Friday 22 February 2013

Mini-session Analysis First Test India vs Australia, Chepauk, 2013

Here is the final mini-session analysis for the first test between India and Australia at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

A mini-session is (normally) half a session, either between the start of the session and the drinks break or the drinks break and the end of the session. Occasionally a long session will have 3 mini-sessions where it will be broken up with 2 drinks breaks.

Mini-SessionScoreWinner
1-1aAustralia 64/1 off 14.3Australia
1-1bAustralia 62/1 off 19.3Australia
1-2aAustralia 38/3 off 17India
1-2bAustralia 51/0 off 15Australia
1-3aAustralia 56/0 off 15Australia
1-3bAustralia 45/2 off 14India
2-1aAustralia 32/0 off 17Australia
2-1bAustralia 32/3 off 21India
2-2aIndia 34/2 off 10Australia
2-2bIndia 50/0 off 12India
2-3aIndia 51/1 off 14India
2-3bIndia 47/0 off 16India
3-1aIndia 21/1 off 13Australia
3-1bIndia 60/0 off 14India
3-2aIndia 75/1 off 13India
3-2bIndia 33/1 off 13Australia
3-3aIndia 82/2 off 24India
3-3bIndia 62/0 off 12India
4-1aIndia 57/2 off 13.3India
4-1bAustralia 34/1 off 16India
4-2aAustralia 32/2 off 16India
4-2bAustralia 62/2 off 17India
4-3aAustralia 47/4 off 16.5India
4-3bAustralia 57/0 off 18.1Australia
5-1aAustralia 9/1 off 9India
India 50/2 off 11.2

Final update, click here
India win the match by 8 wickets and the mini-session count 16 - 9

First drinks, Day 1: Australia lead the mini-session count 1-0

As there had not been a drinks break recorded, I decided the half way point in the session was after the fall of the wicket. Cowan and Warner were making an effort to keep the pressure on the bowlers. There's always a risk when you do that that you're going to either walk past one, or hit one straight to a fielder. Cowan did the former and as a result has looked like a bit of an idiot, but it was really a sensible risk to take. - Mykuhl

Lunch, Day 1: Australia lead the mini-session count 2-0

Australia lost a couple of wickets in succession, but they generally did well and stayed positive. If they had gone into their shells, and not looked to keep the scoreboard ticking over, the Indian bowlers may well have really tied them down. This match really rests on how well the Australian batsmen cope with the threat offered by India's trio of spinners. So far they have done quite well. - Mykuhl

Middle drinks, Day 1: Australia lead the mini-session count 2-1

It appears that Australia's batsmen haven't really handled India's spinners very well at all. Well, at least one of them. While Jadeja has been tight he hasn't threatened much. Harbhajan Singh has - Mykuhl

Tea, Day 1: Australia lead the mini-session count 3-1

Moises Henriques has managed to bat through more than an hour of difficult conditions with his captain on debut. He needs 34 more runs to have the highest ever score by a Portuguese-born test cricketer.

I've heard that the average first innings here is 285. Regardless of that, this feels like a very good partnership. At 164/5 Australia were looking very shaky, but they now are close to a score that keeps the game alive. - Mykuhl

Final drinks, Day 1: Australia lead the mini-session count 4-1

This is turning out to be another epic middle order partnership for Australia. Apparently the loss of Michael Hussey hasn't stopped this trend continuing. Australia are in the lead, but the 4-1 mini-session count isn't really indicative of the balance of the match, it feels more like 3-2. - Mykuhl

Stumps, Day 1: Australia lead the mini-session count 4-2

What an innings from Clarke. He has managed to carry Australia from the brink of disaster through to a respectable score. If he can put on another 85 runs with the tail, then Australia will be in a very strong position. - Mykuhl

Final drinks, Day 2: Australia lead the mini-session count 6-5

A much better day for India. They managed to knock off Australia's tail before lunch, and then have made steady progress with the bat. - Mykuhl

Stumps, Day 2: The mini-session count is tied up, 6-6

India are have shown a touch of the old and the new with these two partnerships. First it was Pujara and Tendulkar, then Tendulkar and Kohli. The three of them have restored the balance in the match. Australia are still probably slightly ahead, but this match could go either way tomorrow. - Mykuhl

First drinks, Day 3: Australia lead the mini-session count 7-6

A great period of pressure cricket from Australia. They managed to get rid of Tendulkar, and kept India to only about 2 an over. - Mykuhl

Lunch, Day 3: The mini-session count is tied up, 7-7

There's an old adage that batsmen should give the first hour to the bowlers, but they should make the most of the rest of the day. The Indian batsmen seem to have followed that advice. They were very defensive in the first hour, but then Dhoni and Kohli went mad and played like it was an ODI match. - Mykuhl

Tea, Day 3: The mini-session count is tied up, 8-8

Very good aggressive batting from India. They are giving themselves a genuine opportunity in this match now. - Mykuhl

Stumps, Day 3: India lead the mini-session count 10-8

Australia came back good right after tea picking up two wickets before drinks but after that it was one way traffic as MS Dhoni switched gears and went into his T20 rampage mode to help put on 109* runs in just 25.4 overs with Bhuvneshwar Kumar who did his part and kept the ball out contributing 16 runs to the partnership. - poshin_david

First drinks, Day 4: India lead the mini-session count 11-8

An outstanding tail-wag from India have got them into a completely dominant position. The match was quite close when the 8th wicket fell. 166 runs later the match had only 2 possible outcomes: an Indian victory or a draw.

Dhoni has occasionally won man-of-the-match awards at home matches for seemingly spurious reasons. If he doesn't win it from here someone else would have had to have put in an absolutely magnificent performance. - Mykuhl

Lunch, Day 4: India lead the mini-session count 12-8

It was looking like a positive start from Australia, until the last ball before lunch, when Warner departed. The match is starting to head quickly India's way. - Mykuhl

Middle drinks, Day 4: India lead the mini-session count 13-8

The vultures are starting to circle the Australia team. While their bowlers are decent with the bat in home conditions, tail-enders are often significantly worse away than at home. Top order players from outside of Asia have averaged better in Asia than anywhere else in the past 5 years. However tail-enders in the last 5 years have averaged worse in Asia than anywhere else. Australia need to bat 3 of the 4 remaining sessions with their top 6. However they've already lost 3 of them. They need a very big partnership now. - Mykuhl

Tea, Day 4: India lead the mini-session count 14-8

Australia's hopes are resting on the broad shoulders of Michael Clarke. They had a big partnership between these two batsmen in the first innings, and Australia will be hoping for a repeat dose. There is very little hope after Henriques. - Mykuhl

Final drinks, Day 4: India lead the mini-session count 15-8

The taking of a drinks break seems a little optimistic about the length of match remaining. Henriques will be looking for another 3 runs to become the top scorer in the innings. Nathan Lyon is capable of batting on a green top, but I'm not sure that his technique is as suited to a crumbling wicket. Australia need 17 more runs to make India have to bat again. - Mykuhl

Stumps, Day 4: India lead the mini-session count 15-9

What a fantastic partnership. Another 40 or so runs tomorrow and this is game on. More realistically there will be a wicket fall early and the the Indian batsmen will probably knock off the runs for the loss of 2 wickets. - Mykuhl

End of match, Day 5: India take the mini-session count 16-9

See previous comment. :-)

This was a commanding victory for India, but there were still some positives for Australia. Clarke and Henriques looked good, as did Pattinson and Lyon. But Australia still have a big mountain to climb. - Mykuhl

No comments:

Post a Comment