Story npower Tests, Natwest Series, Natwest Challenge

[crick4life]

Not an auspicious start with the patch eh, Vaughan? I wonder what you bowled to keep the run rate to only 5 rpo mate. I get pasted all over the place most of the times, it may probably be due to the fact I use !xspeed to bump up the speed by 1.51.

 

[m_vaughan]

I think my field settings are such that its very difficult to find singles, and most the runs have to be scored in boundaries. But I think the green wicket is a bowler's paradise, with the ball swinging so much, makes batting very very difficult. The medium fast swing bowlers (like Ian Bell) are very effective on these green tops. But it was GREAT to see a played-on dismissal in this innings. Sachin Tendulkar went on his back foot to a play a drive, and the ball hit the inside edge of his bat and crashed onto the stumps. It happened to be the last ball of the over, and hence I couldnt save it as a video.

 

[m_vaughan]

The NatWest Series
7th ODI: England v India
Headingly, Leeds

Hello and Welcome to Leeds for this 7th match of the Natwest Series. Its a do or die match for India here, as they have to win to have any chance of making it to the final at Lords. A win for England wll guarantee them a place in the final, but if they can manage to pick up 2 points, from their last two games, then also England will make it to the final at Lords. Without wasting much time let us have a look at the condtions and the pitch.

Conditions: Very dark here today, typical Headingly weather. Grey rainclouds have covered the sky completely, and there is every chance of rain. Its also very chilly and cold here.

Pitch: A lot of grass on this wicket. Will assist the fast bowlers and the swing bowlers. I dont see very high scores, because of the bowler friendly conditions. Anyways, bowling first on this wicket would be my suggestion to make complete use of bowler friendly conditions here at Headingley. Though I dont see much changing in the span of 100 overs.

The Toss: Michael Vaughan won the toss and elected to field first.

The Teams: England have one change. James Anderson finally makes his first appearance in this Natwest series in place of Darren Gough. India also have one change with Kaif coming back into the side in the place of Laxmipathy Balaji, going back to the seven batsmen formula.

 

[m_vaughan]

Update
At the End of India's innings
INDIA 135 all out (46.3 overs)
R. Dravid 35(90)
S. Tendulkar 33(50)

M. Hoggard 3/22
I. Bell 2/24
S. Harmison 2/43

It was always going to be tough batting on a green top, but India havent done that bad, they've done worse. They never got off to any sort of start, with Sehwag going early having scored just 3. After that Ganguly and Sachin took India to 51-1 before the next four wickets fell in the span of just nine runs. Hoggard picked up three wickets, Sehwag's, Ganguly's and Laxman's. Anderson then dismissed the dangerman Sachin Tendulkar. Kaif was then run out for a duck. This was followed by a small partnership between Dravid and Yuvraj which took ages, before Yuvraj played a rash shot to get himself dismissed. This was followed by another small partnership between Dravid and Agarkar, until Dravid was eventually dismissed for 35 from 90 balls by Ian Bell. Steve Harmison then stormed in his second spell and picked up two wickets, that of Agarkar and Zaheer Khan. Ian Bell picked up the last wicket when he had Harbhajan Singh bowled. India hence bowled out for a disappointing 135, and now face elimination from the NatWest Series, a competition which they won two years back.

SCORECARD

 

[m_vaughan]

SCREENS

 

[Eddie]

"Please Note that I will be using Ravi's v1 ODI patch for all the remaining matches including this one."

has he just released a new patch?

if so , is it available for downloads anywhere or does it need testing?

either way i'm interested

 

[m_vaughan]

Yes it is available for download in his Are you still using my patch thread in the Cricket 2004 forum.

Also just to inform you guys that England have won this match and by five wickets. This is the first time Ive batted using Ravi's new patch, and hence the loss of those wickets. Anyways it was a comprehensive win at the end, with over 21 overs remaining.

Full details and screens coming up shortly.

This now means that India are out of the Natwest series, and the final at Lords will be played between England and Australia. Two group matches are still to be played.

England v Australia at Lords
Australia v India at Cardiff

The Final at Lords.

 

[m_vaughan]

England winter tours

England will be touring Sharjah, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the winter.

