Being a day affair India opted to bowl first after winning the toss and this decision proved out to be the wrong one at the end of the day. English batsman scored at will most of the times of the match and once again it was Ian bell who proved to be the thorn in the Indian flesh as he held the innings together for his team. Indians came out to bat with 282 required and once again succumbed under the pressure. It was up to the openers to provide a good start and they failed in doing this. Ganguly scored 72 runs but it took him too many deliveries to get there and he never actually looked in total command of the situation. Hesitant to play his shots and then as usual the running between the wickets was poor. India lost the third one-day due to their own mistakes of dropping catches, poor fielding and above all poor decision making to bat second. Will these mistakes be sorted out? Its all up to Dravid and Co. to answer.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
Second ODI
After success at Trent Bridge India finally tasted victory once again in England when they defeated them by 9 runs in a thrilling encounter in Bristol. What did the trick for the Indians were the spinners comprising of Piyush Chawala and Ramesh Powar sharing the wickets of the most important four English batsman between them. Chasing the huge total England once looked well in control of the situation with Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell scoring at will.
The short boundaries in Bristol made sure that the second ODI was a run feast for the batsman. It was earlier in the day that Sachin Tendulkar made merry when the sun was out but fell short of a run to make his third century at this ground and once again the umpire’s decision was at doubt. After his wicket fell it was the turn of the man of match Rahul Dravid to take charge scoring an unbeaten 92 of just 63 balls to help India post a modest total. With the absence of Zaheer Khan in the bowling attack the opening bowling looked clueless and once again Agarkar was taken to task by the English batsman. What mattered the most was that the series is now 1-1 with everyone looking forward to much more great cricket.
The short boundaries in Bristol made sure that the second ODI was a run feast for the batsman. It was earlier in the day that Sachin Tendulkar made merry when the sun was out but fell short of a run to make his third century at this ground and once again the umpire’s decision was at doubt. After his wicket fell it was the turn of the man of match Rahul Dravid to take charge scoring an unbeaten 92 of just 63 balls to help India post a modest total. With the absence of Zaheer Khan in the bowling attack the opening bowling looked clueless and once again Agarkar was taken to task by the English batsman. What mattered the most was that the series is now 1-1 with everyone looking forward to much more great cricket.
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