PlanetCricket
Bot
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2010
Article by Andy Sugden -
I wrote this before the Semi-final on 13/5/10, which may explain some of the pessimism. It was not published then due to the PlanetCricketPortal crash of 12/5/10 – 14/5/10
So, moving on to the second of my possible four posts, and England have been far more convincing in the Super 8s than they were against the West Indies or Ireland in Stage 1. Okay, on the balance, England’s group (Group E) was far easier than Group F, but winning all 3 of their Super 8 matches, England have got to feel confident about maybe just having a chance of winning this thing. Alright, I’m getting carried away. In the remainder of this piece, I’ll look at each of the matches individually, how each player has fared and how I forgot to put my glasses on when looking at Tim Bresnan first time around.
Vs. Pakistan – The team was the same as for the previous games (against the West Indies and Ireland), and England won the toss and chose to field. Yardy was probably the standout, taking 2/19 off his 4 overs. No bowler bowled badly, and apart from Collingwood, (1 over,) all the bowlers took at least 1 wicket. Sidebottom and Bresnan were a bit too expensive, but Broad kept his run rate down, promising for his future in this format.All of a sudden, the 20 overs were up, Pakistan’s for 147, and England were batting. Lumb’s 25 off 13 balls was, again, promising, but Kieswetter’s 25, off 27 balls, was far too slow, and almost lost the match for England. Pietersen saw to that, though. His 73 was almost flawless, off 52 balls, and England had made a good start to getting past Stage 2 of this tournament.
Vs. South Africa – Collingwood won the toss again, and batted this time. Lumb was out cheaply, but Kieswetter got 41. My problem with him from last time still prevailed, however, and he got it off 42 balls, taking up a third of England’s innings. Pietersen was good again, getting 53 off only 33, and Collingwood, Morgan, Bresnan and Yardy added a small amount of other useful runs at the end.
England bowled fantastically well. Swann and Sidebottom took 3 wickets each, and Broad and Yardy, who was expensive for the first time, took 2 each. Bresnan bowled 3 tidy overs without success, but England won by 39 runs, as no batsman apart from Duminy scored any more than 20.
Vs. New Zealand – With no Pietersen, who was busy being a dad, Bopara came into the team. Collingwood lost the toss, and Bresnan was the standout bowler, bowling 4 overs with a return of 1/20, at only 5 runs per over. Sidebottom, Broad and Swann were expensive but took wickets, and Yardy was inexpensive, but took no wickets. Anyway, New Zealand made it to 149.
Lumb started the England innings well, with 32 from 21, and Kieswetter got 15, but Bopara and Collingwood then failed, leaving England at 66/4. Wright and Morgan helped make it better. Wright hit 24 off 17, and with Morgan, 40 off 34, Bresnan, 23 off 11 finished the match off. 3 in 3 in Stage 2.
Alright, let’s do the player thing. (All scores carried over and added or taken away from)
Michael Lumb – 7/10 – Has shown a host of potential, scoring at well over a run a ball from his position, something Kieswetter has failed to do.
Craig Kieswetter - 6.5/10 – Has failed to score at over a run a ball, unacceptable in T20. His keeping has still been good, however.
Kevin Pietersen – 8/10 – A big win for Pietersen in Stage 2. His 2 match winning performances boost his score a lot from last time around, and going off to see his baby boosts his fatherly rating, too.
Paul Collingwood – 4/10 – 33 more runs in 3 more innings, one of England’s best player’s has simply not performed yet. His captaincy has not been inspired but not too bad, so he gets a 4 overall.
Eoin Morgan – 8.5/10 – Hasn’t played as well in Stage 2, but his match winning performance against New Zealand, when most needed, keeps his level above Pietersen’s 8.
Luke Wright – 7/10 – One useful knock against New Zealand, but no scores apart from that. Hasn’t had a chance to show off his bowling.
Tim Bresnan – 7.5/10 – His bowling has been very good in Stage 2, and a useful knock against New Zealand helps stake his place to keep that number 7 spot.
Graeme Swann – 7/10 – Did fantastically against South Africa, but was expensive against New Zealand.
Michael Yardy – 7/10 – Has generally been economical, but took wickets when he was not so, as well as when he was best, against Pakistan.
Stuart Broad – 7.5/10 – Has taken 2 wickets in each match, and is an extremely talented part of England’s bowling line up in one day games for the foreseeable future.
Ryan Sidebottom – 7/10 – 6 wickets for Sidebottom in Stage 2, has been very good in the tournament.
So, onto Stage 3. I’ll tell you my final scores when the tournament’s over, and try to sum the whole thing up in a slightly humourous and simple way. COME ON ENGLAND!