England have most of september, and the first week of October free before leaving for Sharjah.

The Coca Cola Cup at Sharjah, UAE.

Oct 7: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka
Oct 8: England vs West Indies
Oct 10: West Indies vs Pakistan
Oct 11: Sri Lanka vs England
Oct 13: England v Pakistan
Oct 14: West Indies v Sri Lanka
Oct 17: Final

England then travel to Pakistan for three test matches and five ODIs.

The Pepsi Test Series (Pak v Eng)

Oct 24-28: 1st Test at Rawalpindi
Nov 1-5: 2nd Test at Karachi
Nov 10-14: 3rd Test at Lahore

The Pepsi One Day Series (Pak v Eng)

Nov 18: 1st ODI at Gujranwala
Nov 19: 2nd ODI at Karachi
Nov 21: 3rd ODI at Peshawar
Nov 23: 4th ODI at Lahore
Nov 25: 5th ODI at Faisalabad

England then complete their winter outing in Bangladesh playing two tests and five ODIs.

Bangladesh Biman Test Series (Bang vs Eng)

Nov 30-Dec 4: 1st Test at Chittagong
Dec 9-13: 2nd Test at Dhaka

Samsung ODI Series (Bang v Eng)

Dec 16: 1st ODI at Dhaka
Dec 17: 2nd ODI at Dhaka
Dec 18: 3rd ODI at Dhaka
Dec 20: 4th ODI at Chittagong
Dec 21: 5th ODI at Chittagong

 

[m_vaughan]

UPDATE
At the End of the Match

ENGLAND 136-5 (28.2 Overs)
A. Strauss 36(58)
M. Trescothick 27(37)

Z. Khan 3/44

INDIA 135 all out (46.3 Overs)

Despite losing five wickets, England have beaten India pretty comfortably at Headingley. Strauss and Trescothick gave England a fairly good start before the latter was clean bowled by Zaheer with the score at 51. Vaughan and Strauss then were involved in a small partnership of 30 runs before Strauss edged one to Dravid off Zaheer. Vaughan was out LBW to Zaheer in the same over, and England in a spot of trouble at 82-3. However Bell and Collingwood took England past the 100 run mark, and would have have taken England home, but Collingwood was run out for 19, and Pieterson who came in next managed to last just two balls before being bowled by Harbhajan for 2. Ian Bell and Geraint Jones then took England home in the 29th over. This win means England will play Australia in the final at Lords, while India only have a group match against Australia to play before packing their bags and returning home. It was such a promising start for Saurav Ganguly's team after that fantastic win in that test match against England at Lords. But unfortunately since then its been a nightmare for him and his team.

SCORECARD

 

[m_vaughan]

SCREENS

 

[m_vaughan]

UPDATED POINTS TABLE

 

[m_vaughan]

Ganguly vows to bounce back!

 

[m_vaughan]

The 8th ODI of the Natwest Series between England and Australia at Lords has started. This is the dress reharsal of the final, which will also be played at the same venue. Both teams have rested some of their regulars and have given some of the other players some vital match practice.
Australia- Gilchrist, Clarke, Ponting, Martyn, Symonds, White, Watson, Hogg, Bichel, Kasprowicz, McGrath.
Australia have rested Hayden, Harvey, Gillespie, and Lee.
England- Trescothick, Strauss, Vaughan, Bell, Clarke, G Jones, Sajid Mahmood, Giles, Gough, Anderson, Harmison.
England have rested Hoggard, Pieterson, Blackwell and Collingwood.
In the first 20 overs, Australia have scored 81-1. Gough picked up the wicket of Gilchrist.

Full details and screens coming up after the end of the Aussie innings.

 

[m_vaughan]

In the meantime you can read yet another BBC article. This time it deals with the injury of Andrew Flintoff.

 

[m_vaughan]

Australia have done very well to finish at 285-8 in their 50 overs. They scored 86 runs in the last 10 overs, after being 199-4 in 40 overs. Ponting scored a brilliant century but was dismissed by Anderson for 115.

Screenshots from the aussie innings, along with stats will be posted in about 3-4 hrs time.