The duo Stuart Broad and Ravi Bopara snatched a victory from the hands of Indian by playing some sensible and calm cricket at Manchester. With the help of these two England managed to beat India by three wickets. At One stage England were 114/7 chasing a small target of 213 runs.
Earlier Rahul Dravid after winning the toss decided to bat first, but they didn’t started well and loss three quick wickets when 32 runs on the board in the 12th Over. However Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh try to stabilize the Indian innings but part timer Kevin Pietersen got rid of Sachin Tendulkar when he was on 55 to reduce the Indian score to 103/4.
M.S. Dhoni was bowled by beauty from left armer Monty Paneaser on 13. Now it’s up to Yuvraj Singh to get the Indian total to some way around 230-240 mark. He was well on course but he was finally out by the beauty of delivery by Stuart Broad on 71. After his dismissal Indians score look like they don’t pass even 200 run mark but thanks to Zaheer Khan and Piyush Chawla who played sensibly to get pass the Indian total to 212 runs. Indians finally bowled out for 212 in 49.4 Overs.
After setting a small target of 213 runs, Indian bowler Zaheer Khan started well and give Indians a first breakthrough in his firt over when he bowled A.Cook out. Ajit Agarkar also join the party with four quick wickets and England in trouble at 95/5 in 17th over.
Ramesh Pawar strikes in his very first over when he got Owasis Shah and reduces England to 110/6. On the other hand Paul Collingwood playing really well at other end but he also not able to handle the pressure and got run out on 47 and leave England tattering at 114/7 needing another 99 runs for victory in 27 overs.
Stuart Broad (45 not out)and Ravi Bopara (43 not out) sees England home in the 48th Over and England won the match by three wickets. Taking their lead to 3-1 in the Seven match ODI series.
Sturat Broad was declared Man of the Match with his brilliant 45 not out with bat and for taking 4-51 in his 10 over spell.
Indian Captain Rahul Dravid Won the toss for four successive time and decide to bat first at Manchester in the Fourth One Day International against England in the seven match ODI series. England is ahead by 2-1 in the seven match ODI series.
Match had started from 7.00 PM (Indian Time which will be Day/Night Encounter)
Final Playing XI for Third ODI at Manchester for Both Team – From England perspective Andrew Flintoff has returned into the team in place of Chris Tremlett. However Dimitri Mascarenhas has not able to recover from the injury, rest of the England team are same that played at Edgbaston. While Indians made one changes picked Ajit Agarkar in place of Munaf patel.
England Squad: Alastair Cook, Matt Prior (WK), Ian Bell, Owais Shah, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood (C), Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Andrew Flintoff
Earlier Post: India Vs England 4th ODI at Manchester
Indian team which is down by 2-1 in seven match ODI series must perform well today to remain in the contest of this series. Indian who have managed to win only One ODI at Bristol only by narrow margin of 9 runs in the three matches played so far. On the other hand England able to beat the Indians by comprehensively in the two matches they played.
Andrew Flintoff may return for this ODI and this is really good news for England team because without him they have beaten Indians at Edgbaston and if he played in this match then they have upper hand for this game.
Indians struggle so far in their fielding department and bowling at the depth overs. So they need to look out seriously in these two departments of the game.
So far England has manage to score 288,320 & 281 runs in their previous three outing against India in this series. With their depth in the batting line up they have showed to the Indians that they can manage any score. Their bowling also looks much aggressive than the Indians and their bowler able to keep the Indian batsman tight in some matches.
Indian fielding looks pathetic with some of the old age players, but they need to tighten up their fielding as well as bowling in the depth over. Also causing concern is the Indian seam attack, while Zaheer Khan and Rudra Pratap Singh have been pretty consistent, both Ajit Agarkar and Munaf Patel have been well below par so far in the series.
The bowling coach of the visiting team, Venkatesh Prasad, said, "In the death overs we must work to improve on our variation which we are working on. That’s all I can say at this point of time."
They really miss out the presence of seventh batsman in the last game. So they may pick seven-four combination for today’s match.
Match will begin from 7.00 PM (Indian Time which will be Day/Night Encounter)
England Squad: Matt Prior (WK), Ian Bell, Owais Shah, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood (C), Andrew Flintoff, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Monty Panesar
Geoffery Boycott gave a detailed account of where India lost the third ODI against England at Egbaston and how 'Team India' can come back in the seven match series.
