Session Dashboard

The Session Dashboard for the Motera Test Match is shown below - the progress on a daily basis is shown in the picture. Finally, the equal #sessions reflect the status of the test match - DRAWN.

The parameters for each session is scoring more than 100 runs and/or losing less than 3 wickets. Teams can share a session if the score is 100 for 4 (like what happened in the 1st test match).





Let me know what you think of this - the same Dashboard will be used for the future test matches. Is it required to be tweaked in any manner? If so, how? Share your comments.

Tame end to the first test - Final Day at Motera 2009

India had made their plans to survive the final day by playing watchful cricket - this was evident in the way Gautam Gambhir set out to bat. Amit Mishra gave him good company till a superb catch by Dilshan sent him back. Sachin Tendulkar came out and played the ball on its merit. He crossed 30,000 international runs during his knock - 6000 more than his next competitor (Ricky Ponting) and scored his 43rd test century.

All the way, Gambhir played with a fluency that was hard to ignore - he has always raised his hand when such efforts are required by the team. Especially the last two years has been his age of coming (four of his centuries, including his last three, have come in the second innings, two of them in match-saving scenarios). He did stay after lunch before getting out to Herath. VVS Laxman also decided to score a half-century in the 2nd innings to show that there was not anything dangerous in the pitch.

The Srilankan bowlers toiled just like the Indians did in the first innings but got their first three wickets by a combination of poor shot-selection, marginal umpiring decision and a wonderful piece of catching - nothing to do with the magic of the great man, Murali. The fourth fell again to a poor shot-selection by a batsman reaching a bigger milestone (hundred).

The match promised much but failed to deliver. Overall, the bowlers toiled hard but could not deliver much. The performance of the Srilankan bowlers in the second innings might have saved Harbhajan's place in the playing eleven of the next match. The only entertainment was provided in the first session on the first day when the 4 Indian wickets fell for 32 - after that, the remaining play could see only 17 wickets fall - that is not sufficient to produce a result.

Tweaked the Sessions-Dashboard to indicate the situation more properly - let me know what you think about the dashboard - whether it gives a good indication of the situation in the match.

Sri Lanka solid in reply - 2nd Day at Motera 2009

Rahul Dravid mentioned during the post-match conference on the first day that India had to score minimum 100 more runs to be in a dominant position. Alas, he could not add even a single run to his overnight score. The team could hardly add 40 runs more. This was a par score, not a great one.

The bowling had to take charge for India and ensure that the SriLankans do not run away with the match. The bowlers contained the batsmen to around 4 runs per over and must have felt happy - for this would have been a good performance on a flat track in ODIs. Not in test matches though. With just one wicket to show till lunch time, the zing in the team seemed to have gone off. The bowlers, in fact, receovered and did well after tea to take the two wickets and reduce the run-rate from 4.5 to 4.0.

Dilshan played an innings very similar to what MS Dhoni played on the first day. He hit the poor balls for boundaries and rotated the strike to ensure that the left-right combination was in play. This did not allow the bowling to settle down. His 5th century this year has shown that he has come of age, as a batsman. After the fall of 2 quick wickets, Samaraweera and Jayawardene ensured that there wouldnt be any further collapse - they took their time to gauge the pitch and score runs. This partnership is very crucial as there is not much of specialist batting left after these players.

Overall, the Indian bowlers are not in good form. Zaheer played matches for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy but not with great success. He showed glimpses of his form when he managed to get the 2 wickets of Dilshan and Sangakkara but it was a bit late for the Indian team. Ishant Sharma was average in the ODI series (in fact he did not play the latter half at all). Harbhajan showed signs of returning to form but not of test-class - he needs to be rested or rotated depending on the way you want to call it. Pragyan Ojha is a much better bowler any day. Amit Mishra has had no match practice for the last few weeks - he has been sitting on the boundary line for so long that he might have forgotten how to bowl long spells and take wickets. This is the bowling 'attack' that MSD has in his arsenal to take advantage of the 400+ score. The fielding also hasnt been of any help either - regular misfields resulted in boundaries, increasing the pressure on the bowlers.

The Sri Lankan team would look at a lead of 100 to 150 on the 3rd day and put pressure on the Indians. Early strikes in the morning will help the Indians get back into the match - the new ball will be available after 10 overs. Time is not a matter of concern at all. India's advantage has been definitely negated in 1 day. Unless the Indians can come out in the 2nd innings and bat like their statistics show.

Overall, the session wins stand at 3-3, thus justifying the status of the match which is at a balance.

Dravid & Dhoni to the front - 1st Day at Motera 2009

India had played only three test matches in the entire year - evidence was seen in the first hour itself when the scoreboard read 32 for 4. Swing bowling that attacked the stumps combined with lack of footwork from the batsmen meant that the top-order was gone in no time. The only batsmen in the top-order who had played well in a longer version of the game in recent time, never mind the domestic Ranji Trophy, could hold his place at the crease.

The Indian team was also distracted probably by trivia (Sachin Tendulkar playing his first match in his 21st year) - the batsmen didnt need any fielder or keeper to support the bowler in his wickets. Three bowled and one lbw meant that the feet were not moving properly. The last ODI at Gauwahati had shown this failing recently - the Lankan bowlers had done their homework and delivered successfully. Sri Lanka missed their frontline but probably it was a good miss - they repeated the success of the Australian second-string bowlers - maybe that is the key, as one reader on Cricinfo mentioned. Rest your front-line bowlers and the Indians will have no way of finding out the plans of the new bowlers (with no footage nor video analysis). They were definitely caught off-guard.

Murali was still far away from the bowling crease when the first four wickets fell - even when he came on, he hardly troubled the batsmen except for Yuvraj. Rangana Herath was attacked from the word go - the Indians obviously did not want to give him the confidence very early in the game. The opening bowlers did not make any impact after the opening spell. Murali and Herath had to bowl long spells that could restrain the batsmen from making more than what they finally did. Couple of balls kept low - this would be interesting for the rest of the match. Ominous signs for Sri Lanka.

Rahul Dravid had played positively and his strike-rate (as good as MS Dhoni's strike-rate) definitely showed the signs of a huge innings looming large. In the course of the day, he managed to become the fifth highest scorer in test matches. It has been a good comeback by Rahul, considering that many had written him off the same time last year. This knock will emphasise what a great asset he is to test cricket in large, not just Indian cricket. The world record of number of century partnerships is testimony to the fact that Rahul is the perfect team-man. Yuvraj Singh gave him company and threatened to go beserk after lunch, until he got out to a soft dismissal.

MS Dhoni can be considered to be India's Rahul Dravid in ODI matches. So, when both of them came to the crease, it was cricket at its best - concise & without any risks. Strike-rotation at its best. MSD had changed his game to match that of Rahul Dravid in the ODIs - following the same approach was very important in this situation and he did it convincingly. Thus, the run-rate for most of the day was never less than four - a good one considering the initial collapse. MSD's batting record as a captain continued with this century - he averages more than 50 as a captain in test matches - obvious proof that he relishes the additional responsibilities.

Dhoni's dismissal in the last session gave some hope to the Sri Lankans - otherwise, both Dravid and Dhoni were on their way to a huge score. Harbhajan and the tail should provide support to Rahul Dravid tomorrow so that the Indians can add a further 100 to the team total - this will put the match beyond Sri Lanka's reach.

The scorecard below shows the number of sessions that each side 'won' in the day's play. We will keep track of this during the five days of the match to see who is expected to win. Typically, a side needs to win a minimum of 7 or 8 sessions to win a test match. What happens here will be interesting.