Broad returning to form looks like a God-send although he always seems to bowl well at Lords.
He hasn't justified his selection, he has repaid the selectors' faith in him. First time he's taken more than two wickets in an innings in SEVENTEEN bowls/innings.
Well bowled, what happens when you pitch the ball up in helpful conditions. Also the myth about Broad being told to bowl short and be "the enforcer" was dispelled by the selectors/ECB apparently, what they've said is they want Broad to bowl well and take wickets, if he needs to perform the "enforcer role" then he is good at it, but that isn't what he is told to do
So it is either Broad resorting to pitching short when he is hit for runs, or weak captaincy - or both
Still, he's given us a
good chance in the match, to get a positive result, him and Pietersen's well constructed double. Both 1st innings generally need to be concluded by the close of play on day three and we're there with a sizeable advantage.
Obviously advantage England but this is still a formidable Indian side and we definitely shouldn't be counting chickens.
If you really want to scare England you'll need 3 wickets in the first hour and they'll go defensive and you'll get a draw.
I'm not expecting this England to be defensive tomorrow when batting (declaring is anothe rmatter).
England should be reasonably positive, I reckon a target of 360+ from the last four sessions should be where they are aiming, a tough ask in any 4th innings. If England were going to be defensive then they should have thought twice a few times before declaring their 1st innings, unless they believed they would skittle the Indians as one teletext writer suggested they had.
This may be Strauss' first Test as captain against India, but in 18 previous Tests as captain where England has been 100+ runs ahead on 1st innings England have won 14 times (73.68%) True that wasn't against India, but how often do India a) get bowled out for under 300 in the 1st innings and b) concede a 1st innings lead of nearly 200?
The pitch is still offering quite a bit, if India should get early wickets then England may well be a bit more defensive, but over the course of four hours should be able to at least put on 120-150 runs and establish around a 300 run lead which should enable them to have a slog and declare sometime in the last session - if they aren't bowled out which might be a good thing. Assuming Khan is out of the equation they'll have only two frontline seamers, plus Dhoni who will no doubt cheat away some more overs with time-wasting tactics. I suggest the ICC have a rule that says if the keeper chooses to bowl then the stand in has to stand in for the rest of the session. They definitely need to do something positive regarding time wasting, I still favour the batsmen choosing the bowler until the over rate is on target.
How's Negative Nasser's prediction looking? But for dropped catches and missed chances England might well have wrapped India up for well under 250. I think 300 is about par, Pietersen was just immense and his runs made 40% of our innings like Dravid's made up 36% of India's.
One thing England do need to bear in mind, but not too much, is India have a potentially powerful batting line up. But if they go too negative then they'll toss away a chance to win the game and might not be in such a strong position again in the series. You certainly can NEVER assume dominance in one Test will continue to the next
