Story England's Journey To The ASHES 09 - Natwest Tri-Series: ENG v IND FINAL!

[Mad Snake]

the presentation through this is pure class, the scorecards and such are top quality, keep it up love it

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

NATWEST SERIES, ENGLAND vs WEST INDIES - 20 OVER UPDATE!

So the match finally got underway and England won the toss and elected to bat first on what looked like a good batting surface, but something gave us the feeling the ball won't be going onto the bat as fast as it usually does here at Manchester. So runs may be hard to score, and I don't think we were wrong!

ENGLAND STRUGGLE FOR RUNS!

England passed the wickets in hand test, in other words they managed not to lose many wickets early despite really struggling to score runs in the first seven/ten overs. This was a testing period for England and their test openers. Many people were quick to say that the test openers shouldn't be opening in the ODI matches, but this was slowley put right as the Englishmen held their ground then fought back with some good strokes!

As you can see England were forced to play some big shots, slog shots and forced to go over the top of the infield. They didn't hesitate in making this decision which is a good positive sign which we havn't always seen from the one day side. One other blow was that Shah was injured during the pre-game net session. This is why Bopara has been sent in and well it hasn't been the best of starts for him...

WINDIES STRIKE TWICE!

The West Indies put the batsmen under pressure but didn't really create any chances for themselves, however as the pressure got to England, despite them trying to push the run-rate up the Windies were able to strike twice in quick sucession. First to go was Strauss who was just finding his form and hitting some good boundaries, until he lobbed one up to one of the offside fielders who made no mistake in taking the simpleist of catches!

Second to go was Ravi Bopara the debutant. This wasn't the start he would have wanted from his England career. We didn't get to see much of him the most we can say is he was looking to play his shots as he play three out of three strokes, however a leg before decision went against him. It was a ball that swang back at the last minute. His body language suggested that it was going down leg stump, but it's one of them decisions that you get sometimes and sometimes you don't. All we can say is now the match seems evenly poised and England should be looking for a target of 260-280, if they they bat well from here on in!

The Scorecard!

 

[shantanu_rooney]

England are in deep trouble after 20 overs. Smith bowled well to take 2 wickets of Strauss and Bopara but now it is again up to KP to save England. England need Cook and KP to score a huge partnership or else its gonna be difficult for the Three Lions

 

[gutterman]

england need to keep ticking the scoreboard over if theyre any chance of posting a good total

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

NATWEST SERIES, ENGLAND vs WEST INDIES - 40 OVER UPDATE!

It's been a grueling session for the two teams as they are really testing eachother now. The English have tried their hardest to boost the run rate, whilst the Windies try their hardest to get some more breakthroughs, let's see how they got along!

ENGLAND FIGHT THROUGH!

England are trying their hardest to obtain a decent run rate and make sure they dont lose anymore wickets. The reason we say this is because they lost young Alistair Cook, he was edged and caught behind by the bowling of Banks, this setback the English innings, but then possibly two of Englands best one dayers were at the creas...Pietersen and Collingwood, who are both looking to boost this run rate and bat sensibly!

We have seen some splendid stroke play from both men. Their first ten overs together were slow and testing, but after that period they have entertained most, and got England setup to blast away the last ten overs and dominate this match with a big score, which could be hard to chase later on in the innings. Pietersen has played anchor and attacker in this innings, showing us why he is world class, he is set to make yet another ODI hundred. Followed closley by Collingwood who is find his slog ODI form, hopefully it'll come into act in the next ten overs?!?!

THE SCORECARD, 40 OVERS!

 

[Pakistani Army]

With Pietersen going the way he is and with Collingwood, Flintoff & Prior to come, I can see England reaching 290-300 here.

Fantastic works Mohsin!

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

ENGLAND vs WEST INDIES, 1st ODI - END OF INNINGS!

England have had a great time of it out in the middle, Kevin Pietersen has showed us that he is a truely world class player, and Collingwood has shown he still has some ticker and is finding that old form back.

England excelled in the last fifteen overs or so, this is what has brought about a great display of batting and a huge total for the West Indies to change. We spoke about England losing confidence because of the test series, you can forget about that now. This one innings would have lifted the England team a great deal and even given confidence to those players who didn't part take in this innings, but they will feel that they can prove something now.