More...
I wrote this before the Semi-final on 13/5/10, which may explain some of the pessimism. It was not published then due to the PlanetCricketPortal crash of 12/5/10 – 14/5/10
So, moving on to the second of my possible four posts, and England have been far more convincing in the Super 8s than they were against the West Indies or Ireland in Stage 1. Okay, on the balance, England’s group (Group E) was far easier than Group F, but winning all 3 of their Super 8 matches, England have got to feel confident about maybe just having a chance of winning this thing. Alright, I’m getting carried away. In the remainder of this piece, I’ll look at each of the matches individually, how each player has fared and how I forgot to put my glasses on when looking at Tim Bresnan first time around.
Vs. Pakistan – The team was the same as for the previous games (against the West Indies and Ireland), and England won the toss and chose to field. Yardy was probably the standout, taking 2/19 off his 4 overs. No bowler bowled badly, and apart from Collingwood, (1 over,) all the bowlers took at least 1 wicket. Sidebottom and Bresnan were a bit too expensive, but Broad kept his run rate down, promising for his future in this format.All of a sudden, the 20 overs were up, Pakistan’s for 147, and England were batting. Lumb’s 25 off 13 balls was, again, promising, but Kieswetter’s 25, off 27 balls, was far too slow, and almost lost the match for England. Pietersen saw to that, though. His 73 was almost flawless, off 52 balls, and England had made a good start to getting past Stage 2 of this tournament.
Vs. South Africa – Collingwood won the toss again, and batted this time. Lumb was out cheaply, but Kieswetter got 41. My problem with him from last time still prevailed, however, and he got it off 42 balls, taking up a third of England’s innings. Pietersen was good again, getting 53 off only 33, and Collingwood, Morgan, Bresnan and Yardy added a small amount of other useful runs at the end.
England bowled fantastically well. Swann and Sidebottom took 3 wickets each, and Broad and Yardy, who was expensive for the first time, took 2 each. Bresnan bowled 3 tidy overs without success, but England won by 39 runs, as no batsman apart from Duminy scored any more than 20.
Vs. New Zealand – With no Pietersen, who was busy being a dad, Bopara came into the team. Collingwood lost the toss, and Bresnan was the standout bowler, bowling 4 overs with a return of 1/20, at only 5 runs per over. Sidebottom, Broad and Swann were expensive but took wickets, and Yardy was inexpensive, but took no wickets. Anyway, New Zealand made it to 149.
Lumb started the England innings well, with 32 from 21, and Kieswetter got 15, but Bopara and Collingwood then failed, leaving England at 66/4. Wright and Morgan helped make it better. Wright hit 24 off 17, and with Morgan, 40 off 34, Bresnan, 23 off 11 finished the match off. 3 in 3 in Stage 2.
Alright, let’s do the player thing. (All scores carried over and added or taken away from)
Michael Lumb – 7/10 – Has shown a host of potential, scoring at well over a run a ball from his position, something Kieswetter has failed to do.
Craig Kieswetter - 6.5/10 – Has failed to score at over a run a ball, unacceptable in T20. His keeping has still been good, however.
Kevin Pietersen – 8/10 – A big win for Pietersen in Stage 2. His 2 match winning performances boost his score a lot from last time around, and going off to see his baby boosts his fatherly rating, too.
Paul Collingwood – 4/10 – 33 more runs in 3 more innings, one of England’s best player’s has simply not performed yet. His captaincy has not been inspired but not too bad, so he gets a 4 overall.
Eoin Morgan – 8.5/10 – Hasn’t played as well in Stage 2, but his match winning performance against New Zealand, when most needed, keeps his level above Pietersen’s 8.
Luke Wright – 7/10 – One useful knock against New Zealand, but no scores apart from that. Hasn’t had a chance to show off his bowling.
Tim Bresnan – 7.5/10 – His bowling has been very good in Stage 2, and a useful knock against New Zealand helps stake his place to keep that number 7 spot.
Graeme Swann – 7/10 – Did fantastically against South Africa, but was expensive against New Zealand.
Michael Yardy – 7/10 – Has generally been economical, but took wickets when he was not so, as well as when he was best, against Pakistan.
Stuart Broad – 7.5/10 – Has taken 2 wickets in each match, and is an extremely talented part of England’s bowling line up in one day games for the foreseeable future.
Ryan Sidebottom – 7/10 – 6 wickets for Sidebottom in Stage 2, has been very good in the tournament.
So, onto Stage 3. I’ll tell you my final scores when the tournament’s over, and try to sum the whole thing up in a slightly humourous and simple way. COME ON ENGLAND!
More...
