Transfers Window Legends At Battle XII | Pre-season - Late action is still better than no action at all

[Sulaiman7]

Even I saw the soul of Michael Jackson in the pavillion of Australia .

 

[VC the slogger]

THE FINAL

at Melbourne Cricket Ground(MCG), Melbourne

Pitch Condition: Normal

Toss: England won the toss and chose to bat

ENGLAND 1st innings

Player              Status                        Runs  Blls  4s   6s    S/R
Len Hutton                         b. O'Reilly     28    37    6    0   75.7%
Wally Hammond       c. ?Gilchrist  b. Lillee       47    76    9    0   61.8%
Herbert Sutcliffe              c & b. Spofforth    63    64   13    0   98.4%
WG Grace[B]*[/B]                          b. Lillee       19    29    4    0   65.5%
Ian Botham          c. Ponting     b. Turner       15    66    2    0   22.7%
Les Ames[B]?[/B]           c. Lillee      b. Armstrong    91   146   19    1   62.3%
Andrew Flintoff     c. Turner      b. Lillee       15    32    2    0   46.9%
Hedley Verity                      b. Spofforth    25    60    5    0   41.7%
Jim Laker                      c & b. Spofforth     0     3    0    0    0.0%
Fred Trueman        c. Hill        b. O'Reilly      4    17    0    0   23.5%
Sydney Barnes       not out                        16    33    3    0   48.5%
 
 Total:  333/10       Overs:  93.4         Run Rate:  3.56     Extras:  10 
   
                             Day 2  10:17 AM
   
  
                                     -X-
 
ENGLAND Partnerships

Batsmen                                                            Runs (Balls)
L Hutton      W Hammond    ??????????????????????????                61 (73)
Sutcliffe     W Hammond    ?????????????????????                     49 (80)
Sutcliffe     W Grace      ?????????????????????                     49 (42)
I Botham      W Grace      ??                                         5 (28)
I Botham      L Ames       ?????????????????????                     49 (103)
A Flintoff    L Ames       ????????????                              29 (53)
H Verity      L Ames       ??????????????????????????????            69 (128)
J Laker       L Ames                                                  0 (3)
F Trueman     L Ames                                                  0 (2)
F Trueman     S Barnes     ?????????                                 22 (50)


     Fall of Wickets    61/1      110/2     159/3     164/4     213/5
                        242/6     311/7     311/8     311/9     333/10    

 Total:  333/10      Overs:  93.4          Run Rate:  3.56    Extras:  10   
  
                                     -X-

AUSTRALIA Bowling

Player               Overs   Mdns    Runs   Wkts      E/R    Wds    NBs
Frederick Spofforth  19.0      3      54      3      2.84     1      1 
Charlie Turner       19.0      5      78      1      4.11     0      2 
Dennis Lillee        20.0      5      67      3      3.35     0      1 
Warwick Armstrong    17.0      4      56      1      3.29     0      2 
Bill O'Reilly        18.4      4      76      2      4.07     0      1 


 EXTRAS          Wides: 1      No Balls: 7      Leg Byes: 2      Byes: 0 

 Total:  333/10       Overs:  93.4         Run Rate:  3.56    Extras:  10   
                                     -X-

WG Grace called right winning the toss and had no hesitation in electing to bat first.

The openers Len Hutton and Wally Hammond gave England a brisk start scoring 61 in 12.1 overs.

Bill O'Reilly got the first breakthrough for Australia when Hutton edged on to his stumps off an attempted cut shot.

Herbert Sutcliffe joined Hammond who was then batting well on 32.

Sutcliffe started off from where he left in the previous match against South Africa and scored an near a run-a-ball. He and Hammond who gradually slowed his scoring rate put up 49 runs for the 2nd wicket.
Hammond whilst batting on 47 nearing a half-century nicked an outswinging delivery from Dennis Lillee straight to the keeper.

In walked English captain WG Grace.

He was greeted first ball with a vicious delivery from Lillee which went through his long beard to the keeper. Annoyed, the smashed the next ball for four with a lofted drive that nearly took out a stunned Lillee. Sutcliffe was also scoring boundaries at will and brought up his half-century in the last over before lunch off 54 deliveries. He added another 13 to his total before he was deceived by a slower ball from Fred Spofforth which took the leaning edge off his bat and presented Spofforth with a skier.
The new batsman Ian Botham struggled against top quality swing bowling by Spofforth and Turner and was hit on the helmet once by Lillee.

Grace was soon clean bowled by Lillee when he played across the line to an inswinging full length ball.
The keeper-batsman Les Ames arrived at the crease and showed how confident he was by hitting Lillee for six the very first ball he faced clearing the long-on boundary and presenting one of the Barmy Army with a crowd catch.
He kept scoring runs at a good rate while his partner Botham looked completely out of touch prodding, swinging and missing.

