India v Australia, 2nd Test: Day five preview
The fifth and the final day of the second Test match between India and Australia will be played on Wednesday. The game is finely poised with the Indians having a bit of an upper hand, but all of it can
change very quickly, as one has seen throughout the duration of this Test match.
India leads the series 1-0 and do not have to make the running. For them, a draw would give them a series win given that this is the last game of the series. However, given the manner in which the match is
poised currently, it is difficult to see how the game can end in a draw. Australia have lost seven wickets for 202, which means that they have a lead of 185 runs. Unless the Aussie tail wags so well that they bat through at least one session of play and score
another 80 runs or so, draw looks to be a difficult option.
However, rather interestingly, the Indians wouldn’t mind that. If the Aussie tail bats through till lunch, that would mean that the Indians will have to bat only 60 overs to save the game and that cannot
be a difficult task by any stretch of imagination. And a draw will mean that the Indians will not only retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy, but also push the Aussies to the number five spot in the Test match rankings. This will be the first time that the Aussies
will be pushed down.
The other option that the Aussies will have is to ensure that they get a quick-fire 60-70 runs in around 12-14 overs and set the Indians a target of more than 250 in 75 overs. This will give them a better
chance of bowling the Indians out and winning the game, apart from enticing the Indians enough to go for the target.
There are captains who are known to take the other, and more defensive approach, which is Bat till around the lunch time – which is around 25 overs – and score heavily enough to put the game out of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750’s
reach. This will mean that the Aussies need their lead to get to 300 and with 65 overs to be bowled, it would be almost impossible for the Indians to expect them to go after the target. In the process, the field settings can be more attacking.
Of course, India can bowl http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 out cheaply and find themselves chasing 200 for a win – which could mean that we have a situation so reminiscent of the first Test match. India will be favourites in that
case. However, that will also mean that the Aussies have the rest of the entire day to bowl the Indians out and get back at level pegging.
The track is now playing lower and the ball is beginning to reverse rather early. One has already seen on the fourth day how the Indians collapsed and lost the last five wickets for the addition of only nine
runs. The Indians also go in with an inexperienced line-up consisting of three new batsmen and that could make things even more interesting.
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