England never had a happy momentum in this match, hopefully they recover well in next match. 
Andrew Strauss said:
Andrew Strauss said:
Ricky Ponting said:
Ricky Ponting said:
Mike Hussey said:
Mike Hussey said:
Roaring Lions Defeat Convicts in Tight Game
In a game of Epic proportions the England Lions have defeated the Australians by just one single wicket. In a game where the batsmen dominated most of the game it was tiresome time for both sets of bowlers.
Ian Bell named as the captain for the England Lions game lost the toss and was made to field. At the toss he said it wouldnt have been a hard choice to make between batting and bowling and he was happy to have lost the toss.
While the Aussies raced away to an excellent start Hughes showed his attacking intent by hammering 90 off just 70 balls. At the start of his innings he looked as if he meant to beat Laras record with the Lions bowlers struggling to bowl in the right places to him. Eventually it was Graham Onions who managed to snaffle Hughes. An excellent swinging delivery saw it shape away from Hughes and he tried to play across the line only managing to get a thick edge to Bell at second slip, Katich had earlier got a start only to caught behind after thin edging Rashid trying to play the ball down to 3rd man. The middle order apart from Ponting then failed as only then know how to in their recent form. Clarke who would have wished to find his feet in the English conditions was out for a single figures score and continued in his recent poor form. Ponting who was also in poor form going into the series started off looking very shaky and nervous but soon was finding his flowing himself and played a rash shot trying to get to 3 figures. The Australians finished all out for 333 with Rashid claiming 3 wickets for 47 and the pick of the Lions bowlers.
The Lions hit back strongly, Denly and Moore showing their bright futures as Englands leading batsmen for the future. Many called for Denly to be included in the World T20 competition and also the Ashes squad but the selectors feel he still needs time to work out his game and mature a bit more. Moore batted past his 50 and looked strong but was done by a lovely ball by part time spinner Katich. The Aussies may be looking for Katich to provide some part time spin as they seem to have little confidence in sole spinner Nathan Hauritz. Moore, Bell and Solanki all made it passed the half century mark but none managed to kick on to the big 3 figures.
The rest of the Lions batting order all made small contributions with Rashid showing how he can bat and glimpses of how good he could be in the future.
England finished on 323 all out with Clark and Johnson both picking up 4 wickets with Clark having the better figures of the two. These two places both seem set in stone for the Aussies with Lee battling for his position.
Australia then dominated the Lions bowlers all over the park and took complete control of the match. Hughes should have the England bowlers shaking in their boots after he announced his arrival with a match aggregate of 254 runs. Katich failed again but he will know that he can bounce back against the bowlers when the test matches start in just 4 days time. Unlike Katich, Ponting made up for his first innings error and complied 142 runs at over a run a ball, it was off just 126 balls showing he has the temperament to score big runs and score them quickly as well. With Hughes and Ponting both contributing big centuries big hundreds Mike Hussey chipped in with a solid 64 at over a run a ball showing the Lions how badly they wanted the win, willing to bat quickly to get a big total on the board so that not only could they bow the lions out but also treat the fans to a real stormer of a match! The Aussies declared on 389 for 2 setting the Lions the prime total of 400 to win.
With a target set for the Lions the game was on and the Lions got off to the worst possible start when Denly was dismissed for a duck caught by Clarke at slip off the bowling of Lee looking to get his place for the first test. Moore and Bell then set about chasing this target down. With the whole of England expecting Bell to bottle it once again he set about proving the whole of England wrong and showing how hungry he is to win his place back for the first test. Bell and Moore being the only people who managed to pass 50 and you could say they won the match for England.
The Aussies bowlers took wickets at crucial intervals; the wickets were spread out between all the bowlers. Brett Lee basically bowled himself to Cardiff with 3 wickets for 123. Katich and Johnson then took two wickets a piece, with Clark and North taking a solitary wicket each. Bell in the end did bottle it getting out at a crucial moment without managing to cash and make it to the 200. It was left to Bresnan to spank two sixes at the end to take the England Lions to the winning post and beat the Australians by just one wicket.
It was a match that had twists and turns and showed why the longer format of the game is still the main spectacle of the game. It was thanks to Ponting that the game came to such a dramatic close when he made a sporting declaration to give the Lions a score of 400 to win.
