Venue Changed for England Test Series

After the recent terror attacks in Mumbai at Taj Mahal Hotel, Trident-Oberoi Hotel, and Nariman House on 26th of November 2008, England team called off the remaining 2 ODIs and went back to England citing security concerns. After a detailed discussions with the ECB, BCCI has agreed to change the venue of the test series.

Below is the revised schedule with change in the venue:

December 5-7, 2008 - Practice Game - Indian Board Presidents XI v. England XI - Vadodara
December 11-15, 2008 - 1st Test - India v. England - Ahmedabad
December 19-23, 2008 - 2nd Test - India v. England - Chennai

The venue of the 2nd test has been changed to Chennai.

5th ODI: Ind v. Eng: Sehwag put India 5-0 Up!

In the 5th ODI played in Kanpur, India beat England one more time and lead the series 5-0. With two more matches to go, England has to find some tactics to handle the Indians.

Kevin Pietersen was surprised when Dhoni elected to field and expressed it during the interview after the toss.

Cook replaced Bell and opened the innings with Bopara. England started slowly and also lost wickets in between. Kevin Pietersen played a captain's innings and scored an unbeaten 111 off 128 balls with 10 fours and a six. He built a good 89-run partnership of with Collingwood and took the score to 157 at the end of 30 overs. Flintoff out for a duck on the third ball he faced. He was caught by Tendulkar of Ishanth Sharma. Pietersen then built another partnership with with Shah (66 not out) took the score to 270.

Once though to be a 300+ score was restricted by the Indian bowlers who really bowled well. The spinners curtailed and in the later overs, the pace bowlers helped India to have a reasonable target.

Chase started with Sehwag and Tendulkar opening the innings. Gambhir was given rest and replaced by Rohit Sharma. Tendulkar and Sehwag added another 100-run partnership to their list of partnership. They added 136 runs for the first wicket with Sachin bowled one more time between the bat and pad. He scored his 90th fifty.

Sehwag was smashing the ball to boundaries at the other end. He reached his 33rd ODI fifty in just 41 balls with 10 fours and a six. He hit 20 runs of Swann's first over which included 3 fours, a six and a two.

Yuvaraj was promoted to No. 3, but could not stay in the crease for long. He checked his shot of the ball pitched on middle and gave a return catch to Bopara. Sehwag got out in the next next ball, unlucky to be given leg before. The ball was clearly missing the leg stump but Broad was lucky to get the wicket.

Dhoni and Rain scored fifty each and took the score closer to the target. Dhoni was leg before to Swann, but Rain and Rohit completed the formalities with 6.2 overs to spare.

Sehwag was declared man of the match for his swashbuckling innings of 91 in 72 balls with 15 fours and a six.

Scoreboard:

Match: 5th ODI
Venue: Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
Teams: India and England
Captains: MS Dhoni and Kevin Pietersen
Toss: India won the toss and decided to field
Match Result: India won by 6 wickets with 38 balls remaining
Series Result: India leading by 5-0
Man of the Match: Virendera Sehwag (India)

England 270 for 4 in 50 overs (RS Bopara 24, AN Cook 11, KP Pietersen 111 not out, PD Collingwood 40, A Flintoff 0, OA Shah 66 not out, Extras--18 (lb 14, w 4), Irfan Pathan 10-1-57-0, Zaheer 10-1-60-2, Ishanth Sharma 10-0-54-1, Harbahajan 10-0-47-1, Yuvaraj Singh 10-0-38-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-33 (Cook, 5.5 ov), 2-68 (Bopara, 9.5 ov), 3-157 (Collingwood, 29.6 ov), 4-158 (Flintoff, 30.4 ov)

India 273 for 4 in 43.4 overs (Sehwag 91, Tendulkar 50, Yuvaraj Singh 6, Dhoni 50, Raina 53 not out, Rohit Sharma 8 not out, Extras--15 (lb 5, w 8, nb 2), Harmison 10-1-50-1, Broad 8.4-0-54-1, Flintoff 9-0-43-0, Patel 3-0-23-0, Swann 7-0-56-1, Bopara 6-1-42-1)

Fall of Wickets: 1-136 (Tendulkar, 19.5 ov), 2-156 (Yuvraj Singh, 22.6 ov), 3-156 (Sehwag, 23.1 ov), 4-250 (Dhoni, 40.6 ov)

4th ODI: Ind v. Eng: India win series, up 4-0!

India beat England in the crucial 4th ODI by 19 runs and lead the 7-match series by 4-0. England has to play for pride in the next three ODI matches as the result has no impact on the series.

