Story Englands attempts to become the best (ICC2006 Ashes Edition)

[Sureshot]

First test vs Sri Lanka.

Team: Trescothick, Cook, Strauss, KP, Vaughan, Flintoff, Prior, Rashid, Jones, Anderson, Hoggard.

We won the toss and decided to have a bowl on a pitch that looked like offering more for the pacers than the spinners. I picked Rashid due to him adding batting depth, Prior kept his place as he was in form.

They made a decent start getting to 48 before Sangakkara fell to Jones, caught at square leg. His opening partner Atapattu was batting well when joined by Jayawardene but Atapattu fell for 38 when the score was on 94, gone bowled by Rashid. Vandort could only make 10 runs as he and Mahela added 32 for the 3rd wicket, bowled by Rashid. Samaraweera was in next but only made 18 as Sri Lanka were stuttering caused by some super bowling by the young Leggie. They had added 37 for the 4th wicket as Samaraweera also fell to Rashid. Jayawardene had passed 50 as Jayasuriya came in, but the big hitting player could only make 6. Jayawardene and Wijekoon put on the biggest partnership of the innings adding 53 for the 6th wicket before Wijekoon was caught at slip off of Jones. The next two wickets fell for 7 runs, Vaas fell to Flintoff and Jayawardene was bowled by Jones for 93. Murali made 19* as the tail wagged a little adding 29 for the last two wickets. Perera was caught by KP off of Rashid and he also got the wicket of Fernando to finish with figures of 6-75. Jones 3-50 and Flintoff 1-32 as the Sri Lankans made 258.

We didn't make the best of starts as Cook fell for 6, lbw to Perera. Tres and Strauss then put on a partnership of 74 before Strauss fell for 35. Murali doing the damage. The next 4 wickets fell for just 48 runs as we suffer a middle order collapse. Murali, Fernando and Samaraweera with the wickets. Tres fell for 54. Kp 11, Vaughan 8 and Flintoff 12. 133-6 when Prior and Rashid came together. They both played themselves in and played really well, both justifying their selections. Thye put on 92 before Prior was bowled by Perera for 61. Rashid made 47 as he batted quite well with the tail adding 30 for the last 2 wickets. 264. Murali 5-80, Fernando 2-35, Perera 2-77 and Samaraweera 1-58.

Flintoff got the wicket of Sangakkara early but from then on it was all Sri Lanka as they piled on the runs. They put on 45 for the 2nd wicket before Atapattu was caught by the keeper off of Anderson. Jayawadene succumbed to Anderson also leaving Sri Lanka 91-3. Vandort was starting to play well but Samaraweera fell for 23 caught at square leg off of Jones. Jayasuriya joined Vandort and they played the spin of Rashid comfortably. Putting on 122 for the 5th wicket. but Jayasuriya was caught behind off of a fired up Freddie. Wijekoon kept around and helped Vandort passed his hundred and on to 141. Flintoff bowled well and took 2 more wickets. They put on 48 for the 8th wicket as Vaas played well for 43. 396 all out. Flintoff 5-76, Anderson 3-93, Jones 1-67 and Rashid 1-83. Hoggard taking no wickets this game.

A big target was always going to be hard with the likes of Murali on their team and it proved to be just that. We did make a good start with Cook and Tres putting on 55 for the 1st wicket before Tres was bowled by Fernando for a quickfire 37. We opened the innings with incredible aggression (I had them only on 2 bars) 5-6 an over regularly. Cook was run out for 23 as our chances got slimmer with every wicket. Strauss and KP put on 50 for the 3rd wicket before Strauss was also run out, for 30. Kp and Vaughan added 47 for the 4th wicket before Kp fell to Murali for 60. Vaughan and Flintoff added 29 before Vaughan went for 34. Prior came in with a positive attitude. Flintoff couldn't stay around and Rashid went for just 3. But Jones stuck around and Prior hit 3 4's in an over as he made 41 from 67 including 7 fours putting 32 on for the 8th wicket. It was all pointless though as we were bowled out for 268. Perera 4-79 the main painstaker. Fernando 2-58, Murali and Samaraweera took a wicket each.

