English Global Domination - Story

[kezza]

Thought I'd try my hand at writing one of these stories I've been reading. The team: England, the aim: Developing a team that dominates all opponents. Wish me luck.

[kezza]

World Twenty20

First up in our plan for global domination is the World T20 in the West Indies. My squad had a few changes from the default and consists of:

P Collingwood (C)
S Davies (wk)
C Kieswetter (wk)
M Lumb
K Pietersen
E Morgan
M Carberry
G Swann
T Bresnan
L Wright
J Tredwell
S Broad
R Sidebottom
J Anderson
S Finn

[kezza]

Our first match was against the West Indies who had lost their first match to Ireland so a win would see our progress to the super eights guaranteed. The team selected was:

M Lumb
S Davies (wk)
K Pietersen
P Collingwood (c)
E Morgan
M Carberry
G Swann
T Bresnan
R Sidebottom
J Anderson
S Finn.

Chris Gayle won the toss and chose to bowl on a bowler friendly pitch.

England Innings 109 All Out
Lumb and Davies started the innings well with 30 and 20 respectively. Paul Collingwood played a captains knock of 40*, but noone else made double figures and it looked like we would struggle to win our first game.
West Indies Innings 96 All Out
Despite a spirited 43* from Kieran Pollard our bowlers saw us home comfortably in this one, standout bowling from Anderson (4-0-25-3), Bresnan (4-0-24-3).

[kezza]

Group D - Ireland

Next up was a match against Ireland to see who would top group D. Paul Collingwood named an unchanged side and elected to bowl first.

Ireland Innings 115 All Out
The bowlers were excellent again dismissing Ireland for 115, Sidebottom (4-0-18-4) and Collingwood (3.3-0-18-3) were the chief destroyers.
England Innings 119/2
Lumb and Davies started well with 43 and 27 respectively. Michael Carberry (21*) and Eion Morgan (27*) were promoted up the order to spend time in the middle and saw us home in 12.2 overs.

[Phylos Fett]

Good start!

Any particular reason(s) you selected the squad you have?

[kezza]

Super Eights - Bangladesh

After the group games were completed some interesting results were revealed. Pakistan, NZ, and the West Indies had all been eliminated. England were in an easy group with South Africa, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, while the other group contained Australia, India, Ireland and Sri Lanka.

Game 1 was against Bangladesh and we were quite confident of picking up a result. Stuart Broad replaced Steve Finn in the starting lineup after a couple of disappointing performances. We lost the toss and were asked to bowl.
Bangladesh Innings 117/9
An economical display from the bowlers, Andersons (4-0-22-3) and Swanns (4-0-26-4) setting up what should be an easy chase for the batsmen.
England Innings 118/4
Despite losing Lumb (4) and Davies (7) early, Carberry (36), Pietersen (33), Collingwood (34*) made sure we wrapped up a comfortable win in 15.2 overs.

[kezza]

Super Eights - South Africa

This would be our toughest game so far in the tournament. Michael Carberry had impressed so far in the tournament and was promoted to open the batting. Keiswetter replaced Davies as the wicketkeeper and would bat in the middle order providing some power and agression later in the innings. Graeme Smith won the toss and chose to bat.
South Africa Innings 141/8
We survived the onslaught from JP Duminy (51) and restricted SA to just over 7rpo. Pietersen (2-0-12-1) was the surprise bowler against his birth nation. Anderson, Swann and Sidebottom picking up 2 wickets each.
England Innings 142/8
This was a close one, we lost wickets regularly until Morgan (35) and Swann (39*) steadied the ship. However the run rate slipped during the partnership and we required a couple of hefty sixes from Stuart Broad in the penultimate over to see us home, and through to the semi final.

[kezza]

Super Eights - Zimbabwe

Our final super eight match was against Zimbabwe and we were already guaranteed a spot in the semi finals. We picked an unchanged side, and Collingwood again lost the toss. We would bowl first.
Zimbabwe Innings 165/5
V Sibanda (71) became the first batsmen to dominate my bowling attack in this tournament, Anderson (4-0-31-3) and Broad (4-0-42-2) could have done with some support to restrict Zimbabwe to a smaller total.
England Innings 166/1
We made light work of what could have been a tricky chase, Pietersen hit an unbeaten 53 off 37 balls and Michael Carberry was stuck on 95* off 55 balls.

This win set up a semi final with India, Australia (despite losing to Ireland) will play South Africa in the other semi.

[kezza]

Good start!

Any particular reason(s) you selected the squad you have?

Cheers, we are starting well.

