Anyone think the 3rd Test match between SL and Pakistan was fixed?
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Submitted by Slogfest on July 12, 2012 - 08:12
First of all I want to let you know that I'm not some inexperienced/narrow minded fan.i personally,through watching and playing the game has a very good knowledge on the game and all other aspects that was on display in today concluded 3rd test between SL and Pakistan such as pitch conditions etc...
At the end of yesterday's play SL was on a very strong position with many seeing a victory coming our way.Start day 5 and Mahela let their batsman settle through some poor field placings and tactics.Why was it hard for him to give Dilhara (our fastest bowler supposedly at 130kph on average,while Sami touched 145kph regularly so pitch not to blame)the ball and tell him to send a barrage of short balls at the injured batsman?if we weren't able to get Adnan Akmal out we could have at least forced him to retire but Fernando only bowled a spell that showed no intentions of pushing for victory at all.
Onto our 2nd innings,thanks to the openers,mainly to Dinesh Chandimal we got a good start.After Sanga and Chandimal's solid partnership it was all unusual to see from a captain like Mahela.Statistics and history showed batting gets easier by the day as dis the Pakistani batsman.Wasting a good few overs for 11 runs Mahela played a get out of jail shot straight to short fine leg.Mostly everyone was expecting Thissara Perera or at least Angelo Mathews to come out and up the rate but outcomes Samaraweera.Did Mahela forget that Thissara was in the team not only as a bowler but as a more than useful low order pinch hitter or did he forget Prasanna Jayawarden and Nuwan Kulasekara's fast scoring abilities?With only 100 runs needed off 20 overs with plenty of batting to come why didn't we push for victory?Why weren't the people who are in the team for specific purposes not used when the need was there?
You could say this writing is fair coming from a disappointed SL fan.But I'm not just talking from a fans perspective.Not only me but commentators(which happened to include legendary test players who had been in such situations many a time) was puzzled to as why SL did not push for victory.
I would love to hear what you guys think :)
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Comments
15 March 2012
7 weeks 5 days
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4 July 2011
5 min 13 sec
U are correct mate..we gave away the hopes of winning very early.not good sign for the future.
12 July 2012
44 weeks 5 days
@kushan1987: takes one to know one I guess..
@ROAR OF LANKA: exactly what gives everyone a suspicious impression when a captain as proactive and capable as Mahela gives up winning right from the start of a full day of test cricket
Probably not fixed but I never thought Mahela could take such a negative option ever, definatley someone elses decision to play for a draw.
28 March 2012
10 hours 32 min
Need to give credit for Pakistan Blowers, after Sanga and Chandimal solid start they pulled it back. But good analysis though.
3 December 2010
25 min 4 sec
Dont be stupid, yes it was the wrong decision to not go for a win, but it certainly wasnt match fixing.There were many other ways a match could have been fixed and they didnt need to bring it to such a tight situation.
One has to also factor the negative line from the Pakistan spinners.Keeping 4-5 fielders on the leg side and bowling onto the pads makes scoring much more difficult.But that said SL should have been more positive especially in the morning session.
12 July 2012
44 weeks 5 days
@ Sulaimaan: not being stupid mate simply asking if anyone else THINKS it was fixed to be a draw.its actually stupid of you to call someone elses opinion stupid because not everyone has the same opinion.
20 November 2008
29 sec
Let's please stop insulting people by calling them 'idiots' and 'stupid'. There's better ways to respond. Thanks, guys!
27 March 2010
8 weeks 16 hours
Just because Mahela made a few uncharacteristic mistakes doesn't mean that he/they threw the match! It's a really bad guess. Most often these decisions are collective.
Although I think the game slipped through our hands when Mahela didn't persist with Dilhara and set some defensive fields so early in the day. He also should have sent Perera before him and had one more go at the win.
8 December 2010
8 hours 48 min
There's absolutely no reason to believe the match was fixed.
Frankly, I was shocked when Mahela had no intent of winning when he walked into bat. Surely, the target was still gettable.
Mathews has a knack of being calm under pressure when chasing down targets and could have been sent ahead of Mahela or even after him instead of Ajmal's 'bunny' Samaraweera. And Thisara Perera to follow. All in all poor tactics from the captain!
Then again, we lost the last five wickets for just 21 runs on a flat as a tack SSC pitch on day 4. Jumaid Khan and Saeed Ajmal are capable of triggering a collapse even when the batsman look comfortable and in total control.
Mahela played safe. Do I blame him? Not really! We won a Test series after 8 attempts (3 years).
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