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

[Aditya]

I will be using AC'09 for this story now. No more game changes will be done in future.

If all goes fine updates to be posted tomorrow.

 

[Aditya]

India In England
India vs England
Natwest Test Series : 4th Test Match
Played at The Brit Oval

Hi and Welcome for the 3rd Npower Test Match, Live from Chester-Le-Street. After a thrilling contest of cricket at Lord's we are here at Chester-Le-Street for the 3rd Npower Test Match. Series is level 1-1. So, it would be interesting to see how the teams play in this test match. Can India come back and win this test match? Or will England continue their winning ways? Or this test match will be a draw? There are lots of things to talk about but let?s first have a look at the Weather Conditions for today.

Weather Conditions​

There have been showers here at Chester-Le-Street from past few days. So, the temperature is very cool and there are clouds in the sky as well so not very happy news for the fans. But the Weather Report says that there will be just light showers in evening that means the play can be stopped a bit early then the expected time but we will still be having 80 over at least on day 1.

All the fans will be hoping that hopefully there will be no showers. People have started coming to the ground, the atmosphere is perfect for cricket. Cloud cover will be just for 2 hours and after that the sun will shine. But in the afternoon as mentioned earlier the clouds will come back and till the end of play the clouds will be in the sky. Now let?s move ahead and see how the pitch is for the 3rd Npower Test Match.

Pitch Report​

The pitch is a good one to bat on. There has been rain in past few days so the pitch is damp at few places which will not allow the bowl to bounce and batsman's can be in trouble because of that. The pitch has something for the bowlers as well. Bowlers can take advantage of over-head conditions. There is Grass on the pitch as well which will help the bowlers as well.

It would be hard for the captains to choose that will there team should bowl first or bat first. The loosing captain won't be unhappy with whatever his team will do because this pitch will suit batsman as well as the bowlers. So, we can expect another great test match here at Chester-Le-Street. Now let's see what happens at the toss.

Toss​

Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat first. He said at the toss that the pitch looks to be an good one for the batting and will support the bowlers as well. We would try to put a big score on the scorecard and then try to restrict India to a fine score so that we can have a good 1st innings lead.

He said that his team has suffered from a major blow after loosing Morgan for the 3rd test. Morgan who was in great form injured himself in the practice match against Middlesex and will not play in 3rd test match. He said that in place of Morgan, Bopara has come into the side and in place of Plunkett England will be playing an extra batsman, Bell.

On other hand Dhoni mentioned that his team has suffered from a major blow as well with loosing Sreesanth for the 3rd Npower test match. Sreesanth injured himself in the morning while bowling. He injured his leg and can be out of the series as well. He will be replaced by the debutant Pragyan Ojha.

Dhoni said that he isn't disappointed bowling first. Actually he said that if he would have won the toss he would have bowled first. So both the captains are happy with the toss and we can hope for a good cricket match. Let's now have a look at the line-ups.

England and India line-ups for the 3rd Npower Test Match....​

England team line-up

England team looks very strong. Andrew Strauss will lead England team. Middle Order will be controlled by Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell and Matt Prior. Then Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann will come to bat who have played few good knocks in the past. Especially Graeme Swann, who helped England to win the 2nd Npower Test Match. Bowling line-up is solid as usual. James Anderson will lead the bowling attack. Graham Onions can get few wickets in this test match with his swing. Stuart Broad took 10 wickets in the 2nd Npower Test Match so he is in good form with the bowl. Swann is bowling well as well so England side is looking very strong. Now let's have a look at Indian side line-up.

Indian
Team line-up

Sehwag and Gambhir are in fine form so we can expect some runs from these two batsmen?s in this match. Rahul Dravid has not really played a big innings so far in this series so maybe this test match can prove lucky for him. Same is the case with Sachin Tendulkar. He can't be away from runs for a long time. Be aware England team. Kohli is young but has potential of playing big knocks. So he can make some runs in this test match as well. MS Dhoni the Indian team captain is a man to watch out for. He plays pretty well with the tail and if any top order batsman is batting with him he has a habit of building big partnerships with top order batsmen. Harbhajan and Zaheer can play big strokes so Indian team bat long. Zaheer Khan will lead Indian bowling attack. As India is bowling first he will be a man to watch out for. Ishant Sharma will get support from the pitch and over head conditions so he can be a dangerous man as well. Harbhajan is always a man to watch out for and especially much more when pitch is good one for the bowlers. Then the last but not the least Pragyan Ojha who is making his debut. England should not underestimate this guy. He is a good young lad. Has performed well in the odi's in the past, But the question is can he deliver in tests? We should wait and see....

