Murali the Master! Mendis is the future of spin but Murali is still the undoubted king. Great day for Sri Lanka, especially against such great players of spin.

That's what sane people do? If you think like that you might as well sit inside your house all your life eating pop corn. You never know what happens in this world. Not only Pakistan, a bomb can go off in any place any time! This is the world we live in. You might want to think that people in coutries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka live everyday with fears! "The players are not soldiers"? Are they landing in Pakistan for a war?

delcricket, Thats what sane people do, check the place for security before booking the ticket. The players are not soldiers and they have no business to be in non-safe zones. I bet there the respective boards does a lot of arm twisting to make these players go where they dont want to. For example in the middle of Ashes series in 2005, there were a series of bomb blasts in London. I am sure Oz would have wanted to come back home, but they had to stay and continue playing. There were a series of blasts in India today and I dont begrudge any player who thinks it might be too dangerous to play here.

Lol, I see my prediction of Bajjhi wasting all 3 of India's referrals on ambitious lbw appeals wasn't far off! India seem to be struggling with batting discipline though - it cost them against SA, and could cost them again in this match. Ironic as their coach was one of the most disciplined batsmen around - knew his strengths, played to them, and refused to go after anything else! Tendulkar and co will have to be at their best if they're going to save this game.

Oh dear, I am afraid it is curtains for India. I don't think India will last very long against the spin twins when they follow on.

If Murali doesn't get you, Mendis will! I like that phrase......sounds like a death penalty

recco - lol, i think you are right. Although we are not as bad as we use to be.

Oh dear, we are crumbling against spin. If Dravid can be beaten thusly, we have no hope.

Ah crud, this murali-mendis combo is getting scarier by the minute. If the Indians, who are good players of spin, can't play them then surely us Saffers are doomed.

Arrogant OZ - So before you guys go on a holiday do you always have an independent safety review agency reviewed the destination and submit a report to you? and then according to that report you book your flights? Interesting!

Karma, although I agree that would be a strong batting line up, I doubt that bowling lineup is capable of taking 20 wickets in a match. Swap Broad for Sidebottom I would say. I think they should keep vaughan but to negate Steyn's power over him with the swinging ball, bring him in down the order. I would be tempted to move KP because a few overs of him hitting it well could take the shine off the ball. Then again if they lose and early wicket he won't consolidate and they'll be stuck on 10/2 or something silly. As for SA, keep the same team.

My Commonwealth team for the third and perhaps deciding Test........1. Andrew Strauss. 2. Alistar Cook. 3. Marcus Trescothic. 4. Ian Bell. 5. Kevin Pieterson (c). 6. Paul Collingwood. 7. Andrew Flintoff (vc). 8. Tim Ambrose (wk). 9. Stuart Broad. 10. Monty Panesar. 11. James Anderson. 12. Michael Yawn (lol).

Lol my bad, I completely forgot about KP. Of course I would select him. Put him there in place of big match Belly.

ArrogantOz, you surely meant "1/2 decent" !

Come on, guys. Sure, Pietersen did not play the situation very well in the last test. But, isn't dropping him a little extreme? He is still England's best batsman by a mile. Playing Trescothik, Jones or Harmison will be too much of a gamble and I dare say the English selectors will not play hunches for a while. I can see Colly come in for Broad. I think he can hold one end up just well as Broad can and it will bolster the batting.

I was wondering when poor old ibtisam would resurface: "...now plz tell me what is the problems with the teams y they dont want to visit Pakistan y bad preception is spreading around the world plz clear me..." Okay, here we go: dont know y u have problem ICC sez champs trophy 2 b held in Pakistan perhaps u shd read news players say dont want 2 go bcz bombs going off & no confidence Pakistan security who cares if some teams dont go gives Pakistan better chance 2 win something half-decent...

Legend nobody fears the fat captain though despite Kallis's current slump he always remain a force, even if he's not one to win a match in the manner that the astonishing Pietersen can.

I'v always rated Tresco and I reckon another possibility would be Cook/Strauss/Tresco/Yawn/KP/Bell for the top 6.. it makes sense because Tresco is a builder, the two openers are solid, Yawn will only face an older ball and KP and Bell can keep their partnership. Only problem is that there is no part time bowler (except kp, haha) in the top 6 and one is often useful (Symonds, Ganguly, Clarke, Sehwag, Kallis, Colly, Tendulkar, Jayasuria, etc are all useful bowlers). Then a keeper.. well Prior is no, Ambrose is decent and I think Read will never really be ready for test cricket. As for bowlers, well you can't keep Broad (reminder : he is in the side to take wickets.. if he doesn't, a 5 man attack is effectively a 4 man attack and a 4 man attack becomes 3 which is asking for trouble). I rate Siders, Anderson, Monty and Flintoff. But I feel that England need to find that special someone that can take 7 wickets in his day. Fred can't do it, Siders can't do it, and Anderson can only do it on a very helpful wicket and against a very unsolid batting line up. Thus, Harmison (90+ mph) comes back into the picture, as well as Jones and Hoggard. But who do you drop?

Y2 - I think we should bat the first hour tomorrow and declare. India will bat and I am sure they'll do well. A line up with names such as Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly are not easy to bowl out. This is definitely going to be a draw mainly the rain played two sessions. I think they had no option but to schedule the tour at this time cos of the tight international fixtures. Can you remember last year South Africa and India came at the same time and not a single match was played on that triangular tournament due to rain.

Pietersen is a match winner. He has the potential to turn a game and he creates pressure on the opposition just by being in the team. After losing the series against South Africa - which I predict - he will be itching to make his mark on the world stage again.

Del... U're right...The weather should hold up for a result... But I don't see that happening knowing SL's weather, but still they could press for a result, providing Indian batting line up doesn't live up to their worth. Long way from that happening though....

Smith & Kallis are still one of the most fearfull players in world cricket they are 1 of a kind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

why not drop KP whats makes him drifrent, a kick up the backside might do him good, tresco comin back is not goin to happen you all know that,for now we to stick with ambrose and as for broad he may not be takin wkts but he got the runs

I would give Freddie the skippers role. Sure he let himself and others down with the pedalo affair but he must have learned from that. As for Prior, I take the point about dropped catches, so yeah, Ambrose for Prior.

The Sri Lankans are playing well. I think this test is gonna be a draw. Let's see. I love this referral system. I think Mahela used it successfully today. Why on earth do people schedule matches to be played during rainy season??