Story India's Journey To World Cup 2011 [Commonwealth Bank Series 2010]

[Prithvi]

"Play N Win".

Take out that title immediately!

All the people who play don't win!

And only two units (May be players, Teams) can play, not many!

So, change it to "Predict and Win", its a good one for you.

 

[Aditya]

Awesome Australia outclass New Zealand​

Australia vs New Zealand,Australia in New Zealand,2nd T20 Match,McLean Park

Australia 112 for 8 (Watson 63*, Bond 1-21) beat New Zealand 112/8 (Southee 32, Smith 4-8) by 8 wickets

It couldn't have been a worst start for New Zealand. They lost McCullum when the score was just 5. Williamson was taking most of the strike so score got forward but when the score was 34 New Zealand lost another wicket of Aaron Redmond. After few runs when Williamson was looking good he lost his wicket, Smith bowled a short delivery, Williamson tried to smash it but got edge on the bowl and bowl went straight in the air. One of the best Australian fielders David Hussey was too good for the catch and Williamson departed for 26. After his wicket New Zealand innings had no sort of recovery, Middle order collapsed badly just because of Steven Smith who bowled brilliantly. Southee, Lower down the order made a handy 32 to take his team to a respective total of 112. Steven Smith was brilliant 4-0-8-4 were his figures, He didn't allow any batsman to hit him, He was consistently bowling a good line not too full not too short just correct and hence got rewarded with the wickets he got.

Steven Smith bowled brilliantly and got 4 wicket​

Australia too got off to a horrible start. With loosing Warner for a duck and Michael Clarke for just 3. But Shane Watson again played a remarkable knock to make sure that Australia wins. In the starting he was playing steadily but at a point of time in the innings he paced off his innings well and David Hussey started off his innings steadily as well but he too paced off his innings well. Daniel Vettori was expensive he was smashed for boundaries by Shane Watson and same was the case with Jeetan Patel. Jeetan Patel bowled just one over which went for 12 runs. Scott Styris first over was fine but he went for some boundaries in his second over. Shane Watson decided to be attacking when just few runs were needed and reached to his fifty as well. After fifty as well he played attacking cricket and Australia won the match in the 15th over. With loosing the first match, Australia came back ideally and showed that their young player have capability of winning the match.

Shane Watson's 63 took Australia on the way of victory


​

The t20series was of just 2 matches and both the teams won 1 match each. Now its time for odi action. Who will win the odi series? We will wait and see...

 

[Varun]

Steven Smith, amazing man! Very good bowling figures!

 

[Kiko_97]

Great bowling by Smith there, good work adi KIU
Offtopic: Aditya, can you PM me your db?

 

[Aditya]

Guys, I need suggestion for this story. I was wondering that should I continue this with cricket'05 or should I move on and use AC'09? Also I was wondering that should I post English county matches as well. The English county updates will be similar to the ones of New Zealand vs Australia series updates. Don't worry guys because of other matches updates; Indian team matches won't be affected. I just want to make this story interesting to read. Suggestions are welcome.

 

[MaD]

Just keep it to the matches by the Indian team
AC09 would be good

 

[Aditya]

Bcci announces Indian tours(2010)....​

​

So finally BCCI decided to announce Indian tours for 2010. BCCI cleared that they have talked to the respective countries cricket boards and then only the tours have been finalized. Indian tours for 2010 are as follows:-

India in England,4 tests,1 t20 and 7 match odi series. India has played 2 test matches so now 2 test matches,1 two and 7 odi's are left. This tour is an important one for India. India to start their 2010 with few wins in their pocket so that they can leave a good impression on Indian fans.

After England tour India will head to West Indies for t20 world cup 2010. This world cup will be an good practice for Indian team to try and add some youngsters in the Indian side and try to win the world cup. In 2007 India won the world cup but in 2009 we were not even able to qualify for the semis. So now the question is how will India perform in 2010 t20 world cup?

After t20 world cup, India will have few months rest and then one of the main tours before 2011 world cup will start. India's next tour will be of Australia for 5 tests,2 t20's and commonwealth bank tri-series. Teams participating in the tri-series will be Australia, India and New Zealand.

After that India will be heading to Abu-Dhabi to play 3 test matches, 1 t20 and 5 odi's vs Pakistan.

Then the last tour before the main world cup will be a tri-series between India, West Indies and Sri Lanka.

So, Mainly India will be playing with most of the main teams in 2010. Each tour will be an interesting one for sure. Let's wait and see how India performs in each series. But for now we should see how India performs vs England,First tour of 2010.

 

[Aditya]

England vs Middlesex
4day-Practice Match
at Birmigham

Andrew Strauss played an excellent innings of 187 and was rewarded with man of the match award​

England 1st Innings​

England team had a practice match before the 3rd test match. It was versus Middlesex. Captain, Andrew Strauss decided to play for middlesex so that England can play an opener to see that do they have a replacement for their openers or not. In place of Strauss England decided to play Wright, In place of Pietersen Bopara was given a chance and In place of Swann Hoggard was given a chance.