Code:Wed July 1st - Sat July 4th Australia VS England Lions at New Road Australia won toss and elect to bat. AUSTRALIA 1st innings Player Status Runs Blls 4s 6s S/R Phillip Hughes c. Bell b. Onions 90 71 17 2 126.8% Simon Katich c. Davies b. Rashid 34 54 7 0 63.0% Ricky Ponting c. Harmison b. Bresnan 99 94 21 2 105.3% Michael Hussey c. Harmison b. Panesar 23 28 5 0 82.1% Michael Clarke c. Davies b. Bresnan 7 12 1 0 58.3% Marcus North c. Rashid b. Panesar 10 14 2 0 71.4% Brad Haddin c. Morgan b. Onions 11 19 2 0 57.9% Mitchell Johnson b. Rashid 19 40 4 0 47.5% Nathan Hauritz c. Panesar b. Harmison 24 50 3 1 48.0% Brett Lee b. Rashid 1 6 0 0 16.7% Stuart Clark not out 0 1 0 0 0.0% Total: 333/10 Overs: 64.5 Run Rate: 5.14 Extras: 15 ENGLAND LIONS Bowling Player Overs Mdns Runs Wkts E/R Wds NBs Graham Onions 17.0 3 65 2 3.82 1 1 Steve Harmison 11.0 0 68 1 6.18 0 2 Tim Bresnan 8.0 0 45 2 5.63 0 0 Joe Denly 5.0 0 30 0 6.00 0 1 Adil Rashid 13.5 6 47 3 3.40 0 2 Monty Panesar 10.0 1 70 2 7.00 0 0 EXTRAS Wides: 1 No Balls: 6 Leg Byes: 4 Byes: 4 Total: 333/10 Overs: 64.5 Run Rate: 5.14 Extras: 15 ENGLAND LIONS 1st innings Player Status Runs Blls 4s 6s S/R Joe Denly c & b. Lee 40 88 9 0 45.5% Stephen Moore c. North b. Katich 77 90 15 1 85.6% Ian Bell c. North b. Johnson 59 81 12 1 72.8% Vikram Solanki b. Clark 57 144 11 0 39.6% Eoin Morgan b. Johnson 9 29 2 0 31.0% Steve Davies lbw b. Johnson 10 54 1 0 18.5% Adil Rashid c. Haddin b. Johnson 35 28 7 0 125.0% Tim Bresnan c. Katich b. Clark 10 28 1 1 35.7% Steve Harmison c. Haddin b. Clark 9 22 1 0 40.9% Graham Onions not out 4 13 0 0 30.8% Monty Panesar c. Ponting b. Clark 0 3 0 0 0.0% Total: 323/10 Overs: 96.4 Run Rate: 3.34 Extras: 13 AUSTRALIA Bowling Player Overs Mdns Runs Wkts E/R Wds NBs Stuart Clark 18.4 5 47 4 2.52 1 0 Mitchell Johnson 19.0 6 64 4 3.37 0 2 Brett Lee 20.0 5 50 1 2.50 0 0 Marcus North 15.0 5 64 0 4.27 0 1 Nathan Hauritz 3.0 2 4 0 1.33 0 0 Simon Katich 17.0 5 71 1 4.18 0 2 Michael Clarke 4.0 1 16 0 4.00 0 0 EXTRAS Wides: 1 No Balls: 5 Leg Byes: 7 Byes: 0 Total: 323/10 Overs: 96.4 Run Rate: 3.34 Extras: 13 AUSTRALIA 2nd innings Player Status Runs Blls 4s 6s S/R Phillip Hughes not out 164 222 36 1 73.9% Simon Katich c. Moore b. Onions 5 9 1 0 55.6% Ricky Ponting lbw b. Panesar 142 126 31 0 112.7% Michael Hussey not out 64 57 15 0 112.3% Michael Clarke Marcus North Brad Haddin Mitchell Johnson Nathan Hauritz Brett Lee Stuart Clark Total: 389/2 Overs: 69.0 Run Rate: 5.64 Extras: 14 ENGLAND LIONS Bowling Player Overs Mdns Runs Wkts E/R Wds NBs Graham Onions 16.0 1 80 1 5.00 0 2 Steve Harmison 17.0 3 84 0 4.94 0 0 Tim Bresnan 10.0 1 62 0 6.20 0 0 Adil Rashid 14.0 2 95 0 6.79 1 3 Monty Panesar 12.0 1 62 1 5.17 1 1 EXTRAS Wides: 2 No Balls: 6 Leg Byes: 1 Byes: 5 Total: 389/2 Overs: 69.0 Run Rate: 5.64 Extras: 14 ENGLAND LIONS 2nd innings (Target: 400) Player Status Runs Blls 4s 6s S/R Joe Denly c. Clarke b. Lee 0 15 0 0 0.0% Stephen Moore lbw b. Katich 64 57 14 0 112.3% Ian Bell c. Hughes b. Lee 188 235 42 0 80.0% Vikram Solanki b. Lee 31 86 5 1 36.0% Eoin Morgan lbw b. North 38 79 7 0 48.1% Steve Davies c. Haddin b. Johnson 16 12 4 0 133.3% Adil Rashid c. Ponting b. Katich 9 5 2 0 180.0% Tim Bresnan not out 33 37 5 2 89.2% Steve Harmison c. Hughes b. Johnson 0 20 0 0 0.0% Graham Onions c. Katich b. Clark 4 4 0 0 100.0% Monty Panesar not out 0 10 0 0 0.0% Total: 404/9 Overs: 93.2 Run Rate: 4.33 Extras: 21 AUSTRALIA Bowling Player Overs Mdns Runs Wkts E/R Wds NBs Stuart Clark 20.0 6 52 1 2.60 0 2 Mitchell Johnson 13.0 3 63 2 4.85 0 2 Brett Lee 21.2 2 123 3 5.77 0 4 Michael Clarke 2.0 0 23 0 11.50 0 0 Simon Katich 21.0 2 79 2 3.76 1 2 Marcus North 13.0 2 46 1 3.54 0 0 Nathan Hauritz 3.0 1 8 0 2.67 0 0 EXTRAS Wides: 1 No Balls: 10 Leg Byes: 2 Byes: 8 Total: 404/9 Overs: 93.2 Run Rate: 4.33 Extras: 21 Australia 333 & 389/2d England Lions 323 & 404/9 England Lions won by 1 wickets Man of the match: Phillip Hughes