 

[Sureshot]

2nd Test vs Sri Lanka, Bell in for Cook (Bell has 6 centuries in 2 years with no fifties, so he goes on alot)

Lost the toss and we were put in to bat first.

This innings was a very weird one. We made a decent start but Tres fell early on. Vaughan played well making 48 including a 56 run partnership with Bell for the 4th wicket. KPs run of iffy form continues as he was dismissed by Vaas (who bowled 4 overs in 98..) Vaughan finally went to the spin of Samaraweera and Bell went for a duck. Prior joined Flintoff two players in good form as we needed a resurrection. They played the spinners well on a pitch that looked like offering more to the batsman than the bowlers. They added 159 for the 6th wicket before Flintoff went for 88. Prior and Rashid added 51 for the 7th wicket before Rashid went for 22. Prior was just 2 short of his maiden Test century when Perera had him caught behind. For so long we needed a keeper scoring runs like this. 200 in 2 matches. Jones, Anderson and even Hoggard (10 from 5 balls) all passed double figures so for the first time every batsman reached double figures. 369. Murali 3-102 Samaraweera 2-89, Fernando 2-79, perera 2-89 and Vaas 1-1. We added 48 runs for the last 3 wickets.

I felt a bit under pressure as the pitch was more 500 than 369 but we'll have to do. Anderson got an early wicket each as Atapattu was bowled. Jayawardene made 28 as he and Sangakkara put on 48 for the 2nd wicket before falling to Simon Jones. But Sangakkara and Vandort steadied the flow of batsman and played the bowlers with ease. They put on 177 for the 3rd wicket before Vandort went for 80 to Flintoff C&B. Sangakkara quickly passed his hundred but couldn't make a big hundred as he was another Flintoff victim gone for 110. Wijekoon and Vaas frustrated me as they put on 36 for the 6th wicket, before Jayasuriya went lbw to Jones then added 31 together for the 7th wicket. Wijekoon 33 and vaas 22. 332 all out, Flintoff 3-42, Jones 3-74, Anderson 2-64 and Hoggard 2-87. Rashid was ineffective in his 18 overs.

We had a lead of 37 and looked to capitalise on it. We made a good start with Strauss and Tres putting 54 on for the first wicket before Tres went for 30. KP joined Strauss and they played well, Kp though fell to Perera 1 short of his half century, he had added 94 with Strauss. 148-2. Vaughan couldn't help the team as Murali struck. I was very wary at this time as we could have folded under pressure. Fortunately Strauss and Bell were brilliant and gave us a good chance of winning the game as they both passed hundreds, adding 191 for the 4th wicket before Strauss went for 166. Bell went to Murali for 143. We limped on to 426-9 and I declared, leaving Sri Lanka to chase 464 for victory. Samaraweera 3-66 was the pick of the bowlers. Perera, Muralia and Fernando took 2 wickets each.

So I looked to attack early as they had a huge target to get in just under 5 sessions. They made a strong start of 52 before Jones had Sangakkara caught at 3rd slip. Jayawardene joined Atapattu and these two experienced heads played really well as all of a sudden I thought "They can win this!". They added 135 for the 2nd wicket before Jayawardene went to Hoggard for 53. We got a quick wicket as Rashid picked up his lone wicket of the match. Samaraweera came in and added 61 with Atapattu before the opener went for 108, bowled by Anderson. Jayasuriya came in and attacked Rashid, I had to take the young man off. He and Thilan added 107 for the 5th wicket as they were getting far too close for comfort. Jayasuriya went for 62, another wicket to Anderson. We got Wijekoon quickly, caught and bowled by Hoggard. But Vaas came in and smashed the attack for a quickfire 40 runs. 66 for the 7th wicket with Samaraweera. Samaraweera scored the winning runs with a 4 to finish on a magnificent 129*. 466-7 I was devastated the series was gone 2-0 with only one to play. Hoggard 3-109, Anderson 2-105. Jones and Rashid one each.

