Story England summer

[m_vaughan]

Score Update
At Lunch Day 4
England 236-6
M. Vaughan 100*
G. Jones 7*

H. Singh 4/85
L. Balaji 1/38

ENGLAND LEAD BY 130 RUNS

England have lost the wickets of Giles (32), Thorpe (22) and Flintoff (6) in this morning session of the 4th day of this test match. Giles' innings of 32 was crucial, as he was involved in 88 run partnership with Vaughan, and gave the England captain a lot of support. However Thorpe and Flintoff, were disappointing, and have had a poor test match to be honest. England at Lunch on day 4, are 236-6 with centurion Vaughan and Geraint Jones at the crease.

David Gower: Well after that fantastic effort from Giles and Vaughan, you would have expected the likes of Thorpe and Flintoff to deliver and take England to a respectable score. But both have let England down, havent they?

Nasser Hussain: Yeah. To be honest, I think both Flintoff and Thorpe have had a pretty poor game. Flintoff has been disappointing with both ball and bat so far, while Thrope has only managed to get into 20s. But they are two of the best cricketers in the world, who have just had a bad game.

David Gower: Can England reach 350 now?

Nasser Hussain: Well its important that these two (Vaughan and Jones) build a decent partnership between them both. They should atleast try and bat England to a score of 300. Like I said a score of 320+ is essential, and England should try and get to 320 first and then get as many more runs as possible.

David Gower: The post lunch session should be a crucial one, and join us for it in about 45 mins time. Till then yet another episode of "Lords Heroes".

 

[m_vaughan]

Score Update
At Tea Day 4
India 9-0
V. Sehwag 7*
Y. Singh 1*


England 330 all out
M. Vaughan 145
G. Jones 41

H. Singh 4/93
A. Agarkar 4/104

INDIA NEED 216 RUNS MORE TO WIN

England managed to reach 330, largely due to the partnership between Geraint Jones and Michael Vaughan for the 6th wicket. Jones was dismissed for 41, and Vaughan fell five runs short of his 150. Simon Jones ended up with a pair in the test match, while Hoggard and Harmison score 10 and 2* respectively, the later remaining not out. Both Ajit Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh ended with 4 wickets each.

David Gower: So Nasser, England have score 330, which you said was minimum. What now?

Nasser Hussain: Yes I thought that Partnership between Vaughan and Jones could have saved England, and now England need to bowl really well and try and get as many wickets as possible today itself to put pressure on the Indians. Remember, batting fourth on any wicket will always be tricky. But England must pick up wickets as frequently as possible.

David Gower: Fantastic performance by Harbhajan Singh in this match, he has picked up seven wickets, and has been the most dangerous bowler for India.

Nasser Hussain: Yeah, Harbhajan and Ajit Agarkar have performed well in this test match. I thought Harbhajan would have picked more wickets had he been introduced earlier in the 1st innings.

David Gower: Well join us the final session of play on Day 4 of this fantastic test match, as India now require 216 runs more to win the match.

 

[m_vaughan]

 

[Rahul]

good match!! but looks as if india will get through......giles is the only one who can save u!!

 

[Jarryd]

Looking grim M_Vaughan, i'm not fussed who wins cos i don't like either of them. :P :P

 

[m_vaughan]

Score Update
At Stumps Day 4
India 133-2
V. Sehwag 96*
S. Tendulkar 6*

S. Harmison 1/25
A. Giles 1/29

INDIA NEED ANOTHER 92 RUNS TO WIN

Well only some sort of a miracle can save England now. India have romped to 133-2 at the end of day 4 in this 1st npower test. Virender Sehwag did what he does best, smashing the ball to all parts of the park. A conservative start from the "Butcher of Nazabgar", but once he started going, there was no stopping him. The England bowlers havent been able to get rid off this dangerous Indian opening batsman. The two wickets that did fall were that of Yuvraj Singh (26) and Rahul Dravid (1). Yuvraj was dismissed by Ashley Giles, LBW, while Rahul Dravid was the victim of a fantastic Steve Harmison Yorker.

David Gower: India well on course to victory. Some fantastic batting by them. Tendulkar in the 1st Innings, and now Virender Sehwag. What an amazing innings from him, Nasser?

