ENG v IND 3rd Test

[Goodsy]

So anyone got anything ?

Little bit of rain forecast over the next few days.. draw might be the option. I think on a green wicket Englands bowlers will go through India again and win the 3rd Test. Apparantly this wicket has produced results in 4 days so will be a tight.. interesting game.

I've placed $10 on England to win @$2.50

[pominoz]

Given that India have lost a quick first wicket I think you're in a good position. The #1 rank in the world beckons for England should they win, so I expect them to be pushing for a victory here.

Tremlett is out, but Bresnan is a more than capable replacement given his strong all round performance in the previous Test. Trott is out with Bopara in his place, which is a shame for England, but they still have a pretty deep batting line up, so I would back them to win here.

I know that India have got their strongest batting line up (on paper) for the first time this tour, but Sehwag is already in the sheds for the first innings, and he hasn't had played much first class cricket recently.

[Goodsy]

Yeah good 1st wicket to pick up Sehwag for a duck. Though Gambhir is proving to be frustrating at the moment.

1 wicket down and 19 more to go... loooooong way to go yet before I start feeling confident. Hoping England will have made most of the early conditions and have India 2 or 3 down by lunch.

[Andy Marshall]

You've got your 3 down before lunch. And Tendulkar gone as well!

[Goodsy]

Well, took the 3 and a bonus to have em 4 down at lunch. Ill more than take that. Still plenty of hard work to get through. Really looking to have India out within 1 hour after the tea break.

* on a side note looks like the Aussie team has done well after the change of innings in the one dayer against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka skittled for 180 or so with Mitch Johnson taking career best figs of 6/30. Almost put a wager on em, thought it too risky though cause we're crap :-/

[pominoz]

India 224 all out with England 84/0 at stumps? You couldn't ask for a much better start. England are 1.30 to win from here, depending on the bookmaker. Are you tempted to hedge your bets or will you stick with an England win? Personally, I would sit on your original bet at this stage.

--

Sri Lanka were certainly trounced last night. Was the game televised anywhere? The live feed was on bet365 last night.

[Goodsy]

Yeah England dominated day 1.. It is tempting to put $10 on India @$12.. while England are 0/84 the lead is still 140 odd.. England could still get skittled and lose the momentum. If India win day 2 then the game is back open again.. I think $12 for India is very tempting... but I will stick with England to win. India are not in a happy place at the moment and England are in a purple patch.

Im looking for England to grab a lead of 100-150 at the end of 2nd days play.. depending on weather. If they can achieve that then I will feel pretty good about it.

[pominoz]

India 224 and England 456/3? Looking good! This cricinfo text commentary sums it up:

"114.1 Raina to Morgan, no run, 89.2 kph, oh no! Dravid drops it. Aw dear. Morgan pushed outside off and the man with the most catches in Test history spills the edge. He threw his cap down in anger and it's actually rather sad"

I could go on...

"It's been relentless from England, they have ground India's bowlers into dust. India have looked completely spent, dropping catches, fielding badly, and dragging themselves with no enthusiasm around the field. You won't get many more one-sided days than that"

[Goodsy]

haha - yeah i read that part. Good stuff.. love it.. my $10 gamble is looking safge for now ;-)

Wish i had of put $100 on it... say that regularly until i lose the next bet and i thnak myself for just doing $10 :-)

Couldnt believe England were only 3 for 400 odd.. Cook is a run machine with 180 odd.. could be all over today... probably not though.. ENgland will bat and bat until as long as they can. Time up their sleeves. Last day looks sunny so hope they can bat until end of today that would be an awesome effort.

[Goodsy]

9 wickets to go..

Cook with a determined 294.. amazing knock. Its scary to think he is only 26.

[pominoz]

A first innings total of 710 must be soul destroying for the Indian bowlers. On the bright side, they probably won't have to bowl again in this Test

Cook would likely make a World XI for test cricket. Below is a revised scorecard:

India 224 & 35/1
Cook 294
India trail by 35 runs with 9 wickets remaining

It looks like the weather will stay on your side.

[pominoz]

India 58/4... Is the fat lady warming up her vocal chords?

[Goodsy]

Yeah its looking good..

Tendulkar looks like he might play a came innings here... score some runs when the game is as good as over. Should be good to watch..

Wonder if Jimmy Anderson can get all 10 wickets... off to a good start with 4 of 4 so far.

* as I say that Swann just picks up a wicket. Can they finish by lunch ? Big ask... but im not writing it off. No backbone in this Indian lineup.

[pominoz]

Congrats with the win. I ended up backing England at 1.16 when the writing was on the wall.

[Goodsy]

Cheers thx mate.. pretty happy with the result. It helped wiht the weekends poor Rugby League tipping..

You will still take $1.16... free money in the end. That match only had 1 result on it after 2 days really.

Looking forward to seeing the odds for the 4th and final test..

Now that its a dead rubber I just wonder if it is worth putting the money on India... hard though with England in this purple patch. But like the great Australian teams in the last 20 years, the dead rubber is a loser (not that Im comparing this England team to our great Aussie teams)..