Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Windies and India draw swords for 3rd Test

Both sides will be going for a win, but the Windies will be all the more desperate as they trailing in the series 1-0, while India, the number one team in Test cricket, will not want to go down to their weaker hosts.

Dominica will host its first ever Test match in the capital Roseau and the organisers will hope to get an uninterrupted debut match, although the weather may be a bit of an issue; July is the wettest month on the island and the forecast is not that great, but here’s hoping for the best.

The West Indies were quite competitive in the drawn second Test and the players will go into Dominca gunning for victory. They will be short of Ramnaresh Sarwan, who has been dropped by the West Indies Cricket Board, with Kieran Powell taking his place. Sarwan has had a poor run in this series - and earlier against Pakistan - having made just 29 runs in four innings. Powell is untried in the Test arena, although he does have a first-class century to his name, made earlier this year against the English Lions.

Rahul Dravid has termed the pitches on this tour as some of the toughest that he has faced and said that they have really tested the younger players. Dravid has had the best time of any batsman, however, and is the leading run-scorer with 212. He is also the only one so far to have scored a century in the series.

The top three run-scorers are all Indians, with Suresh Raina in third place. He has had a good run in the Tests, with a second half-century in the last match. Virat Kohli, on the other hand, has continued to struggle and will be eager to make the next match count even if he was not included in the squad for the tour of England.

Ishant Sharma looked good in the last match, with career best figures of 6/55 in the first innings and 10/108 in the match, which also bodes well for the tour of England. He is the leading wicket-taker in the series with 16, followed by two West Indians - Ravi Rampaul (13) and Devendra Bishoo (10). Rampaul has shown himself capable of removing batsmen early on in the innings, and the West Indies’ bowling has been pretty good throughout, but they do need their batsmen to start contributing.

Much of the talk surrounding the entire tour has focussed on the absence of several top Indian players and Chris Gayle, but there is a final chance for those participating to make something of the final match of the series.

On a roll Islanders aim to seal series

With amazing performances in the last two games resulting into a series lead, Sri Lank now look for their third win on the trot and win the series at Nottingham itself.

The ODI series did not start in a manner in which Dilshan would have liked as England drubbed Sri Lanka in the first ODI. But things have turned around well in the next two matches as the Islanders got on top of their opposition. Mahela Jayawardena has been the centre-stage of the revamp but the others have chipped in too.

The batting has improved for Sri Lanka as the games have gone by, with an average Batting Momentum of 294. They have earned an average value of 41 in the Quick Start Overs while the Extreme Performance Overs have resulted in a value of 24, clearly suggesting the starts that the visitors have been getting in this series. And part of the reason for that is the promotion of Jayawardena to the top of the order.

Without any doubt, Mahela is the leading run-scorer of the series with 228 runs at an average of 76 which includes a century and a half-century. He has managed an average Batting Momentum of 104 with an Overall Castrol Index of 43. He has done the bulk of the scoring for the Lankans but has received good support from the middle order too.

The bowling for Sri Lanka has done well too, picking up 24 wickets in three matches with a Bowling Efficiency of 198 on average. They have scored 54 points in the Quick Start Overs while the Extreme Performance ones have resulted in a value of 47. That shows there is a fine balance in the bowling and they have been picking up early wickets as well and also, maintaining the pressure in the middle and towards the end.

Suranga Lakmal has been on top of the wicket-takers’ list along with Graeme Swann, with 7 wickets with the former having an average of 22.42 and a strike-rate of 21.2. He has earned a Bowling Efficiency of 115 on an average and a Castrol Index of 33.

England, on the other hand, have not quite been at their best in the ODI series so far. The first game was brilliant but that was mainly because of the Anderson factor. His failure in the next two games has put extreme pressure on the bowling attack while the batting leaves a lot to be desired with plenty of batsmen not converting their starts.

They have earned an average Batting Momentum of 323 with a Quick Start value of 66 while they have earned only 24 in the Extreme Performance Overs. Alastair Cook has been their leading run-scorer with 172 runs at an average of 57.33, having scored a ton in the previous game. He has managed a Batting Momentum of 74 with a Castrol Index of 33.

The bowling has struggled in the last two games and Anderson needs support from the other end. They have a Bowling Efficiency of 177. In the Quick Start Overs, they have earned 49 points while they have done better in the Extreme Performance ones, with a value of 88 on an average.

Graeme Swann has been the lone warrior in terms of wickets with 7 scalps at a stunning average of 13.14 with a strike-rate of 21.4. He has an outstanding Bowling Efficiency of 181 which is the best overall while his Castrol Index ratings stand at 50.

Sri Lanka start as favourites with a Castrol Index of 193 while England are at 180.