Ashes 2009: 3rd Test: Micheal Clarke and North Save Test for Australia!

Rain affected the result of the 3rd test match of the Ashes 2009 between host England and visitors Australia. The first day started late and had only 30 overs bowled. Australia, deciding to bat first, ended day 1 with 126 for 1.

Watson came in place of Hughes and it ended as a right decision by skipper Ponting. He scored 62 and was the top scorer. Ponting surpassed the leading run scorer in test cricket for Australia--Allan Border. He is the number one leading run scorer for Austalia in test cricket.

Except the first wicket partnership of 82 runs between Watson and Katich, no pair could make 50-run partnership. Anderson spoiled the Aussie party by picking 5 wickets while Onions picked 4. The duo destroyed the batting line up and ended the Australian first innings for 263.

England ended day 2 at 116 for 2. Skipper Strauss and Bell stayed till the end to prevent further damage. Cook gone for a duck while Bopara made 23.

Bell, playing in place of injured Kevin Pietersen, survied couple of good shouts for leg before. He managed to score 53.

Third day's play was completely washed out due to rain.

Strauss went early on Day 4 as he made 69. Collingwood could not survive as he added just 13.

Prior and Flintoff added 89 runs for the 6th wicket. This partnership brought liveness to the game as England was heading towards some good lead. Flintoff made 74 and Prior made 41.

When Flintoff fell, England were 309 for 7. Stuart Broad delayed the proceedings and irritated the Australian bowlers. He scored an useful 55. The good lofted on-drive of Johnson provided the bowler to have an argument with the batsman.

England finished their first innings at 376. Australians were in the back foot at the end of day 4 as they lost both Katich and Ponting. The well flighted and turned delivery beat Ponting and hit the middle stump. This was a pure off-spinner wicket and nice to watch. Australia were struggling at 88 for 2 needing another 25 runs to make England bat again.

Australia had to play out 90 overs or score quick runs and take all 10 wickets of England to equal the series. But, it require a strong and aggressive batting which is very difficult under these circumstances. A couple of wickets would turn the game against the bowling team.

Though Englan picked two more wickets before lunch, Michael Clarke and North played a sensible innings as Clarke went on to score another 100. He won the man of the match award for his match saving innings.

North scored 96 and missed the century by a whisk of 4 runs. The drive went through gully where Anderson picked wonderful one-handed catch on his right. It was a good catch to dismiss a batsman in the nineties.

Debutant Manou scored 13 as both the captains decided to end the match when Clarke hit a boundary off Bopara to bring his 12th test hundred.

Strauss: "We're pretty disappointed. We came to the ground this morning with pretty high hopes. All credit to Marcus North and Michael Clarke, they batted exceptionally well."

Ponting: "The North and Clarke partnership today was something pretty special. It was good for us to get through the way we have."

Michael Clarke:"The wicket played much better than I expected it to today. There was a bit of spin but it was consistent spin."

Scoreboard:

Match: Ashes 2009: Test Match 3
Date: July 30-August 3, 2009
Teams: Australia v. England
Captains: Ponting and Strauss
Toss: Australia, decided to bat
Venue: Edgbaston, Birmingham
Result: Match Drawn
Series Result: England lead 1-0 (1st test drawn)
Man of the Match: M Clarke off Australia

Australia 1st Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
S Watson	lbw b Onions	62	106	10	0
Katich	lbw b Swann	46	48	9	0
Ponting	c Prior b Onions	38	47	5	0
M Hussey	b Onions	0	1	0	0
M Clarke	lbw b Anderson	29	55	4	0
M North	c Prior b Anderson	12	49	1	0
G Manou	b Anderson	8	11	2	0
M Johnson	lbw b Anderson	0	1	0	0
N Hauritz	not out	20	50	1	0
P Siddle	c Prior b Anderson	13	26	2	0
B Hilfenhaus	c Swann b Onions	20	31	4	0
Extras	(b 5, lb 7, w 2, nb 1)	15	-	-	-
Total	all out in 70.4 overs	263	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-85 (Katich, 18.6 ov), 2-126 (Watson, 30.1 ov), 3-126 (Hussey, 30.2 ov), 4-163 (Ponting, 38.3 ov), 5-193 (Clarke, 49.4 ov), 6-202 (North, 51.4 ov), 7-202 (Johnson, 51.5 ov), 8-203 (Manou, 53.5 ov), 9-229 (Siddle, 61.5 ov), 10-263 (Hilfenhaus, 70.4 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Anderson	24	7	80	5
Flintoff	15	2	58	0
Onions	16.4	2	58	4
Broad	13	2	51	0
Swann	2	0	4	1

