Cricket: 3rd Test - End of 3rd Day's Play

Category: Misc. Cricket

Australia's tour of India.
3rd Test at Nagpur. End of the 3rd day's play.

A short post. I haven't seen the highlights.

Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan.
That is the state of Indian cricket. Everyone is blaming the team for a poor performance, but the test match is not yet over. There are two days to go and even though we are more than 400 runs behind and the prospect of a huge defeat is staring at us, I think we will be able to draw the test match. It is time for one good innings from VVS Laxman, yes, this is Chirayu - the eternal optimist! :-) Come on Laxman, where are those majestic shots through covers to balls pitched outside the legstump, we're waiting for your magical batting.
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General Cricket. Off topic from the test match.

Let me be poetic, writing about cricket is like poetry in motion, it has to have a flow to it—a feel for the game as it progresses.

I like to spend an afternoon watching Test match cricket on TV all alone. I don't want comments about which team is doing what, I prefer to enjoy watching the game and the nuances of play. Like watching the ball seam-up hitting the good-length spot, taking the outside edge, flying towards the slip cordon, a fling in the air, a stretch of the arm, the ball touching the finger-tips and passing through towards the third-man fence. Anguish on the bowler's face, relief on the batsman's and sympathy for the fielder.

Azhar's defensive shot - A defensive shot to a ball pitched outside the off-stump on good length would normally go towards the mid-off fielder. Hang on, think again, when Mohammed Azharuddin used to bat, the ball used to race, yes race to the deep mid-wicket boundary. Ball pitched outside the off-stump, the front foot goes forward, a flick of the wrist, or should I say the magic wand, the bat turns - the ball meets the full face of the bat, with a gentle flick of the wrist, the ball races past short mid-wicket, just enough to make the fielder chase the ball, and it's an easy single. The magic of Azhar's batting and so too of Laxman.
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India has been outplayed at home by Australia. Less than 200 on board on an Indian pitch means staring at defeat. If we are able to draw the test match, then we have a chance of winning the Bombay test to draw the series.

Scores: 3rd Test. End of 3rd Day's Play.
Australia - 1st Innings........398 all out
India - 1st Innings...............185 all out
Australia - 2nd Innings.......202 for 3

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