 

[Sureshot]

As the 3rd test was a dead rubber in effect I decided to give Horton his debut, I also brought Monty back in for Rashid, Tres was rested for the ODIs. We won the toss and decided to have a bat. Sri Lanka had replaced Perera with Herath.

Strauss fell early on as we looked to post a minimum of 300 on a decent batting pitch that might spin later on. Our middle order was strong today as Kp joined Vaughan and added 58 for the 2nd wicket, KP who went on to make 29 before falling to Murali passed 3,000 Test runs. Bell playing at 4 today added 43 for the 3rd wicket with Vaughan before the captain fell for a well made 46. This time Fernando got the wicket. Horton on debut looked tentative scoring at a slow rate, he and Bell added 42 for the 4th wicket before Horton went for 17. Bell passed his fifty in the 5th wicket partnership with Flintoff before he fell to Murali, gone for 75. Flintoff and Prior were aggressive towards the three spinners (Murali, Herath and Samaraweera) and it paid off as they put on 86 for the 6th wicket before Prior went for 38. Flintoff batted a bit with the tail but went for 83. Flintoff also passed a milestone this time he had passed 4,000 Test runs. 328 all out, Murali 6-110. Herath 2-80, Fernando & Samaraweera one wicket each.

Our bowlers failed to get an early breakthrough as Sangakkara and Atapattu made good early ground. Sangakkara made 40 before falling to Panesar, adding 107 with Atapattu, we were on the back foot but the young spinner from Luton did really well. He dismissed Atapattu and Jayawardene in quick succesion. Samaraweera came out to bat and looked determined to fight the spinner, he did well at it too. KP got the wicket of Vandort, he had added 44 for the 4th wicket with Samaraweera. Jayasuriya and Wijekoon fell to a fiery spell of bowling from Flintoff. Suddenly the good start was gone and we were on top. Vaas stayed around so Samaraweera could reach 50 and get the Sri Lankans past 250. Samaraweera finally fell to Panesar, who in turn cleaned up the tail (with Hoggard getting Murali). Herath was Panesars 5th wicket of the game and hsi 100th Test wicket, he also got Fernando to finish with figures of 6-67. 265 all out the Sri Lankans. Flintoff 2-32, KP 1-30 and Hoggard 1-43.

We looked to impose a good total for them to chase, in excess of 400 was the idea. Strauss again fell early as did Vaughan (who had hit quick boundaries but fell on 28) which left us tintering on the thought of being defeated once again. KP and Bell put on 55 for the 3rd wicket before Bell was bowled by Fernando. Horton came out and set about to bat for a long time. He played well and he and KP put on 87 for the 4th wicket before Horton was lbw to Murali for 42. KP was scoring runs at his usual quick rate, Flintoff couldn't stay with him for long, Prior did and they added 37 before Prior went for 21. KP soon passed his century but couldn't bat much with Jones and Anderson (who both got ducks) gone for 114 his 10th Test century. Hoggard and Panesar added 22 for the 10th wicket as we just got through Day 3. We were finally out for 255 leaving Sri Lanka to chase 318. Fernando 3-47, Vaas 2-31, Muralia and Herath 2 each, Samaraweera also got a wicket.

They got off to another good start before Panesar fot Atapattu out for 53 as he and Sangakkara had put on 133 for the 1st wicket. Jayawardene and Sangakkara put on 48 for the 2nd wicket before Anderson bowled Kumar. Jayawardene and Vandort put on 88 for the 3rd wicket though as Sri Lanka close in on victory. Bell took a wicket as I tried something different and Hoggard got the wicket of Samaraweera but as Jayawardene passed his hundred he finished unbeaten on 109* as Sri lanak won by 6 wickets.

Before the 3 ODIs we played Sinhalese in a OD friendly.