England 1st Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
A Strauss	c Manou b Hilfenhaus	69	134	11	0
A Cook	c Manou b Siddle	0	4	0	0
Bopara	b Hilfenhaus	23	54	4	0
I Bell	lbw b Johnson	53	114	7	1
Collingwood	c Ponting b Hilfenhaus	13	22	3	0
M Prior	c sub (PJ Hughes) b Siddle	41	59	6	0
Flintoff	c Clarke b Hauritz	74	79	10	1
S Broad	c & b Siddle	55	64	9	0
Swann	c North b Johnson	24	20	5	0
Anderson	c Manou b Hilfenhaus	1	6	0	0
G Onions	not out	2	14	0	0
Extras	(b 2, lb 4, w 6, nb 9)	21	-	-	-
Total	all out in 93.3 overs	376	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-2 (Cook, 1.4 ov), 2-60 (Bopara, 19.2 ov), 3-141 (Strauss, 44.1 ov), 4-159 (Collingwood, 50.5 ov), 5-168 (Bell, 55.6 ov), 6-257 (Prior, 71.3 ov), 7-309 (Flintoff, 80.4 ov), 8-348 (Swann, 87.3 ov), 9-355 (Anderson, 88.6 ov), 10-376 (Broad, 93.3 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Hilfenhaus	30	7	109	4
Siddle	21.3	3	89	3
Hauritz	18	2	57	1
Johnson	21	1	92	2
Watson	3	0	23	0

Australia 2nd Innings: (trail by 113 runs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Watson	c Prior b Anderson	53	114	9	0
Katich	c Prior b Onions	26	47	2	0
Ponting	b Swann	5	7	0	0
M Hussey	c Prior b Broad	64	130	13	0
M Clarke	not out	103	192	14	0
North	c Anderson b Broad	96	159	15	0
G Manou	not out	13	28	1	0
Extras	(b 4, lb 6, w 2, nb 3)	15	-	-	-
Total	for 5 wkts in 112.2 overs	375	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-47 (Katich, 13.2 ov), 2-52 (Ponting, 14.6 ov), 3-137 (Watson, 43.6 ov), 4-161 (Hussey, 52.6 ov), 5-346 (North, 103.1 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Anderson	21	8	47	1
Flintoff	15	0	35	0
Onions	19	3	74	1
Swann	31	4	119	1
Broad	16	2	38	2
Bopara	8.2	1	44	0
Collingwood	2	0	8	0

3rd Test: Ind v. Aus: Day 5: Match Drawn, Laxman MoM!

The last day did not see much of battle except for the first hour when Dravid fell to Lee. Rest of the day belong to India where they played silently and did not bother to add score quickly. In Test cricket, it is not possible to score quick runs on the fifth day, especially with a small lead of 36 runs.

With Sehwag out on the 4th day, the rest cannot play like him to add quick runs in the new ball, except for Tendulkar.

Three or four quick wickets before Lunch would have given Australia a chance, but India played well to ensure that they did not do that. India were 94 for 4 at lunch with Sachin batting on 24 and Laxman on 6.

