Story England's World Cup Dream:England vs. Zimbabwe: England make good start!

[Jit]

well nz can put a fighting total

 

[thesweepmaster]

New Zealand Innings​

New Zealand destroyed!​

England finally polished off New Zealand as they limped to 123 all out, with Andrew Flintoff and James Anderson both doing the damage. Between overs 41-48, 22 runs were scored including 3 boundaries and 3 wickets of Vettori, Franklin and Martin.

Flintoff once again bowled magnificently in his 4 over spelling get the vital wicket of Vettori in the 5th ball of his first over back, resulting really in the end of New Zealand?s innings. He also got the wicket of James Franklin who was struggling all the way through his 17 ball spell. The only shame for Flintoff was the 2 fours Bond hit off his last over which tarnished his figures from being incredible to brilliant (not much of a different there then!) as he got 9-2-23-3. James Anderson also bowled brilliantly and did finish off the innings when he got the wicket of Martin as he tried to slog him out of the ground and only managed to hit it straight to Bell. He finished with 8.4-3-13-2, clearly another fine spell of bowling for Anderson as he certainly improves his chances of keep his place in the England side.

New Zealand never even got going in their innings what so ever and with wicket falling at regular intervals; it was never likely that they would get a great total. England have to bat well on this pitch and really should get the total without a problem unless they get too cocky and really do cock it up!

Highlights
Daniel Vettori dismissed

James Franklin dismissed

Scorecard

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

I'd advise to get the world cup update for Barbados m8, would look great for the story!

KUTGW

I did that but the patch doesn't work for some reason:confused:, so decided not to bother really.

 

[kookaburra69]

Shocking total from New Zealand,England will start their world cup off with a bang

 

[Pakistani Army]

That was a shocking performance by the Kiwis there. Brilliant by England. Nice way to get their World Cup campaign off to a start.

Great works TSM. Keep up the great works.

 

[saladguy]

Sweepmaster, did I win the competition?

 

[formula1man]

shocker, new zealand always seem to be real crap in stories

 

[thesweepmaster]

DG: Welcome here to the Sky Sports analysis of the New Zealand innings. In the studio with me are Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee, both all-rounders from the glorious 1980?s for both teams. If you have just joined us then New Zealand have been bowled out for 123 in their innings which was pretty disappointing. Firstly, I?ll let Richard sum up the New Zealand innings.

RH: Thank you David, anyway New Zealand have been really disappointing in their innings really, they should have tried to attack more. They seemed to get bogged down in the middle of their innings and maybe Stephen Fleming should have looked at his openers to give them an aggressive start but they didn?t and put a lot of pressure on middle order to perform.
The only really positive from the innings was Daniel Vettori, he certainly showed the other batsmen of how to attack against England but other than that there is nothing to show from that innings. Very poor, very poor!

DG: Thanks for that Richard, right then Ian, I think you have something to say with that raised smile across your face.

IB: Haha, very true. Well what can I say about the bowling performance from England, it was a very disciplined performance and it was very exciting to watch. I was very impressed with Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson and Andrew Flintoff with how they bowled, they put the ball up there which caused massive problems for the New Zealand batsmen and got the wickets at very important times. The only problem was the last five overs for Monty Panesar really, Vettori certainly played it right as Richard has said, but when you bowl like he did for that period then he deserved to go around the park

DG: Yes I knew you enjoyed that Beefy, anyway going back to you Richard, what do you think of the chances for New Zealand of winning this game?

RH: Not a bloody chance if they bowl as well as their batting! No, really they need to try and get early wickets and they may have a chance but what they can?t do now is totally attack with the fielding because England will counter it and it will be over earlier.

DG: Very true. Anyway Beefy same question, except England instead of New Zealand?

IB: Well I do believe if England don?t win, then I will go on a killing spree and kill all the members of this cricket forum website named Planetcricket. Richard once again is spot on and so long England don?t lose early wickets, then they will do it.

DG: Thanks for that Beefy and trust me Planetcricket members, you?ll be ok, I?ve seen Beefy with a gun on the rifle range . Anyway...

IB: Hey, I?ll have you know that I did hit the target 3 times today when I went to the shooting range with Michael Holding.

DG: how many bullets did you use?

IB: 722:

RH: Haha, so your shooting was as bad as your bowling when Sir Viv Richard, hi there btw I know you are watching, got the fastest test century ever.