The weather forecast indicated rain though the match was started on time. India opened with Sehwag and Sachin after put into bat by Pietersen.

Sachin was bowled through a beauty by Broad. The ball pitched on the off, came in, Tendulkar missed the line and the off stump was knocked out.

The rain stopped play at the end of 14 overs. At the time, India were 82 for 1 with Sehwag on 45 and Gambhir on 23. After bowling one more over, the confusion started with the power play overs that should be decided by India. As per D/L method, the power play was over for India and they couldn't chose their powerplay overs. What a stupid logic? The match was reduced by 6 overs.

Again at the end of 17 overs, rain intervened when India were 106 for 1. The play was stopped for almost 3 hours. When the play resumed, the match was reduced to 22 overs a side.

If India scores another 38 runs in the 5 remaining overs, regardless of the wickets lost by India, England's target would be 181 in 22 overs as per D/L method.

In the last 5 overs, India scored 60 runs and set a target of 198 in 22 overs. Yuvaraj Singh hammered 25 off just 11 balls with 3 sixes. While Pathan hit a six off the last ball. Sehwag was out for 69 in the 18th over. He consumed just 57 balls and hit 9 fours and 3 sixes.

What a strange rule? The batting team scores 166 and set a target of 198!

England did not do well in the power play. At the end of 6 overs, they were 38 for 1. The Indian bowlers restricted England very well.

Shah tried from one end to take England closer to the target, but the brilliant effort was curtailed by short of overs. He scored 72 off 48 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes before caught by Tendulkar of Zaheer.

Flintoff, though scored 41 off 30 balls which included 3 fours and a six, could not do much except play out the crucial overs in the middle than scoring fours and sixes. His scoring came in the 2 power play overs chose by England.

Sehwag was given the bike for the man of the match award for his firing 69. With this victory, India win the series regardless of what happens in the remaining 3 matches. Sure that India will rest some of the fast bowlers and key players and give chance to others.

Scoreboard:

Match: 4th ODI
Venue: Chinnasamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Teams: India and England
Captains: MS Dhoni and Kevin Pietersen
Toss: England won the toss and decided to field
Match Result: India won by 19 runs by D/L method
Series Result: India leading by 4-0
Man of the Match: Virendera Sehwag (India)
Overs: Match was stopped twice due to rain; first time, the match was reduced by 6 overs and the next time, the match was reduced to 22 overs a side

India 166 for 4 in 22 overs (Sehwag 69, Sachin 11, Gambhir 40, Yuvaraj 25 not out, MS Dhoni 9, Y Pathan 6 not out, Extras--6 (b 1, lb 1, w 4), Anderson 5-0-33-0, Broad 6-1-49-1, Flintoff 5-0-20-0, Patel 3-0-24-0, Swann 2-0-21-2, Pietersen 1-0-17-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-38 (Tendulkar, 7.5 ov), 2-117 (Sehwag, 18.1 ov), 3-142 (Gambhir, 20.2 ov), 4-160 (Dhoni, 21.5 ov)

England 178 for 8 in 22 overs (India won by D/L Method: Target 198 in 22 overs)(Bopara 1, Bell 12, Shah 72, Pietersen 5, Flintoff 41, Collingwood 22, Patel 11, Swann 5, Prior 0 not out, Broad 0 not out, Extras--9 (b 3, lb 2, w 3, nb 1), Zaheer Khan 5-0-20-2, Munaf Patel 4-1-22-2, I Shrama 5-0-41-2, Yusuf Pathan 1-0-17-0, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-42-1, Yuvaraj Singh 3-0-31-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-1 (Bopara, 1.2 ov), 2-44 (Bell, 7.4 ov), 3-52 (Pietersen, 8.5 ov), 4-134 (Shah, 16.5 ov), 5-141 (Flintoff, 17.4 ov), 6-161 (Patel, 19.6 ov), 7-178 (Swann, 21.4 ov), 8-178 (Collingwood, 21.5 ov)

England in India 2008

The England Tour to India between November and December of 2008 is covered here with match analysis, scoreboards, and pictures! Hope you enjoy them!

Match Report of Practice Games:

Practice Game 1: England v. Mumbai XI
Practice Game 2: England v. Mumbai Cricket Association XI

Match Report of ODIs:

ODI 1: India v. England
ODI 2: India v. England
ODI 3: India v. England
ODI 4: India v. England
ODI 5: India v. England
ODI 6: India v. England
ODI 7: India v. England

Still more to come!