Team: Cook, Vaughan, Bell, Horton, Loye, Collingwood, Flintoff, Prior, Tremlett, Anderson and Panesar. We decided to bowl first so we could chase on a good track.

Tremlett had an off day as he got spanked at 8 an over. Flintoff got an early wicket as did Collingwood. Their middle order produced the bulk of the runs as they put on 41 for the 3rd and 66 for the 4th wicket. Paranvitana 78, Gunawardene 35 and Polonowita 30. As Tremlett was bad I gave Vaughan some overs and he bowled well bowling 8 overs 2-47. His last one went for 13 in the 40th over. Flintoff and Anderson bowled well at the death as we dismissed them for 212. Anderson 3-28, Flitnoff 3-23. Colly 1-29 (5), Panesar 0-27 (10).

Cook and Vaughan put on 56 for the 1st wicket before Cook fell for 21. Vaughan followed not long after for 39. Bell also failed, gone for 8 bowled by Suraj. Horton and Loye put on 48 for the 4th wicket before Loye fell for 32. Horton went next over for 29 as we were bowled out by the spinners. 152 all out. Lokuarachchi 3-17, Samaraweera 2-17, Suraj 2-38, Fernando 2-52 and Prasad 1-28.

3 ODIs I'm not expecting much...

 

[Sureshot]

The ODI series is coming up. Photobucket is down at the moment so no pics for this update and the thread looks untidy.

1st ODI.

Tres, Strauss and KP in. Bell, Cook and Horton miss out, we won the toss and elected to bowl first.

We got off to a super start as Anderson and Tremlett bowled well to reduce the Sri Lankans batsman to tailenders who couldn't play a shot. Their biggest partnership of the top 5 partnerships was 13. Silva and Jayasuriya played well and added 88 for the 6th to give us something to chase, Silva made 57 before being bowled by Flintoff and Jayasuriya made 32 before being given out lbw to Panesar. Anderson cleared up the tail with two quick wickets. 151 all out. Anderson 4-20 which sends him top of the ODI bowling rankings, Tremlett 3-31, Monty 2-46 and Flitnoff 1-27.

Tres and Strauss got us off to a good start putting 45 on for the first wicket before Tres went for 19, Strauss followed a few runs later for 24. KP and Vaughan (No.4) put on 57 for the 3rd wicket to see us within 50 runs of victory before Vaas got Vaughan for 26. KP went for 37 not long after to Herath. Flintoff got us to within 5 runs before Prior and Colly had to finish it off as Herath claimed Flintoffs wicket lbw. Prior hit the winning runs with a 4, 153-6. Vaas 2-22, Herath 3-31 and Samaraweera 1-32. Strauss passed 3,000 ODI runs in the chase.

2nd ODI, no changes but lost the toss and were asked to field first.

Again Anderson made a magnificent start reducing the Sri Lankans to 44-5 at one point. Flintoff getting a couple of the latter wickets. The lower middle order got the innings back on track though as Silva and Jayasuriya out on 48 for the 6th wicket before Tremlett bowled Jayasuriya. Silva and Vaas put on 47 for the 7th wicket before KP bowled Silva. Then Silva an herath put on 55 for the 8th wicket, so a good comeback for the Sri Lankans. Monty got the wicket of Herath and then Anderson finished the innings with Flintoff. 197 all out. Anderson 4-48, Flitnoff 3-26, KP 1-30.

We made another terrific start as Tres and Strauss found the Sri Lankan attack easy. We didn't play really aggressively just kept the run rate under 4. They put on 175 for the opening stand before Herath had Strauss out lbw for 80. They got 2 more quick wickets, the run out of KP and Herath had Vaughan caught behind for a duck. But Tres passed his 14th century in ODi cricket as he and Loye 7*saw us home by 7 wickets. Herath 2-45.

3rd ODI with the series wrapped up I made two changes Bell and Horton in, Vaughan and Loye out. We won the toss and decided to have a bat.