On India's decision to bat second at Egbaston, Boycott said "I think it would have been better for India to bat first. I have always been a believer that India play better when they bat first. I think they are not as good chasing as they are batting first. Somebody will come up with statistics and tell me they have done just as well chasing. But I think if you are chasing and it’s a small total, then it’s easy but if you have to chase a big total, I don’t think they are that clever."
When asked about India's team composition and the think tank's tactic to play the extra bowler for a batsman, he said "Whatever team you pick, weather you pick an extra batsman or an extra bowler, the crux of the matter is how well they play and quite frankly, Indian seam bowling wasn’t too clever. Munaf Patel was quite poor. I am a big fan of his but he did not look fit to me. He looked stiff in the back, he was bowling within himself, that about 8-10 miles slower than he should be bowling."
Boycott wasn't impressed with the Indian fielding either.
"The Indian fielding in the outfield was pretty poor, it has been a bone of contention for quite some time, a number of Indian fielders are pretty poor athletes in the outfield. They don’t save enough runs which in the end could be crucial to winning a match, too many easy singles for England, fielders saving ones gave easy runs away. They were sleeping on the back-foot, they were not ready for it. They were not alert," he said.
When asked about India's batting performance Boycott said, "Sourav (Ganguly) played pretty well, played sensibly. Rahul Dravid played some marvelous shots, some of them were absolutely fantastic, and Yuvraj Singh, I could never understand why Karthik could bat above him. He’s a match winner, Dinesh Karthik is not. I think they should shove him up the order. You got to say 'you are the next match winner.'
Introspecting on the overall match Boycott felt England was the better team on Monday.
He said "England played better than India. They bowled well, Jimmy Anderson and Broad bowled fantastically. They got England to a great start, they bowled tight and they kept Tendulkar tied down. Jimmy Andersen has got Sachin out quite a few times. So Sachin has to think about that."
"I think England gave a far better performance than India," the former England opener added.
On the rest of the series and India's prospects to bounce back, he felt India has to improve on it's grey areas and show more intensity on the field.
"I think they can comeback, they are still a very talented side, but they got to improve in certain areas. When you are playing one day cricket you can do well for twenty minutes, 5 overs and then suddenly the game can go away from you. If you have had 2-3 overs from a bowler, if you drop catches, misfield, then suddenly the whole tenure of the game changes. You got to be on the ball and up for it every single ball, every single minute for the three and a half hours you are on the field. You switch off, loose concentration then you have lost the game," Geoffery Boycott concluded.
Ian Bell (79 runs of 89 ball) Played superbly to help England to put very good target for the Indians. India need 282 runs to win the 3rd ODI and go 2-1 in the Seven match ODI series.
Earlier Indian captain Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to field first with some cloud around Birmingham ground. England Opener started well and manage to hit 76 runs in 13.4 overs before Mathew Prior depart for 34 runs of 40 ball on the bowling of Munaf Patel. Just 20 runs later England loss their second wicket in the face of A.Cook when he was caught by Yuvraj Singh on the bowling of Ramesh Pawar. Kevin Pietersen also not last longer and he was dismissed by beautiful delivery from Piyush Chawla on 9.
England Captain Paul Collingwood (44 run) and Ian Bell (79 run) give some resistance to the England score by putting 85 runs for the fourth wicket. But Paul Collingwood who was looking dangerous fro Indians is finally dismissed by superb flighted delivery from Ramesh Pawar.
After wards England loss wicket at regular interval and was not given any freedom by Indian bowlers to score their runs quickly. However Stuart Broad & Chris Ttremlett played some lusty blow to help England reach a good score of 281/8 in their allotted 50 Over. Chris Tremlett scored 19 runs of 9 deliveries with one four and one huge six and Stuat Broad scored 10 runs of 11 deliveries.
Now Indians who is playing with only six batsman needs to play really well to achieve this challenging task of 282 runs to win.
Dimitri Mascarenhas withdrew with a hand injury before the toss and was replaced by batsman Owais Shah.
Flintoff has been rested because of an irritation and inflammation inside the right knee joint.
Match Summary:
England Innings: 282/8 in 50 Overs
Ian Bell – 79Paul Collingwood – 44Alastair Cook – 40
Ramesh Pawar – 10-0-45-2
R.P Singh – 9-1-55-3
India need 282 runs to win this match in allotted 50 Overs.
England Squad: Alastair Cook, Matt Prior (WK), Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood (C), Owais Shah, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Chris Tremlet
Indian Captain Rahul Dravid Won the toss and decide to bowl first at Edgbaston in the Third One Day International against England in the seven match ODI series. The series is level as 1-1.
Match had started from 2.45 PM(Indian Time)
Final Playing XI for Third ODI at Edgbaston for Both Team – From England perspective they have major set back because there two major player Andrew Flintoff & Dimitri Mascarenhas has been ruled out from third ODI.Dimitri Mascarenhas injured himself while warming up and has been replaced by Owais Shah. For this One Dayer Monty Paneaser get back in to the team While Indians made one changes picked fit Zaheer Khan in place of Ajit Agarkar.
England Squad: Alastair Cook, Matt Prior (WK), Ian Bell, Owais Shah, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood (C), Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Chris Tremlet
Earlier Post: India vs England 3rd ODI at Edgbaston
Indian team batted brilliantly at Bristol to level the series by 1-1 and now seen in set for the third ODI which will be played at Edgbaston. Chasing the target of 330 for victory England made 320/8 and India win only by narrow margin of 9 runs but the win is win. Whoever win the third game have upper hand in the series so today’s match will be crunch match for both the team. The team who win have advantage in the following matches.
England have big setback because of Andrew Flintoff who is not fully fit for third ODI. England have called in Jon Lewis as a cover for Flintoff. While, the Indian team remains unchanged for the game at Edgbaston. Zaheer who missed the last match due to flu is all set to get back and will most probably replace Ajit Agarkar.
Edgbaston wickets look another batting wickets , so whoever win the toss chose to bat first at this wicket. M.S.Dhoni said it’s always good to have bat first and put 300 plus runs on the board and put opponents right under pressure from the word go. He also said we are working hard of fielding and it will improve slowly and slowly not in a day.
At Edgbaston Indian team has played four One Day International and they manage to win only one of those. After leveling the series at Bristol Indian team are running high on confidence and they will surely keen to change this equation at Edgbaston.
England Squad: Matt Prior (WK), Ian Bell, Owais Shah, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood (C), Andrew Flintoff, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Monty Panesar
Indian team who was down and out after loosing the first game of seven match series, bounce back superbly in second ODI at Bristol to beat the England by 9 runs in high scoring cricket match.
Earlier Rahul Dravid won the toss and decided to bat first on a wicket that looks like run feasters under beautifull shun shining weather condition. His decision was proved right by the most successful opening pair in the world Sachin Tendulkar & Saurav Ganguly. They put on 113 runs for the first wicket. They both battle cautiously in first 12 over but after that Ganguly picked up the tempo when he slammed a six and a four off consecutive balls off Andrew Flintoff in the 17th over.
On the other hand Tendulkar looked in an ominous touch right from the word go and he played like champ. England had their first breakthrough in the 20th over when Ganguly spooned a catch off Flintoff for 39, leaving India one down for 113. Tendulkar, however, remained unperturbed as he motored along with a flurry of boundaries around the ground.
Sachin Tendulkar who looks to get his hundred but he misses out only by one run, when he was given out on 99 (112 balls) caught behind the wicket on the bowling of Flintoff. After his dismissal Rahul Dravid arrive to the crease and played fluently right from start and score brilliant 92 of just 63 balls. Yuvraj Singh wh came at no. 3 miss his half century by one run and got out on 49 runs. However M.S. Dhoni and Rahul Dravid pushed the tempo by scoring quick runs and get the Indian score to pass 300 run mark.
At the need try to score quickly Indian loss some quick wickets and Flintoff (5/56) ended with his first five wicket haul in ODI.
Chasing a huge target of 330 for win England openers started well and manage to score 70 plus in first 10 overs. Now Rahul Dravid made the much needed bowling change and bring Munaf Patel and he doesn’t disappointed his Captain and got two wickets in one over in which he dismissed Prior twice but one was off no ball.
England, meanwhile, had their share of luck with a number of straightforward catches as well as tough went down. Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen were both dropped and managed to put on 50 in 43 balls.
When this partnership looking to threatened the Indians Piyush Chawla got rid off Kevin Pietersen clean bowled by the Googly. After that Indian spinner (Chawla & Pawar) bowls some tight line and manage to keep wicket at regular Interval.
Paul Collingwood scored 27 before got out bowled by Chawla. Andre Flintoff was beaten in the flight by Ramesh Pawar and caught at deep midwicket when he tries to hit him out of the park. The first match centurion Ian Bell kept his cool at other end but since the run rate was climbing over after over he was also foxed by Piyush Chawla and caught at long on for 64 240/7. After wards many people think that match is over but Dimitri Mascarenas got England within striking distance of the Indian total, as the all-rounder brought up a 50-run eighth wicket partnership in just 36 balls. Mascarenas' efforts, though, came to a halt in the 49th over with England still needing 31 runs.
Stuart Broad slammed two sixes in the last over off Munaf Patel, but the visitors managed to hold on and keep England out by a mere nine runs.
Rahul Dravid was declared Man of the Match with his brilliant 92* of 63 balls.
Indian Captain Rahul Dravid Won the toss and decide to bat first at Bristol in the Second One Day International against England in the seven match ODI series.
Match had started from 7.00 PM(Indian Time which will be Day/Night Encounter)
Final Playing XI for Second ODI for Both Team – England had made one changes from their winning squad they have dropped Monty Paneaser and in place of him pick Chris Tremlet. While Indians made two changes picked Ramesh Pawar in place of Gautam Gambhir and Munaf Patel in place of Zaheer Khan who has not recovered from Flu.
England Squad: Alastair Cook, Matt Prior (WK), Ian Bell, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood (C), Andrew Flintoff, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Chris Tremlet, James Anderson
Earlier Post: India vs England 2nd ODI at Bristol
Indian team didn’t started their ODI campaign as they expected and they lost the first ODI by young England side by 104 runs at Rose Bowl. Now before second Day/Night encounter at Bristol five major players (Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, R.P Singh & Ajit Agarkar) are suffering from flu and they didn’t came out on net for practice on Thursday.
In Press conference Rahul Dravid said after loosing the first ODI that "We can't afford to lose four wickets in about 30 runs. We just can't afford to do that. There were a couple of lose shots up there and we just need to look at that". And that’s right too because while chasing the target of 288 for win in 50 overs they started badly and lost four quick wickets. Few wickets are thrown by the batsman himself and that can’t be done at international level.
Now Indian think tanks are confused for selecting the right XI for second ODI at Bristol, whether to go with five specialist bowler or stick with seven-four combination.
On the other side England Ryne Sidebottom hasn’t recovered from injury and may sit out in next two ODI.They are likely to go with same XI that had beated India by 104 runs in the first ODI at Rose Bowl.
On Last two occasion when Indians played here they have scored more than 300 runs in their fifty Overs and they have won both game comfortably, one in 1999 world cup and one in Natwest Series 2002 against Sri Lanka, more importantly Sachin Tendulkar scored century at both times.
India have a few factors to consider while picking their XI - the pitch, which the curator feels is "a 300 wicket" and the size of the ground, which is conspicuously small. It might be tricky playing two spinners here, especially with the 30-yard circle dangerously close to the boundary line at the pavilion end. One meaty hit is all it will take to clear the Hammond roof, the Grace pavilion, and the Jack Russell suite. Three legends floored with one stroke.
Match will begin from 7.00 PM (Indian Time which will be Day/Night Encounter)
England Squad: Alastair Cook, Matt Prior (WK), Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood (C), Andrew Flintoff, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Dimitri Mascarenhas
England beat India by 104 runs to go 1-0 up in the seven matches ODI series. James Anderson outstanding bowling performance after Ian Bell and Aliastar Cook maiden ODI hundreds help England to beat India by 104 runs in one sided affair.
Earlier Rahul Dravid won the toss and decides to bowl first on a wicket that’s look like batting paradise. Rahul Dravid made this decision by seeing overcast weather and hoping some dampness in the pitch but his decision was looking terrible after 10th over of England inning.
England after putting into bat started well by avoiding some anxious moments in the first 10 overs but in the process they lost Mathew Prior who hit one huge six over long off on the bowling of Zaheer Khan but he got Mat Prior out in his next.
But it was day of Englands players, especially Ian Bell (126 not out) and Aliastar Cook (102 runs) who scored their maiden ODI hundreds and they put England in commanding position. They put on 178 runs for the second wicket partnership before Cook got out on 102 runs but the platform was set for the rest of England Batsman to follow and did their best to get the total of 287/2 in 50 overs.
Indians look pathetic in the field with the bowl and bat, they are truly outplayed by England in all department of the Game.
India, however, were off to a terrible start to their run chase as opener Sourav Ganguly was run out in a mix-up with partner Sachin Tendulkar for two, while Gautam Gambhir departed for three after fishing at a James Anderson delivery, leaving the Indians rattled on 19-2.
Sachin Tendulkar played some stroke without finding the gaps in the field and he was gain dismissed by James Anderson when he tries to flick him over midwicket but manage to give a simple catch to Ravi Bopara and leaves Indian to 34/3. Yuvraj Singh got out in the same over caught brilliantly in the second slip by Aliastar Cook without troubling the scorer. Now Indians are tattering at 34/4.
Now all are up to M.S.Dhoni and Rahul Dravid to guide Indians home safely and they try to reestablish the inning by adding 68 runs for the fifth wicket, however runrate was climbing regularly in each and every over and that’s made Dhoni to hit some shots but he fails to do when he try to hit come back man Andrew Flintoff bouncer over fine leg but manage a simple catch to wicketkeeper. Andrew Flintoff celebrated his return from injury with his wicket for 19.
Dimitri Mascarenas then claimed his first ODI wicket when he removed Dravid for 46.
Zaheer Khan and Dinesh karthik however hit some lusty blow towards the end but it was not enough and they finally got all out on the last bowl of innings on 184 Dinesh Karthik remained not out on 44.
Now England are one up in the series and Indians need to improve in all deortement before second ODI which is also Day/Nigh encounter at Bristol which will be played on 24th of August (Friday).
Ian Bell was declared Man of the Match with his brilliant 126 not out.
England Squad: Alastair Cook, Matt Prior (WK), Ian Bell, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood (C), Andrew Flintoff, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Monty Panesar, James Anderson
After winning the test series by 1-0 after 21 years of gap Rahul Dravid and his man is set to fire all cylinders from ODI campaign which begins from today (21st August). After winning only third test series in England in 75 years of test cricket Indian team celebrated their achievement last week and now they are ready to go in the seven match ODI series.
They have to proof lot after the disastrous performance in the World Cup 2007 and they came up good by beating Bangladesh by 2-0 in their home yard and South Africa by 2-1 in Ireland. So far India had played eight ODI’s after world cup and they manage to won 6 of those with one loss and one rain washed drawn. So they are trying to improve a lot with mixture of youngster and old fox in their squad.
England is the home team and some of their players have been involved in domestic one-dayers recently, yet they're hoping for "an upset". Their best all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is making come back after the gap of three months dew to ankle injury and he is ready to go to the Indians. Maximum players (Six of them) in England team on average not played more than 20 ODI and if we left Flintoff and Collingwood out of the side then total they have played around 200 ODI’s all together which is far less than what Sachin Tendulkar Played alone.
England is on the rebuild path and they have some of the very talented players with some of them playing really well in this county season. For Paul Collingwood, captaincy of the one-day team hasn't started on the right note. He has already seen his team crumble to the West Indies but hopes the return of Flintoff will change the script.
For India there is some headache for the selectors since Gautam Gambhir came out good against the Scottish team, so if Gautam Gambhir will open the inning then either Sachin or Saurav have top bat down the order.
Yuvraj Singh who has sitted out through out the test series against England is also keen to make some runs. For Munaf Patel who is making comeback after injury is not bowled in the two matches he played so far one against Scotland and one against England Lions. So he also wants to get back on track.
After beating England in the Test Series Indian cricket team is flying high on color and they are ready to take the battle against the England cricket team. India will play seven ODI match against England Cricket team, three of which is Day/Night. First match of the series will start from Tuesday 21st August 2007 which will be day/night encounter.
Last time when Indians were here they have beaten England in the Natwest trophy ODI final with the brilliance of Md. Kaif and Yuvraj Singh chasing 326 for win in the final. Lets hope they play well this time also.
India Vs England Seven match ODI series 2007 Schedule
Indian bowlers were smashed around all over the park by England Lions batsman on Saturday. After they were slumped to 149/5 they manage to get close to 300 marks due to wayward line and length by Indian fast bowler. Specially Zaheer Khan (7-0-59-0) and Munaf Patel (9-0-60-1) who had hit all around the park by England Lions batsman.
Despite stand-in skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's optimism, India's bowlers need to get their act right ahead of the seven-match One-Day cricket series against England starting here on Tuesday.
Although, England Lions skipper Vikram Solanki had some comforting words for his opponents, saying, "They're coming off a great Test series and it takes a different approach to bowl in One-Dayers," the fact remains that Zaheer Khan was struggling to get his rhythm right while Munaf Patel was even worse as he sprayed the ball all over and was taken to the cleaners by Luke Wright whose adventurous strokeplay left everyone impressed.
Then again, having conceded 296 runs, the Indian batters were denied a chance to flex their muscles due to inclement weather.
"Naturally, we were disappointed that the batsmen did not get a chance. But we have some good batsmen and that will show in the One-Day series," said Dhoni, who was excited looking ahead to the forthcoming series.