2nd ODI: Ind v. Eng: Second Continuous Hundred by Yuvaraj! India 2-0 Up!

What a series Yuvaraj is having! He scored his 10th ODI hundred and second continuous hundred--back-to-back, to give India a solid lead of 2-0 in the seven match ODI Series.

He won his second continuous man of the match also for his scintilating century, especially when the team needed it.

India, after put into bat by England, lost three quick wickets with just 29 runs on the board. Sehwag (1), Raina (4), and Rohit Sharma (3) returned to pavilion before the end of 8th over. Stuart Broad picked all the three wickets and gave a chance to Pietersen. The decision to put India bat first proved to be sucessful for England.

But Gambhir and Yuvaraj had different plans--sure even they don't know what it is. The beauty is that they played their natural game and did not succumb to the pressure.

They added 134 runs for the 4th wicket and helped India to move towards a respectable total. Gambhir scored 70 off 76 balls with 6 fours and a six. When he was looking good, a poor shot selection to tap the ball to leg side for a single cost his wicket. The ball pitched on off stump took the edge and hit the stumps.

Dhoni couldn't add more to the scoreboard this time and was bowled through a straight delivery by Collingwood for 15. But, this did not stop Yuvaraj from hitting hard on the other end. He reached his 100 in 107 balls with 12 fours and 2 sixes. He was caught behind off Broad for 118 off 122 balls.

Yusuf Pathan made a match on his birthday. He hit four sixes and 2 fours to score his maiden ODI fifty in the last ball of the innings. In the last over, he hit two sixes and a four to take India to a fighting total of 292. His 50 came in 29 balls and increased the scoring rate for India in the last 5 overs. Broad ended with 4 for 55 with a maiden in his 10-over spell.

England had a chance in hand. Bell was out in the first over due to poor decision in taking a single. He played it to short covers and went for a single. Raina picked and threw at bowlers end where TV replay found him well short of his crease.

Prior (38) and Shah (58) added 96 for the 2nd wicket but both of them well one after the other. Flintoff and Pietersen added 74 for the 4th wicket. Yuvaraj had Flintoff trapped leg before and Pietersen bowled to give India the winning signal. Both of them returning to pavilion in the same over was the turning point of England innings and they never came back in the game. Yuvaraj ended with 4 for 28 in his 10 overs. Sehwag picked 3 wickets. It proved to be spinning track as against England where Broad picked 4 wickets.

Scoreboard:

Match: 2nd ODI
Venue: Maharani Usharaje Trust Cricket Ground, Indore
Teams: India and England
Captains: MS Dhoni and Kevin Pietersen
Toss: England won the toss and decided to field
Match Result: India won by 54 runs
Series Result: India leading by 2-0
Man of the Match: Yuvaraj Singh (India)

India 292 for 9 in 50 overs (Gambhir 70, Sehwag 1, Raina 4, Rohit Sharma 3, Yuvaraj 118, MS Dhoni 15, Y Pathan 50 not out, Harbhajan Singh 8, Zaheer 1, RP Singh 4, Munaf Patel 0 not out, Extras--18 (b 3, lb 9, w 4, nb 2), Anderson 6-0-26-0, Broad 10-1-55-4, Flintoff 9-0-49-0, Harmison 7-1-50-1, Patel 5-0-37-0, Collingwood 8-0-43-1, Pietersen 5-0-20-1)

Fall of Wickets: 1-4 (Sehwag, 1.2 ov), 2-15 (Raina, 3.4 ov), 3-29 (Sharma, 7.3 ov), 4-163 (Gambhir, 29.6 ov), 5-206 (Dhoni, 38.6 ov), 6-239 (Yuvraj Singh, 43.4 ov), 7-258 (Harbhajan Singh, 46.3 ov), 8-261 (Khan, 47.5 ov), 9-274 (Singh, 49.1 ov)

England 238 all out in 47 overs (Bell 1, Prior 38, Shah 58, Pietersen 33, Flintoff 43, Collingwood 2, Patel 20, Bopara 3, Broad 22, Harmison 6, Anderson 1 not out, Extras--11 (lb 2, w 6, nb 3), Zaheer Khan 8-1-37-0, Munaf Patel 7-0-31-0, RP Singh 5-0-49-0, Yuvaraj Singh 10-0-28-4, Harbhajan Singh 10-0-45-1, Sehwag 5-0-28-3, Yousuf Pathan 2-0-18-1)