Most of the squad are in the default squad and pretty much pick themselves. Yardy and Bopara both had <1 star of form so I dropped them, I have been a fan of Carberry for some time and he was in really good form so i selected him, and Steve Davies was also in good form. I didn't think I would need backup for Swann and Tredwell was in poor form so I didn't take him. Finn looks like a good kid and was in pretty good form so he got a seat on the plane.

[Chasjs]

Great start, good luck with the semis. You seem to be far better at captaining in the shorter formats than I am .

[kezza]

Semi Final - India

One change to the starting line-up, Steve Davies recalled for Michael Lumb, Kieswetter keeps the gloves and Davies plays as a specialist batsmen. Fortunately the pitch isn't favorable to spin bowling which will hopefully negate Indias 3 spinners. Collingwood finally wins a toss and decides to bowl since we have been chasing well in this tournament.
India Innings 126/9
The innings starts well with Anderson dismissing Vijay in the first over. Sharma and Gambhir revive the innings before Broad picks up 2 for 2 in his first over. Broad adds the wickets of Dhoni and Pathan to finish with 4-18 off 4 overs, Bresnan supports him well with 1-17 from the other end. Swann (20/2), Anderson (36/2) and Sidebottom (33/0) finish up the innings and set us a chasable target.
England Innings 127/3
Davies and Carberry take the first 3 overs to get settled scoring just 16 runs but the take 14 off the 4th. Davies takes 10 off the next over but is out for 23(off 15) going for the big shot over the offside. We lost Carberry (21 off 19) and Collingwood (3 off 7) in quick succession but KP takes control of the chase like only he can bludgeoning an unbeated 58 off 34 balls with 10 boundaries, Morgan helps out at the other end with 20* off 24 balls. That turned into a pretty easy chase and we are now 1 game away from world champions.

[kezza]

World Twenty20 Final

2nd semi final: Australia 158/8 (M Hussey 70*(45), Steyn 4-0-16-4, M Morkel 4-0-28-2) lost to South Africa 159/2 (Gibbs 62*(56), Kallis 49*(26), Nannes 4-0-31-1, Harris 4-0-25-1).

We would have preferred to have the chance to give the Aussies a good old-fashioned hiding in the final but that wasn't to be as SA picked up a comfortable victory in the second semi. Since we have already beaten the South Africans in this tournament we were pretty confident going into the final.

One change in the starting line-up, Michael Lumb comes into the middle order to replace Keiswetter, Steve Davies will wicketkeep.

Heres how the teams line up
England: Davies, Carberry, Pietersen, Collingwood, Morgan, Lumb, Swann, Bresnan, Broad, Sidebottom, Anderson.
South Africa: Smith, Gibbs, de Villiers, Kallis, Duminy, A Morkel, Botha, Boucher, M Morkel, Steyn, Langeveldt.

The pitch is not looking at all helpful to the bowlers and we are expecting some afternoon cloud after a bright sunny morning.
Graeme Smith wins the toss and elects to bat.

South Africa Innings
5.2 Overs: Broad to Gibbs, Out! Beaten by pace and Broad makes a vital breakthrough for England. 42/1
H Gibbs b Broad 24 (15b, 4x4, 0x6) SR159.99
5.3 Overs: Broad to de Villiers, Out! Hit him in line, Broad appeals and the umpire gives it. Broad on a hat-trick with the next ball. 42/2
AB de Villiers lbw b Broad 0 (1b, 0x4, 0x6) SR0
5.6 Overs: Broad to Kallis, Out! Broad picks up three in the over, Kallis trying to go over mid-off but picks out James Anderson 46/3
J Kallis c Anderson b Broad 4 (3b, 1x4, 0x6) SR133.33
8.1 Overs: Swann to Duminy, Out! Swann strikes with his first ball, Duminy caught in close on the leg side. 53/4
J Duminy c Lumb b Swann 3 (5b, 0x4, 0x6) SR59.99
12.2 Overs: Swann to Morkel, Out! Goes for the sweep, well held by Davies behind the stumps. 83/5
A Morkel c Davies b Swann 21 (16b, 3x4, 0x6) SR131.25
15.2 Overs: Swann to Smith, Out! A slow innings from the South African skipper comes to a end, beaten by spin. 113/6
G Smith lbw b Swann 35 (41b, 1x4, 0x6) SR85.35
End of Innings: South Africa 160/6. Botha finishes with 39 (21b 5x4 0x6 SR185.69) and Boucher with 33 (19b 6x4 0x6 SR173.68). The English bowling card reads
J Anderson 4-0-23-0
R Sidebottom 4-0-41-0
S Broad 4-0-22-3
G Swann 4-0-31-3
T Bresnan 3-0-31-0
P Collingwood 1-0-12-0