England captain for the match, Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to bat first. Luke Wright was not able to play a big innings and was LBW out for just 7. But then Cook and Morgan did well to take innings back on track after an early blow of Wright. Both the players were playing well, they were not playing slow infect they were playing quite quick as they knew its a practice match after all. Cook reached his fifty but after few minutes he lost his wicket for 53. Bopara was the next batsman; he smashed few boundaries when he was at the pitch. He was looking in good form but lost his wicket for 27. But after his wicket Collingwood who was made vice captain for the match played well along with Morgan. Morgan who had just played 1 test vs India recently played very well, he too plays for Middlesex but decided to play for England in practice match.

When Morgan was on 92, somehow because of being in 90's pressure maybe lost his wicket. But till then England innings was back on track and the next batsman Bell played a good innings as well. He made 32; most surprising thing was that all of those runs came with boundaries. Crowd gone wild when Bell was batting, but on 32 Bell lost his wicket. Collingwood played a good innings but soon after Bell wicket Collingwood lost his wicket as well for just 59. England lost few quick wickets and the last batsman Onions came to bat. He was smashing boundaries and Crowd had something to cheer about. Prior was playing well not to mention he was playing with the last batsman. Prior smashed couple of boundaries and reached his fifty. On other hand Onions was looking confident and was smashing boundaries as well. Strauss was having no other option rather than smiling. On 41 Onions lost his wicket, he was run out. But till then England managed to make 420.

Middlesex 1st innings​

Middlesex got off to a horrible start. They lost their captain, Strauss for just 8 which was horrible for them. Robson made 17 and then lost his wicket. Malan made just 6 and lost his wicket. But then Newman and London played well to take their team to a respective total. London didn't have any interest in taking singles he was having a plan to hit boundaries which was in a sense good for the crowd. Even Newman was playing good as well. Newman after making a well played 51 lost his wicket and very soon even London lost his wicket. After that there was not really any sort of good recovery from Middlesex side and the whole innings rapped up for 200.

Middlesex 2nd innings​

England team decided to enforce follow-on, on Middlesex and then the Middlesex captain, Andrew Strauss led from the front. He was looking in great form. All the England bowlers got smashed all over the park from Strauss. Robson played fine for his 24 but lost his wicket. Malan supported Strauss well after loosing 2 wickets. Malan was playing at a good strike rate and that was making sure that Strauss plays his normal innings. Strauss was playing a classic innings making sure that Middlesex make a good total in 2nd innings. He soon reached his great century and the whole England team clapped for him. After supporting Strauss well and taking Middlesex innings back on track, Alan reached his fifty. As soon as Malan reached his fifty day 3 ended.

On day 4 Middlesex batsman, Strauss and Malan had intension of playing attacking cricket. Malan after playing a good innings of 77 lost his wicket. He was clean bowled by Matthew Hoggard. London played fine for his 26 but was not able to capitalize and lost his wicket. Simpson then supported Strauss well. He played slowly but steadily to support Strauss. Strauss was looking good on day 4 as well and soon reached his hundred and fifty. He continued playing well after reaching his hundred and fifty. Simpson smashed boundaries and basically was having tactic of staying with Strauss at the pitch and help Middlesex to tie the test match. On 187 Strauss lost his wicket. A well played 187; crowd gave him a standing ovation. Simpson smashed few boundaries, reached his fifty and exactly on 50 lost his wicket. Udal was out on 12. Murtagh was defending the bowl well, OBrien gave him good support.

Murtagh was playing a bit carried away shots at times but in typical tail-enders way he was getting boundaries for those lucky escapes. After few minutes umpire decided to end the match and both the captains shake hands. Man of the match award was given to Andrew Strauss for his excellent innings.

Scorecard of the match

MIDDLESEX VS ENGLAND at Birmigham
4 day match
Pitch Condition: Normal
 
ENGLAND WON THE TOSS AND ELECTED TO BAT FIRST
  
                                     -X-
   
ENGLAND 1st innings

Player              Status                        Runs  Blls  4s   6s    S/R
Luke Wright         lbw            b. T.Murtagh     7    15    1    0   46.7%
Alastair Cook       c. I.O'Brien   b. S.Udal       53    63    9    0   84.1%
Eoin Morgan         c. I.O'Brien   b. S.Udal       92   129   18    1   71.3%
Ravi Bopara         c. T.Murtagh   b. S.Finn       27    43    4    0   62.8%
Paul Collingwood    c. S.Newman    b. I.O'Brien    59    75    9    1   78.7%
Ian Bell            c. S.Newman    b. G.Berg       32    53    8    0   60.4%
Matt Prior          not out                        62   137   11    0   45.3%
Stuart Broad                       b. I.O'Brien     8    20    1    0   40.0%
Matthew Hoggard     c. D.Malan     b. I.O'Brien     0    16    0    0    0.0%
James Anderson      c. S.Newman    b. S.Udal       17    35    3    0   48.6%
Graham Onions       run out (S.Udal)               41    69    7    0   59.4%
 
