574/5 in 202 overs.
| BAW Mendis | 55 | 13 | 135 | 1 | 2.45 | (3nb, 1w) | |
| M Muralitharan | 60 | 12 | 165 | 1 | 2.75 |
3 days between the two tests. 90 more overs before the end of this test.
When it comes to pacing an innings and blunting their opponents, Pakistan seem to be doing it nicely at the moment.
If, as expected, Murali and Mendis bowl half of tomorrow's overs, they would have effectively bowled around 80 overs each, which, even for a spinner, is a substantial workload. And with 3 days to go for the next test, the recuperation time is minimal. Unlike Danish Kaneria, who has had two days already in the shed and the prospect of one more day to do the same.
Sri Lanka's mistake, if it may be called that, was not that they posted 600 plus. But that they posted it too quickly. If a team can sustain 4+ runs an over for the entire duration of their innings, that in itself is a warning sign. On hindsight, Sri Lanka would have been better off batting on - only because the shoe would have been on the other foot and it would have been the Pakistani bowlers complaining of the workload.
Also, from a team perspective, Pakistan is coming back to Tet cricket after 14 months. Being on the field for 3 odd days would not have done the morale any good. And that, coupled with the short turn around time between tests, it could have been advantage Sri Lanka.
Instead, it is Pakistan that holds the aces now.
Another flat track and Pakistan winning the toss at Lahore will be the final nail in the Sri Lankan coffin!
6 comments:
Would love to see Pakistan grind them into dust.. that mean spirited Ranatunga decision against India will be avenged to some degree..
an interesting view homer, i think the impact will be more for murali as he is much older, mendis should be alright and i think with the lack of form he has shown in the last month or so, the extended spell would have helped him a bit.
Namya,
If you are talking about the 952/6, more power to Pakistan!
Cheers,
Damith,
Splendid is coming back from an ankle injury - the one that caused his balance to go haywire and with it, his incisiveness..
Being on the field for 3 days is not going to help matters.
Cheers,
Yeah - I am also reminded of 952/7 or whatever. At least India had 3 spinners - but at least two of whom (Nilesh Kulkarni, Chauhan?) did not last long there after.
Dilshan should bowl more just to protect the main bowlers a bit - in our case, maybe Ganguly should have bowled more and should have been brought into the attack earlier.
Naresh,
Dilshan is hardly a front line bowler and Ganguly had better credentials as a bowler than Dilshan does.
Cheers,
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