sussexpob wrote:If I am the Australia coach right now, Id been stringing up my top order!
I dont know what Aaron Finch is doing. Hes playing a conventional off drive, with there is a canyon between bat and body. Hes got his feet nowhere near the line of the ball. Playing like that in the first over does not convince me hes a test batter at all. Shaun Marsh has put down a solid marker for worst ball of the series to get out to; it should have been smashed to the other side of South Australia. And Khawaja and Harris leave massive gaps between pad and pad.
These are techniques that speak volumes about their abilities as players. They all want to plant the feet down before they judge the line of the ball, and play through hand and eye co-ordination. Might work on a road vs a poor attack, but against a very good all round attack, and on a pitch that is clearly offering a bit off movement off the deck, you have no chance.
Why did Travis Head succeed? He got his head over the ball, he judged the line, and he played straight down the ground more than trying to cross bat things. For a guy with a reputation as a bit of a slogger, you have to applaud that. His looked technically compact, and was willing to bat lots of time. Well done to him. It might turn out he is technically suspect in other conditions, but certainly on today's evidence, he showed he has some tools to succeed at this level.
sussexpob wrote:As for the pitch. Ashwin has got movement from the deck. Not loads, but enough to challenge both edges of the bat (Khawaja off the outside edge, Harris off the Inside). The new ball has swung a little, but also it looks like the swing did carry on a little bit more than Australia managed to yesterday. Tim Paine's dismissal clearly came away from him, and that must have been right at the death of the old ball. The deck also is offering a bit of seam, and quite clearly as the day wore on, more evidence of the odd ball keeping low. Nothing dramatic, but certainly there. Arthur says it could flatten, but I am not so sure. I think this pitch will start to dust and will turn a lot on day 4/5 with it being 40 degrees plus. And I think that carry is going to become much more varied.
A target of 300 should be enough for India, potentially lower if the pitch really does dust up. Batting last I imagine is a big disadvantage, so Australia really need Starc and Head to hang around and try to salvage some form of numerical advantage to take them into the 2nd innings. If they fall short, they are going to have to bowl well again.
meninblue wrote: Marcus Harris bat and pad was not a bad one. It had to be played but he managed only to edge it onto pads
Usman Khawaja got a good ball.
sussexpob wrote:meninblue wrote: Marcus Harris bat and pad was not a bad one. It had to be played but he managed only to edge it onto pads
There is a huge gap between his pad and the edge, plus the bat is horizontal rather than facing down. If he plays the stroke properly, he middles it and the ball goes to ground.Usman Khawaja got a good ball.
He should never be playing forward to that ball. The keeper takes the catch around his upper torso, standing up. His trigger movement committed him to go forward, and he ends up jabbing his hands down when he gets in an awful position.
He plays back to that, he lets it go or he gets the bat properly on it. I think its very poor footwork.
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