Just few minutes left for the play to start... Before that there is a competition going. Predict cricket and win vcash. Its quite simple to participate there are two questions which are been ask.

Questions
Who will win the 3rd Npower Test Match?
A. India
B. England
C. Tie
D. Draw

Who will be the man of the match for the 3rd Npower Test Match?
Select a player from the line-ups of the team and the member who will guess one questions answer correctly will win 10,000 vcash prices.

We are getting very close for the match to start. Its time to take a break from the proceeding now after the break its time for the live action. :banana2​

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[Aussie Team]

Mate, Could you reupload the picture?

 

[AkshayS]

1. India to win the test match.
2. Sachin Tendulkat for MOTM.

 

[just_cricket]

Really nice update there!
India will win and Zaheer Khan will be MOTM.
KUTGW!

 

[MaD]

Nice presentation, your grammar is gettin there, KIU
England to win, Pietersen to pwn

 

[Kiko_97]

Eng win
Bell MOTM

 

[Varun]

Nice Update! Clearly shows your hardwork on this story!

 

[Aussie Team]

Surly England will win the match..

 

[Varun]

Match : Draw
Man of the Match : Andrew Strauss :cool:

 

[Aditya]

India In England
India vs England
Natwest Test Series : 3rd Test Match
Played at Chester-Le-Street

Players come to the field to start the proceeding.....​

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After England winning the toss and electing to bat first. Both the England openers, Cook and Strauss came to the field. Indian team too obviously came to the field to start the proceeding. Dhoni took his time to set the fielding. Overhead conditions were cloudy and the light wasn?t really good for play but still umpires started of the proceeding. 1?.2?..3 Lets Play!!!!

Cook out, but a fine start given by openers​

Zaheer Khan was given the opening over as expected.. Sachin and he had a chat before the match got started. Dhoni was taking his time in setting the field and in that crucial time Sachin and Zaheer were chatting about the tactics. Cook was very defensive but Strauss was very attacking. Strauss was not at all stepping back in smashing bad balls away for boundaries. Cook was looking a bit nervous and was struggling to play. The partnership reached 50 and Dhoni wanted a wicket. Dravid and Dhoni had a chat and bowl was given to Ishant Sharma. Ishant Sharma was taken out of the bowling attack and Kohli was given the bowl, but he proved to be very expensive. So Ishant was brought back to the bowling attack. Dravid came running to him and said him something. Then Ishant bowled the first bowl of his second bowl which went for 4. His second bowl too went for the 4 and then came the planned bowl?. Ishant Sharma bowled a slower short length delivery, Cook got a bit carried away and tried to smash the bowl on straight. He got edge on the bowl and the bowl went straight in the hands of Sehwag. 1st wicket of the match for India! :banana

Strauss trying his best to get innings back on track​

Bopara was looking good at the pitch. He was defending the bowl well and was looking very good at the pitch. Strauss continued his good batting after Cook?s wicket. Strauss wasn?t looking nervous, not at all actually. He was set for a big innings. Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma were getting punished by Strauss. Soon, Strauss reached to his fifty, a well played innings? Bopara smashed few good strokes as well. Bopara was looking solid, Zaheer Khan was bowling fine but Ishant Sharma after taking Cook?s wicket was proving to be a bit expensive. Experienced members of the team, Sachin, Dravid and Laxman had a chat with Dhoni and they decided to bring on the debutant, Pragyan Ojha. Ojha?s first over was very expensive, 10 runs came of it and the debutant was straight away went in pressure.

India on top, End of Session 1​

Dhoni showed faith in Ojha and gave him bowl again for his second over and Ojha didn?t disappoint his captain. He took wicket of Bopara in his second over, Ojha?s first ever test wicket? Ojha bowled a good length delivery, bowl spin sharply and Bopara was bowled. Dhoni jumped in the air and congratulated Ojha. Bopara was very disappointed while going to the pavilion. It got even worst for England as Strauss followed Bopara to the pavilion in the very next over of Ojha. Ojha this time bowled a full length delivery; Strauss went on back foot and tried smashing bowl on off side, Dravid was the fielder and he made no mistake. Dravid took an exceptional diving catch?and Strauss went to the pavilion for a well made 51? Pietersen and Collingwood were at the pitch now. Both of them started in their typical way? Pietersen smashed few glorious boundaries and Collingwood just stroked the bowls for 4. After few minutes umpires decided to end session 1.

A good session for India. But Pietersen and Collingwood are still there at the pitch. They both have had some good partnerships in the past, so can they both do that this time as well?