On a pitch that offered nothing for either seam up or spinners a par total of 200 would be minimum 250 maybe. Tres and Strauss put on 46 before Strauss went early. Kp and Tres though put on 77 for the 2nd wicket before Tres fell for 58, lbw to Samaraweera. Samaraweera was the thorn in this batting effort but KP and Bell put on 40 for the 3rd wicket before KP went for 55 gone to Murali. Bell made 44 from 38 balls but apart from that and 12 from Collingwood we somehow limped home to 211. Samaraweera 3-46, vaas 1-26. Muralia and Wijekoon with the other wickets.

Could we whitewash them?

No early breakthrough until atapattu was bowled by Flintoff with the score on 30. Sangakkara was the lone batsman to do anything in the top order making 45 before succumbing to KP who was bowling due to Tremlett being expensive in his 6 overs. But Silva and Jayasuroiya put on 76 for the 5th wicket and then Silva and Vaas who added 64 for the 8th wicket nearly saw them home. But Flintoff bowled first Vaas, then Murali and finally Herath as he won us the game with a hat-trick and finished with a 5 for. We won by just 9 runs. KP 2-30 was very helpful as Tremlett was poor. Flintoff 5-26, Anderson 2-35.

Up to 7th in the standings, a 2 Test 3 ODI tour in New Zealand next.


---

It's back up again.

piccys coming, they are in the order of the games.

 

[Sureshot]

18 man squad to play New Zealand in 2 Tests and 3 ODIs:

Strauss, Pietersen, Bell, Horton, Vaughan, Shah, Trescothick, Prior, Nash, Cook, Collingwood, Flintoff, Anderson, Panesar, Rashid, Hoggard, Harmison, Lewis.

Team to play Wellington in a three day friendly:
Strauss (c), Cook, Bell, Shah, horton, Flintof, Prior, Lewis, Harmison, Anderson and Panesar.

We won the toss and decided to have a bowl in overcast conditions on a pitch favouring the seamers.

On a pitch suited for seamers Lewis got an early breakthrough with the Kiwi captain Fleming being bowled. Ryder and Fairley put on 66 for the second wicket before Fairley was bowled by Harmison. From here on in it was all us, though Parlane did add some fiht with 36* including a 26 run partnership for the 6th wicket with Nevin. Bell who was bowling due to his style of bowling was the main destroyer of the middle andlower order taking 4-31. Harmison also got a couple of later wickets likewise with Lewis. Harmison 3-18 and Lewis 3-55. 149 all out.

Cook and Strauss made a solid reply putting 62 on for the 1st wicket before O'brien had Strauss caught at second slip for 30. Cook and Bell then put on 139 for the 2nd wicket as they looked unthreatening. Cook finally being dismissed for 67. The middle order didn't fire, Horton made 17 but not much from Shah or Flintoff. Bell was finally bowled by Gillespie for 89. Prior played okay at the end making 23 but we were bowled out for 274. O'brien 5-67 and Gillespie 4-83.

They had a good start second time around with Fleming and Fairley putting 93 on for the first wicket before Fleming was caught at point off of Panesar. Monty bowled really well in the middle order taking 3 more quick wickets with Harmison getting one from the other end. Fairley and Parlane put on 27 for the 6th wicket before Fairley was out lbw to Lewis. Anderson struck with the wicket of Nevin as the 7th wicket added 20. Parlane finally was out for 27 as he and Gillespie (21) put on 25 for the 8th wicket. Panesar finished of that partnership and the innings as he took career best figures of 7-50. 200 all out.

A target of 76 didn't seem daunting as the clouds disappeared and it wasn't as Cook and Strauss knocked off the runs comfortably. Cook 39* and Strauss 36*.

So a good all round display, the likes of Cook, Panesar, Bell all showed what they can do. As did Harmison.

1st test up next.

