Australia v India, WTC Final, The Oval, 7-11 June, 2023

A decent score though not an impregnable one (Oval Tests have been lost by sides scoring in the high 400s first up before!) India will have to bat very well to stay in it though.

skully wrote:Where was the flood? Punter won the toss and sent Eng in. They made 400 on day 1.

Anywho, 4 very soft dismissals (including the 2 ton makers) have probably scuttled a 500+ total.

eDGbaSTon

Starc is lucky he's a left armer, otherwise figures suggest he bowls too much gash and should be dropped.

skully wrote:All out 469.

Not so good from 3-360 but sent in on a greeny, I'll take it.

Given the Bannies are still some 300 odd runs behind, and 5 Wickets down maybe a better score than it looks.

Went to bed around midnight (still weary after my 3 am effort on Day 1) at 3-60-odd so happy enough with 5-151.

But reading the commentary, Rahane is very lucky to still be there thanks to a bee's dick no ball from 2nd saving him from a plumb lbw.

I thought there was probably a poofteenth of his boot behind the line, to be honest. There weren’t great lines if sight from the perpendicular.

Would be an easier law to adjudicate with 100% certainty if the boot had to Not be Completely over the line to avoid a no ball call ... and that wouldn’t disadvantage the batsmen too much. Make the penalty for a no ball stiffer at the same time ... 5 runs to the batting side. That’d stimulate some remediation from the habitual offenders.

Reasonable position. Need to tidy up the Bannies before lunch and then bat well in the second dig.

Thought Boland was the best of our bowlers.

No doubt about that. Lyon looked good as he started, too.

Not much sleep last night, Mr bucket?

I thought Starc & Cummins looked very rusty. Hope they will be in better form in the Ashes.

50 for Jinky, Tupac dropped twice…

Irritating stand made more irritating by Carey's shit keeping.

Clearly his catch.

Carey has yet to prove his worth.

Gets out to the reverse sweep way too often. Similarly, baulks 1st slip way too often.

Carey, can't reverse sweep, can't catch, can't review.

Pat Cummins, can't stop bowling wicket taking no balls, can't bowl enough spin.

A very poor session for Aus after ball 2.

Cannot afford a poor session like that in the Ashes.

Why would they walk off before the review is completed? That's ridiculous!

Arrogant. Need to pull our heads in. That's the sort of arrogance I expect from the Bannies, with their laser-cut beards, ear rings and tatts.

Disciplined bowling and fielding in 1st half of India's innings, poorly disciplined bowling and fielding in the 2nd half.

Perhaps a bit of rust crept in.

Lol the GCS. Will argue his 43 set up the first dig and he is inked in for The Ashes

Sounds like they’ve prepared a finger-breaker of a pitch to try and deplete the Aussie batting line-up… Nasser Hussain and Alec Stewart would already have been ruled out for a couple of Tests had they taken guard on this surface.

A rare brain-fade by Smudge (WTF was he thinking??) and some rashness from Head have put Australia in a less than unbeatable position.

Aus will need to extend their lead well beyond 400 to ensure safety.

skully wrote:A rare brain-fade by Smudge (WTF was he thinking??) and some rashness from Head have put Australia in a less than unbeatable position.

Aus will need to extend their lead well beyond 400 to ensure safety.

aye, terrible shot!

Missed opportunities by Aus have opened the door for the Bannies.
A woefully slow over rate as well. Wishful thinking to think points could be deducted from the following year for slow over rate in the WTC.

Labuschagne out early but Aussies grinding out a lead here. What do they need to be safe-ish, 400?

Incidentally, what’s with the early starts in this match? It’s not as if daylight is an issue in mid-June…

skully wrote:Not much sleep last night, Mr bucket?

Correct. Three very late nights so far