 Total:  420/10       Overs:  109.1        Run Rate:  3.85     Extras:  22 
   
                             Day 2  11:19 AM
   
  
                                     -X-

ENGLAND Partnerships
  
No  Batsman               No  Batsman                Runs    Balls   FOW
 1  Luke Wright            2  Alastair Cook           10       24     10/1
 3  Eoin Morgan            2  Alastair Cook           81      100     91/2
 3  Eoin Morgan            4  Ravi Bopara             88      114    179/3
 3  Eoin Morgan            5  Paul Collingwood        11       22    190/4
 6  Ian Bell               5  Paul Collingwood        85      103    275/5
 7  Matt Prior             5  Paul Collingwood        23       46    298/6
 7  Matt Prior             8  Stuart Broad            16       39    314/7
 7  Matt Prior             9  Matthew Hoggard          3       29    317/8
 7  Matt Prior            10  James Anderson          28       49    345/9
 7  Matt Prior            11  Graham Onions           75      129   420/10
  
 
 Total:  420/10      Overs:  109.1         Run Rate:  3.85    Extras:  22   
  
                                     -X-

MIDDLESEX Bowling

Player               Overs   Mdns    Runs   Wkts      E/R    Wds    NBs
I.O'Brien            26.0      4      77      3      2.96     0      1 
S.Finn               23.0      4      98      1      4.26     0      3 
T.Murtagh            22.0      2      72      1      3.27     0      2 
G.Berg               13.1      2      51      1      3.87     1      3 
S.Udal               19.0      2      87      3      4.58     2      0 
D.Malan               6.0      0      25      0      4.17     0      0 


 EXTRAS          Wides: 3      No Balls: 9      Leg Byes: 5      Byes: 5 

 Total:  420/10       Overs:  109.1        Run Rate:  3.85    Extras:  22   
                                     -X-
 
MIDDLESEX 1st innings

Player              Status                        Runs  Blls  4s   6s    S/R
S.Newman            c. Prior       b. Colli'wood   51   162   10    0   31.5%
A.Strauss                          b. Colli'wood    8     9    2    0   88.9%
S.Robson                       c & b. Broad        17    27    4    0   63.0%
D.Malan             c. Wright      b. Broad         6    18    1    0   33.3%
A.London            lbw            b. Wright       66    80   15    0   82.5%
J.Simpson                          b. Hoggard       4    12    1    0   33.3%
G.Berg              c. Prior       b. Anderson     20    84    3    0   23.8%
S.Udal              c. Colli'wood  b. Anderson      6    26    1    0   23.1%
T.Murtagh           lbw            b. Hoggard       6    17    1    0   35.3%
I.O'Brien           c. Cook        b. Onions        7     9    1    0   77.8%
S.Finn              not out
 
 Total:  200/10       Overs:  74.0         Run Rate:  2.70     Extras:  9 
   
                             Day 3  10:15 AM
   
  
                                     -X-

MIDDLESEX Partnerships
  
No  Batsman               No  Batsman                Runs    Balls   FOW
 1  S.Newman               2  A.Strauss                8       21      8/1
 1  S.Newman               3  S.Robson                20       48     28/2
 1  S.Newman               4  D.Malan                 18       37     46/3
 1  S.Newman               5  A.London                97      153    143/4
 1  S.Newman               6  J.Simpson                8       24    151/5
 1  S.Newman               7  G.Berg                  17       53    168/6
 8  S.Udal                 7  G.Berg                   8       56    176/7
 9  T.Murtagh              7  G.Berg                  12       28    188/8
10  I.O'Brien              7  G.Berg                   8       18    196/9
10  I.O'Brien             11  S.Finn                   4        6   200/10
  
 
 Total:  200/10      Overs:  74.0          Run Rate:  2.70    Extras:  9   
  
                                     -X-

ENGLAND Bowling

Player               Overs   Mdns    Runs   Wkts      E/R    Wds    NBs
James Anderson       13.0      5      23      2      1.77     0      1 
Matthew Hoggard      18.0      6      65      2      3.61     0      1 
Luke Wright           9.0      4      22      1      2.44     0      0 
Paul Collingwood     12.0      3      28      2      2.33     0      0 
Graham Onions        12.0      3      34      1      2.83     0      2 
Stuart Broad         10.0      4      24      2      2.40     0      1 


