The Golden Isles - A Story

[Imager36]

Tour Match Result:-



Although we won, the result wasn't really the important thing... That was the Key Clashes!

Clash #1 - Batsmen - Cooper vs Bravo vs Bascombe for 1 place - All three failed. 101 from Chris Gayle in about 70 balls (I was trying to get him out so these guys could have a go!) showed how easy the pitch was to bat on, and the bowlers to bat against, Cooper got 15, Bravo got 6, Bascombe got 1. My pick is Cooper as he is in form and younger than Bascombe. Bravo is unlucky.

Clash #2 - Seamers - Sammy vs Kelly vs Roach for 2 places - Roach, 2/60 and Kelly, 1/39, just make it in ahead of Sammy, 1/46.

Clash #3 - Spinners - Martin vs Permaul for 1 place - Martin, with 3/41, makes it in ahead of Permaul, 1/32, although his figures are admirable seeing as he conceded 12 in his first over!

[hazzac]

Love reading this story!
Keep it up Imager and good luck to the windies

[Imager36]

Arrghh. I hate it when I lose like this...



My one 'suprise' in the line-up was to put Dwayne Bravo on Opener duty, but I do need to find a second opener and these 5 games are his. In the next series, Cruickshank will be considered for selection if I like his test form.

I won the toss and bowled. Roach bowled terribly, and with Sammy taking his place we probably would have won this game. Wallace, Bravo and Kelly each bowled respectably, although I was concerned with Martin's lack of wickets. Jadhav and Sehwag (batting at 6) were the main reasons the Indian score wasn't lower.

Bravo failed his first match as opener He went for 7 in the 5th over, and it was really an innings of four men. Gayle batted reasonably, making 23, but Barath and Chanderpaul were both fantastic. Chanderpaul's 86 came off only 70 balls, giving us a chance with the run rate, and Barath seemed to be in for ever, his 102 coming in 131 balls. Flokes added a nice cameo batting at 7 with 27 from 26, but he fell, and with us needing only 5 an over for the last 6, Barath did as well. The tail failed to add anything of substance, and a winnable match fell out of our grasp.

[Imager36]

One change for match 2, with Sammy coming in for Roach. Match 2 went a lot better than match 1.



Even I know to bowl when conditions are bad. India, apparently, don't. They won the toss and batted. After 5 overs, they were 3/1. At another point, (considerably) later in their innings, they were 31/5. Unfortunately, we let it slip a bit and Jadhav and Pathan batted admirably, leaving us with the ask of getting about 3 an over.

We took it slowly, knowing how tough the pitch was. Gayle and Bravo put on 63 for the first wicket, and once they'd both gone, Barath, Chanderpaul and Sarwan easily polished off the last of the runs. Something gives me the feeling that that match was too easy. Anyway, that keeps the series tied at 1-1.

[Imager36]

At this point in the series, I've decided to take a step back from the current series, and have a look at my previous ODI series against India. Bring on the nostalgia!

2009 - India in the West Indies - 4 ODIs

Result - India 3 - 1 West Indies

Players of the series - West Indies - Runako Morton, India - Virender Sehwag

West Indies Squad - http://childishthings.co.uk/forum/sh...1&postcount=26

Number of squad in current squad - 5/15

Match of the Series - http://childishthings.co.uk/forum/sh...9&postcount=27

Summary - This series went down as one fantastic match and three thrashings.


2012 - India in the West Indies - 3 ODIs

Result - India 2 - 1 West Indies

Players of the Series - West Indies - Dwayne Bravo, India - Murali Vijay

West Indies squad - http://childishthings.co.uk/forum/sh...&postcount=197

Number of squad in current squad - 12/15

Match of the series - http://childishthings.co.uk/forum/sh...&postcount=198

Summary - This time, it was one close match and two thrashings. I feel one-match series may have suited me against India in the past.

[Imager36]

I think all the nostalgia may have had an adverse effect.



India won the toss again, and chose to bat correctly this time. Their first wicket partnership went on for 174 runs, but Patel and Rahane weren't the batsmen that did the damage, and if they had carried on, we'd have been chasing somewhere nearer 200 than 300. It was Tiwary who did the real damage, getting 61 off only 31 balls. Ant Martin's 10 overs conceding only 35 was the only bowling to cheer about.

At one point, we were 53/3, but Barath and Sarwan rebuilt the innings and Flokes put on a run-a-ball 47 to give us a fighting chance. Sammy made a nice 25, but too slowly, and we lost by quite some margin in the end.

Because of his continued failings, Kevon Cooper is out, and Darren Bravo makes his way in to the team.

[CyberCricketer]

You seem to have found a very consistent star in Adrian Barath.

At least your batting hasn't collapsed to a low total at any point in this ODI series, I'll be interested to see what happens if you bat first.

[Imager36]

All the things you wished for, we batted first, Barath was consistent, there was a collapse and we recovered from it. Looks like a cracking final match.



As I say, we lost the toss and were put in to bat. Gayle and Bravo got the side off to a good (if a little slow) start, and Barath came in and built on that when Gayle went for 22. After Bravo and Barath added 52 in a partnership, Bravo was run out for 37. Chanderpaul and Sarwan, two of the most reliable batsmen in the side fell for 3 and 4 respectively. Barath fell for 59, off 58 balls with 10 fours and a six when the score became 139/5. This was perilous, as a score around 200 would have been awful on a very decent pitch. Darren Bravo was next to go, having scored 31 off only 21 balls, exactly the kind of cameo that had been needed, but Flokes fell very soon after for 17, with the score becoming 177/7 as Sammy was joined by Kelly at the crease. The two put on a partnership of 62, before Sammy went at the end of the 49th over for 32 off 58 balls, with 2 fours and 1 six, and the new batsman, Martin, was not to face a ball of the final over (to be bowled by Irfan Pathan). Kelly hit four boundary 4s off the over, leaving him with a score of 47* off 45, including only 6 boundaries (remembering 4 in the last over!).

