blonde poker forum

Is it just me?

India are 6/5 to win this, England 8/1 and the draw 4/5

England are underprepared for obvious reasons, distracted for obvious reasons and not suited to the pitches in the sub-continent either. Panesar will be a handful, Flintoff will on any pitch but the rest of the attack? Anderson got tonked out of games in the ODIs, Harmison is hit and miss and Swann is an ODI player put in this as we have no spin depth. India will score masses, and bowl us out twice on wearing pitches

India are to my mind odds on to win, short odds on if they win the toss and bat. Good depth of batting, good spin attack, decent quicks these days

in the India batsman's 1st Inns market there is value too

Yuvraj Singh is 11/2 to top score, Tendulkar 4/1 (alternative Dravid 5/1). both appeal. Favourites are Sehwag and Gambhir at 7/2 . the value is in Singh and Tendulkar. Sehwag is inconsistent, Gambhir more of a plodder and whilst Tendulkar is slightly on the downside he piled up the runs against the Aussies at home recently. Yuvraj's challenge will be to get in early enough to be in contention to score enough runs

So in summary, lump on Eng!

Wet season in Chennai. My sources out there say there is a chance there will only be 3 days play.
I guess that is why the draw is favourite.

England 164/1 at tea, so even allowing for our mandatory mid-innings collapse we should still get past 300, so will do well to lose it now, especially if rain is forecast as well!

Bell out 2nd ball after tea - let the collapse begin!!!

lol,nice bok Matt!! Bell must have been dismissed as you were typing!!

400 is an absloute minimum on this wicket,it's very very flat.

i love test matches, off to bed to listen to test match special

only time i ever get a good nights sleeep

230-5 is nowhere near enough, its turning bundles already

need to get to 350+ starting tomorrow morning.

If they get bundled out for 275, which lets face it is more likely, I-weather permitting- think the Indians will pile the runs on and win

India played South Africa on the same ground a month or so ago,SA scored 400+ 1st innings,and India replied with 600+. However SA don't have a spinner of the calibre of Panesar. If we can get up to 325+,we then desperataly need 2 wickets with the new ball,opening partnerships in India are so important,that is when run scoring is at it's easiest if you are playing against quality spinners. We can't afford to let them get off to a flyer and have Sehwag in when Monty comes on. I'm certain India's gameplan will be to take the spinners on and not let them settle,particularly Swann,but he is a big turner of the ball and i think he could be dangerous. Time for Monty to step up to the plate with conditions to suit. Zaheer was getting reverse swing,so Flintoff and Anderson should pose problems when the ball gets older. England ftw!! lol.


Day 2 close of play,England 275 India 280-3!!!

definitely a tricky pitch to bat on days 4-5

we need a good 1st session tomorrow or I fear we'll be chasing a deficit second innings

Go Go India!!

I think India are in the driving seat and as soon as we get out the night watchman anderson (btw i really hate the idea of nightwatch men never made sense to me) we will have some momentum

Looking at India 1st innings i really fancy Gambhir for top run scorer. This is due to Sehwag takes the pressure of getting the runs quickly so Gambhir will nicely settle in into his innings and after his form of late i expect him to get a big score. He is very good against the new ball probably our best player against spinners and with two spinners playing he should easily score ones and twos when the spinners are bowling in tandom. His only weakness is as he get to a score of 50-60 he used to lose his head and not go onto hitting big scores but he has changed that of late and seems to have improved his tempermant.

If not gambhir i fancy Laxman also to do well 

[ ] Gambhir or Laxman will top score
[ ] Gambhir's problem was he lost his head as he got to 50-60

Good start England

Going well for England here!  109/5 Another wicket and the tail is exposed! 

137-6

HUGE wicket!

Freddie talked him into that one!  Was a quality 15 min to watch...  Keep em under 200 in the morning we have a chance.....

Only made some prediction doesnt mean its going to happen. Gambhir was going well and he lose his head lol just a lot sooner that 50-60.

England played very well 2day and fair play deserved to be the position they are in. Flintoff is one of the best bowlers in the world.

But there still a long way to go in the match because i think indias spinner will utialize the pitch in the last innings better than england.

It defo englands game to win but watch out for harbajan singh lololol

Wow! What a day. Great captaincy from Pieterson. Freddie is immense. Haven't been to bed yet!!

COME ON ENGLAND.

very pleasant surprise.

Freddie baiting Yuvraj out via the chirping was brilliant psychology! Even if it sunk my bet!

need a lead by knocking over the last four, as it appears batting isn't as straightforward as it could be.


 

I wasn't having a dig just very pleased.
Thought England should have broken 400 so expected India to aim for 500. If we take a lead into the 2nd innings it will be great as although we won't find it easy to bat India have to bat last so it might depend on the state of the pitch.

off to bed just in time to catch the afternoon session on radio 4

yes a good nights sleep before i head off to abereen tonight

This could be a tense few hours.

COME ON INDIA!!!!!

GFY.

 rotflmfao :kiss: :kiss: :kiss:

so touchy.... just because i said you and kev look like brothers.

At least we can win at Curling......  ;)

Big wicket that Gambhir, he was the one the others would play around

Need to bowl better though, the peerless Flintoff apart.

Off to bed. Here's hoping.

We've blown it.
Great game of cricket though......for a neutral or India fan

What a way to win, the Little Master brings up his hundred. What a match NICE ONE INDIA yeayyyyyyyyyyy woohooooooooooooooo

Well played India,a great test match.

A disappointing bowling effort from England,Flintoff apart,and to a lesser extent Swann who certainly outbowled Panesar.

Well that's one way to scoop at 6/5

Disappointed though. Flintoff apart, we've got to be more consistent bowling under pressure. Anderson and Harmison are not to be trusted when the heat is on, sadly.

Anderson and Harmison found wanting when under pressure?

Well I never.