Members can still participate in Predict Cricket and Win Vcash competition. They can participate in the competition till the end of England 1st innings.​

India continue their dominance in the match.....​

So, after the lunch Collingwood and Pietersen along with Indian team and the two on field umpires came to start the play after lunch. Indian players were looking happy and active in the field. On other hand Pietersen and Collingwood had a serious job to do, building a partnership. Intensions from Pietersen were clear. Pietersen was putting bad balls away for boundaries. Collingwood too was having the same strategy but he was playing safely. By playing safely I mean he was playing grounded strokes. He took risk few times but all of them paid off as most of the shots went to the boundaries for sixes or fours. Umpires were consistently looking at each other because the light was very poor at some moments. But the play didn?t stop. A partnership was building and Dhoni was looking for a wicket. Dhoni got a wicket by a foolish run out. Zaheer Khan was bowling. Collingwood defended the bowl on off side and the fielders were a bit back so there was a chance for a single. So, Pietersen called for a single. Without listening to Collingwood, Pietersen took off. Collingwood said no, but till then Pietersen crossed half of the pitch, Pietersen tried getting back but was not able to and got run out. A silly run out costed England another wicket. Pietersen was looking very angry/frustrated. Collingwood was looking disappointed as well but both of them cannot do anything about it then.

Some sort of recovery from England....​

After Pietersen wicket Collingwood was playing quite attacking cricket. Maybe because he was frustrated and had a points to prove. Bell was looking good as well. Bell had a point to prove. Collingwood on other hand was looking very good. Indian pace bowlers were getting smashed away for boundaries and a partnership was building. Collingwood was on 46 and Ishant Sharma was bowling. Ishant Sharma bowled a short pitch delivery and Collingwood smashed it for 4 and reached his well made fifity. Crowd appreciated Collingwood innings and Collingwood raised his bat. A very well played innings. Wickets falling at other end, but Collingwood as usual holding the innings together and set to play another big innings. How often in the recent past we have seen Collingwood making England reach to some big totals even though the England top order collapses but Collingwood often plays a big inning and make sure that England reached to a big total. Will that be the case in this match as well?

Collingwood's inning wagon wheel till his 50​

After reaching to his fifty, Collingwood avoided taking any risk. So, that did one thing that now Bell was attempting to play few big strokes. 60 overs ended and umpires decided to stop the play because it was time for Tea. There are possibilities of showers in the next session. But we all hope that the showers do not happen. The match is evenly placed at the moment and no one would be hoping for showers. Let?s wait and we will see what happens after tea.

The members who have participated so far in the Predict Cricket and Win contest are as follows along with their predictions....

SachinGr8 : India win, Sachin Motm
Just_Cricket : India win, Zaheer Khan Motm
MaD : England win, Pietersen Motm
Giggity Giggity : England win, Bell Motm
AussieTeam : England win
Varun Rustagi : Draw, Andew Strauss Motm
KKRsGr8st : India win, Laxman Motm
Send2Yaari : England win, Kevin Pietersen Motm​

Solid recovery from England.....​

Match continued again after tea. The overhead conditions were not really good but good enough for the play to continue after tea. Collingwood changed his batting completely after tea. He was playing more carefully now and more slowly. Collingwood was basically rotating the strike and avoiding taking risks. But Bell had some other plans. Bell was playing his normal inning. Bell was taking singles as well as he was putting bad balls away for boundaries. MS Dhoni was looking a bit nervous. MS Dhoni knew that if Collingwood and Bell partnership does not get broken soon, then England will reach to a big first innings score. So he brought his pace bowlers back into the bowling attack. Zaheer Khan and Ishant Shamr first few overs were good. But after few overs, ex 5 overs later Collingwood decided to play few big strokes.

Once Collingwood decided playing big strokes Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma were having no clue how to stop him. Bell too had the same strategy as well. Collingwood and Bell were not allowing Zaheer and Ishant to bowl well and were rather building pressure on Indian team. After playing few strokes Collingwood went to 90?s. Everyone in Indian side thought that now Collingwood would change his batting strategy and will start playing slowly but that wasn?t the case. Collingwood continued playing attacking cricket and after few minutes Collingwood reached his very well made century. When Collingwood came to bat, England needed someone to play a big innings so that they can make a good first innings score and that?s what Collingwood did. Collingwood started off slowly but once he got in 30?s he started being a bit attacking and after that we all know what he did, a very good innings from Collingwood?.

