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)

5th ODI: New Zealand Wins the Match and Series!

Good news for New Zealander! Though they have lost the test series, they have won the one-day series 3-1 with one match abandoned due to rain. They beat England very comfortably by 51 runs margin. With Collingwood not available due to his 4 ODI ban, they were short by an all-rounder.

Match: 5th ODI
Venue: Lord's, London
Date: June 28, 2008
Teams: England and New Zealand
Captains: Kevin Pietersen and Daniel Vettori
Toss: England won the toss and decided to field
Result: New Zealand won by 51 runs
Series: New Zealand won the series 4-1 with one match abandoned
Man of the Match: SB Styris of New Zealand
Man of the Match: TG Southee of New Zealand
Score:

New Zealand 266 for 5 in 50 overs (JM How 22, BB McCullum 23, LRPL Taylor 4, SB Styris 87 not out, DR Flynn 35, JDP Oram 52, GD Elliott 23 not out, Extras--20 (lb 13, w 7), RJ Sidebottom 10-0-52-0, JM Anderson 10-1-46-1, SCJ Broad 10-1-50-2, LJ Wright 6-0-36-0, GP Swann 10-0-33-2, RS Bopara 1-0-6-0, OA Shah 3-0-30-0) beat England 215 all out in 47.5 overs (IR Bell 27, AN Cook 24, KP Pietersen 6, RS Bopara 30, OA Shah 69, LJ Wright 6, TR Ambrose 2, GP Swann 12, SCJ Broad 5, RJ Sidebottom 10 not out, JM Anderson 2, Extras--22 (b 1, lb 10, w 10, nb 1), KD Mills 9-1-55-2, MR Gillesie 9.5-2-29-2, JDP Oram 6-0-22-0, TG Southee 9-0-49-3, DL Vettori 10-1-32-3, SB Styris 4-0-17-0)

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4th ODI: New Zeland Wins the Thriller! Leads the Series!

New Zealand won the 4th ODI thriller by one wicket. The last five overs required 19 runs with 2 wickets in hand. In the 46th over, 5 runs were scored. The new equation was 24 balls and 14 runs, 2 wickets in hand. Collingwood gave just two runs and had Southee run out.

With 18 balls remaining, 12 runs required. Swann bowled a beautiful maiden over containing Gillespie.

12 balls, 12 runs, 1 wicket.

Collingwood gave away 9 runs including a six in the third ball. Mills hit a six over mid wicket that gave a chance to New Zealand.

It is a tense moment as the team needed 3 runs in the last 6 balls, but only one wicket in hand.

Wright had the ball in hand and Mills scored a run in the first ball. The next four balls were contained and no runs were scored by Gillespie. The 5th ball was a base ball stroke, but it hit the non-striker Mills.

Last ball, two runs, 1 wicket. Gillespie connected the ball this time and ran for a single. An attempt was made to run out, but no one was backing up and the pair completed the winning run. Celebrations in New Zealand camp!!!

Match: 4th ODI
Venue: Kennington Oval, London
Date: June 25, 2008
Teams: England and New Zealand
Captains: Paul Collingwood and Daniel Vettori
Toss: New Zealand won the toss and decided to field
Result: New Zealand won by 1 wicket with no ball remaining
Series: New Zealand leading 2-1 with one match abandoned
Man of the Match: SB Styris of New Zealand
Score:

England 245 all out in 49.4 overs (IR Bell 46, LJ Wright 18, KP Pietersen 0, RS Bopara 58, PD Collingwood 14, OA Shah 63, TR Ambrose 6, GP Swann 3, SCJ Broad 5, RJ Sidebottom 8 not out, JM Anderson 11, Extras--13 (lb 4, w 6, nb 3), KD Mills 10-1-44-2, MR Gillesie 9.4-2-58-2, TG Southee 10-1-47-3, JDP Oram 10-0-46-1, DL Vettori 8-1-34-0, GD Elliott 2-0-12-0) lost to New Zealand 246 for 9 in 50 overs (JM How 37, BB McCullum 1, LRPL Taylor 6, SB Styris 69, DR Flynn 12, JDP Oram 38, GD Elliott 24, DL Vettori 6, KD Mills 25 not out, TG Southee 6, MR Gillespie 4 not out, Extras--18 (b 4, lb 3, w 11), RJ Sidebottom 10-0-55-2, JM Anderson 10-0-39-1, SCJ Broad 10-0-39-0, LJ Wright 2-0-8-0, GP Swann 10-1-49-2, PD Collingwood 7-0-40-1, RS Bopara 1-0-9-0)

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2nd ODI: England's Uses Delay Tactics; Rain Prevent Result!