Nasser Hussain: Yeah, he is one of those guys who are prepared to change the appearance of Test Cricket. He doesnt like to hang in there for too long, plays his shots, and is really a cracking batsman. He has single-handedly destroyed any England hopes of winning this test match.

David Gower: So are we completely ruling out any chances for England?

Nasser Hussain: Definately Not. But its rather very unlikely now, especially with Sehwag in such good form. But England will fight till the end.

David Gower: Well lets hope that that happens, so that we can have a rather interesting last day of this test match. Till then, from me David Gower, along with Nasser Hussain, its Good bye.

 

[m_vaughan]

Score Update
1:15 PM Day 5
India 227-4
VVS Laxman 19*
S. Ganguly 11*
V. Sehwag 127


S. Harmison 2/46

INDIA WIN BY SIX WICKETS
Man of the Match: Harbhajan Singh

Despite losing Sehwag and Tendulkar, India ended up winning this test match rather comprehensively at the end. A six wicket victory gives India a 1-0 lead in this 2 test match series. Sehwag's highly entertaining innings of a 127 came to end, when he scooped a Harmison delivery straight into the hands of Andrew Flintoff. And it was Flintoff who got the better of Sachin Tendulkar, dismissing him LBW.


David Gower: So India have won the first npower test match by six wickets, on the fifth day here at Lords. Now, Nasser, India were the better side in this test match, werent they?

Nasser Hussain: Yeah, they were, and thats why they won. They bowled well, battled well and fielded well, and at the end were rewarded with a well deserved victory over a very good England side. I dont think England played that bad, its just that India played better.

David Gower: What should England do before the Edgbaston Test

Nasser Hussain: Well still nine days left for that test. I think the players have worked hard and are definately very worn out. Probably just give them some rest for about 2-3 days, and then some county cricket and then back to some training, working on some aspects, trying and investigating some weaknesses in the Indian side, and coming back strongly in the next test match. I am pretty confident that Michael Vaughan will come back fighting at Edgbaston.

David Gower: Well one thing is certain, that its been a great test match. Two top test sides fighting against each other, and in this case, its been India who have come on top. Join us for the next test match at Edgbaston in about nine days time. Till then from me, David Gower, along with Nasser Hussain and all of us here Sky Sports, its goodbye/

 

[m_vaughan]

 

[m_vaughan]

LATEST NEWS

Mark Butcher could miss the 2nd Test against India at Edgbaston due to toe injury. Warwickshire's Ian Bell has been called in as cover up for the Surrey man.

England 12 man squad for 2nd test
M Vaughan
M Trescothick
A Strauss
M Butcher/I Bell
G Thorpe
A Flintoff
G Jones
A Giles
S Jones
S Harmison
M Hoggard
J Anderson


India might replace Yuvraj Singh with Akash Chopra for the 2nd test against England at Edgbaston. Yuvraj had a rather dull performance at Lords, and Akash Chopra, who is considered to be a better opener for test matches, could well get the nod into the Indian starting XI.

 

[m_vaughan]

THE npower TEST SERIES
England v India
2nd Test
Edgbaston, Birmingham, Warwickshire

India leads series 1-0

Welcome to Edgbaston for this 2nd Test in the npower Test Series between England and India. India won the first test at Lords, to take an unbeatable 1-0 lead in the 2 test series. Can England stage a comeback here at Edgbaston. Well within the next five days, we will have our answer.

Conditions: Well due to the recent poor weather here at Birmingham, we have rather sloggy and slightly muddy outfield here. However, we have blue skies, bright sunshine and almost no chance of rain.

Pitch: Due to the recent poor weather, we have a rather damp pitch. Bounce on this wicket is going to be pretty low making it difficult for the batsman. The pitch might become even worse as the match progresses, hence batting last on this wicket will be extremely difficult. Not a good wicket, I am sorry to say, but it could give us an interesting match.

The Toss: Michael Vaughan won the toss and elected to bat first.

ANALYSIS OF EACH DAY'S PLAY AT THE END OF EACH DAY BY DAVID GOWER AND NASSER HUSSAIN OF SKY SPORTS

 

[m_vaughan]

The Teams:
INDIA - 1 change (Zaheer Khan comes in for Yuvraj, as India decide to play 5 full time bowlers)
ENGLAND - No change

 

[m_vaughan]

Hey...my pc has been having some problems off late, so I have to transfer the data files(gob, roster, snd_pak, etc.) onto my laptop, and have continued my story there.

