in Bangladesh, look to see some light with the injury-prone side India. In the last 22 home Tests, India have just lost 2 which shows a formidable side with West Indies still developing players after a series of walkouts in the past 2 years.


West Indies have got some dangerous bowlers like Devendra Bishoo who had some comfortability in sub-continent pitches in the Cricket World Cup earlier this year. But India could pick lots of formidable spinners but surprisingly not Harbhajan Singh with what the selectors claim is "poor and inconsistent form in previous Test matches". They have formidable spin bowlers like Pragyan Ojha who has played against West Indies in May this year. Ishant Sharma looks to be dangerous with his show with his competitive fast bowling in the England tour as well.


West Indies though seek and use the unexpectedness from India to their advantage and catch them napping from India's celebration of a whitewash against India earlier this month. One session can make the difference in Test matches and you want strike your opponent when you are not looking and these are what both sides are looking to be 
doing...


India Squad:  1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Pragyan Ojha, 11 Umesh Yadav


West Indies Squad: 1 Adrian Barath, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Kirk Edwards, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Marlon Samuels, 7 Darren Sammy (capt.), 8 Carlton Baugh (wk), 9 Ravi Rampaul, 10 Fidel Edwards, 11 Devendra Bishoo