The pair added 49 runs taking the England total past 200.
Botham's struggle finally ended when he loosely drove at a widish delivery which caught the outside edge and went into the safe hands of Ricky Ponting at second slip as England lost half their side and were in a brittle position at 213 for 5.

Andrew Flintoff and the well set Ames were at the wicket but their partnership didn't last very long.
Lillee bowled a slower bouncer to Flintoff who was batting on 15 causing the latter to play a mistimed hook which presented deep square leg fielder Charlie Turner with a sitter.

Now England were 6 down for 242 with Hedley Verity, a capable batsman coming in at no 8. Ames and Verity played each ball on its merit and as their partnership progressed, Ames brought up 50 and later the England total crossed 300. With the score on 311, Bradman brought Spofforth back into the attack and he straightaway removed Verity for 25 ending a crucial 69-run partnership for the 7the wicket. Just three balls Laker played a loose straight drive only for it to be pouched by the bowler himself. He was gone without troubling the scorers. Second ball of the next over, Ames was gone too as his lofted late cut went straight down the third man fielder Lillee's throat ending a good innings of 91 by the wicket-keeper batsman.

Now England were in disarray having lost 3 wickets for no run slumping from 311/6 to 311/9 with the last pair of Fred Trueman and Sydney Barnes at the crease. They survived 4 overs as it reached stumps on Day 1. The next day Barnes started hitting some boundaries and entertaining the crowd but the England innings soon came to a close when Trueman was caught in the bat-pad region as O'Reilly grabbed his second. England finished with a good first innings total of 333.


AUSTRALIA 1st innings

Player              Status                        Runs  Blls  4s   6s    S/R
Donald Bradman[B]*[/B]     c. Hutton      b. Trueman      65   104   14    0   62.5%
Bill Ponsford       c. Grace       b. Barnes        0     7    0    0    0.0%
Victor Trumper      lbw            b. Trueman      45    65    9    0   69.2%
Clem Hill           c. Hammond     b. Verity       77   144   16    0   53.5%
Ricky Ponting       c. Sutcliffe   b. Verity       34    51    6    0   66.7%
Warwick Armstrong   c. Trueman     b. Laker         2    21    0    0    9.5%
Adam Gilchrist[B]?[/B]                    b. Verity       43    44    7    1   97.7%
Charlie Turner      c. ?Ames       b. Verity       13    31    2    0   41.9%
Frederick Spofforth lbw            b. Botham        5    19    1    0   26.3%
Bill O'Reilly       lbw            b. Laker         6    23    1    0   26.1%
Dennis Lillee       not out                         2    21    0    0    9.5%
 
 Total:  307/10       Overs:  87.5         Run Rate:  3.50     Extras:  15 
   
                             Day 3  11:20 AM
   
  
                                     -X-
 
AUSTRALIA Partnerships

Batsmen                                                            Runs (Balls)
D Bradman     B Ponsford   ?                                          5 (14)
D Bradman     V Trumper    ???????????????????????????????????       88 (130)
D Bradman     C Hill       ????????????????                          41 (72)
R Ponting     C Hill       ??????????????????????????????            76 (109)
Armstrong     C Hill       ????                                      11 (47)
Gilchrist     C Hill       ???????                                   18 (22)
Gilchrist     C Turner     ?????????                                 24 (44)
Gilchrist     Spofforth    ?????????????                             34 (41)
Gilchrist     B O'Reilly   ?                                          5 (10)
D Lillee      B O'Reilly   ?                                          5 (38)


     Fall of Wickets    5/1       93/2      134/3     210/4     221/5
                        239/6     263/7     297/8     302/9     307/10    

 Total:  307/10      Overs:  87.5          Run Rate:  3.50    Extras:  15   
  
                                     -X-

ENGLAND Bowling

Player               Overs   Mdns    Runs   Wkts      E/R    Wds    NBs
Sydney Barnes        16.0      1      75      1      4.69     0      0 
Fred Trueman         15.0      0      55      2      3.67     0      1 
Andrew Flintoff      15.0      4      47      0      3.13     0      0 
Jim Laker            17.5      3      61      2      3.42     2      2 
Ian Botham           11.0      2      37      1      3.36     1      0 
Hedley Verity        13.0      6      24      4      1.85     0      1 


 EXTRAS          Wides: 3      No Balls: 4      Leg Byes: 4      Byes: 4 

 Total:  307/10       Overs:  87.5         Run Rate:  3.50    Extras:  15   
                                     -X-

Sydney Barnes bowled a nasty bouncer to Bill Ponsford to which he could only fend in order to protect himself from being hit but in the process lost his wicket as the ball went off the top edge of his bat safely into the hands of WG Grace at point.

He was out without scoring as Australia started off poorly much to England's delight.