Dravid and Gambhir fell on 5th day in the 6th and 12th over of the day respectively. Dravid dragged the ball inside and was bowled by Lee for another 11. Gambhir was unlucky to be given out leg before when the ball showed missing the leg stump. He scored 36. Tendulkar settled well and scoring nicely was a victim of soft dismissal. Once again White claimed the wicket of Tendulkar through a well flighted delivery pitched on off stump and spun away. Tendulkar tried to play the ball towards point, but played with the spin, steered it to slip and gave a simple catch to Hayden. He missed his 52nd half century by 3 runs.

Laxman scored another 50, his 36th in test cricket. He was not out on 59 with 7 fours. Ganguly remained not out on 32.

India declared the innings with 208 on the board and set a target of 245 in 23 overs.

Both teams agreed for a draw when Aussies were 31 for no wicket in 8 overs. In the remaining 15 overs, they needed 214 runs, which is not possible.

Laxman was awarded the man of the match award for his 200 not out in the first innings and 59 not out in the 2nd innings.

Scoreboard at the end of Day 5:

India 1st Innings 613 for 7 declared in 161 overs (Sehwag 1, Gambhir 206, Dravid 11, Tendulkar 68, Laxman 200 not out, Ganguly 5, Dhoni 27, Kumble 45, Zaheer Khan 28 not out, Extras--22 (b 6, lb 8, w 2, nb 6), Lee 30-2-119-1, S Clark 33-9-69-0, Johnson 32-4-142-3, Watson 20-4-66-2, White 15-1-73-0, M Clarke 14-0-59-0, Katich 15-3-60-1, Ponting 2-0-11-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-5 (Sehwag, 2.1 ov), 2-27 (Dravid, 10.4 ov), 3-157 (Tendulkar, 51.5 ov), 4-435 (Gambhir, 123.6 ov), 5-444 (Ganguly, 126.2 ov), 6-481 (Dhoni, 133.4 ov), 7-579 (Kumble, 155.4 ov)

Australia 1st Innings 577 all out in 179.3 overs (Hayden 83, Katich 64, Ponting 87, Hussey 53, Michael Clarke 112, Watson 36, Haddin 17, White 44, Lee 8, Johnson 15, SR Clark 1 not out, Extras--57 (b 28, lb 17, w 2, nb 10), Zaheer Khan 23-5-86-0, I Sharma 25-5-84-0, Kumble 43.3-9-112-3, Mishra 47-12-144-2, Sehwag 40-9-104-5, Tendulkar 1-0-2-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-123 (Katich, 34.1 ov), 2-202 (Hayden, 57.2 ov), 3-284 (Ponting, 85.4 ov), 4-326 (Hussey, 101.6 ov), 5-399 (Watson, 122.1 ov), 6-426 (Haddin, 131.5 ov), 7-532 (White, 162.5 ov), 8-555 (Lee, 175.4 ov), 9-567 (Clarke, 178.1 ov), 10-577 (Johnson, 179.3 ov)

India 2nd Innings (lead by 36 runs) 208 for 5 declared in 77.3 overs (Gambhir 36, Sehwag 16, I Sharma 1, Dravid 11, Tendulkar 47, Laxman 59 not out, Ganguly 32 not out, Extras--6 (lb 4, w 1, nb 1) Lee 17-3-48-2, SR Clark 12-6-22-1, MJ Clarke 20.3-7-56-0, Katich 1-0-5-0, Johnson 12-0-23-1, White 8-0-23-1, Watson 7-0-27-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-29 (Sehwag, 8.2 ov), 2-34 (Sharma, 9.1 ov), 3-53 (Dravid, 20.4 ov), 4-93 (Gambhir, 36.5 ov), 5-145 (Tendulkar, 57.1 ov)

Australia 2nd Innings (target 245 runs) 31 for no loss in 8 overs (Hayden 16 not out, Katich 14 not out, Extras--1 (lb 1), Kumble 4-0-14-0, Sehwag 2-0-14-0, Mishra 2-0-2-0)

Result: Match Drawn
Man of the Match: VVS Laxman

Fall of Wickets: 1-29 (Sehwag, 8.2 overs), 2-34 (Sharma 9.1 overs)

3rd Test: Ind v. Aus: Day 4: Match Goes Towards Draw!

