On these flat English wickets - we should bank on chasing!

[msb314]

Although I have mentioned it a few times - I will say it again that we MUST chase and send India to bat first!

1) 300-320 will be a par score and if scratch and tumble over the line - the Indian batting lineup will chase it with ease and their top order will make merry of anything we throw at them. if we bowl first and take early wickets - we may restrict India to something below 320 which is chaseable.

2) Our batting lineup is deep but it matters not when our top order bats at a RR of 4/5 for most of the innings. By chasing - we are forcing Shehzad, Azhar, Hafeez etc. to bat at a faster rate and keep up with the asking rate. They will have no choice but to attack. With a long batting lineup - our top order can take comfort that their plenty of batting to come and they will be able to play with freedom.

3) There is a 60% chance of rain at some point on June 4th. By chasing - we can more easily keep track of the par-score for DL method and ensure we stay ahead for that. If india are chasing and they get off to a flier - they we are doomed if it rains.

4) We chased 341 vs Bangladesh and thus have confidence whilst chasing big scores

5) 4 out of our 6 300+ chases have come against India (Ahmedabad 2005, Peshawar 2006, Mohali 2007 and Karachi 2008) so we have that mental strength and we won't fear chasing against them.

 

[LastManstanding]

There is no way Pakistan is chasing 300 score against India. Indian spinners can easily choke runs in the middle and next thing you know Pakistani batsmen will get out looking to hoick at the mid wicket boundary. I will feel more comfortable if India bat first.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Was about to make this thread like I did before the Aus series where our only win ended up being in a chase. Yes, we must put teams in to bowl first because our snails will not know how to set a target however with a target in front of them they might show some impetus, as limited as they may be. Chasing is our best option. Most of our recent victories have come this way

 

[captain crook]

I agree. The first innings is going to be played in slightly overcast conditions. Second innings is going to be very flat!

 

[King Kong]

Whoever bats first and scores 300 will win the game. Neither is gonna chase more than 300. People are reading too much into these flat tracks and exaggerating the batting lineups of both teams. Even in WC 2015, on same flat tracks, India easily defended 300 against Pakistan (and South Africa). As an Indian, I really hope Pakistan, if win the toss, sends out India to bat.

 

[squarecut]

4) We chased 341 vs Bangladesh and thus have confidence whilst chasing big scores

5) 4 out of our 6 300+ chases have come against India (Ahmedabad 2005, Peshawar 2006, Mohali 2007 and Karachi 2008) so we have that mental strength and we won't fear chasing against them.

I am confident that the present Indian bowling attack is superior to the bowling attacks against whom the successful chases of 4) and 5) were achieved.

 

[90MPH]

Totally agree with the OP.

Pak are only winning this by chasing - It's just a no brainier.

However not sure this batting line chase over 300. They need to restrict them under 280.

Still we need to wait because the Oval has always been good for batting - not always the case in Birmingham.

 

[ChachaPakistani]

The last two times we met them we batted first and that was disastrous, our batsmen collapsed like crazy. I think the better option definitely will be to try to restrict them to 280 or so when bowling first and chase. India chases way too well for our liking.

 

[AamchiMumbaikar]

First time ever Indian bowling and pak batting are stronger going into the game.

 

[Inzi_fan_No_1]

As long as we dont have to chase 400 again

 

[Abdullah]

Although I have mentioned it a few times - I will say it again that we MUST chase and send India to bat first!

1) 300-320 will be a par score and if scratch and tumble over the line - the Indian batting lineup will chase it with ease and their top order will make merry of anything we throw at them. if we bowl first and take early wickets - we may restrict India to something below 320 which is chaseable.

2) Our batting lineup is deep but it matters not when our top order bats at a RR of 4/5 for most of the innings. By chasing - we are forcing Shehzad, Azhar, Hafeez etc. to bat at a faster rate and keep up with the asking rate. They will have no choice but to attack. With a long batting lineup - our top order can take comfort that their plenty of batting to come and they will be able to play with freedom.

3) There is a 60% chance of rain at some point on June 4th. By chasing - we can more easily keep track of the par-score for DL method and ensure we stay ahead for that. If india are chasing and they get off to a flier - they we are doomed if it rains.

4) We chased 341 vs Bangladesh and thus have confidence whilst chasing big scores

5) 4 out of our 6 300+ chases have come against India (Ahmedabad 2005, Peshawar 2006, Mohali 2007 and Karachi 2008) so we have that mental strength and we won't fear chasing against them.

With our openers it will be tough to chase 320.
If the pitch is flat and it is a nice day we must bat first. Our bowlers can defend 320.
We can't put India in on a flat pitch because theyou could get 340 and bat us out .
On the other hand we may don well batting first if the conditions are flat. Even the likes of hafeez can bully then.
The best chance of maximising our score is batting first with intent. We did show gl8mpses of this last time we went to new Zealand but we didn't have the depth in the games and rizwana and Anwar Ali were in our lower middle order then. Now it looks a lot better.

If the conditions look decent for bowling and we think it may do something for 10 overs , thensuring bowl and over attack for the first 10 overs and try to get 3 wickets and restrict to 275

 

[Abdullah]

First time ever Indian bowling and pak batting are stronger going into the game.

