Third ODI

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.

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.

Bad Weather and Dhoni save India

FEELS LIKE VICTORY: MS Dhoni
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1st Test Day 5 Analysis
India finally saved the first test which ended in a draw. With just 1 wicket left for victory the English were furious to see the weather play the spoilsport. It was MS Dhoni who batted with the tail patiently to see bad light take over the rest of the game. The partnership between Dhoni and Laxman gave India the initial hope of saving the match but when Laxman was bowled by Tremlett it was all left to Dhoni to show India the way. Running out of partners Dhoni never gave it away and even after there were some confident appeals against him he forgot them early and carried on. It was a feeling of victory in the Indian camp after the result of the match.
The team has had such moments in the past were had they batted for an hour or so more than they did they would have saved the match. One such moments was in 2002 when India toured the West Indies. Had they batted for sometime then it would have rained there. This rain continued there for a week washing out the two one-day matches scheduled.
The next match starts on Friday at Trent Bridge.

Karthik Holds forth as Sachin-Dravid fail

TRAPPED AGAIN : Rahul Dravid

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Day 4 Analysis
We were lucky that we could have a full days play on the fourth day. The day started with wickets for RP Singh - as he got his first 5 wicket haul in Test cricket - the vital scalps of Vaughan, Collingwood and Bell were his. But it was after this that Kevin Pietersen showed England the way. With majestic 134 he answered his critics in the way only he could have and his celebration on reaching his 8th century in Test cricket. He along with Matt Prior put on a long partnership and which made sure that it was all England in the first test. When the English innings got over they left India with 380 runs to win.
Indians, specially Karthik started off positively by hitting the bad balls away and so keeping the scoring rate ticking. The first blow came to India when Jaffer got out. He never looked good in this innings. Next came the Indian captain to the center who looked to play positively again by hitting a boundary off his first ball but then Tremlett got the better of him. By the end of play India had lost Sachin too. It was Ganguly and Karthik at the crease. Requiring 243 to win on the final day the English are in with a good chance. If the weather hols up then we can expect a good day of lively cricket.

India Struggles to Keep Pace as England March on

INTO THE GROOVE : Andrew Strauss

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1st Test Day 2 and Day 3 Analysis
Excitement deepened as ball swung and wickets fell on both sides on rain hit day 2 and day 3 at Lord’s. Indians dismissed 6 English batsman on the morning of the second day only to find themselves in trouble after being all out for paltry 201 in the first innings. It was the batting which the Indian team relied on from the start of the series and failure of the batsman to produce good spells disasters for them. Dravid, Sachin and them Ganguly fell on some really good deliveries by James Anderson, who eventually took 5 wickets. Wasim Jaffer was the highest scorer for India with 58 runs. He falied to capitalize after getting off to a really good start. Major disappointment for the Indians came when Dhoni was dismissed without scoring a run.
Indians started to ball with 97 runs behind in the first innings and these runs have made a huge difference between the two sides and then eventually on the result of the match. With England finishing day three with 77 runs on the board and just 2 wickets lost they are looking to dictate terms to the Indian batsman when they come out to play in the fourth innings if the match. England would be hoping that it doesn’t rain much in the two days left and the Indians on the other hand would look for loads of luck in cricket and if not then pray for rain!

England flourishes before India Strikes back

1st Test Day One Analysis
Toss, dropped catches and thick edges going past slips saw India struggle most part of the day one at Lord’s. England one the toss and chose to bat on a pitch tailor made for batting. Poor bowling to the left handed openers was the first thing which went wrong for the Indians. It was a lucky break when Ganguly trapped Cook plum before the wicket. But the four bowlers could not derive much advantage from it as Vaughan came in and had no problems tackling Indian attack. He and Strauss had a 142 run partnership before Strauss fell four short of a hundred. Anil Kumble once again pounced on the mistake committed by the batsman. This brought out the English superstar Kevin Pietersen to the middle. It was now becoming a tough toil for Zaheer , RP and the unilucky Sreesanth. Short stuff was tried to Peterson who put most of those waist height balls to the fence with arrogance and left the others with ease to Dhoni. It was finally RP who came around the wicket and got the priceless wicket of the England captain just when he was eyeing his sixth century at Lord’s. Kumble struck in the next over itself trapping Collingwood with his wrong one. Two wickets in two overs waked up India from day long slumber. Finally bad light stopped play on day one with just 80 overs bowled. Weather forecast for day two is really bad but lets reamin positive and in hope for a full day of lively cricket.