DG: I totally agree with that comment and I know that this could go on for years and we could end up doing a boxing match for Comic Relief but we really have to go back to Barbados where I understand England are ready for their Innings. Can England win? Or will New Zealand put them under pressure and win it themselves? Find out after the break!:happy

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyway, going onto the competition: Congratulations Saladguy who was the closest in the New Zealand, 1,500 VCASH on the way to you.
Next Competition question, same prizes apply, 2,000 VCASH if spot on or 1,500 VCASH for the closest to it and all votes will go into this post below the question. The question is:
How many overs will England take to get the New Zealand total?
Feelin_Blue?: 33
GG: 20
Pakistani Army: 27
Saladguy: 34

 

[mattfb]

Shocking total by Kiwis but excellent bowling from the poms. Fantastic presentation!

KUTGW and in the contest I will say it will take them 33 overs.

 

[Kiko_97]

0.1 overs
Seriously I think 20 overs

 

[Pakistani Army]

Great analysis mate. I think it will take England 27 overs to reach the New Zealand total.

 

[saladguy]

Nice update! Poor total from NZ

 

[thesweepmaster]

England Innings
New Zealand on top!​

New Zealand certainly were the team on top in the first 10 overs of the England innings with Shane Bond producing some very tight bowling as England limped to 27/3. In this period, 3 boundaries and a six were scored but England lost the 3 key wickets of Matt Prior, Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen meaning New Zealand are now back in the game.

Shane Bond opened the bowling and did brilliantly well as he produced 2 maidens and got the wicket of Andrew Strauss, for 4, when he had smashed him for 4 the ball before. He ended up with figures of 5-2-7-1, which kept England at bay. Chris Martin did try to ball a tight line but did give out some bad balls which Matt Prior got on top of by hitting him for a 6 and a 4 in consecutive balls, but was the bowler when Matt Prior was run out after looking impressive with the bat for 19. He got figures of 4-1-17-0. He was replaced by James Franklin in the 10th over, who did get Kevin Pietersen caught for 0 from only his 2nd ball and did bowl fantastically well. He ended up with figures of 1-0-3-1.

England have now got to bat well with Michael Vaughan and Ian Bell at the wicket but really England are ahead of the run rate of 2.5 runs per over so really it?s not necessary for both of them to smack out. New Zealand have really impressed with the ball and have certainly got England into a lot of trouble, which has bought them back into the match, but they will have to continue bowling well, as if they bowl some bad balls, then England will capitalise on them, which was shown when Matt Prior hit a 6 off Chris Martin.

Highlights
Strauss dismissed

Prior attacks and dismissed

Pietersen dismissed

Scorecard

 

[formula1man]

oooo this could be close comeon kiwis

 

[kookaburra69]

England innings off to a shocker!Great bowling from Bondy and Franklin.

 

[thesweepmaster]

England Innings
England back on top​

England pulled themselves out of a sticky situation, thanks to Michael Vaughan and Ian Bell, to put them back on top of the match with the score at 53/3 after 20 overs, which does put them ahead of the run-rate at this stage. In this period, only 2 boundaries were scored with a 4 from Vaughan and a massive 6 from Bell, but more importantly, England didn?t lose a single wicket.

Shane Bond carried on his tight spell by bowling another 3 overs before he was taken off by Daniel Vettori. He added 2 maidens to his column, bringing him up to 4 and only went from 5 in his 8th over where Vaughan hit him to the fence. His figures are 8-4-11-1, very impressive and did put a lot of pressure on the England batsmen. At the other end, James Franklin was bowling fine as well with only Vaughan and Bell being able to knock the occasional single off him. His figures are 6-0-16-1; he supplied a good bowling partnership with Bond where runs dried up. Bond was replaced by Vettori in the 17th over and had a very good tight first over but then got clobbered for a massive 6 when Bell got the slog sweep just right. His figures are 2-0-9-0, not too expensive but really needed to stop the runs leaking.

England have now got a solid base for a partnership between Bell and Vaughan but have to keep going if England are going to win this match and both may have to lead England home to victory. On the other hand, New Zealand aren?t out of it just yet even though they failed to get a wicket during this period. The spell of tight bowling, where runs are hard to come by will be a problem for the England batman and they may try stupid runs which the New Zealand fielders will have to watch out for and should be ready.

Highlights
Great Partnership

Heartbeat

Scorecard

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for all the comments guys!, there will be no update tonight as I am at a twenty20, but which one, I'm not telling you. The good news is that there will be an update tomorrow!