I wouldn't go that far about our batting.
India gt pandya jadeja Ashwin at 7 8 9

 

[Inzi_fan_No_1]

We could not defend 300 against West Indies reserves. Our bowlers are nothing special so you are being deluded if you think we can defend 320.

 

[fasihulhaq94]

agreed. India will chase down any total we give them.

 

[JibranAnsari]

I think pakistan should chase not because it increases our chances of winning but it will keep the match alive for longer. Imagine pakistan batting first and get all out for 130 , will kill the match in the first half.

 

[Abdullah]

I think pakistan should chase not because it increases our chances of winning but it will keep the match alive for longer. Imagine pakistan batting first and get all out for 130 , will kill the match in the first half.

Pak should never chase on a flat pitch Unless they think something will happen for the bowlers early. 350 plus scores are on in this series and let me tell u we r not chasing them

 

[Amjid Javed]

Bank on chasing? With 3 out of our expected top 4 - Azhar, Shezi and Hafeez all having a great love of eating dot balls and batting like snails usually i doubt we would chase down any big totals unless we win a game from some late middle order bail out!

 

[Mainul]

In world cup 2015,Pakistan got chance to chase.But they collapsed.Batting second will be the choice most of the time winning the toss in this CT.The successful run chasing teams like India,England,Australia always maintain the asking run rate from the very beginning.I have seen many times that Pakistan's top order relax in the beginning,asking rate goes up,then they go for it,collapse,and we then come to know by the 25th over that Pakistan is not going to win.Pakistan's top order is not different in this CT.So i have little hope for Pakistan chasing 300.

 

[jnaveen1980]

I prefer India to defend. It is a pressure game. 280 will look like 310 while chasing. When you chase 300 even one minor collapse will seal the deal for opposition. Having said that if it is going to be a rain affected match chasing would be ideal.

 

[Justcrazy]

You cannot control toss , think about what can be controlled . To win , you need to play with positive intent and do basics right . Like holding on to catches , running well , converting ones into twoes. Small , basic things like this will make a big difference.

 

[Rayyman]

We will make 350 either way against those small hearted trundlers.

 

[Muhammad10]

Well, Kohli is in the other team... win toss, bowl first is a no-brainer.

 

[Sadevdesai]

On the paper at least, looks like the Indians are loaded, batting or fielding !!!! I think their bowling is ever so slightly better than their batting this time !!!! Usually, it is the other way around. That makes them real formidable. But this is Cricket, anything can happen .... couple of our guys can play out of their minds and turn the tables on them .... has happened before, countless number of times .... so we keep our fingers crossed. Rain ????? .... Hmmmmm ... !!!!

 

[msb314]

We could not defend 300 against West Indies reserves. Our bowlers are nothing special so you are being deluded if you think we can defend 320.

Agree our only hope is to chase.

 

[CricFan2012]

Agreed. The usual slow culprits won't have any excuse of "seeing the ball off" if we bat second and chase 300+.

Ahmed Shehzad surprisingly scored at a good pace in the warm up match while chasing, as long as the pressure does not faze our players we will come on top.

 

[Zaz]

Doesnt kohli avge a huge no when chasing? Thats one reason to make india bat 1st

Also With pakistans ability to eat up dot balls yes its prob the best way to make them stay more proactive with the singles n scoring if they have a target to chase rather than set

Finally if theres gonna be rain around its best for DL purposes to chase

 

[Hasan123]

Personally I prefer chasing. We can break a target upto into smaller parts and not play our usual tuk tuk way for a majority of the innings. We will know when we have to accelerate.

Saying that we have been rubbish at chasing over the years, under Arthur we have done better but Pakistan is known for choking under the pressure of a run chase.

 

[The Yorker]

the way I see it Paks best chance to win is to restrict India to a smaller total that they can chase. 250 to 280 is a realistic total. Once the totals reach to 300 then pak really cannot chase such totals. Neither do they possess the quality of batsmen or are able to handle the pressure of such a run chase.

 

[Abdullah]

Pak should never chase on a flat pitch Unless they think something will happen for the bowlers early. 350 plus scores are on in this series and let me tell u we r not chasing them

I don't like quoting myself but I have seen this kind of chase a million times before!

 

[GLORY OF '92]

Batting first was the correct call.

As usual we got it wrong.

 

[Last Monetarist]

Yeah, the match was lost as soon as Sarfraz invited Kohli to bat on a flat wicket. In all probability, we would have come off second best regardless due to the sheer gulf in class, but if we had batted first we were less likely to be humiliated. We might even have scored 280 or thereabouts without the scoreboard pressure.

 

[HinderTheJinder]

Pak can't chase 300 against Bangladesh let alone India.Pak can only defeat SA if they bat first,put on decent score and then get Amla,ABD,De Kock and Du Plessis cheaply

 

[ExplicitAI]

Nearly a third of the complete 50 overs of an ODI game get eaten up by dot balls whenever Pak bat, they should learn to convert these dots to singles and doubles as much as they can if they wish to improve their scorecards a little.