England Innings
0.2 Overs: Steyn to Davies, Out! Caught in close on the leg side, Davies falls early and Lumb is the next man in. 4/1
S Davies c Langeveldt b Steyn 4 (2b, 1x4, 0x6) SR200.00
0.6 Overs: Steyn to Lumb, Out! Great catch by Smith at second slip and England are in trouble early. 8/2
M Lumb c Smith b Steyn 1 (2b, 0x4, 0x6) SR50.00
End of Innings: England 161/2. A magnificent unbeaten partnership between Carberry and Pietersen sees England home with 2.3 overs to spare. Pietersen picks up his third fifty in as many games on the way to 62* (45b 8x4 0x6 SR137.78), and Carberry is again left not out in the nineties, he finished with 92* (58b 11x4 1x6 SR158.62).

Now over to the award ceremony...
Kevin Pietersen picks up the batsman of the tournament award for his 219 runs at a strike rate of 145.02 including three unbeaten half centuries.
James Anderson picks up the bowler of the tournament award for his 14 wickets at an average of 13.36 and economy rate of 6.68rpo.
Paul Collingwood collects the trophy on behalf of his team. "It was a pretty comprehensive performance during the tournament from our team, we bowled really well and didn't let the other teams batsmen get on top of us, then we had some superb batting in particular from KP and Michael Carberry, who were able to give us great starts at the top of order and the lower order chipped in when they had to."

[kezza]

First Test - Bangladesh

Following success in the World Twenty20 our next step on the road to world domination is a test series against Bangladesh.
Michael Carberry and Steve Davies are rewarded for strong performances at the T20 with spots in the test side. The squad is:
A Strauss (C), M Carberry, P Collingwood, K Pietersen, R Bopara, E Morgan, S Davies (wk), G Swann, S Broad, J Anderson, S Finn, C Tremlett (12th Man).

Andrew Strauss wins the toss and elects to bat on a pitch with a bit of life in it.

Day 1 - Lunch - Bangladesh 79-4.
Anderson, Broad and Finn make a good start for England, picking up early wickets and keeping the runs down.
Day 1 - Tea - Bangladesh 209-7.
An attacking session from Bangladesh sees them add 130 in 30 overs, Steve Finn bowled a good spell, picking up two wickets but Bangladesh were pretty much in control for that session.
Day 1 - End of Innings - Bangladesh 257 all out.
A gutsy batting performance from Bangladesh, they went after the England bowlers and got on top of them for long periods, wickets for Finn and Swann wrap up the innings after tea.
Day 1 - Close of play - England 27/0.
Strauss and Carberry have an hour to negiotate and do so with out drama, adding 27 runs in 15 overs.
Day 2 - Lunch - England 119/1.
Carberry struggled to find runs and was out for 28 from 98 balls. Andrew Strauss passed the fifty mark and is building a strong partnership with Collingwood.
Day 2 - Tea - England 206/3.
Collingwood and Strauss put on a century stand for the second wicket, before falling for 62 and 100 respectively. Pietersen and Bopara are at the crease with the Bangladesh total in sight.
Day 2 - Close of play - England 299/4.
Pietersen falls early in the season but Bopara and Morgan see England into the lead. Ravi picks up an attacking half-century in the progress.
Day 3 - Lunch - England 399/8 dec.
Bopara and Davies fall early in the session before Swann and Morgan put on a 59 run stand. With Morgan out for 87 late in the session and Broad and Anderson at the crease, Strauss calls an end to the innings with a lead of 142.
Day 3 - Tea - Bangladesh 89-5.
Broad opens up with a fiery 8 over spell, returning figures of 14/3, another couple of wickets puts England firmly in control with Bangladesh 5 down and still trailing by 53 runs.
Day 3 - End of Innings - Bangladesh 150 all out.
Swann and Finn rip through the lower order to give England what should be a pretty easy 9-run chase.
Day 3 - End of Innings - England 10/0.
Strauss and Carberry pick up the runs needed with no drama.

End Result Bangladesh 257(Razzak 48*, Mahmudullah 46, Finn 4-69, Swann 3-54) and 150 (Rahim 36, Finn 4-58, Broad 3-29) lost to England 399/8dec (Strauss 100, Morgan 87, Al Hasan 3-119, Alam 2-89) and 10/0 (Strauss 4*, Carberry 6*) By 10 Wickets.
Man-of-the-Match Steve Finn 8-127.

