2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

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2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

An absolutely dominant day for India!

India finished Day 1 at 352-3 after 84.3 overs. Tendulkar scored 82 and Dravid scored 50, but the star of the day has been Wasim Jaffer, currently at 192 not out.

Early tomorrow, he'll be looking to pass 200 quickly, and then pick up just a few more runs to beat his high test score of 212. India as a team, on the other hand, will be thinking about reaching 600, if not more.

Pakistan may be undermanned in this test, but the performance of the team they put out there was a poor one.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

India declared at 5/616. Jaffer went on to score 102 with Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman both getting centuries, Ganguly's century was his first ever at his home ground. MS Dhoni finished not out on 50 when Anil Kumble called them in.

Pakistan's multiple wicket-takers were Sohail Tanvir and Danish Kaneria with two each.

Pakistan are 1/50 at stumps on Day 2. Kumble struck, removing Yasir Hameed for 21.

Interesting day for tomorrow, Pakistan need to reach 417 to avoid following on and the interest for tomorrow will be to see if they can get there and perhaps bat further on into the test. If they can do that, the game will look headed for a draw. India, meanwhile will be looking for wickets and a chance to maybe enforce the follow-on and finish this test off as quick as they can.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

Ljp86;194379 said:
Jaffer went on to score 102...
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Actually, he made 202 (given that he was on 192 at the end of previous day :)) which wasn't past his personal best of 212.

Pakistan team look like a rudderless ship. They have no leadership, no desire, bunch of injuries to critical players, egos like Shoaib Akhtar who were embroiled in steroid scandals and on and on and on. It's no fun playing such Pakistan team who don't seem to know what they're doing. I hope the Indian team is keeping itself motivated properly for the really difficult task that lies ahead - trip to Australia.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

Chandu;194401 said:
Actually, he made 202 (given that he was on 192 at the end of previous day :)) which wasn't past his personal best of 212.
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Haha, yeah, I know. Made a typo, it was pretty late at night.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

The second session on Day 3 has just begun. Pakistan lost 4 more wickets in the opening session of the day. Right now they stand at 171-5, and if they don't get a good partnership or two going, they may not last much longer than tea.

They need another 246 runs to avoid the follow-on, which seems highly unavoidable at this point. There isn't a whole lot of batting to come after the current partnership of Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

Tea.
106 run partnership for Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal so far!
Pakistan is 256-5.

Super partnership for Pakistan, but unfortunately for them, they'll probably need to keep it going through the entire final session of the day if they hope to avoid the follow-on. They still need another 161 runs to avoid it.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

Partnership now worth 145 runs. Both batsmen are in the 80's, closing in on their centuries.

At 295-5, they need 122 to avoid the follow on.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

They're still going!! Pakistan 5/329, they only need 88 to avoid following on. Kamran Akmal has his century and is on 109 with Misbah-ul-Haq not too far behind on 90.

These two have batted really well and have Pakistan into a decent position, still a fair bit of work to do though and they'll need to keep going.

There's 15 overs left today, if they keep going at the current rate, they should be able to add another 50 runs to the total. India meanwhile will be after some wickets.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

Harbhajan bowls Akmal for 119. 6/357, trailing by 269 runs. Only three overs left today.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

At stumps Pakistan are 6/358, requiring another 59 runs to avoid the follow on. Misbah ul-Haq is on 108 not out and Sami is 0 not out.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

Ljp86;194438 said:
Haha, yeah, I know. Made a typo, it was pretty late at night.
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I realize that, hence note the smiley in my previous post. :)

Anyway, India have let Pakistan back in the game. Especially when Munaf idiotically dropped Misbah-ul-Huq. Indian fielding time and time again makes me mad. :mad: How can they drop such crucial catches, I don't know. Munaf Patel has been a notoriously poor fielder, and I have no idea what the fielding coach has been up to for correcting these problems. With poor fielding discipline, India will stand very little chance against Australia.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

Chandu;194625 said:
I realize that, hence note the smiley in my previous post. :)
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@|

Chandu said:
Anyway, India have let Pakistan back in the game. Especially when Munaf idiotically dropped Misbah-ul-Huq. Indian fielding time and time again makes me mad. :mad: How can they drop such crucial catches, I don't know. Munaf Patel has been a notoriously poor fielder, and I have no idea what the fielding coach has been up to for correcting these problems. With poor fielding discipline, India will stand very little chance against Australia.
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Yeah, they've certainly done their dash here. Let Pakistan right back into this, they had to clean them up after that really good first session yesterday for them to win. Would be hard for India to win now.

