India Vs England- One of the greatest match of cricket history as England and India ended the match tied at 338 runs each. It was one of the greatest matches of all time played at Bangalore. A tale of two centuries as the little master Tendulkar got 120 and England's captain Strauss 158. The match had everything from first to last ball and will surely be hard to follow up for the rest of this tournament.
MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat on a beautiful batting surface. England had made 2 changes to the team which beat the Netherlands. Broad had a tummy upset and missed out and so Shahzad came in for him and Yardy was brought in to give the bowling an extra bowler so Bopara missed out. For India Chawla was brought in for the miss-firing Sreesanth. So they went in with only 2 seamer's in Patel and the dangerous Zaheer Khan.
The first piece of Drama happened in the first over when Anderson bowled to the inform Sehwag (on the back of an brilliant 175 against Bangladesh). Anderson could have had Sehwag out 3 times in the first over as Sehwag edged the first one just passed the slips and hit 2 miss timed shots which could have gone easily to hand. Instead it went for 8 runs. Sehwag then attacked Shahzad in his first over and he also went for 8 runs as he was smacked for 2 wonderful fours. All it took Sehwag was 1 and a half overs to get himself settled and he started to attack the bowling left right and center. It was good Tendulkar (his opening partner) as it let him have some time to get himself. He was only hitting the bad balls away.
It forced England into making an early bowling change as Anderson was really struggling to keep the runs down so Bresnan came on earlier than he might of thought to get a bit of control. He not only got control but he also got the first wicket as he got the dangerous Sehwag for 35. A good line bowl which Sehwag edged and Prior quickly went down to his right to catch the ball. It was an big break through as Sehwag could take a game away single handedly. He scored 35 off 26 balls included 6 fours and India were 46-1. It brought out Gambhir (India test opener).
What Sehwag burst had let Tendulkar have enough time to play himself in to work out the England tactics and get his eye in to start playing his shots when Sehwag got out. He started playing an dominant innings but for his playing he never looked like he would give away his wicket. His touch play was outstanding and his footwork perfect. He was given brilliant support by Gambhir as he is also an touch player and these 2 got the score board ticking. Not just ticking getting boundaries consistently and before you know it they had reached an 50 partnership off 53 balls.
After getting to that 50 partnership Tendulkar started to play an more expansive game as he was attacking the slower bowlers. In Collingwood first over he hit him for a big 6 straight down the ground. To get to his 50 he hit Swann out of the park. He knew that Swann would be a key player to keep quiet as England have always used him as a wicket taking option.
India were going at a decent pace as they reached there 100 off 18 overs and solidly made there 100 partnership off 110 balls. They made 100 partnership with very little risk but they were always keeping the score ticking over. They then reached there 150 off 157 balls as they kept up around the 6 an over mark. India were looking at an big score again as they have big hitters still to come. But Gambhir wasnt ready to give up his wicket so quickly as he got to 50 and he did it off 59 balls with 5 fours.
Tendulkar was pushing ahead at the other end as he was dominating the bowling. England were struggling to hold him down and Gambhir was giving him good support. England then turned back to the main strike bowler as they needed to break this partnership and as he has done so many times for England he did he bowled Gambhir. A ball which turned a little bit and took off the bails. Swann's bowling deserved an wicket. It bought in Yuvraj Singh who was promoted up the order to up the run rate.
But it was Yuvraj was playing the second fiddle as Tendulkar was hitting everyone around the park. He had hit 2 more 6s as he another one off Swann and one and other one off Anderson. India had reached 200 off 206 balls as the run rate was increasing and then the crowd went really loud when Tendulkar hit a 4 off Anderson's bowling to reach an brilliant century for the man who is known as the little master. It was class throughout with great timing and precision and scored at a really good rate without giving any clear chances.
He was playing even more freer after he reached his century and was scoring even quicker as England struggled to cope with Tendulkar. He even scored another 6 as the England players looked lost out there. Yuvraj Singh was job was to only get Tendulkar back on strike. Tendulkar was playing so well until he miss hit his first shot from Anderson's bowling and Yardy took an simple catch. But he was out for a brilliant 120 off 115 balls which included 10 fours and 5 sixes. It brought out the captain MS Dhoni.
These were 2 big hitters and they were showing why they are very dangerous pair as they carried on where Tendulkar left. England didnt get any respite from the Indian pair as they were hitting 4s all over. They got a quick fire 50 partnership off 36 balls Yuvraj Singh also got to his 50 off 46 balls. Dhoni hit a mighty 6 to get the score to 300 before Yardy finally broke the partnership as Yuvraj Singh was caught by Bell. He was out for 58. The next ball in the new over captain Dhoni was also out for 31 as Bresnan got his second wicket.
Pathan and Kohli tried to get some quick runs in the end and were looking like they could push India towards 350 until Bresnan bowled his final over where he got both batsman in constitutive balls. Even though he didnt get an hatrick he did get an 3rd wicket in the over as he LBWed Harbhajan Singh. He ended up with good figures of 10 overs 1 maiden over 48 runs and 5 wickets on a tough bowling day for England. The final two wickets came off run outs in the final over but crucially the second run out was a run they were trying for 2 runs but they didnt run there bat down for the first run and they got run got run out for the second run so they didnt get any runs off the last bowl innings as they were bowled out for 338 off 49.5 overs. Anderson having the worst figures by and English man in world cup history with 95 runs off 9.5 overs with that 1 solo wicket even though it was Tendulkar but Tendulkar had done most of the damage to him before the wicket.
