Story England's Internationals - England v WI - England win series 2-0

[Pakistani Army]

England are struggling to find the initial breakthrough. This is frustrating for them. But this is amazing works from you Phil. Keep it up. You put hard work and commitment in your updates. Resp for you!

 

[PhilD123]

Harmison gets match 10-fer as Taylor is dismissed​

Steve Harmison got his 2nd match 10-fer, and his second 5-fer of the second Npower Test against the West Indies, and in doing so, pushed England closer to victory. After a frustrating partnership of 51 between Jerome Taylor and Corey Collymore, the former was dismissed by a Harmison ball that swung and caught the outside edge, carrying through to Chris Read who took a simple catch. Taylor went on 14 from 75 balls, leaving Collymore on 22 not out along with Fidel Edwards on 0. The West Indies were 289-9, and on the brink of defeat, in the last hour on Day 5.

Collymore saves Windies from jaws of defeat!​

Corey Collymore and Fidel Edwards survived the last half an hour of nailbiting play at Old Trafford to grab a draw, and avoid going 3-0 down in the series. Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar, Andrew Flintoff and Matthew Hoggard tried in the last half hour, but although there were many close shouts, they couldn't find the one last wicket, as the West Indies finished on 298/9. Collymore was the man the West Indies had to thank, as he made a crucial 24 from 100 balls. Fidel Edwards made 1 not out from 26 balls. Steve Harmison was the best England bowler with figures of 5-101. The West Indies batted for 96 overs.

Match Analysis and Post Match Presentation coming soon...​

 

[surendar]

Lol, i remember a commentry from EA 05 game, " when you have two wickets in hand, they spend hours at the crease, and it frustrates the opponents " something like that If it happens here for another 1 hr, it would lead to lots of frustration for sure

Same thing happened what I felt England captain should be frustrated the most.

And Phil, nice to see you back again and continuing this. Wishing you all the lucks and wishes to knock your door once again. Looking forward to this classic story.

 

[freddiw]

great reutrn cant wait for this to get going again

 

[PhilD123]

Post Match Presentation​

Atherton: Hello, what a fantastic test match we've had here at Old Trafford. It went right down to the last ball of play, but the West Indies late order stood magnificently between England and victory, and the series still stands at 2-0, but England have now defintely won the series. Now, I'll speak to both captains, starting with England's, Michael Vaughan.

​

Atherton: So Michael, I imagine you must be disappointed with not getting that final wicket.

Vaughan: Yeah of course, it's always frustrating when your so close, but, at the same time, we have now won the series, so can't be downbeat at all. It was another excellent performance from the lads, especially with the bat.

Atherton: In hindsight, do you feel you should have declared earlier in both innings?

Vaughan: I'm not one for regrets, I made my decision and nobody knows what will happen in the future. I'm certainly not going to beat myself up about it, and I was careful in making sure that we didn't leave it open for the West Indies to claw back in the series.

Atherton: How do you think your bowlers did second time around?

Vaughan: They were excellent to be honest, Steve's had a great test match and everyone else supported him superbly. It was more down to the grit and character the West Indies showed, all credit to them.

Atherton: Any changes for Edgbaston.

Vaughan: We'll have to sit down and think about it, but I'm pleased with most of the performances here.

Atherton: Thank you Michael. Now, lets hear from the West Indies captain, the great Brian Lara.

​

Atherton: You must be very proud of your team, today.

Lara: Definitely, to bat out a day in cloudy conditions was unbelievable, but today was our day. We had the luck of the green, but our late order was magnificent.

Atherton: You struggled for form in the first two matches, but you must be very pleased with your 1st innings century.

Lara: Well, it's nice to get some runs after going through a dry spell, it was pleasing to help the team's cause.

Atherton: What are your thoughts on the series now?

Lara: Well obviously, not winning this match means that we've lost the series, but we've got plenty of positives to take from the game. We will try to improve on some aspects of our game for next week at Edgbaston.

Atherton: Any changes for Edgbaston?

Lara: We'll have to have a think about our options.