A good day for both the teams in the field.....​

Ian Bell after playing few good strokes reached his well deserved fifty. A much needed fifty for him. He needed to play a good innings to be regular in the side. So, Bell reached his fifty and continued playing as he was playing. Dhoni needed a wicket desperately so he introduced Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag into the bowling attack by replacing Zaheer and Ishant. Sachin and Sehwag were bowling very well they were not giving runs away. Bell was on 61, Sachin bowled a full length delivery, Bell tried to convert it into a full toss and smash it away for a boundary on straight. But he completely misjudged the bowl and Dhoni stumped Bell. Umpire, Simon Taufel decided to refer the decision to 3rd umpire and 3rd umpire gave it out. Bell was very disappointed with his dismissal. But Dhoni was very happy with the wicket. :happy :banana

Ian Bell Inning Wagon Wheel

After Bell the next batsman who came to bat was Prior. Not much time was left for the day 1 play to end. Collingwood didn?t take any risk and played the remaining overs safely and then umpires decided to end day 1 play. A good day for both the teams really. Firstly India was on top after the end of session 1 but England came back strongly in session 2. Now at the end of session 3 England have recovered from the early wickets they lost and India won?t be disappointed as well as they have taken 6 wickets of England. Now it would be interesting to see how the both teams play on day 2. Will India take few quick wickets at the starting of day 2 and restrict England to a fine first innings total? Or Collingwood and Prior will take England innings forward and England will make a good total in first innings?. Only time will tell, let?s wait and we will see?..

India back in the match with a bang!!!!!​

So, the players came to start the day 2 play. Dhoni and his team bowlers had a tough task ahead for them. England was back in the match after building few very good partnerships, all thanks to Collingwood. Dhoni decided to give his pace bowlers another chance to bowl after proving to be very expensive on day 1. But Ishant and Zaheer were proving to be expensive again like on day 1. Dhoni decided to replace Ishant Sharma with Pragyan Ojha in the bowling attack. Also, Dhoni set a defending field for Prior and attacking field for Collingwood. Collingwood smashed few boundaries and was playing attacking cricket. Dhoni didn?t change the field; he had a tactic in his mind. Dhoni had a small chat with Ojha about the tactics. Ojha started his new over and the 1st bowl of the over was a short bowl which was smashed for 4. Then he bowled the tactic delivery. Pragyan Ojha bowled a full length delivery, Collingwood tried to paddle sweep the bowl but missed the bowl completely. India team shouted for the LBW??Howzat!!!!! And the umpires, Billy Bowden raised his finger. Collingwood departed for 140.

Collingwood's dismissal hawk eye view​

Collingwood finally departed. Dhoni was very happy the wicket because now he knew that if his bowlers bowl in right areas then India can get few more wickets and England will be all out. Pragyan Ojha struck again in his next over as he got the wicket of Matt Prior. After Collingwood got out, Dhoni decided to set attacking field for Prior as well. Prior got a bit carried away and tried to play a big stroke. Prior played the bowl too early and completely misjudged the pace and was bowled by Ojha. What a debut for Ojha! Prior?s wicket was Ojha?s 5th wicket in his debut first inning. A very good debut for Ojha.

Crowd applauds Pragyan Ojha's 5 wickets on debut​

Zaheer Khan was bowling from other hand. Broad was trying to be attacking, Zaheer bowled a Yorker, Broad tried to smash the bowl but completely missed it and was clean bowled?. Another wicket for India?. :happy :banana

Surprisingly, maybe to boost up Ishant Sharma?s confident Zaheer Khan was replaced and Ishant was given another chance to bowl. Ishant made no mistake and took a wicket for his captain. Ishant bowled a full length delivery to Anderson, Anderson tried to defend the bowl but wasn?t able to and was bowled. England had just one wicket in hand and Ojha was bowling. Ojha bowled a bowl on off side, a full length delivery it was. But it spin like Warne deliveries and managed to clip Swann?s wicket. Swann got out and England innings ended. Great bowling from the Indian team. In one and the half hours Indian bowlers managed to take 5 wickets of England team. The pitch still is a batting surface. But it all depends on India openers, if they take India to a good start then maybe India can make a big total in their 1st innings as well?.

Pragyan Ojha's pitch map​

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Now it's innings break. In this break planetcricket members can participate in Predict Cricket and Win Vcash contest. Let's wait and we will see how Indian openers will play. So far the match summary in like this.

Thanks to my friend Treva for this match summary card. ​

 

[AkshayS]

Still much danger for India.

I liked the presentation very much, AC09 is giving a fresh look to it.
KIU mate.

 

[just_cricket]

Yeah, I agree. AC09 suits your style of presentation. Good stuff man!
More wickets fell than England would have liked but they have been scoring quickly. The first hour of the next session will be critical!

 

[Gorro_124]

India will win n Laxman wil get MOTM!

 

[Aoun13]

England gonna win it and KP will be MOTM.

send2yaari added 0 Minutes and 35 Seconds later...

Presentation is perfect though need to sort some grammatical mistakes.KIU