[kezza]

2nd Test Bangladesh

One change to the side for the second test, Tim Ambrose replacing the injured Steve Davies behind the stumps.
Day 1 - Lunch - Bangladesh 84-4.
The Bangladesh openers made a good start to the game but after Stuart Broad broke the partnership in his second spell, Anderson and Swann snared three quick wickets to swing the game back in Englands favour.
Day 1 - Tea - Bangladesh 181-7.
James Anderson takes three wickets in the middle session to keep England on top in this game.
Day 1 - End of Innings - Bangladesh 239 all out.
Swann and Broad finish off the innings about an hour after tea giving Strauss and Carberry another tricky 40 minute session to bat.
Day 1 - Close of play - England 62-1.
Strauss and Carberry decide to go after the bowlers and pick up 62 runs in just 11 overs. Michael Carberry gets trapped LBW off the last ball of the day.
Day 2 - Lunch - England 155-1.
Strauss (70*) and Morgan (50*) look to build England into a position of ascendency with a strong partnership.
Day 2 - Tea - England 254-3.
Morgan falls for 54 but Strauss (115*) and Pietersen (47) move England into the lead before Pietersen is out in the last over before tea.
Day 2 - Close of Play - England 345-5.
Strauss (147) and Collingwood (51*) move England into a comfortable position before the loss of a couple of late wickets when Strauss was trapped LBW by Razzak and Bopara came and went for 5.
Day 3 - Lunch - England 430-5.
Collingwood collects his 11th test hundred and Tim Ambrose adds 30* to move England into a lead of 191 and a position from which they shouldnt lose.
Day 3 - End of Innings - England 525 all out.
Collingwood makes 119, Ambrose makes 54, before Broad (33) and Anderson (16) put on a tail-end partnership to annoy the Bangladeshies. Bangladesh now need 287 just to make england bat again.
Day 3 - Tea - Bangladesh 1-0.
An uneventful over from Anderson before the tea break.
Day 3 - Close of play - Bangladesh 105-4.
Broad bowls 13 overs in the session collecting 3-46, Swann picks one up late aswell.
Day 4 - Lunch - Bangladesh 221-7.
Anderson gets a wicket and Broad picks up 2 more to collect a 5 wicket haul.
Day 4 - End of Innings - Bangladesh 269 all out.
A fine innings of 143 from Iqbal is brought to a close by Broad who then partners Anderson with the new ball to finish off the innings before Bangladesh can overcome the first innings deficit.

Final Result:
Bangladesh 239 (Ashraful 50, Al Hasan 40, Anderson 4-67, Swann 3-52) and 269 (Iqbal 143, Islam 35, Broad 6-87, Swann 2-51) lost to England 525 (Strauss 147, Collingwood 119, Alam 4-151, Al Hasan 3-155) by an Innings and 17 runs.

[kezza]

Haven't updated in a while but heres the start of the ODI's

Next up is a friendly against Scotland and 5 ODIs against Australia. Heres the squad:
Strauss (C), Collingwood (VC), Kieswetter (WK), Davies (WK), Carberry, Morgan, Pietersen, Bell, Swann, Harris, Smith, Broad, Anderson, Finn, Tremlett.
Steve Davies won't be fit til the second ODI so I have included Kieswetter as cover, the batsmen have performed well in the T20 and test series and have been kept in the squad, Ian Bell earns a recall on the back of some fine domestic batting. Likewise with the bowlers, however the current England side don't have a world class all-rounder at the moment since the loss of Flintoff so I thought this series would be a good oppourtunity to give a couple of young all-rounders who are in good domestic form a go and see what they're made of. Those players are James Harris, a 20 year old from Glamorgan and Tom Smith, a 24 year old from Lancashire.

I have decided to rest some important players and give the new guys a go in the friendly against Scotland:
Heres the team for the friendly against Scotland:
Kieswetter, Carberry, Bell (C), Pietersen, Morgan, Smith, Harris, Broad, Tremlett, Anderson, Finn.

Final Result:
Scotland 189/7(Lyons 43*, MacCallum 32, Tremlett 3-40, Smith 2-26) lost to England 190/7(Kieswetter 59, Carberry 51, Lyons 2-54, Haq 2-42) by three wickets.

Man of the Match: Tom Smith 2-26 on debut including a spell of 5 overs, 1 maiden, 2 wickets for 9 runs, which had two wickets, a dropped catch a truckload of lbw shouts and every other ball beat the outside edge of the bat.