Score Update
At Lunch Day 1
England 66-3
M. Butcher 24*
G. Thorpe 24*

H. Singh 2/11
Z. Khan 1/11

England got off to a horrible start, losing Trescothick in the very first over. The returning Zaheer Khan was given the chance of open the bowling attack, and he dismissed Marcus Trescothick LBW, in his very first over. Strauss and Butcher then tried to ease things, but then came in Harbhajan. The man of Patiala first dismissed Andrew Strauss, who was caught by Ajit Agarkar at cover. Harbhajan then had Michael Vaughan clean bowled for a duck. England reeling at 33-3 at this stage. But since then Butcher and Thorpe with their experience have helped England get to 66-3 at Lunch. Still lot of work to be done.

 

[m_vaughan]

b] Score Update [/b]
At Tea Day 1
England 146-4
G. Thorpe 53*
A. Flintoff 36*
M. Butcher 37

H. Singh 2/25
Z. Khan 2/52

England have lost the wicket of Mark Butcher (37). The Surrey left hander was caught at slips by Rahul off the bowling of Zaheer Khan. This ended a 63 run partnership between the two Surrey batsman, Thorpe and Butcher. Thorpe was then joined by the strong Lancastrian, Andrew Flintoff. Before Lunch, these two have already accumulated another 50 runs, with Thorpe reaching another half century, and Flintoff unbeaten on 36.

 

[m_vaughan]

Score Update
At Stumps Day 1
England 290-5
G. Thorpe 135*
G. Jones 47*
A. Flintoff 45

H. Singh 2/47
Z. Khan 2/71

So thanks to Graham Thorpe's magnificent century, which was well supported by Andrew Flintoff and Geraint Jones, England find themselves in relatively healthy position at the end of the 1st day. Flintoff was the only batsman dismissed in the final session of play, when he was caught by Harbhajan Singh off Ajit Agarkar.

 

[m_vaughan]

ANALYSIS OF THE 1st DAY'S PLAY BY DAVID GOWER AND NASSER HUSSAIN - SKY SPORTS

David Gower: So after a fantastic day 1 here at Edgbaston, England have scored 290 for the loss of five wickets. The main contributor to that score was without a shadow of a doubt, Graham Thorpe, who is still unbeaten on 135. But he was well supported by Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones, who also is still not out, and also towards the start of his innings by Mark Butcher slightly, though none of them managed to carry on after getting off to good starts. Thorpe did, and is now 15 runs short of a 150. I have with me in the studio as always, Nasser Hussain. Nasser, good performance by England at the end?

Nasser Hussain: Yeah, definately. Keeping in mind that England were 33-3, and also the fact that the wicket is so damp, with ball suddenly keeping low, I think England have done extremely well to get to 290. Graham Thorpe has proved once again that he is such a great batsman. Its been almost impossible to bat on that pitch today, but he has really worked hard, and probably scored one of the best or rather one of the most well deserved centuries in history.

David Gower: Yes, England did get off to a horrid start. Trescothick was dismissed in the very first over. Strauss, who had a poor test match at Lords, once again failed here at Edgbaston. And Michael Vaughan, England's best batsman at Lords, was dismissed for a duck, thanks to an extra ordinary off spinning delivery from Harbhajan Singh. But then partnerships between Thorpe & Butcher, Flintoff & Thorpe, and the current unbeaten one between Jones and Thorpe, have taken England to a very good position. Remember this pitch is expected to become worse as the match progresses. Nasser, what do India do now?

Nasser Hussain: Well the pitch is almost impossible to bat on, so India might really want to ask themselves howcome they let England reach 290, on such a poor wicket. But I think India should try and get early wickets tomorrow. The fast bowlers can make use of the early morning dew to swing the ball more than they can later during the day. The first session is definately the toughest session, because not only does the batsman have to handle the low bounce on this pitch, but also swinging and seaming conditions. India need wickets, and they need them quickly.

David Gower: Thanks Nasser. And that just about wraps up our show. Join us tomorrow for the 2nd days play between England and India here at Edgbaston. Till then, its Goodbye.