Rahane went for a duck in the first over, caught and bowled by Sammy. Patel, his opening partner, did far better, eventually going for 56, LBW by Martin. From 101/2, Gavin Wallace swept away five Indian batsmen (giving him his best ever one day figures), and they were gone for 157. It's perfectly set up for the 5th and final match.

Team News - Permaul replaces Martin for the final match, a risk for a decider.

[Imager36]

When I warned that this match should be epic, I was expecting to be beaten hollow. For a long time, it looked like I would be.



As with tradition, we won the toss and chose to field. Kelly bowled Patel quickly, and two wickets were taken without a run being scored in the 19th and then 20th overs, leaving India 71/3 after 20 had gone. Tiwary came in and hit 83 off 69, which greatly increased their total, making it nearer 6 than 5 an over. Sehwag also got 61 off 34, and although Kelly ended up with 4, including Sehwag and Tiwary, we still had to chase 289, which was always going to be a tough score to chase on a pitch taking spin, with two world class spinners in Jadeja and Mishra, why they didn't play Singh is beyond me.

From 45/0, with Gayle in fine form, we were suddenly dumped to 52/3, with reliable Barath gone. Sarwan failed reasonably quickly, but Darren Bravo hung on for a while. It didn't seem as if there was even a chance of a win though, as we needed 7 an over, and there was even less chance of one when Bravo, Flokes and Sammy all fell quickly. Then came Richard Kelly. I felt that there was a chance of him staying in for a while, maybe giving us a glimmer of hope, but what he did was out of the ordinary. His 72 came in 67 balls, with 10 fours, his highest one day score ever. He was absolutely sensational. I think I might move him up to 8 in the order for the next series Chanderpaul ended on 108 off 101 balls, with 15 fours, and was equally good, but we expect it from him in what could, yet again, be his final season in the team.

[Imager36]

The Test squad for the tour of Australia (It's the same squad as the test squad for India, but with Kelly instead of Powell)

C.Gayle (O)
D.Cruickshank (O)
A.Barath (BAT)
S.Chanderpaul (BAT) (C)
R.Sarwan (BAT) (VC)
D.Bravo (BAT)
K.Cooper (BAT)
M.Bascombe (BAT)
I.Flokes (WK)
D.Bravo (ALL)
K.Stoute (ALL)
R.Kelly (ALL?)
D.Sammy (SEAM)
K.McClean (SEAM)
K.Roach (SEAM)
V.Permaul (SPIN)
A.Martin (SPIN)
G.Wallace (SPIN)

[CyberCricketer]

What are Richard Kelly's domestic batting averages?

[Imager36]

His one day batting average is 20.04, but I should have realised because his first-class average is 31.23.

[Imager36]

C.Gayle
D.Cruickshank
A.Barath
S.Chanderpaul (C)
R.Sarwan
K.Cooper
I.Flokes (WK)
D.Bravo
R.Kelly
D.Sammy
A.Martin

In this first team, I take a large risk. By playing a 4-man attack, I admit that Australia's batting is too strong, and hope that only one spinner will suffice. Martin, who has a slightly better test average, steps in ahead of Wallace and Permaul. The extra batsman is Cooper who comes in for his debut, as Bravo is badly injured and Bascombe hasn't totally impressed previously. Kelly makes his first test appearance of the season ahead of Stoute, Roach and McClean, and Flokes is restored to the test side, back from injury.

EDIT - Just as a matter of interest for you people who play with Australia, their team is Hughes, Rush (presumably regen), Clarke, Ponting, Jaques, Watson, Haddin, Johnson, Butterworth, Cockley and Siddle.

[CyberCricketer]

Butterworth as an international bowler? Wow...

[Imager36]

I didn't think Australia were as bad as this?



A very good way to start a series, with my 4 man attack gamble paying off. We won the toss, made the easy decision to bat first.

Gayle went relatively early, after he had got 6, and the score was 27. Cruickshank and Barath played well, and Cruickshank fell first of the two, for 48. Barath followed soon after for 31, run out by Chanderpaul. Sarwan got 62, and Cooper ended on 9, dismissed by a fantastic diving catch from a 37 year old Ricky Ponting. After he had gone, we were 224/5 and in trouble. Flokes came in and batted very well. He almost nibbled at two early on, but from then he was almost flawless. His 106 was built around standing at the other end a lot of the time, as first Chanderpaul (who, in a certain kind of poetic justice, was run out on 90) and then Bravo (who ended on 66) took the attack to the Australian attack. It was his second test match hundred, and could hardly have come at a better time.

Rush (presumably regen) went quickly, bowled by Kelly for one, and all our bowlers bowled well. Kelly ended on 3, as did Martin, and the other two, Sammy and Bravo, ended on 2 each, with Bravo being to more impressive of those. It was a thoroughly professional job by our bowlers, and only Ponting and Hughes could hold their heads high in the Australian team.

We'd done so well, in fact, that we could tell Australia to follow on. Sammy didn't get a wicket, but Kelly and Bravo took four a piece, and Martin go the other two. This was a more routine innings for Australia, this time, they collapsed but Johnson saved the day for them, leaving us with 148 runs to get. No problem.

We got there with relative ease, so much so that Cooper and Flokes decided to taunt the opposition at the end by giving their wickets away just to show how many we had left... or so I imagine...

Team News - The disappointing Sammy out, Kemar Roach comes in.