 

[cric_craze]

some very interesting games here and nice summary

 

[offdriven4]

any chance you could post your teams stats up,very interested to see how horton and nash are doing

 

[kookaburra69]

nice one day series victory against the srills,they can be hard to beat.
I'll be very interested in this new zealand series,Ian Bell did well with the ball against Wellington lol.

 

[Roofrom50]

Monty!!! Taking 7 wickets for the Poms, good stuff

 

[Sureshot]

1st Test vs New Zealand.

Team: Trescothick, Strauss, KP, Vaughan, bell, Flintoff, Prior, Harmison, Hoggard, Anderson and Panesar.

Won the toss and decided to have a bowl on a pitch that looked to offer something to the seamers. I nearly played Lewis.

Fleming and Fulton got them off to a good start putting 64 on for the first wicket before Fulton succumbed to an Anderson yorker. Oram came in at 3 and played well, but Fleming fell for 43 not long after to Flintoff. Anderson bowled really well to the middle order not letting them settle, he took 2 more quick wickets including that of Oram for 30. McMillan who came in when Fleming fell was playing well and put on 48 for the 5th wicket with Marshall, McMillan eventually went to Hoggard for 56. Marshall put on 40 for the 6th wicket with McCullum before McCullum went to Harmison. Frustratingly Marshall batted well with the tail and added 49 for the last 2 wickets, but Anderson and Panesar finished finished up the innings to leave Marshall on 55*. Anderson got anothet 5 wicket haul (5-78) and passed 100 test wickets carrying on his great start. Monty 2-25 also bowled well. 251 all out.

A competitive total for us to close down on this challenging pitch. Tres fell early as his Test form (33 average) is nothing like his ODI average (89 after 11 matches). Tuffey picking up his wicket. Strauss and Kp got the innings back on track with 49 put on for the 2nd wicket before Strauss went for 22 to Franklin. Vaughan joined KP who was batting well and they played the bowlers really well as they put on 149 for the 3rd wicket before Vaughan fell for 64. Bell came out and KP passed the hundred mark, they put on 62 for the 4th wicket before Bell went for 17. Flitnoff and Pietersen really attacked the bowlers for the 5th wicket as they added 98 for the 5th wicket. Kp passed his double hundred with a clip to square leg for 4, next ball though he fell for a magnificent 200, Tuffeys good spell proved KPs undoing too. Flintoff managed to stay in with Prior and Harmison but eventually fell for 61. Hoggard and Harmison put on 38 for the 8th wicket to see us past 400. Harmy 22 and Hoggy 20. Tuffery 4-74, Frankling 3-127, Shaw 2-130. 425 all out.

With a big lead of nearly 175 we had a chance of bowling them out without having to bat again. Fleming and Fulton made a decent start again putting 30 on for the first wicket before Hoggard took Fultonfs wicket and that of Oram in consecutive balls. Ryder and Fleming added 27 for the 3rd wicket but they looked frail to our attack and Fleming went for 28 bowled by Flintoff. Flintoff and Harmison took 2 wickets as they bowled in tandem as the Kiwis collapsed. Anderson got the wicket of Marshall when he came back which gave them little chance of making us bat again. Panesar came on and destroyed the tail finishing with figures of 3-12 as we bowled them out for 141 despite a partnership of 25 for the 10th. An innings and 33 run victory. Hoggard 3-53, Flintoff 2-14, Harmison 1-24 and Anderson 1-32.

---------------

Two screenshots for offdriven.

Nash was picked due to stunning CC form.

 

[Sureshot]

2nd Tes vs New Zealand.

We lost the toss and will bowl first, one change, Rashid in for Harmison as the pitch looks spin friendly.

