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

[AkshayS]

Enough total posted by India, If India gets some quick wickets. Things will be easy.

 

[deathrevenge9]

503 seems to be a massive target.All India needs now is a good bowling start.

 

[Aditya]

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

2 England openers, Indian team and the 2 on field umpires came to the field to start England?s 1st innings. After really good batting display from Indian batsman in their 1st innings it should be interesting to see how England batsman?s play?.

England bowler started reasonably well. Strauss and Cook were not really going for big shots as England team surely didn?t wanted to loose an early wicket. 2 opening bowlers of Indian team were, Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. Zaheer was bowling well but Ishant was on expensive side. Strauss and Cook were avoiding taking any risk against Zaheer but when Ishant was bowling, England batsmen were really looking attacking. Specially Strauss!

Dhoni saw that Ishant is proving to be expensive so he replaced Ishant with Ojha. And suddenly England batsmen were looking on back foot. Both England openers were not really able to play attacking cricket and run rate went down. Soon, Ojha managed to get the wicket of England captain, Andrew Strauss. Ojha bowled a good length delivery, the ball got sharp turn, Strauss was trying to play sweep shot but was not able to time the shot well and the ball hit his pads. Ojha and Indian team shouted for LBW and the umpire, Aleem Dar raised his finger. 1st wicket for India! :happy

Bopara was the next batsman. Bopara started off attackingly. Bopara was looking positive and smashed some boundaries. Cook on other hand didn?t really took any kind of risk apart from one boundary he smashed on off side. Soon, umpires decided that it?s time for tea and the players and umpires went back to the pavilion for tea.

England was desperate for a good start and finally their openers were able to get the team off to a good start. But Strauss who got off to a fine start was not able to really go on and play a big innings as he got out for 26. Cook and Bopara are at the crease now and it should be interesting to see how these two batsmen play after tea.

So, the play started after tea. Dhoni decided to replace Pragyan Ojha from bowling attack and brought Sehwag into the bowling attack. And the plan worked straight away. Sehwag in his very first over of the match got the wicket of Cook. Sehwag bowled a good length delivery, Cook tried to defend the ball but the ball got sharp turn and managed to hit the pads of Cook. Sehwag and Indian team went up for a LBW shout and the umpire, Simon Taufel raised his finger. Although the hawk eye showed that Cook was unlucky to be given out as the hawk eye showed that the ball would have missed the off stump. But Cook could have done nothing against the decision and disappointingly went back to the pavilion.

Cook's dismissal hawk eye view​

Bopara too was not able to do anything special with the bat after tea as he got out for 22. Again the man who got the wicket was Sehwag. This time Sehwag bowled a full length delivery; Bopara completely misjudged the ball and got bowled. Dhoni?s plan to bring Sehwag into the bowling attack did work. As Sehwag got 2 quick wickets for India! Bopara got a start but was not really able to go on and do anything special with the bat. Next batsman who came to bat was Paul Collingwood. Now, 2 batsmen at the crease were Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood.

Pietersen and Collingwood started in a positive manner. Pietersen and Collingwood were not having strategy of playing slowly as they knew that they need to score runs at a good run rate because India?s 1st innings score is not an easy one to be made. Making 500 runs and then giving lead is not easy for any team but still it?s possible. Just when Pietersen and Collingwood were getting England team back on track, Collingwood lost his wicket.

Dhoni decided to replace Harbhajan Singh from bowling attack and brought Pragyan Ojha into the bowling attack. Pragyan Ojha bowled few good overs and then Ojha got the wicket of Paul Collingwood. Ojha bowled a good length delivery, Collingwood decided to go for a big shot but completely missed the ball, Dhoni collected the ball and stumped Collingwood. Collingwood tried to get back but was not able to and got stumped. Umpire, Aleem Dar had a slight confusion in his mind so he decided to refer the decision to 3rd umpire. 3rd umpire saw the dismissal few times and then decided that Collingwood was stumped out and the 3rd umpire decision screen on ground showed OUT. Another wicket for India! :happy Collingwood went back to the pavilion for 32.

Next batsman was Eoin Morgan. Pietersen on other hand played some delightful strokes and reached to his fifty. Not much time was left before the end of day 2 play so Morgan didn?t took much risk apart from one boundary Morgan smashed on off side. All the 90 overs on day 2 were bowled and then the umpires decided that it?s time to end 2nd day of 4th Npower test match. A good session for India! Indian team was desperate to get some crucial wickets in this session and Indian bowlers succeeded in it. It would be interesting to see how Pietersen and Morgan play on day 3.