 EXTRAS          Wides: 0      No Balls: 5      Leg Byes: 3      Byes: 1 

 Total:  200/10       Overs:  74.0         Run Rate:  2.70    Extras:  9   
                                     -X-
 
MIDDLESEX 2nd innings (Follow on)

Player              Status                        Runs  Blls  4s   6s    S/R
S.Newman            c. Onions      b. Anderson      7    24    1    0   29.2%
A.Strauss                          b. Wright      187   288   38    0   64.9%
S.Robson                       c & b. Wright       24    41    5    0   58.5%
D.Malan             c. Bell        b. Hoggard      77    97   15    0   79.4%
A.London            lbw            b. Wright       26    74    5    0   35.1%
J.Simpson           c. Morgan      b. Broad        50   104   10    0   48.1%
G.Berg              c. Wright      b. Broad        12    53    2    0   22.6%
S.Udal              c. Morgan      b. Anderson     12    60    2    0   20.0%
T.Murtagh           not out                        38    85    6    0   44.7%
I.O'Brien           not out                        15    32    3    0   46.9%
S.Finn               
 
 Total:  480/8        Overs:  143.0        Run Rate:  3.36     Extras:  32 
   
                             Day 4  5:01 PM
   
  
                                     -X-

MIDDLESEX Partnerships
  
No  Batsman               No  Batsman                Runs    Balls   FOW
 1  S.Newman               2  A.Strauss               18       33     18/1
 3  S.Robson               2  A.Strauss               58       85     76/2
 4  D.Malan                2  A.Strauss              148      204    224/3
 5  A.London               2  A.Strauss               82      148    306/4
 6  J.Simpson              2  A.Strauss               79      125    385/5
 6  J.Simpson              7  G.Berg                  27       78    412/6
 8  S.Udal                 7  G.Berg                   0       19    412/7
 8  S.Udal                 9  T.Murtagh               37       97    449/8
10  I.O'Brien              9  T.Murtagh               31       69         
  
 
 Total:  480/8       Overs:  143.0         Run Rate:  3.36    Extras:  32   
  
                                     -X-

ENGLAND Bowling

Player               Overs   Mdns    Runs   Wkts      E/R    Wds    NBs
James Anderson       26.0      4      92      2      3.54     0      4 
Matthew Hoggard      27.0      6      87      1      3.22     1      3 
Stuart Broad         19.0      5      57      2      3.00     0      2 
Luke Wright          26.0     10      84      3      3.23     1      3 
Graham Onions        26.0      7      81      0      3.12     0      0 
Paul Collingwood     19.0      4      62      0      3.26     1      0 


 EXTRAS          Wides: 3      No Balls: 12     Leg Byes: 5      Byes: 12 

 Total:  480/8        Overs:  143.0        Run Rate:  3.36    Extras:  32   
                                     -X-
 
  
 
England             420
Middlesex           200 & 480/8              
   
Middlesex draw with England
  
Man of the match: A.Strauss

 

[Varun]

Really good batting by Strauss! Hopefully he will deliver the same from his side and crush India.

 

[Aussie Team]

Well, I've seen first time, England v Middlesex. :/ Anyway Morgan as his best, came to the england side and his performances is excellent.

 

[harrisb]

A few pointers on your England line-up:

If you want to play Luke Wright, move him down the order to 5/6, he doesn't usually open in first-class matches, an opener you could choose is Michael Carberry, he has player a few matches for the England lions, or you could put Bopara at the top of the order.

Another suggestion is that you play a spinner, there weren't any in that team, especially when Middlesex are quite weak against spinners. And i think you should maybe have played Strauss for England, maybe switching him with Morgan, who is more at home in first class matches for Middlesex, even so, giving him a go in a white England shirt is a nice decision.

Hope you found those helpful, i don't want you to take it in a bad way, i am only trying to help your story become even better than it already is.

 

[Aditya]

Much appreciated mate. Actually the squad for the test series was posted few days back so Carberry was not included. Although I agree that Bopara should have been given a chance to open. But I haven't really seen him open in tests, I have seen him bat at 1st or 2nd down so thought to let him bat at that position. As far as Strauss playing for Middlesex is concern,I thought to make Middlesex side a bit stronger to play versus England. So that match turns out to be a good one. Although I would keep your suggestions in mind mate,I appreciate your time in reading my story and giving me some useful suggestion to improve it,cheers.

 

[AkshayS]

Good writing man.

Luke Wright should bat at no.5/6. Strauss should be in English team not his county.

 

[Prithvi]

Dude, this one is going good.
Few suggestions:
1) Do put full stop mark after you complete your sentence below the image.
2) Slight grammar mistake I found was below Steven Smith's photo. You said he took 4 wicket, but instead, he took, 4 wicket"s". So these kind of silly mistakes can be avoided.

 

[MaD]

1) Do put full stop mark after you complete your sentence below the image.

No don't do that Aditya