World Championship West Indies 2005
England vs India (Group B)
Bridgetown, Barbados
Conditions Hot and Sunny
Pitch Hard
Toss India won the toss and elected to field.
England Innings:
England 100 all out (Trescothick 21, Gough 20, Harmison 20*, Nehra 3/21)
A poor batting performance by England resulting in them being bowled out for a round 100 in just over 20 overs. Strauss went off the 5th ball of the match, caught behind off the bowling of Zaheer Kahn for 0. A steady partnership between Trescothick and Vaughan provided some stability, but then a terrible call by Trescothick ended up running his captain out. Flintoff and Pietersen came and went quickly, both holing out to long on off Ashish Nehra. England found themselves at 56/8, but in came Darren Gough, and hit a quickfire 20, all edges through the slips, before being trapped LBW off Ajit Agarkar. Harmison continued where Gough left off, hitting his 20 not out off only 6 deliveries, but couldn't go any further when Matthew Hoggard had his middle stump ripped out of the ground by Ashish Nehra, who finished with figures of 10/3/21/3. It will take a miracle for England to get out of this one.
India Innings:
India 76 all out (Ghambir 27, Hoggard 5/10, Gough 3/26)
There was only one word to describe the Indian batting performance today: Shocking. After Ghambir and Sehwag hit Harmison for 24 off his first 4 overs, it looked as though the target of 101 wasn't going to be a problem, but when Gough bounced Sehwag, the attempted hook caught the edge and flew to Geraint Jones behind the stumps. Ashley Giles was quickly bought into the attack to restrict the flow of runs, and the Indian batsman seemed too confident that they were going to win, as Giles only went for 12 off his 10 overs, his overall figures 10/6/12/1, with Sourav Ganguly being his only scalp, LBW trying to sweep. Then it was the Hoggard show. The Indian batsmen couldnt cope with his excessive swing, and after 25 overs, India were 45/4. Then, when Gough returned to the attack, he clean bowled Rahul Dravid for 0, and then the decline began. Yuvraj and Dhoni went in successive balls, both to Hoggard. At this point, Ghambir was still at the crease, and was beginning to get frustrated. He then gave Hoggard his 4th wicket, pulling to Giles at fine leg off a short ball, and this made it 63/8. Steve Harmison replaced Darren Gough, who finished with 10/2/26/3, and immediately began targeting the toes of the batsmen, but they were content to glance him to fine leg. He did eventually take a wicket, that of Harbajhan Singh, caught at first slip, and Matthew Hoggard finished the innings off, trapping Nehra LBW for 0, and this gave Hoggard figures of 10/5/10/5.
Man of the Match: Matthew Hoggard
Overall, a high spirited performance by England, but their batting will have to improve 100% if they are to succeed in this tournament.
Next game: England v Canada at Bridgetown, Barbados.
Check back soon for match report