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The day 4 of the game almost took the game towards draw, with little chance for either to team to win.

India lost a great opportunity to win the series when Ishanth Sharma dropped Michael Clark--the centurian, on 21. The drive to mid off in the bowling of Mishra was not properly judged by Ishanth Sharma and went through the gap of the hands just above the head level.

If Ishanth did not miss it, the match would have turned in India's favor. Clarke was dropped again by Laxman at mid-wicket. Clarke swept Sehwag, but the ball took the edge and went high in the air. Laxman would have taken 90 out of 100, and this catch was one among those 10%.

He was again dropped by Amit Mishra at deep mid wicket. By then, all the damages were done and he was finally out trying to hit Mishra over long off and was caught by Zaheer Khan. He saved the match for Australia.

Australia scored 577 giving India lead of 36 runs, which could have been more than 150.

Kumble injured his finger in the process and had to take 11 stiches to his fingers. He finished with 3 wickets.

Sehwag picked his first 5 wicket haul in test cricket when he dismissed watson. The ball spun from outside off stump which Watson tried to play backfoot and glance it to fine leg. He missed the ball and did not read the big turn which hit the leg stump. What a turn and wonderful dismissal to watch!

India were 43 or 2 at the end of the day with Sehwag once again falling for Lee and night watchman Ishanth Sharma giving simple lolly pop catch to silly mid off of a bouncer.

India has to score at least 250 to set a target of 290 for Australia for which India need to face at least 57 overs at the rateof 3.5 runs per over. This gives Australia 31 overs with almost 9.5 runs per over, an impossible chance.

Scoreboard at the end of Day 3:

India 1st Innings 613 for 7 declared in 161 overs (Sehwag 1, Gambhir 206, Dravid 11, Tendulkar 68, Laxman 200 not out, Ganguly 5, Dhoni 27, Kumble 45, Zaheer Khan 28 not out, Extras--22 (b 6, lb 8, w 2, nb 6), Lee 30-2-119-1, S Clark 33-9-69-0, Johnson 32-4-142-3, Watson 20-4-66-2, White 15-1-73-0, M Clarke 14-0-59-0, Katich 15-3-60-1, Ponting 2-0-11-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-5 (Sehwag, 2.1 ov), 2-27 (Dravid, 10.4 ov), 3-157 (Tendulkar, 51.5 ov), 4-435 (Gambhir, 123.6 ov), 5-444 (Ganguly, 126.2 ov), 6-481 (Dhoni, 133.4 ov), 7-579 (Kumble, 155.4 ov)

Australia 1st Innings 577 all out in 179.3 overs (Hayden 83, Katich 64, Ponting 87, Hussey 53, Michael Clarke 112, Watson 36, Haddin 17, White 44, Lee 8, Johnson 15, SR Clark 1 not out, Extras--57 (b 28, lb 17, w 2, nb 10), Zaheer Khan 23-5-86-0, I Sharma 25-5-84-0, Kumble 43.3-9-112-3, Mishra 47-12-144-2, Sehwag 40-9-104-5, Tendulkar 1-0-2-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-123 (Katich, 34.1 ov), 2-202 (Hayden, 57.2 ov), 3-284 (Ponting, 85.4 ov), 4-326 (Hussey, 101.6 ov), 5-399 (Watson, 122.1 ov), 6-426 (Haddin, 131.5 ov), 7-532 (White, 162.5 ov), 8-555 (Lee, 175.4 ov), 9-567 (Clarke, 178.1 ov), 10-577 (Johnson, 179.3 ov)

India 2nd Innings (lead by 36 runs) 43 for 2 in 13 overs (Gambhir 21 batting, Sehwag 16, I Sharma 1, Dravid 5 batting, Extras--0, Lee 1 wicket, SR Clark 1 wicket

Fall of Wickets: 1-29 (Sehwag, 8.2 overs), 2-34 (Sharma 9.1 overs)