So, the day 3 of 4th Npower test match started. Atmosphere in the ground was electrified. Although England were in little trouble but still there is always a chance of team returning to a test match and often winning the test match too after few bad sessions. That?s the advantage of test cricket and that?s why test cricket is called the best format of cricket.

Pietersen and Morgan started off slowly. But as the play progressed KP and Morgan started to be attacking. Especially, Kevin was going for the big shots and Morgan was just trying to settle in the middle. Harbhajan was bowling from one end and from other end Ishant was bowling. Kevin was mainly targeting Ishant for big strokes and was playing Harbhajan safely.

Just when a partnership was building Morgan lost his wicket. Ishant was getting smashed all around the park by KP but he didn?t lose his confidence and got wicket of Morgan. Ishant bowled a gull length delivery, Morgan smashed it on off side but the fielder at cover point, Tendulkar took the catch. The ball came to Tendulkar at really quick speed but Tendulkar made no mistake and took the catch. Morgan departed for 27.

Next batsman who came to bat was Matt Prior. After Morgan wicket there were no changes in Kevin?s batting tactics. Kevin continued to be attacking. On other hand Matt Prior was playing completely opposite comparing to his usual innings. Prior was playing slowly and was not going for big strokes as well. Prior was just doing the job of staying at the middle and getting settled so that Kevin Pietersen can play the way he wants!

Not much time was left for the end of session 1 of day 3 of 4th Npower test. So, Kevin Pietersen smashed few more big shots and reached to his very well made century. A really well played innings from Kevin under pressure. One of the better innings Kevin has played recently for sure. On other hand Matt Prior didn?t took much risk apart from 1 boundary he smashed early in his innings. 30 overs of session were bowled. So, the umpires decided to end the session.

A good session for both the teams! England team doing well to recover after the wicket of Morgan! Indian bowlers on other hand got the much needed wicket of Morgan. It would be interesting to see how the play goes when the session 2 of day 3 of 4th Npower test starts.

So, the play started after tea. Harbhajan Singh was given the 1st over after tea and the over proved to be a really good one for India as India managed to get 2 crucial wickets in 1 over. :happy :banana Prior was batting, Harbhajan bowled a good length delivery, Prior tried to defend the ball but got thick edge and the ball went to the slips. Fielder at the slip, Rahul Dravid made no mistake in taking the catch.

Next batsman who got out in the same over was Stuart Broad. Harbhajan bowled a full length delivery, Broad tried to defend the ball but got edge and the ball went to Dhoni. Dhoni took a great diving catch. The catch was not a easy one but Dhoni made the catch looks easy. Broad disappointingly went o the pavilion. Broad departed for a duck. Harbhajan Singh got India back in the match. But these 2 wickets put England team on back foot.

Harbhajan in his next over got wicket of Kevin Pietersen. :happy Pietersen was on front foot, Harbhajan bowled a quicker delivery, Pietersen completely missed the ball and got bowled. We have to say that a really good innings from Pietersen under pressure. Next batsman who came to bat was James Anderson. Batsmen at the crease now were Anderson and Swann.

In Harbhajan?s 3rd over after tea there were words exchanged between Harbhajan and Swann. Umpires played their role and stopped the fight to go on. Swann replied back in a great way as he smashed Harbhajan for a 4. But in the next over of Ishant Sharma, Swann lost his wicket. Ishant Sharma bowled a slow ball, Swann picked up the slow ball and smashed it on straight but was not able to smash it well and the ball went straight in the air, Gambhir took a great diving catch at 3rd man. :happy

Next batsman who came to bat was Steven Finn. Finn was not able to do anything special as he was bowled by Harbhajan for 5. England team got all out for 325. :happy Now, Indian team has got the crucial lead of 178 runs. It would be interesting to see how Indian batsmen play in their 2nd innings. Still 2 days are left in the test match. So, it seems that we are going to get a result in this match.

 

[Gaurav_7]

Strauss let the ball go? I was expecting nothing less than a 100 from him. Bopara to score 100 now.

 

[hedger_14]

Is Strauss letting the ball go or ready to play an elegant sweep shot but misses?

 

[Aditya]

Is Strauss letting the ball go or ready to play an elegant sweep shot but misses?