Fleming and Fulton made a decent start of 56 for the first wicket before Fleming was out for 34, caught at 3rd slip off of Flintoff. Oram came in but didn't last too long, despite Fultons best effort and a 2nd wicket partnership of 39 he was out lbw to Panesar. Fulton and Vincent put on 50 for the 3rd wicket before Vincent fell for 30 bowled by Hoggard. Fulton and Ryder came together and put on 38 for the 4th wicket, then Fulton succumbed to some good bowling by Panesar. Ryder played well from here on in before being dismissed for 86 out to Flintoff. Harris and McMillan put on 48 for the 7th wicket but there was nothing else as we bowled them out for 301. Panesar 4-73, Fltinoff 2-33 Hoggard 2-66, Rashid 1-56 and Anderson 1-68.

Tres and Strauss put on 42 before Strauss was caught at slip off of Shaw. Tres was looking in fine fettle, I had nearly dropped him for Cook! He and KP put on 111 for the 2nd wicket before Kp went for 36 trying to make a second run but falling short. Vaughan and Bell couldn't add many runs between them but Tres kept battling on and was on 73 when Flintoff came out. Tres reached his hundred with a fine four then another four but fell 3 balls after to Shaw gone for 104 and a partnership of 58 with Flintoff. Prior joined Flintoff and they both attacked the opposition and helped us pass their score. Prior passed his 3rd Test fifty but was gone for 51 as he and Fred put on 85 for the 6th wicket. Fred batted fairly well with the tail but couldn't reach his hundred gone for 79. Anderson batted decently at the death making 19 before being bowled by Shaw for last man, 364 all out. Shaw 5-111, oram 3-84 and Frankling 1-100.

With a 63 run lead we looked for early wickets but we didn't get them as Fleming and Fulton put on 94 for the first wicket before Fulton went for 38. Panesar took the wicket of Fulton and Oram and Fleming who made 59. Vincent came out and played well making 35 as the other batsman struggled against Panesar and Rashid. But Vincent fell to Rashid as did Ryder. The Kiwis were clueless against the spin twins as he just kept taking more wickets, their 7th partnership produced 39 runs as McMillan and Harris came together again but Rashid got Harris out bowled. Monty took all the other wickets as we bowled them out for 245. Panesar 7-57 and Rashid 3-70.

Chasing 183 we needed a decent start and Tres and Strauss did that putting 70 on the board before Strauss went for 29. Kp came out and took the attack to the bowlers making 30 and putting 52 on for the 2nd wicket as Tres passed fifty. Oram got both of those wickets. Vaughan made 20 but succubed to Tuffey, Bell made only 1 before falling to Franklin.Tres 86* and Flintoff 12* finished it off and Tres passed 7,000 test runs in the mean time.

Good stuff, to correct earlier it's 5 ODIs.

 

[kookaburra69]

aww you beat nz
good work mate,i love this story.

 

[Sureshot]

Thanks kookaburra. Should get some ODIs in tomorrow afternoon. I can't gain any points/places as I beat NZ 6-0 (or something like that) in the CB series down under before the World Cup.

 

[surendar]

That was an awesome win for England in both first and second test. In secnd test, it was bowling in second innings that won inspite of 90+ opening stand for Kiwis. England is in peak form under SS

 

[Sureshot]

20-20 vs New Zealand

I made several changes just to give some players rest/a game.

Tres, Strauss, KP, Shah, Colly, Horton, Prior, Lewis, Harmison, Anderson and Panesar.

We lost the toss and were put in to bat first on a good pitch. We lost Tres fairly early with only 14 on the board being caught at mid wicket off of Franklin. But Strauss and KP came together and played magnificently and they put on 136 for the 2nd wicket with KP being bowled by Franklin for 47 in the last over, Shah came out and hit a four and a two. Strauss carried his bat for 97*. Franklin 2-37.

IN reply we needed early wickets but Lewis was expensive. Fleming and Fulton put on 26 for the 1st wicket before Fulton was dismissed by Lewis. We then took 3 more quick wickets. Anderson all 3. Lewis was off after two overs as he went for 21 runs. Harmison brought some good control but they pyut 26 on for the 5th wicket before Collingwood and Panesar came into the attack and destroyed the Kiwis. Collingwood 3-8 and PAnesar 3-15. Anderson 3-24.