Monday, July 11, 2011

Gritty Chanderpaul takes the Windies to a draw

A superb unbeaten century from Shivnarine Chanderpaul helped the West Indies see off the Indian attack as the southpaw helped his side to pull off a stunning draw from the jaws of defeat.

On flat track, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni chose to bowl. It raised a few eyebrows but his bowlers answered the critics as they reduced the Windies to 75/3 by Lunch. Rain then intervened and the hosts ended Day 1 on 75/3, with just 31.1 overs being bowled.

Day 2 saw Chanderpaul and Samuels losing their wickets early and the hosts were reduced to 128/5 at Lunch. Baugh and Darren Bravo defied India a bit but eventually, the Windies were bowled out for 204 around Tea time. Ishant Sharma was the pick of the bowlers with a 5-wicket haul. But rain had its say again and only 4 overs were possible with the final score reading as India 8/0, trailing by 196 runs. 

Day 3 saw a complete day’s play but it was not a great start for the Indians. They were reduced to 18/2 but Mukund and Laxman saw off the tough period with some good counter-attacking and ended the first session on 102/2. The post Lunch period was a bit tough as the visitors lost 3 wickets towards the end of the session and were reduced to 182/5. Dhoni and Raina then saw off the day with a fine partnership but the latter was dismissed towards the end of the day and India finished Day 3 on 308/6, with a lead of 104.

Have a look at the scorecard for all the details.

India aimed to build on their lead on Day 4 but were bounced out by Fidel Edwards as India were bowled out for 347, earning a lead of 143.  Mahendra Singh Dhoni top-scored with 74 while Edwards picked up 5 wickets, his second in a row. But the Indian bowlers bounced back and reduced the hosts to 26/2 at Lunch. Darren Bravo was gone after Lunch and India were all over the hosts with the score reading 40/3. But debutant Kirk Edwards and Shivnarine Chanderpaul saw of the period till Tea and reached 116/3. The duo continued their good work with Edwards reaching his maiden Test century and the hosts knocking off the deficit but towards the closing stages of the day, Harbhajan Singh provided a double strike as he got rid of Edwards and Samuels in the same over. Praveen Kumar dismissed Baugh in the final over of the day and all of a sudden, from a position of strength, West Indies were reduced to 224/6 at close of Day 4, with a lead of just 81.

Searching for a victory, India came out hard on the Windies and got rid of Sammy and Rampaul quickly. But Fidel Edwards stuck it out with Chanderpaul and West Indies saw off the first session, reaching 294/8. More gritty stuff followed and the Indians were getting frustrated. Finally, part-timer Suresh Raina had to close the innings taking the wickets of Edwards and Bishoo to end the hosts’ resistance at 322. Chanderpaul finished unbeaten on 116 while Kirk Edwards was the other run-getter 110 with a useful 30 from Fidel Edwards. India were set a target of 180 in 47 overs and things were being set for a thrilling final day which even got better as Fidel struck first ball to dismiss Mukund. Vijay and Dravid saw off the danger period and went in to Tea at 19/1. In the third session, the pair came out and played attacking cricket but when Vijay and Raina were dismissed in quick fashion with the hosts needing 94 runs at around 5 runs an over, India decided to shut the game with Laxman being sent at number 5. Play was eventually called off before the final hour began and the match ended in a draw with India taking the 3-match Test series 1-0.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul was named the Man Of The Match for his unbeaten 116 in the second innings while Ishant Sharma was awarded the Man Of The Series prize for taking 22 wickets in 3 games.

The Indians now head off to England for a tour consisting of 4 Tests, 1 T20I and 5 ODIs starting from the 21st of July, 2011.

Saturday, July 09, 2011

England win thriller to register series victory

In the best game of the series which was reserved for the last, England came out trumps as they successfully defended a score of 268 to register their fourth ODI series win at home.

It was an overcast morning at Manchester but a flat track. Probably that is what prompted England skipper Alastair Cook to bat as Dilshan called incorrectly. And the openers asserted themselves in the first 30 minutes itself.

Kieswetter and Cook tore into the Lankan attack and spared no one as they raced away to 75 runs in the Quick Start Overs. Dilshan delayed taking Powerplay 2 but England outsmarted him, as the openers took Powerplay 3 in the 13th over. But Cook perished to Randiv as he charged out wildly from his crease and got stumped, as the opening stand of 85 was broken.

England then had a bit of wobble as they slumped to 95/3 as they managed only 14 runs for the loss of 3 wickets in Powerplay 3. Morgan and Trott then led the resistance with a fine 118-run stand for the fourth wicket before the former threw his wicket away having made a fine 57. That led to a major collapse as England stuttered from 213/3 to 253/9.

The hosts eventually managed to reach 268/9 in their allotted 50 overs, scoring 40/4 in the Extreme Performance Overs. Jonathan Trott was the top scorer with a fine 72, earning a Batting Momentum of 88 with good support from Morgan who made 57. For the Lankans, it was Suraj Randiv who orchestrated both the collapses for England and ended up picking 5/42 in 10 overs, ending up with a Bowling Efficiency of 312 while Prasad picked up 2 scalps.

Have a look at the scorecard for all the details.

Sri Lanka were very happy with their bowling efforts and came out confidently to chase down the target. But Bresnan had other ideas as he rattled the top order leaving the Lankans reeling at 29/3. Sangakkara and the Lord’s centurion Chandimal then orchestrated a fightback with a fine stand of 94. 

The pair saw off Powerplay 2, scoring 38/0 in that period. But just when things were getting under control, Swann got rid of Chandimal and Sangakkara followed him. The Lankans were in trouble at 131/5 but Mathews and Mendis came together and added a fine 102-run stand for the sixth wicket.

However, momentum defied the Lankans again as Mendis threw his wicket away and that exposed the Lankan tail. Mathews tried to fight but even he was dismissed with the asking rate climbing. The visitors were eventually bowled out for 252, losing by 16 runs in a tense finish.

Mathews was the top-scorer with 62 finishing with a Batting Momentum of 85 while Tim Bresnan picked up 3 wickets and ended up with a Bowling Efficiency of 173. England managed to earn a Castrol Index of 54 with a lead of 7. They lost out only in the Extreme Performance Overs but were at their best in the Quick Start Overs.

Suraj Randiv was the top performer of the day with a Castrol Index of 69 while for England it was Bresnan with a value of 45. But the Man-Of-The-Match went to Jonathan Trott of England for his brilliant half century. He earned a Castrol Index of 39.

Alastair Cook was named the Man-Of-The-Series.