English response- Nevertheless of not getting that final run England were still chasing a daunting task of chasing 339 for victory. But England started off positively as captain Strauss hit a boundary off the first ball off Zaheer Khan and hit a 4 off the last bowl of the first over. England started off very well and very fast as England started with a few boundaries. They reached there 50 off 45 balls. Pietersen and Strauss were going on really well till an bizarre moment of luck for Patel and India where Pietersen hit a shot really hard back to the bowler the bowler covered up to stop it hitting him. It hit him and went straight up in the air and he caught the ball. It was so bizarre that Patel didnt know what happened and was appealing when he caught the ball.
This brought out the reliable Trott. He and Strauss got England to 100 safely without too much risk but were still keeping the score ticking over. Just before the drinks break Strauss made his 50 and that came off 50 balls. England were 110-1 at drinks in a solid position but it changed straight away after drinks as Trott got an straight ball by Chawla which didnt turn he missed the ball hit his pad and he was out LBW. He didnt even wait for the decision to be taken he just walked off. England were 111-2. This brought out Bell into the crease.
After a couple of play and misses Bell quickly settled into batting. Him and Strauss were not only keeping the score ticking over they were getting boundaries ever over or ever other over so India could not build pressure at any point. These 2 were making small target as they reached there 150 off 140 balls they reached 50 partnership off 40 balls and then a controversial moment in the game as India thought they had Bell LBW. It was given not out at the time and then it was referred upstairs and it looked like it was out. The crowd saw it and thought he was gone. Bell thought he was gone as he was starting to walk off but because he took a big stride forward it wasnt given out so he was recalled to the wicket and he survived.
After that score for England they again went back to scoring mode. It was soon afterwards captain Strauss got to his century off 99 balls which had 13 fours in it. He was delighted but he knew he had to carry on. England then reached there 200 off 186 balls as they were keeping pace with the run rate. Soon after that Bell and Strauss reached an 100 partnership off 94 balls. Bell followed that up with a well deserved 50 which he got off 45 balls which included 4 fours and 1 six. At the drinks interval England were 229/2 in 34.0 overs.
England kept pulling on the runs after the drinks interval as they reached 250 off 222 balls and the 150 partnership was achieved off 132 balls. England at this stage were easing towards an easy victory. They reached around 280-2 when Bell got cramp and the game took an huge twist.
With Bell struggling to walk or move feet properly he was suddenly limited in his foot movement. The reason could be the long innings or maybe the long winter as he is England's only player to play all matches this winter. Zaheer Khan was brought back to the attack as England took the batting powerplay and Bell tried to clear the ropes because of his limited movement but he only skied a catch to Kohli to take an easy catch. The next ball Strauss got a beauty of a ball which he could not get any bat and was trapped LBW. Zaheer Khan could not get a hatrick but he didnt concede more than 1 run in the over. India were back in it. In Zaheer Khan next over he got Collingwood out as he tried to club over the ropes. England from 281-2 were now to 285-5. It got worse for England as England were falling behind the run rate and Prior went for a big shot but it didnt clear the infield and as Harbhajan Singh got his first wicket. England were 289-6.
Yardy tried his best as he helped England get over 300 before Patel got him out for 13 runs. He tried to be clever but he hit to well and went straight to Sehwag to get an easy catch. England were 307-7. It was left for Bresnan and Swann to get the runs. They needed 29 off the last 2 overs. They looked like they were going to fail until they both hit a 6s off the penultimate over which Chawla was bowling. First Swann his a flat 6 off the second ball off the over and then Bresnan hit a 6 off the second to last ball to leave 14 needed if 1.1 overs then Chawla bowled a slower ball which got Bresnan didnt pick up and he was bowled. So England needed 14 runs off 1 over. Shahzad was the new man in.
The last over was bowled by Patel and the first ball went for 2 runs as he got it just outside the circle to get an easy 2. The second ball was an clever ball by Patel as he gave a slower ball and Swann only got a single off it. Then an amazing moment for Shahzad as his first ball he faced he hit straight over the bowler's head and hit it for 6. So England then needed 5 off 3. The next ball he missed but the scrambled a bye. The next ball Swann gave Patel a charge down the wicket and hit it into the gap and got an easy 2 as the equation became 2 to win off 1 ball and 1 run will mean a tie.
Dhoni used his experience as he took his time in getting his field together for the last bowl. He was trying to make England and Swann wait and think about what is about to happen. When Patel did finally bowl the bowl Swann connected it well but he could not pass the man on the edge of the circle so England only got 1 run and the match was tied.
It was an incredible match where both teams had chances to win. They both threw it away. But it was the final push by England which was most impressive from losing it to so nearly winning it. India will be sad they lost because of bad running at the end of the innings where they didnt complete a single which would have won the game or finishing there 50 overs which was the difference from a tie to winning this epic, unforgettable match. Who says 50 over Cricket is dead or has no future in the era of 20/20 cricket. This will go down as one of the greatest matches in all time history.
The Man Of The Match was Strauss with his brilliant captains knock of 158. He is one of few players who could overshadow an equally brilliant 120 by Tendulkar. A great match and deserved draw after all that effort by both teams. They both play Ireland later on this week. England play them tomorrow at this ground and India play Ireland here as well on Sunday. They should both get through to the quarter finals still but people will be talking about this match for years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment