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Monday, 25 July 2011

England has won the 1st Test match at Lord's

By Cricket Addiction ,



At the interval India, the world number one side who need a world record 458 to win the first match in the four-test series, were 142 for four.
Sachin Tendulkar, who received a standing ovation in what is likely to be his final test at Lord’s, was seven not out at lunch.
Tendulkar, 38, needs one more century to reach an unprecedented 100th international hundreds. He was absent from the field for most of Sunday with a virus infection and batted one place lower than usual at number five.
James Anderson removed the adhesive Rahul Dravid (36) and the prolific Vangipurappu Laxman (56) after India had resumed their second innings on 80 for one. Graeme Swann captured the other wicket to fall, dismissing Gautam Gambhir lbw for 22.
Dravid, who batted for 5-1/2 hours in his unbeaten 103 in India’s first innings, was caught behind by Matt Prior on Monday pushing at a delivery which moved away from the right-hander.
He had been dropped on 35 by Ian Bell off Chris Tremlett after a thick inside edge on to his pad ballooned to short-leg. Bell leaped high and got his fingers to the ball but could not hold on to a difficult chance.
Laxman edged a boundary off Anderson at catchable height between second slip and gully but was otherwise untroubled.
After resuming on 32, he reached 48 when Prior and the England slip cordon went up for what they thought was a catch behind. Captain Andrew Strauss called for a review when umpire Billy Bowden did not react but the replay showed there was a clear gap between bat and ball.
Laxman reached his 53rd test half-century with a leg glance to the boundary, his eighth four, but then played a loose shot to Anderson and was caught by Bell at mid-wicket.
Gambhir, who left the field on Sunday in some pain after he was struck on the elbow at short-leg by a sweep shot from Prior, twice leaned back to cut Swann to the boundary. He was beaten through the air pushing forward to the off-spinner and, although lbws can not be reviewed in this series, there was no dispute about the decision.
Tendulkar, who was applauded all the way as he walked to the crease, was beaten by Anderson’s first ball which snaked in between bat and pad. He turned the fifth delivery deftly to leg to get off the mark with a boundary.
Spectators started queuing from three a.m for the cash-only tickets on sale at the gates and the ground was filled to its 28,500 capacity.

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Ind vs Eng:Ind 141/4 at lunch

By Cricket Addiction ,




Set a victory target of 458, India had their backs pinned to the wall as they were reduced to 141 for four at lunch on the fifth and final day of the first cricket Test against England on Sunday.
The visitors lost three wickets for 61 runs from 26 overs of the opening session, the overnight batsmen Rahul Dravid (36), VVS Laxman (56) and left-hander Gautam Gambhir (22) being made to cool their heels in the pavilion.
Sachin Tendulkar, who apparently has recovered from a viral infection, and Suresh Raina were holding fort grimly on seven and four respectively at the break.
India are still trailing by 316 runs and 72 overs of the day, including the mandatory overs, are still to be negotiated.
Paceman James Anderson starred in the session for England, claiming both the wickets of overnight batsmen Dravid and Laxman.
Dravid was dismissed for 36 runs when, quite out of character, he fiddled with a delivery from Anderson and edged it to wicketkeeper Matt Prior at the Indian total 94 for two.

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Sunday, 24 July 2011

Ishant Sharma demolish the England's middle order

By Cricket Addiction ,





Bounding in from the Nursery end, Sharma accounted for Kevin Pietersen (1), Ian Bell (0) and Jonathan Trott (22).
Altogether four wickets fell in 32 balls for eight runs and at lunch England were 72 for five in their second innings, an overall lead of 260, with five sessions remaining.
Pietersen, England’s first innings hero with an unbeaten 202, edged a steepling delivery to Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps. The same combination accounted for Bell in the same over, nibbling fatally outside the off stump.
Openers Andrew Strauss (32) and Alastair Cook (1) also succumbed in the morning session after England had started the day well placed on five for no wicket after dismissing India for 286 on Saturday evening in reply to their 474 for eight declared.
Strauss, who has had a lean test run in the English summer so far, looked in good order, taking 10 runs off a Praveen Kumar over including consecutive leg-side boundaries.
But he lost Cook with the total on 23, caught by Dhoni off Kumar from a delivery moving just enough to catch the edge of the left-hander’s bat. It was only the second ball Cook had faced from Kumar and his first on Sunday in 43 minutes at the crease.
Trott hooked Sharma to the boundary and Strauss slashed Kumar for another four but there was still plenty in the pitch to interest the bowlers and both batsmen were forced on occasion to hurriedly adjust their shots.
Strauss, who had scored only 49 runs in his previous five test innings in the English summer, was dismissed lbw by off-spinner Harbhajan Singh trying to sweep a ball which would have hit middle stump.
Pietersen and Bell departed in a double wicket maiden from Sharma who then knocked Trott’s off stump back as the batsman went to drive.
Eoin Morgan, who failed to score in the first innings, and wicketkeeper Matt Prior were both on five at the interval.
Zaheer Khan, who left the field in England’s first innings with a hamstring strain, was still missing on Sunday morning while Sachin Tendulkar was also absent with a virus infection.

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Saturday, 23 July 2011

Waqar Younus on Afridi's retirement

By Cricket Addiction ,





“All retired players are missed. Similarly, Afridi will also be missed. It was the case even with me and many other renowned players like Imran Khan and Wasim Akram.
“But there are always other youngsters who can replace the retired players,” Waqar said while talking to reporters at the National Cricket Academy, where he joined the Fast Track Camp’s second phase, after missing the first one, which ended on July 18.
Afridi had announced his retirement over differences with the team management, including Waqar, manager Intikhab Alam and PCB chairman Ijaz Butt after leading the national side in the last one-day series against the West Indies.
He had also said he would not reverse his decision until the present PCB management was working.
However, Waqar, while ignoring Afridi’s retirement, had suggested to the PCB in his report of the West Indies tour to search for a young captain and groom him as ageing Misbah-ul-Haq could not remain fit for a long time.
To a question, Waqar dispelled the impression that he was working like a dictator as he could not maintain smooth relationship with various captains in the past.
He admitted that grooming a strong opening pair was still a problem and asked prominent openers to come forward to help him in this regard.
“We have been facing problems in the opening department since long and I request former opening players like Mohsin Khan, Mudassar Nazar, Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar to come forward to help us,” he said.
Waqar also urged former great Javed Miandad to help youngsters, particularly at the top of the order.
“I believe anyone who can help me should come forward because we have to take Pakistan cricket forward in the right direction,” he said.
Waqar endorsed the decision of chief selector Mohsin Khan by saying a good number of young players would be tested in the upcoming one-day series against low-rated Zimbabwe, which is going to be held in August this year.
He said the decision of holding the fast track camp was good and hoped players would overcome their flaws.

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KEVIN PIETERSEN RANKS LORD’S INNINGS AS ONE OF HIS BEST

By Cricket Addiction ,


Kevin “KP” Pietersen, England’s middle-order batsman, spoke fondly of his batting performance against Indiain the first match of the npower Test series, being played at Lord’s.
KP ranks Lord’s innings as one of his best ever under demanding conditions. The right-handed batsman played an unbeaten knock of 202 runs, which included 21 fours and one massive six. Pietersen’s knock powered England to a commanding position as the hosts declared their innings at 474 for eight.
KP stated that he is delighted with this feat, especially considering the situation and the type of surface.
The middle-order batsman hoped that English bowlers would make full use of the bowling conditions and send the Men in Blue packing, as Indians are not as strong when it comes to facing swing bowling.
“It's (my innings) is something to be proud of. Having gone in to bat on such a wicket and having to face MS Dhoni (in jest) as well for half an hour. History tells us that getting result at the Lord's is quite difficult. But the wicket is aiding seam and swing and we all know swing is alien to Indian batting,” said Pietersen.
The 31-year-old cricketer acknowledged the efforts of England’s top-order batsmen and believes that it was their pains that made life easy for incoming batsmen. KP concludes that English top-order absorbed the pressure of the new ball and the early swing, thus batsmen coming in later capitalized on their start.
Pietersen said, "Credit to the first three batsmen (deserve credit) for they ate up a lot of balls. When it's seaming and swinging you try to get overs in the other bowlers. They did a great job for men like Matt Priorand Graeme Swann to take advantage of what's been created a day before.”
KP also accomplished another milestone in this innings; the right-handed batsman reached 6,000 runs in Test cricket. Pietersen claimed that he is not finished yet and is determined to get his name in the 10,000 runs club. However, the 31-year-old cricketer asserts that to get there he needs to bat the same way he did against India.
Pietersen was also relieved to silence his critics, who were pointing towards his lean patch. The batsman said that everyone goes through a rough time but one should not lose hope and work hard, as sooner or later success does follow.

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Thursday, 21 July 2011

Problems for India Zaheer Khan is Injured

By Cricket Addiction ,



England's batsmen reached 127-2 against an India side that lost key bowler Zaheer Khan to an apparent hamstring injury on a rain-affected opening day of the first test at Lord's overnight.
Khan was comfortably India's best bowler, claiming figures of 2-18 before he pulled up in the middle of the 42nd over, clutching his thigh, and then promptly left the field. His fitness will be monitored overnight.
"He showed he's probably the bowler we miss the most," India coach Duncan Fletcher said. "Probably the others lacked experience so, as it was, him going off was a big miss.
"From our point of view I think maybe we would have been happy with three wickets. I think if he had stayed there and got three or four we would have ended up having a very good day."

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England 127-2 on Opening Day of First Cricket Test Against India

By Cricket Addiction ,




England is 127-2 at tea on the opening day of the first cricket Test against India at Lord’s in London.
Jonathan Trott was 58 not out and Kevin Pietersen scored 22 before rain and bad light brought an early tea break. Zaheer Khan took 2-18 for the visitors.
The match is the 2,000th in the 134 years of elite Test cricket. England can overtake India as the top team in the International Cricket Council rankings if it wins the four-match series by two Tests or more

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