"I think it's going to be a good series because England are a good side, and performing well against them is always going to be a good challenge for us," he said.
Now the scene is set to for a very good seven match ODI series against England which begins with the Day/Night encounter from Tuesday.
As expected, So far at the end of first innings England Lions played some great cricket against Indians and they piles a huge score of 296/8 in their allotted 50 overs with the help of 60 from Vikram Solanki and 56 from Luke Wright.
Earlier Indian captain M.S Dhoni won the toss and elected to field first in the absence of Rahul Dravid. Since their was overcast in the morning and rain expected in the afternoon. But it proves costly when Luke Wrights and Vikram Solanki hit the Indian bowler all around the park. Specially Luke Wright who scored brilliant half century in just 34 balls before he get out on the bowling of Ramesh Pawar.
Ajit Agarkar strikes in his second over to give India a first break through but the dangerous Wrights and Vikram Solanki manage to play Indian bowlers very easily and score some lusty boundary in between 96 run stand for second wicket.
Ramesh Pawar taken three quick wickets to reduce England Lions from 108/1 to 149/5. But Paul Nixon and Ravi Bopara played really cautiously and take some boundary in between them to move score board ticking. Both put on 73 runs for the Seventh wicket and this partnership was looking really dangerous from Indians point of view but thanks to part timer Yuvraj Singh who got the wicket of Paul Nixon and reduce the England Lions score to 222/6 in the 40th over. Ravi Bopara who was played well for his 37 runs was finally out on the bowling of Munaf Patel.
Munaf was the most disappointing, erratic with his length and timid with pace. He was put off rhythm in the very first over and did not recover after, prompting questions about his fitness. Powar was the most impressive, mixing his flight well and not hesitating to throw it up when faced with an aggressive batsman. He was rewarded for his adventurous streak, something that could be said of Wright with the bat.
Now Indians who is playing with only six batsman needs to play really well to achieve this daunting task of 297 runs to win.
Match Summary:
England Lions: 296/8 in 50 Overs
V.Solanki – 60 Luke Wrights – 56 Paul Nixon – 39 Ravi bopara – 37
Ajit Agarkar – 2/41
Ramesh Pawar – 3/52
India need 297 runs to win this match in allotted 50 Overs.
England Lions Vikram Solanki (C), Darren Maddy, Luke Wright, Ian Bell, Owais Shah Ravi Bopara, Paul Nixon, Chris Schofield, Tim Bresnan, Jon Lewis, James Kirtley
Indians: Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Ramesh Powar, Piyush Chawla, Munaf Patel
Indian Cricket Teamafter beating Scotland by seven wickets on Thursday may have to face more battling game against England Lions on Saturday. England Lions have some players who are performing really well at county level and they have already selected to play Twenty20 inaugural world cup in South Africa.
In the last macth when asked to Rahul Dravid whch stras player are rested for this match then he Joked: all players are star cricketer in our team but few of the star are rested for this Games sice we can’t leave all the stars at one go, however Sachin, Saurav and Zaheer will be rested for todays game and he is right Since India beat Scotland comprehensively by seven wickets.
England Lions have formiddible line up, they carry players like Owasis shah, Vikram Solanki, James Kirtely & Luke Wright. And they can turn their day on when they are on song.
Indians are likely to give rest to some of the key players in this match. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar & Zaheer khan will may not play this game. However Bengla Tiger Saurav Ganguly and Stylish batsman Rohit Sharma may get the chance in this match.
Indians have to battle more and have to show more discipline if they don’t want to loose this warm up match against England Lions which is the last warm up before Indians play with England in Seven ODI series starting on Tuesday.
Against Scotland they went with Six Batsman and five specialist bowlers but they are thinking of Playing Seven Batsman and four Bowlers against England Lions.
If Indians goes with seven batsman then they have to look out for part timer and they have the options like Yuvraj Singh who can ball spin in the middle overs, Rohit Sharma is another option who can snick few overs. We know M.S. Dhoni as wicket keeper but he can also bowls some brisk overs as he shown against Srilanka A at Leicester. If he can bowl then it can provide more options for the Indians in the coming future.
Indians have to watch out for few new faces they are really dangerous batters like Luke Wright; he is very intelligent cricketer and can hit the bowl long distance. James Kirtely is another player who bowls beautifully in the depth over and very hard to hit him in those final overs.
England Lions Squad: Vikram Solanki (C), Luke Wright, Ian Bell, Owais Shah ,Darren Maddy, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Paul Nixon (WK), Jon Lewis, Jeremy Snape, James Kirtley.