As we take a look at some of the English batting its been a joy to watch. These two looked like they would never get out, well Collingwood eventually departed. Pietersen lead the show a brilliant knock definatly one of the great one day international knocks which will be remembered for some time to come. He paced his innings perfectly, we can't stress how well he did it. Maybe a few of the ODI batsmen can take hints from him. He played all around the wicket and showed that he has all the shots that anyone can wish for. Put that aside he's also given England a superb chance of getting their first win of the summer!

1ST INNINGS SCORECARD!

 

[Jaztheman]

Kevin Pietersen batted out of his skin after Bopara disappointed. Cook and Collingwood both got very good knocks and even Strauss batted well but Kevin's 148* from 115 balls. England definitely made the most of the last ten overs to record a very promising score which should be enough against a good West Indies line up. The England bowlers just need to match the quality of their batsmen and it should be a victory for England.

Fantastic graphics Punk and the writing is also good. Keep this up, buddy.

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

ENGLAND vs WEST INDIES, 1st ODI - 20 OVER UPDATE!

It's been another entertaining session for the spectators to view. We've seen it all, wickets, sixes and close shaves. The West Indians havn't been afraid to have a swing at the ball. However in a sense we can say that the England bowlers have got the better of the batsmen, although they've taken some hammering they have got wickets so thats kept the fans happy and put England in a strong position.

Lets have a look at some of the main highlights of the first 20 overs of this first one day international. As you can see the wickets have all been a case of the West Indians shooting themselves in the foot so to speak. The dismisals have occured whilst trying to heave the ball over the top and speed the scoring, but have not always been sucessful. All the batsmen got starts but then were caught out with ease, they will be kicking themselves that they threw their wickets away.

On a brighter note the Windies have shown that they can bat, but what they should have done was do what England did...pace the innings and slog out towards the end. The batsmen have all shown that they can get boundaries perfectly by playing normal cricketing shots, yet they still decided to chose the same faith by slogging and throwing away their wickets.

Maybe Smith and Sarwan can put things straight, they were the two players that shined in the test series, so we know they can bat well, but this is a ODI match so the pressure is that little bit more than a test match. We look forward to seeing the next session of play and see how Windies adapt, two more wickets for England and we can celebrate a win as two wickets would more than likely put the Windies to bed!

THE SCORECARD, 20 OVERS - WEST INDIES NEED 202 TO WIN!

 

[Jaztheman]

Not a bad start for West Indies although they would of hoped their top three could of scored a little bit more. Sarwan and Hinds have to bat well now though as their are only a few batting players left. They have to bat fast and sensibly which will be hard. England in control.

 

[treva]

West Indies going at a good run rate, but those 3 wickets will hurt them. Still, a good combination at the crease, with Sarwan able to stick it out and Smith able to up the run rate. This could be a very close contest, but England in the drivers seat at the moment.

 

[saladguy]

Looks very interesting however I would say that England have the edge.

 

[Highlander999]

I think England have this in the bag. KP lead from the front and I expect the Windies middle order to capitulate (nice word ) and for England to win by about 50 runs.

Very good work Punk, loving the story :cool:

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

ENGLAND WIN BY HUGE MARGIN!

This match turned into a wickets highlight package as the innings proceeded on. The Windies batsmen seemed to have lose a lot of confidence when they lost their wickets, this lead to a collapse in the innings. The English bowlers capitalised in the correct way to keep the pressure on West Indies. The captain, Pietersen made the right decisions on bowling changes and field settings. The bowlers bowled in the right areas and cramped the batsmen to cause one of the biggest defeats in a long time.

Talking about wicket highlight packages lets check out the real highlights, the England bowling highlights. As we can see Sarwan played a pressure shot as he was forced to up the run rate which was ever falling, he went in the same fashion as those gone before him. Bopara made a brilliant effort to get rid of Hinds, just take a look at this...

Panesar and Flintoff lead the late attack and clean up the tailenders, who were widely exposed after the main Windies striking power had departed cheaply even though they did get starts. The tail were cleaned up quickly with deliverys maybe even the top order would struggle with, and England are right back in it with full confidence on taking on India in the days to come!

ENGLAND WIN BY 157 RUNS!

 

[Funknath]

Nice win for England there. Nice update Punk KUTGW!