Rain prevents result for the 2nd ODI. New Zealand had a bright chance of winning this game and equaling the series, but the delay tactics by England prevented the chance. Chasing a revised target of 160 in 23 overs, when rain prevented New Zealand victory, they needed 33 in 4 overs with 8 wickets in hand. Easy chance in hand prevented by rain and England.

Match: 2nd ODI
Venue: Edgbaston, Birmingham
Date: June 18, 2008
Teams: England and New Zealand
Captains: Paul Collingwood and Daniel Vettori
Toss: New Zealand won the toss and decided to field
Result: No result (rain abandoned the match)
Series: England leading 1-0
Man of the Match: None
Score:

England 162 all out in 24 overs (24 overs a side) (IR Bell 0, LJ Wright 52, KP Pietersen 13, RS Bopara 10, PD Collingwood 37, OA Shah 18, AD Mascarenhas 23, TR Ambrose 1, GP Swann 1, SCJ Broad 1, JM Anderson 0 not out, Extras--6 (b 1, lb 2, w 2, nb 1), KD Mills 5-1-24-2, TG Southee 5-0-35-2, MJ Mason 2-0-24-1, GD Elliott 5-0-23-3, DL Vettori 5-0-27-0, SB Styris 2-0-26-0) match abandoned due to rain New Zealand (revised target 160 in 23 overs) 127 for 2 in 19 overs (JM How 16, BB McCullum 60 not out, LRPL Taylor 25, SB Styris 19 not out, Extras--7 (lb 4, w 3), JM Anderson 3-0-16-0, SCJ Broad 3-0-28-1, PD Collingwood 4-0-23-4, LJ Wright 3-0-20-0, GP Swann 5-0-26-0, AD Mascarenhas 1-0-10-0)

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1st ODI: England Post Easy and Big Win!

England beat New Zealand by a huge margin of 114 runs in the first ODI. Having lost the test series, New Zealand could not come back in the entire tour. They have to increase their morale to keep winning and never lose the confidence. They should treat the past as past and focus in the remaining games to get some pride out of this tour.

Match: 1st ODI
Venue: Riverside Ground, Chester-le Street
Date: June 15, 2008
Teams: England and New Zealand
Captains: Paul Collingwood and Daniel Vettori
Toss: New Zealand won the toss and decided to field
Result: England won by 114 runs
Man of the Match: KP Pietersen of England
Score:

England 307 for 5 in 50 overs (IR Bell 46, LJ Wright 11, KP Pietersen 110 not out, RS Bopara 4, PD Collingwood 64, OA Shah 49, TR Ambrose 1, Extras--22 (lb 3, w 9, nb 10), KD Mills 10-1-59-0, TG Southee 10-1-68-1, MJ Mason 10-0-62-1, DL Vettori 10-0-38-1, SB Styris 8-0-63-1, LRPL Taylor 2-0-14-0) beat New Zealand 193 all out in 42.5 overs (JM How 20, BB McCullum 36, JAH Marshall 4, LRPL Taylor 20, SB Styris 18, DR Flynn 34, GJ Hopkins 25, DL Vettori 8, KD Mills 17, TG Southee 6, MJ Mason 0 not out, Extras--15 (lb 12, w 3), JM Anderson 8-0-45-0, RJ Sidebottom 8-1-43-0, SCJ Broad 8-2-16-2, GP Swann 10-1-45-2, LJ Wright 6-0-17-1, PD Collingwood 2.5-0-15-4)

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