Playing a sweep shot and missing. Actually the angle from which I have taken the screenshot, it seems that he is letting the ball go (that often happens with me in AC09 but this time it was a sweep shot).

 

[Gaurav_7]

Is Strauss letting the ball go or ready to play an elegant sweep shot but misses?

Seeing it is AC, I doubt that is the case. No elegant sweeps I've seen in it. It is just he lets the ball go.

 

[Aditya]

Seeing it is AC, I doubt that is the case. No elegant sweeps I've seen in it. It is just he lets the ball go.

I am better than you at AC09 then.

Anyway I will make sure that I take the screenshots from better angles from next update.

 

[AkshayS]

This test is a draw, England aren't looking to throw their wickets away.

 

[Gaurav_7]

I play with Bangladesh. I'm awesome. :

 

[surendar]

some 3-4 wickets in next 50 runs is needed to make this match interesting Zaheer can do it! :banana2

surendar added 2 Minutes and 3 Seconds later...

I play with Bangladesh. I'm awesome. :

:laugh On a serious note, playing with beta patch gives better results irrespective of the teams in my opinion.

 

[Aditya]

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

So, the play started after tea. Dhoni decided to replace Pragyan Ojha from bowling attack and brought Sehwag into the bowling attack. And the plan worked straight away. Sehwag in his very first over of the match got the wicket of Cook. Sehwag bowled a good length delivery, Cook tried to defend the ball but the ball got sharp turn and managed to hit the pads of Cook. Sehwag and Indian team went up for a LBW shout and the umpire, Simon Taufel raised his finger. Although the hawk eye showed that Cook was unlucky to be given out as the hawk eye showed that the ball would have missed the off stump. But Cook could have done nothing against the decision and disappointingly went back to the pavilion.

Cook's dismissal hawk eye view​

Bopara too was not able to do anything special with the bat after tea as he got out for 22. Again the man who got the wicket was Sehwag. This time Sehwag bowled a full length delivery; Bopara completely misjudged the ball and got bowled. Dhoni?s plan to bring Sehwag into the bowling attack did work. As Sehwag got 2 quick wickets for India! Bopara got a start but was not really able to go on and do anything special with the bat. Next batsman who came to bat was Paul Collingwood. Now, 2 batsmen at the crease were Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood.

Pietersen and Collingwood started in a positive manner. Pietersen and Collingwood were not having strategy of playing slowly as they knew that they need to score runs at a good run rate because India?s 1st innings score is not an easy one to be made. Making 500 runs and then giving lead is not easy for any team but still it?s possible. Just when Pietersen and Collingwood were getting England team back on track, Collingwood lost his wicket.

Dhoni decided to replace Harbhajan Singh from bowling attack and brought Pragyan Ojha into the bowling attack. Pragyan Ojha bowled few good overs and then Ojha got the wicket of Paul Collingwood. Ojha bowled a good length delivery, Collingwood decided to go for a big shot but completely missed the ball, Dhoni collected the ball and stumped Collingwood. Collingwood tried to get back but was not able to and got stumped. Umpire, Aleem Dar had a slight confusion in his mind so he decided to refer the decision to 3rd umpire. 3rd umpire saw the dismissal few times and then decided that Collingwood was stumped out and the 3rd umpire decision screen on ground showed OUT. Another wicket for India! :happy Collingwood went back to the pavilion for 32.

Next batsman was Eoin Morgan. Pietersen on other hand played some delightful strokes and reached to his fifty. Not much time was left before the end of day 2 play so Morgan didn?t took much risk apart from one boundary Morgan smashed on off side. All the 90 overs on day 2 were bowled and then the umpires decided that it?s time to end 2nd day of 4th Npower test match. A good session for India! Indian team was desperate to get some crucial wickets in this session and Indian bowlers succeeded in it. It would be interesting to see how Pietersen and Morgan play on day 3.

ENG : 203/4
K PIETERSEN : 54(90)
E MORGAN : 12(22)
Last Wicket : P COLLINGWOOD : 34(52)
ENG TRAIL BY 300 RUNS

 

[surendar]

Cook was very unlucky, but it happens. Also don't know what Colly was thinking to loose his wicket in such a fashion in the test match. But oh well, it's all good for India.

We need 6 more wickets for next 50 runs. Greedy eh? Cool presentation, Aditya!

 

[Prithvi]

Why don't you animate this? It'd look awesome.

 

[deathrevenge9]

Morgon to score a century.:happy