Sri Lanka's tour of Australia 2012-13

BengaliPagol · #1 December 12, 2012, 06:26 PM

This will be an interesting test series. Im expecting to see a materclass batting from Sanga. But the headlining story has been about Phil Hughes. Will he step it up? He has been in very good form in Shield Cricket so he looks to be hungry to score runs.

Aussies Lineup (probable)
1. David Warner
2. Ed Cowan
3. Phillip Hughes
4. Shane Watson
5. Michael Clarke
6. Mike Hussey
7. Matthew Wade
8. Peter Siddle
9. James Pattinson
10. Nathan Lyon
11. Mitchell Starc/Ben Hilfenhaus

BengaliPagol · #2 December 13, 2012, 06:23 PM

Interesting fact. At Blundstone Arena (Hobart) the highest 1st innnings FC total for this season has been 112 runs. Goes to show how grassy and quick the pitch is. But they are saying that the wicket is different for this match. Hobart has been known to be a batsmens nightmare.

Aussies have won the toss and they will bat first. Interesting to see how Hughesy will go.

BengaliPagol · #3 December 13, 2012, 06:26 PM

Mitchell Starc has come in for Pattinson

Australia 1 Ed Cowan, 2 David Warner, 3 Phillip Hughes, 4 Shane Watson, 5 Michael Clarke (capt), 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Peter Siddle, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Ben Hilfenhaus, 11 Nathan Lyon.

Sri Lanka 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Dimuth Karunaratne, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Shaminda Eranga, 11 Chanaka Welegedara.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australi...ch/573011.html

Watch out for the the new kid on the block Dimuth Karunaratne.

BengaliPagol · #4 December 13, 2012, 06:30 PM

Lots of talk abt Michael Clarke. Should he bat at #3? The earlier Aussies get him into the game the better. Rob Quiney is a natural opener but batted at #3 for the Aussies and did very poorly. Same story for Phil Hughes. Will he show his true colours? The top order hasnt been performing upto the task so a big challenge ahead of the Aussies.

BengaliPagol · #5 December 13, 2012, 06:33 PM

Cowan dropped in the slips cordon of the second ball off the day! If Matthews caught that it would have been a screamer.

BengaliPagol · #6 December 13, 2012, 06:37 PM

Ball movement. Uneven bounce on the pitch. Ball will look to seam off the pitch. Aussies have to be wary at this early stage of the game. Man i wish these type of pitches available for the Bangladesh domestic teams.

MyRoom · #7 December 13, 2012, 06:41 PM

3-0 to Australia just watch. Kumar is definitely NOT the best batsman in the world, its Hashim Amla who averages more than 50 in both ODIs and Tests.

BengaliPagol · #8 December 13, 2012, 06:45 PM

Sangakarra is still a class test batsmen. ODI and T20 isnt neccesarily his best format. Amla averages 5 less than Sanga in tests.

BengaliPagol · #9 December 13, 2012, 06:56 PM

OUT! Cowan went to pull and top edged it to short mid on.

1/18

BengaliPagol · #10 December 13, 2012, 06:58 PM

Crunch time for Phil Hughes.

BengaliPagol · #11 December 13, 2012, 06:59 PM

Boundary for Hughes. Nice looking cut shot which stayed low. Went towards the third man area for 4.

BengaliPagol · #12 December 13, 2012, 07:03 PM

I agree with Matt W on CI commentary. This is the worst new ball attack that has landed in Australia for quite some time. Theres no one in the Lankan team to put some fire in the belly in the pace attack. Nuwan is more for consistency and is doing well. Welegedara is nothing special imo. But Sri Lanka dominate the middle period of the bowling innings when Herath comes more so than the opening innings of the game where there is no one with fiery pace.

al Furqaan · #13 December 13, 2012, 07:05 PM

Interesting series? SL just lost at home to NZ of all teams. AUS smashed India 4-0 last year...SL will probably lose every test by an innings and 300. Its going to be a bloodbath if everything goes based on paper.

Tiger444 · #14 December 13, 2012, 07:08 PM

Looking forward to Hughes's comeback here. No excuse for him this time to perform against a weak Lankans attack.

BengaliPagol · #15 December 13, 2012, 07:21 PM

Hughesy's last boundary was a cracking shot. The ball was touch short outside off and he slashed that thru the covers. He is looking the goods. Seems to not be tempted with the balls outside off. Good batting so far.

BengaliPagol · #16 December 13, 2012, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by al Furqaan
Interesting series? SL just lost at home to NZ of all teams. AUS smashed India 4-0 last year...SL will probably lose every test by an innings and 300. Its going to be a bloodbath if everything goes based on paper.

Yes but Aussies top order has been a suspect of recent times. If Sri Lanka can get past the top order and rattle Clarke then the series might be up in the air considering if Sanga plays well. He enjoys batting in Aussie conditions.

And also we have to see how Aussies handle Herath.

BengaliPagol · #17 December 13, 2012, 07:27 PM

12th over and Angelo Matthews is already into the attack?

Tiger444 · #18 December 13, 2012, 07:41 PM

Man the class Hughes possesses is just unbelievable. Had the coaches not tried to change him, he'd be 1 of the best young batsmen right now in the world. Really hope that he can succeed at this level and I'm sure he will as well

I see readers already calling for Cowan's head. He'll always be under pressure with Khawaja waiting in the wings, as soon as Cowan stops scoring runs, I see Khawaja replacing him. I see both Hughes and Khawaja being great batsmen at this level.

BengaliPagol · #19 December 13, 2012, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiger444
I see both Hughes and Khawaja being great batsmen at this level.

I share the same vision as you.

At some point Cowan will be dropped and i see Warner and Hughes as opening partners with Khawaja to come in at #3.

BrianLara7 · #20 December 13, 2012, 07:49 PM

Will Australia win this series 2-0 or 3-0 ? Sri lanka has yet to win a test match in Australia and has only won 1 test match against Australia in over 30 years!!!

BengaliPagol · #21 December 13, 2012, 07:49 PM

By watching him bat its evident that Hughes has tinkered with his technique. He seems much more comfortable out in the middle. Sri Lanka gotta test him with a couple of short deliveries.

BrianLara7 · #22 December 13, 2012, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiger444
Man the class Hughes possesses is just unbelievable. Had the coaches not tried to change him, he'd be 1 of the best young batsmen right now in the world. Really hope that he can succeed at this level and I'm sure he will as well

I see readers already calling for Cowan's head. He'll always be under pressure with Khawaja waiting in the wings, as soon as Cowan stops scoring runs, I see Khawaja replacing him. I see both Hughes and Khawaja being great batsmen at this level.

Totally with you, specially Hughes. You have a good cricketing eye

Tiger444 · #23 December 13, 2012, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BengaliPagol
I share the same vision as you.

At some point Cowan will be dropped and i see Warner and Hughes as opening partners with Khawaja to come in at #3.

I see that happening as well. Even though Cowan just hit a century, I see him being nothing but a stop gap. Good player no doubt but I feel Khawaja and Hughes are special talents

Tiger444 · #24 December 13, 2012, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianLara7
Totally with you, specially Hughes. You have a good cricketing eye

Thanks for the compliment bhai. You have a good cricketing eye as well

BengaliPagol · #25 December 13, 2012, 07:58 PM

Hughes is playing the flick shot so comfortably. If Warner scores a 50 i can almost guarantee that he wil convert it to a hundred, he has one of the best conversion rates in test cricket as a batsmen.