Fall of Wickets: 1-6 (Bell, 0.6 ov), 2-102 (Shah, 23.1 ov), 3-109 (Prior, 25.5 ov), 4-183 (Flintoff, 37.2 ov), 5-184 (Pietersen, 37.5 ov), 6-187 (Collingwood, 39.5 ov), 7-191 (Bopara, 41.1 ov), 8-222 (Patel, 44.4 ov), 9-233 (Harmison, 46.2 ov), 10-238 (Broad, 46.6 ov)

1st ODI: Ind v. Eng: Yuvaraj's firing Ton helps India take 1-0 Lead

India beat England in the first ODI of the seven match series. Yuvaraj played a scintilating knock which helped India to score a mamooth total of 387 in 50 overs. The start was excellent with Gambhir (51) and Sehwag (85) adding 127 runs for the first wicket. Sehwag's 85 came off 73 balls with 10 fours and 3 sixes.

Though the ground was small, the batsmen has to clear them. If they miss the timing or if they do not put the use the power, it will land in fielder's hand as it happened in the case of Gambhir.

Raina and Yuvaraj added 89 for the 3rd wicket off which Raina scored 43 runs off 44 balls with 3 sixes. Yuvaraj then started blasting all the bowlers all over the ground. Yuvaraj's 50 came off 42 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. He scored his next fifty in just 22 balls to reach his 100 which consisted off 11 fours and 4 sixes. When India finished their innings at 387, he was not out on 138 off 78 balls with 16 fours and 6 sixes. This is his 9th hundred in ODI and has 3 centuries to his account in test cricket.

Broad once again proved costly against India. He was hit for 6 sixes by Yuvaraj in T20 world cup and now he was demolished by Yuvaraj once again. His figures were 0 for 74 in his 10 overs. Harmison conceded 75 runs in his 10 overs picking 2 wickets. Patel finished with 2 for 78 in 9 overs.

Chasing huge total requires big knock from the top order in lesser deliveries. Starting the innings with the required run rate of 7.76 runs per over, England lost the first 4 wickets for 38 runs. Skipper Pietersen top scored for England with 63 runs off 66 balls. Bopara played consolation knock off unbeaten 54 off 38 balls with 2 fours and 5 sixes. England ended their innings at 229 in 37.4 overs, giving India the victory by a margin of 158 runs. Zaheer Khan picked 3 wickets.

Yuvaraj Singh was declared man of the match for his wonderful, firing century which helped India to start the series with a victory.

Scoreboard:

Match: 1st ODI
Venue: Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground, Rajkot
Teams: India and England
Captains: MS Dhoni and Kevin Pietersen
Toss: India won the toss and decided to bat
Match Result: India won by 158 runs
Series Result: India leading by 1-0
Man of the Match: Yuvaraj Singh (India)

India 387 for 5 in 50 overs (Gambhir 51, Sehwag 85, Raina 43, Yuvaraj 138 not out, Y Pathan 0, MS Dhoni 39, Rohit Sharma 11 not out, Extras--20 (b 1, lb 9, w 10), Anderson 8-0-52-0, Broad 10-0-74-0, Flintoff 10-0-67-1, Harmison 10-0-75-2, Patel 9-0-78-2, Collingwood 1-0-15-0, Pietersen 2-0-16-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-127 (Gambhir, 19.5 ov), 2-153 (Sehwag, 23.6 ov), 3-242 (Raina, 36.5 ov), 4-247 (Pathan, 37.3 ov), 5-352 (Dhoni, 47.1 ov)

England 229 all out in 37.4 overs (Bell 25, Prior 4, Shah 0, Pietersen 63, Flintoff 4, Collingwood 19, Patel 28, Bopara 54 not out, Broad 26, Harmison 0, Anderson 0, Extras--6 (lb 2, w 4), Zaheer Khan 7-1-26-3, Munaf Patel 6-1-20-1, RP Singh 4-0-25-1, Yousuf Pathan 3.4-0-41-1, Sehwag 9-0-68-1, Harbhajan Singh 8-0-47-1)

Fall of Wickets: 1-12 (Prior, 3.2 ov), 2-17 (Shah, 4.5 ov), 3-34 (Bell, 10.3 ov), 4-38 (Flintoff, 10.6 ov), 5-76 (Collingwood, 17.4 ov), 6-147 (Patel, 26.1 ov), 7-150 (Pietersen, 27.1 ov), 8-195 (Broad, 35.3 ov), 9-207 (Harmison, 35.6 ov), 10-229 (Anderson, 37.4 ov)