Story International Cricket Championship

[PeterF]

Yay

 

[m_vaughan]

10 Over Update

India lose early wickets
India 37-3 (10 Overs)
Rahul Dravid 15*(21)
Yuvraj Singh 8*(12)

Simon Jones 2-22

India need another 226 runs to win from 40 overs with 7 wickets in hand

India have got their run chase off to a horrific start losing their top three very early in the innings. Virender Sehwag after smashing James Anderson for a boundary, was out leg before wicket the very same over. Simon Jones then picked up two in two overs, getting rid of Sachin Tendulkar (4) and Mohammad Kaif (0), to put India in deep trouble at 15-3. Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh since then have somewhat stabilised matters in the middle, but there is a hell lot of work to be done yet.

 

[m_vaughan]

Stats:

 

[RoboRocks]

Good bowling from Si and Jimmy.
C'mon England

 

[Johann]

England on top so far. Wonder if India can come back from here?

 

[jazz]

cannot right india of yet they still have some world class batsman to come

 

[Englishandproud]

England have done well and have a slight upper hand in this match now.

 

[m_vaughan]

20 Over Update

Dravid restores order
India 67-4 (20 Overs)
Rahul Dravid 25*(48)
Yuvraj Singh 21(41)

Simon Jones 2-22

It would have been a good ten overs for India if only they hadnt lost the wicket of Yuvraj. Along with Dravid (unbeaten on 25), Yuvraj (21) looked to have put India's horrific start behind, and get back into the game.

Andrew Flintoff was the wicket-taker, using the slower delivery to dismiss the left hander.

That wicket still keeps the visitors in front, and with four wickets down, a lot now depends on this partnership between Dravid and Dhoni. The decision to play one batsmen less in this game could hurt India badly.

India need 196 runs to win from 30 Overs, with 6 wickets in hand

 

[Bala]

Thats gonna be pretty tight for the Indians. I just cant see England losing now.

 

[m_vaughan]

30 Over Update

India lose Dhoni and Dravid
India 106-6 (30 Overs)
Rahul Dravid 32(62)
Yuvraj Singh 21(41)

Simon Jones 2-22
Andrew Flintoff 2-24

Any hopes that India had of making a comeback into this game were dashed in these last ten overs, as England got rid of the last two recognised Indian batsmen in Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The latter was the first one to depart after being trapped lbw by Ashley Giles. Dravid soon joined him in the dressing room, thanks to a fantastic catch by Kevin Pietersen off the bowling of Andrew Flintoff.

India need 157 runs to win from 20 Overs, with 4 wickets remaining

 

[Englishandproud]

India will struggle to get this total now with only 4 wickets left, looks like 1-0 to England, but anything can still happen.

Come on England

 

[m_vaughan]

End of Match Update

England register comprehensive win

India 153 all out (43 Overs)
Rahul Dravid 32(62)
Murali Kartik 21(19)
Yuvraj Singh 21(41)

Simon Jones 3-26
Steve Harmison 2-34
Andrew Flintoff 2-34

England win by 109 runs
England win 5 points (4 + 1 bonus)
India win 0 points

India did provide some resistance towards the end, but England still ended up winning by a massive 109 runs. A top score of 32 by Rahul Dravid in the Indian innings clearly reflects the poor batting performance displayed by the home side.

Steve Harmison bagged two wickets in the last 13 overs of the innings, those of Ajit Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh, to finish with figures of 2-34 from 10 Overs. Ian Blackwell picked his first scalp of the match, trapping Irfan Pathan lbw for 15. Simon Jones then dismissed Murali Kartik for a well made 21 from 19 balls, hence ending the Indian runchase.

With this, England win the first one day international, and full five points from this game, that'll see them go top of the Championship table.

 

[Johann]

Good win for England and also good to start the championship with a bonus point.

 

[m_vaughan]

England win season opener
England thrashed India in the first one day international of the new championship season, winning by a massive 109 runs. The win sees Michael Vaughan's team go top of the table after picking the bonus point aswell in the game.

Jones and Trescothick got England off to a sparkling start

Batting first, England got off to a superb start with both the openers, Marcus Trescothick and Geraint Jones looking in sublime form, on a good batting track. However that charge was eventually halted by Murali Kartik. No one from the middle order was able to capitalise on the good start and the Indian bowlers took control of proceedings, picking up wickets at regular intervals and eventually bundling the visitors out for a pretty average 262. Murali Kartik and Ajit Agarkar, each picked up three wickets.

India who would have been pretty happy with the target, got their runchase off to a horrific start losing both Tendulkar and Sehwag for single digits. Things became worse when Mohammad Kaif was dismissed by Simon Jones for a duck. And despite a half decent partnership between Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh in the middle, India never really looked like recovering from the early setback, eventually being bowled out for 153. Simon Jones bagged three, while Flintoff and Harmison got two wickets each.

Simon Jones put India on the backfoot from the start

However it was Murali Kartik, who bowled brilliantly to peg England back with three wickets and scored a flashy 21 with the bat, was named man of the match.

Both teams will now head to Mumbai for the second one day game.

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Post Match Quotes


Indian captain Rahul Dravid

Our batting cost us the game. 263 was definately attainable on this wicket, but after losing early wickets, the pressure was on us. England dint give us too many chances after that, and full credit to them for the way they bowled, and deserve this win.

We however will have to work on certain things, including our batting and I am pretty confident that we'll perform much better in the next game.

England captain Michael Vaughan

I am really delighted with the win and with the way our bowlers performed. I was disappointed with 262, especially after the start we had got and knew that it would require our bowlers to do more than just a good job in order to defend the score. But I thought we bowled and fielded brilliantly from the start, putting the Indians on the backfoot, and never let them get back into the game.

This win is definately going to help our confidence for the remaining two games in this round, and to get the bonus point aswell is the icing on the cake. However when facing a team like India, you always have to be on top form, as they are a quality side.

Man of the Match Murali Kartik

This means little when your team ends up on the losing side. I thought we came back well to bowl England out for less than 300, as at one stage it almost looked impossible to stop them from crossing that. We then were very confident about chasing down the target, but it was just not our day, and the English bowlers were in top form. I am very disappointed with the loss, but its time to move on and concentrate on the next game.

 

[jazz]

i think the turning point was the 3 quick wickets