Atherton: Thanks Brian, now, there have been a few contenders for this man of the match award, Michael Vaughan or Alastair Cook for their excellent 100's in the first England innings, Brian Lara for his 100 in the West Indies 1st innings, Steve Harmison for his match 10-fer. But, the man of the match in this test match, for saving the draw for the West Indies, with a magnificent rearguard innings against all the odds today, its Corey Collymore.

​

Atherton: What a brilliant performance, Corey.

Collymore: Well, I'm suprised and honoured to be getting this award, there was so many excellent performances from people from both teams. I'm glad I could help my team today, although I need to improve my bowling form.

Atherton: It must be disappointing to lose the series.

Collymore: Of course, no one gave us much of a chance, and although we've lost the series, I think we've shown promise for the future and a lot of character these past 5 days.

Atherton: Have you been working on your batting?

Collymore: Haha, well we work on it every day in the nets, I'm usually hopeless but thankfully it came off for me today!

Atherton: Well, congratulations on your man of the match award, and enjoy this bottle of champagne!

Collymore: They dont call me '10 glass Corey' for nothing!

Post Match Analysis Coming Soon...​

 

[gamerkid22]

Awesome return mate. Nice to see you back in the business. W.I. were lucky to get away with a draw but Harmison got a 5'fer. Great post match presentation and great story presentation . Congrats to '10 glass Corey' on winning the MOTM.

 

[freddiw]

10 glass corey

great work keep it up

 

[Highlander999]

Great to see the return of this story. Nice post-match analysis and a great finish to the Test. Surprised England couldn't get that last wicket though. Look forward to more updates as I loved this story

 

[Roofrom50]

Nice to see this story back up and running, keep up the good work

 

[surendar]

Very excellent Presentation ceremony there, Phil! Looking forward to the next analysis show.

 

[Left_Hander]

Had a bit of a shock when I saw this revived. Didn't realise that was back again till I saw the date of the last post.

 

[PhilD123]

Cheers for all the great comments guys!

​

Gower: Well, after all the excitement of this evening, and the dramatic ending to the draw in the 3rd Npower Test Match here at Old Trafford, lets analyse the match as a whole, with Sir Ian Botham. Now, lets start off with England, how do you think their bowling line up did?

Botham: Hi David. Well, there was one star man in that bowling line up, and thats Steve Harmison. 5 wickets in each innings, it was a magnificent performance.

Gower: Lets take a look at the pitch map of his wickets from the 2nd innings.

​

Gower: What does that show Ian?

Botham: Well, all his wickets were from relatively full balls, the two on the right, were balls from around the wicket to the left hander. However, that doesn't mean he just bowled full. He was able to get these wickets by pushing the batsman onto the back foot using the short ball. The batsmen then hung back and were done like a kipper from the full swinging ball.

Gower: Now lets move onto the batting line-up, it was an impressive display.

Botham: Fantastic batting, although we have to remember that the West Indies do not have the strongest bowling line up. Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook in particular were excellent, their 100's a mixture of attacking shots and classical strokeplay.

​

Gower: Now lets move onto the West Indies, their main batting star in the match was obviously Brian Lara, who made 111 in their 1st innings.

Botham: He showed all his exquiste strokeplay and was at his very best. He'd struggled for form earlier in the series but came in during the 1st innings and instantly looked at ease, hitting shots all around the ground. I'm sure he'll have been disappointed that he got out at 111.

​

Gower: You can't have been impressed by the West Indies bowling attack?

Botham: No, I certainly wasn't, they were shocking, and they need to get something sorted for the 4th test. The problem they've got is they just dont have the talent anymore. Its sad when you think of the great West Indian fast bowlers of the past, Marshall, Walsh and Ambrose to name but three.

Gower: So, what about the next test at Edgbaston?

Botham: Well, the West Indies have done well to escape with a draw here, but unless they can improve their bowling, they will really struggle again. England need to be more clinical and ruthless, but generally they'll be pleased and very positive going into next week's test.

Gower: Thank you Ian, and thank you to the viewers out there for watching this third test, we'll see you next week for the series finale at Edgbaston.

 

[Roofrom50]

Good bowling from Harmison. And wonderful centuries too Vaughan and Cook

 

[jarl]

Great story mate, good to see Vaughan finally making some runs.

 

[freddiw]

awesome update and good GFX

good luck and good to see the English batssmen in form