The Australian captain Don Bradman and Victor Trumper steadied the ship with a 88-run partnership where they played cautiously and also dispatched the loose balls and long hops from England's bowlers.

Trumper fell five short of a half-century when he was given out lbw to Fred Trueman off a poor decision by the umpire. Clem Hill joined Bradman at the crease. Bradman brought up his half-century with a splendid cover drive off Andrew Flintoff which went for four. His partner Hill started nervously taking as many as 22 balls to get off the mark which he finally did by straight driving Jim Laker which did wonders to his confidence. Just when the partnership looked to have the potential to make it big, Bradman nicked a delivery from Trueman into the slip cordon where Len Hutton held on to a brilliant diving catch.

The English players and supporters were overjoyed to see the best Australian batsman walk back to the pavillion after scoring 65. Australia's second highest run scorer of the season, Ricky Ponting walked out to the middle with a huge responsibility on his hands. He and Hill maintained a scoring rate of over 4 an over.

Hill soon reached his fifty and the pair took Australia past 200. The 76-run partnership was soon brought to a close by Hedley Verity who removed Ponting for 34 caught at silly point.

The next man in Warwick Armstrong struggled against the spinning duo of Verity and Laker. His short painful stay was ended when he tried to break the shackles with an aerial flick which failed to clear Fred Trueman at mid-wicket thus giving Laker his first wicket.

With 4 overs remaining in the day's play, Verity got the important wicket of Hill who scored 77 to put Australia back on track and walked off disappointed.

Adam Gilchirst and Charlie Turner batted out the remaining three overs to remain unbeaten on 8 and 10 respectively at the close of Day 2. Day 3 started with Gilchrist pulling Trueman for six over the head of Sydney Barnes at deep square leg. However, England struck back with Verity dismissing Turner to claim his third wicket. From here on, Gilchrist clearly not trusting the tailenders played his natural aggressive game to get as close as possible to England's total.

Fred Spofforth didn't last long as Ian Botham had him plumb in front of the wicket and soon Gilchrist also departed when he tried to slog sweep Verity only to be bowled causing the latter to smirk. The last pair of Bill O'Reilly and Dennis Lillee stuck around for 38 balls adding only 5 runs but their stay was ended by Laker who scalped O'Reilly to bring the Australian innings to a close at 307. England got a slender lead of 26.

ENGLAND 2nd innings

Player              Status                        Runs  Blls  4s   6s    S/R
Len Hutton          lbw            b. Armstrong    29    43    5    0   67.4%
Wally Hammond       c. ?Gilchrist  b. O'Reilly    158   250   29    1   63.2%
Herbert Sutcliffe   lbw            b. O'Reilly     70   124   13    0   56.5%
WG Grace[B]*[/B]                          b. Spofforth    43    43    8    1  100.0%
Ian Botham          c. Ponsford    b. Turner       37   101    5    1   36.6%
Les Ames[B]?[/B]           not out                        34   118    5    0   28.8%
Andrew Flintoff     not out                         6    37    0    0   16.2%
Hedley Verity        
Jim Laker            
Fred Trueman         
Sydney Barnes        
 
 Total:  402/5        Overs:  118.3        Run Rate:  3.39     Extras:  25 
   
                             Day 4  3:09 PM
   
                             INNINGS DECLARED
  
                                     -X-
 
ENGLAND Partnerships

Batsmen                                                            Runs (Balls)
L Hutton      W Hammond    ?????????????                             60 (100)
Sutcliffe     W Hammond    ???????????????????????????????????      154 (243)
W Grace       W Hammond    ????????????????                          72 (82)
I Botham      W Hammond    ?????????                                 43 (74)
I Botham      L Ames       ??????????????                            62 (146)
A Flintoff    L Ames       ??                                        11 (66)


     Fall of Wickets    60/1      214/2     286/3     329/4     391/5
                                                                          

 Total:  402/5       Overs:  118.3         Run Rate:  3.39    Extras:  25   
  
                                     -X-

AUSTRALIA Bowling

Player               Overs   Mdns    Runs   Wkts      E/R    Wds    NBs
Frederick Spofforth  20.0      3      53      1      2.65     0      1 
Charlie Turner       25.0      8      64      1      2.56     3      2 
Dennis Lillee        23.0      4      94      0      4.09     2      1 
Warwick Armstrong    29.0      7      93      1      3.21     0      1 
Bill O'Reilly        21.3      6      83      2      3.86     0      0 


 EXTRAS          Wides: 5      No Balls: 5      Leg Byes: 9      Byes: 6 

 Total:  402/5        Overs:  118.3        Run Rate:  3.39    Extras:  25   
                                     -X-

England's openers Len Hutton and Wally Hammond once again provided a solid foundation to the innings with a 60-run opening partnership.

