Match Preview

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

On-song England look to maintain good run

After a terrific ODI series victory against Australia, a confident England get ready to take on an inconsistent Bangladesh side whose performances have been dipping on the radar in recent games.

Andy Flower’s appointment as coach has worked wonders for the Brits since the Ashes as apart from the 2009 ODI series against Australia, which they lost 1-6 followed by a knock-out in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy by the same team, they have not lost a single series, be it Test, ODI or T20I. The batting looks in excellent shape, with the top six contributing consistently. Pietersen has been rested due to injury but the side may not miss him too much, courtesy the presence of Eoin Morgan in the side. The bowling looks in tremendous shape too, with all the bowlers doing well. Problems, if any, seem to be with the opening pair’s form and also, the bowling in the Quick Start Overs.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, after a terrific start to the year, have not quite been able to maintain their good performance. The openers, Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes, seem to be in the form of their lives, but there seems to be a vacuum after that as the middle order has been failing miserably, leading to the execution of Mohammad Ashraful from the side. Shakib al Hasan has given the reigns of captaincy to Mortaza temporarily, in order to concentrate on his own performance and his form could be a great factor in Bangladesh’s fight. The side has got exciting young fast bowlers in Rubel Hossain and Shafiul Islam who could be a handful in the swinging conditions in England. 

Bangladesh could prove a tough nut to crack should they get their act together. However, England have been the most impressive team apart from Australia in the last six months and there should not be too many problems. But should complacency set into the side, Bangladesh might well get a sniff.

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Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Struggling Australia look to bounce back against buoyant Pakistan for level

After being hammered in the first T20I, Michael Clarke would be searching for answers from his men as the bowling failed to capitalize on a terrific start and the batting flopped, while Afridi would be looking for a 2-0 whitewash.

Australia looked to be getting things right on track after their disappointing ODI series against England with wins in the final two games but in the first T20I against Pakistan, everything seemed to rewind itself. The bowlers got early break-throughs, had Pakistan on the mat at 47/4 but had no answer to Umar Akmal’s counter-attack, allowing Pakistan to reach 167. The batsmen who were in the ODI series continued to have a flop show while the ones who were drafted in for the T20I series as specialists, did average on the whole, with Warner and David Hussey getting starts keeping Australia on the hunt but Nannes and Johnson failing miserably. They once again had their problems in chasing and Australia do not have much time to turn around and create an impact to stop the Pakistani team, which is now looking as an unit.

Pakistan, on the other hand, gave their nation plenty of things to celebrate after this massive victory. They did not have a great start with the bat but the middle order rallied around Umar Akmal, their most improved cricketer in the recent past, to get Pakistan to an excellent score. Mohammad Aamer, the other sensation, bowled well once again, picking up three wickets while Saeed Ajmal, after having a nightmare at the T20 World Cup, finally overcame his trauma and picked up 3 scalps as well, finely supported by Umar Gul who showed why he was missed at the World Cup, swinging the ball both ways at the death, causing problems for the batsmen. Shoaib Akhtar had a poor day, being the only black mark for Pakistan with the ball.

Well, after this performance, Pakistan stand a brilliant chance of taking the series 2-0 but given the never-say-die spirit of Australia, one could very well see them bouncing back hard.

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