Pakistan are 6/400, trailing by 216 runs. Misbah is up to 136 and Mohammad Sami is 11 not out.

Only 17 needed to avoid the follow-on now, they should do it with ease. Pakistan will probably bat for as long as they can and try to reach India's first innings total. It would be difficult for both sides to achieve a result without some sporting declarations.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

6/435 now, Pakistan have scored 35 runs in the last hour and 3 mins of actual play. In fact, Pakistan have been very slow all day, they've faced 39 overs and have scored only 77 runs.

Misbah-ul-Haq is up to 153 while Mohammad Sami is on 29.

This slow going is most likely a ploy to ensure a draw or at least to try and get the game going in that direction. There's still 52 overs remaining today and Pakistan are still behind by 181 runs, a few quick wickets will leave them well short of India's total should a collapse occur.

If Pakistan can bat for the rest of the day they should be aiming to at least match India's score.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

Pakistan are all out for 456, meaning India has a lead of 160 now. I think India should look to clean up the series here. Given that it is day 4, it will be very difficult.

BTW, the dropped catch by Munaf yesterday which made me angry was not from Misbah. It was Kamran Akmal who was let off. Anyway, it's all the same now. India should be happy with a lead of 160. Misbah has been one shining light for Pakistan in the last few months. He played a fantastic knock of 161 not out.

Irrespective of what happens in this match and test series (even if India may end up winning), my point about India needing to tighten up its fielding still stands. They will not afford to drop many crucial catches and misfields particularly from the likes of Munaf Patel against Australia.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

India sent in the conventional pair of Karthik and Wasim Jaffer to open. Given that this is session 2 of Day 4, I think Kumble should have taken an unorthodox decision. I think he should have sent in a pair of Ganguly and Dhoni and tell them to let loose by hitting big shots. Given that there isn't too much time left, Kumble should've gone for the kill and shown aggressive intent. This status quo stuff isn't doing anyone any good.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

Misbah-ul-Haq finished not out on 161. Very nice.
Looks like we're heading for a draw here, unless someone tell the Indians that they're playing a Twenty20 again. Maybe we can trick them into building a quick lead.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

Karthik is gone, and finally Kumble decided to send in Dhoni at no. 3. But there is very little time left. Even if there are tons of fireworks, it will be too little, too late. I don't see any result other than a boring draw in this one.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

India are 2/141 at stumps.

Jaffer was bowled by Danish Kaneria for 56 with Karthik falling first, also to Kaneria for 28. Dhoni and Ganguly are not out on 28 and 24 respectively.

The chase for quick runs will begin tomorrow, India will need to smash everything and perhaps bat for half or most of the first session tomorrow. They currently lead by 301, if they can get the lead up to 400, they should be happy with that. The problem will be is that they will need to leave enough time to bowl Pakistan out, something which won't be easy on this pitch.

We'll find out what happens tomorrow.
 
Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata

Ljp86;194783 said:
We'll find out what happens tomorrow.
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And nothing more than the predicted boring draw happened. Younis Khan got a century out of it. But India couldn't get all the wickets they needed. Kumble's balling selection left a bit to be desired towards the end. But to be fair to him, again Wassim Jaffer demonstrated some horrible fielding dropping a catch and making Harbhajan Singh madder than hell. Anyway, India definitely showed to be the better side in this match. Hopefully they will carry forward the momentum in the last test and clean up this series.
 
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