Hutton was timing the ball very well while his partner Hammond was rock solid in defense but didn't spare loose balls and hit a half-volley from Fred Spofforth into the crowd showing that he meant business. But Hutton similar to to the first innings wasn't able to carry on from a good start to get a good score as he was out lbw to Warwick Armstrong for 29.
Herbert Sutcliffe who was dominant with the bat in the first innings joined Hammond at the wicket. As it was only Day 3 and they had lots of time in hand to get a heavy lead, they decided to play solid risk free cricket and only play grounded shots.

Their plan worked very well as the Australians kept bowling but nothing could unsettle them as their partnership began to grow. Hammond had been solid throughout his innings but decided to accelerate when he was nearing a half-century. He got it off his 99th delivery by playing a textbook style square cut off Armstrong. From there on his strike rate started rising from the mid 40s to nearing 60 as he quite frequently hit boundaries.

Sutcliffe who had just entered the 40s played each ball on its merit and brought up a half-century too as England's lead crossed 200. Hammond who was now nearing a century got there soon by sweeping Bill O'Reilly to fine leg for four and despite all the sledging by the opposition fielders, he stayed focused on his job. Sutcliffe who had been technically sound throughout his innings played a reverse sweep too many which cost him his wicket as he fell lbw to O'Reilly for 70 and his 154-run partnership with Hammond was finally brought to a close. Nonetheless it was a great innings and the crowd applauded him as he walked off. England were in a very good position with a lead of 240 with 8 wickets remaining and their captain WG Grace walked out to bat. Grace got underway with a flurry of boundaries and even hit a struggling Dennis Lillee over his head for a massive six which was caught in the crowd by Pallu, the Sri Lankan manager who was on top of the world after taking the catch.

Hammond too joined the party with his muscular drives and the pair scored at over 5 an over with Grace consistently scoring at over a run-a-ball.

The England lead now crossed 300. However Grace had got too carried away and tried to slog a good length delivery by Spofforth only to miss it completely and get bowled for 43 off 43 balls.

Ian Botham who had a torrid time with the bat in the first innings faced the same problems again leaving Hammond to do all the run scoring. Hammond reached his 150 and was proving to be invincible while opening the batting. However the commentator's curse soon got him as he feathered a leg break from O'Reilly straight into the gloves of Adam Gilchrist who could take those all day long. England's first innings rescuer Les Ames joined Botham. Ames struggled this time though as they Aussie bowlers kept bowling good balls to him with a very tight field setting. Botham broke the shackles and started to look more composed by playing a few trademark shots.

Batting on 37, he tried to hook Charlie Turner for six but mistimed it completely as the ball went straight up in the air and dropped down into the safe hands of Bill Ponsford at gully. Grace sent a message to score some quick runs as the lead crossed 400 so that he could declare soon. But the batsmen were unable to follow their captain's orders as they could score only 11 runs off the next 11 overs. Grace finally declared with the lead at 428. England's innings closed at 402 for 5 as they batted brilliantly setting Australia to chase a huge 429 to win LAB Season 3.

The Australians on the other hand disappointed many with a bowling performance nowhere near the standard they set in previous matches.

Australia's run chase to be posted in a while.​

 

[sos]

screwed them.
@Dipak: how was your day at the pavilion full of legends ?

 

[Fenil]

Bad bad bowling there. Lillee and William, who were the pick of the bowlers for us thus far, proved to be ineffective just as the other bowlers. 429 in 4th innings is a tall ask but given the strengths of the two teams, I hope we pull off a thriller here.

 

[sos]

 

[Fenil]

If you know what I mean.​

 

[Sulaiman7]

C'mon Bradman , I know he can do this .

 

[Gaurav_7]

Australia might win this. I never expected SA to win last time against WI but, they did. So, maybe the chasing side again?

 

[Sulaiman7]

But this time the pressure for winning world cup , the pressure of 4th innings and the pressure of great bowlers might bring a lot of pressure on the Australian batsmen (legends).

 

[Gaurav_7]

So you mean, the WI pace attack along with Lance Gibbs wasn't legendary? Or, there wasn't pressure on SA batsmen?

 

[Sulaiman7]

So you mean, the WI pace attack along with Lance Gibbs wasn't legendary? Or, there wasn't pressure on SA batsmen?

I said legends in brackets because they are legends and I respect them No I ment to say that the Aus batsmen the legedary one's , will be having more pressure in the 4th innings because this is the final .

 

[Dipak]

@Dipak: how was your day at the pavilion full of legends ?

Awesome.

England might win this. Hope they win.

 

[Champagnepapi]

never to forget in finals chasing side choke i wonder who that happened to before

 

[sos]

I can see the final innings and results comming anytime now.

 

[Fenil]

For those who are thinking why the 2nd Aussie innings wasn't posted yesterday, it used to be offs (no play) on Sundays that fall in between a match day in the past. Its a legends' league and it had to follow the suit.

If everything goes right, we should expected a game tonight.