England under DaveK

[DaveK93]

Fourth Test

Teams: Bresnan in for Topley for me. India play Praveen Kumar for Tyagi.

Toss: India win the toss and bat.

Match Report:

Day 1:
India were bowled out for 294, after some good work from the pace bowlers. It’s a good start for us, but the pitch is very bowler friendly, so there is no guarantee that we would be able to post a big lead. We got to 1/0 by the close of play, so at least we didn’t lose a wicket.

Day 2:
We didn’t fare much better than India, getting to 254.It wasn’t great, but we weren’t too far behind, so I’m not excessively worried. We also managed to remove Rahane before the close of play, so that was an added bonus.

Day 3:
With India on 365/6, I get the feeling that this game is starting to slip away from me. Sehwag and Dhoni both got scores in the 90s as we toiled in the outfield, without much success. Still, on the basis that we chased 500+ in the last match, anything is possible.

Day 4&5:
Once again, I’ve done the last two days as one, as I was trying to save a match here! Basically, we very nearly lost, and then we looked as if we would win, before clinging on at the end. It’s been that kind of match. Most of the top order failed, but Broad, Bresnan, Prior and Swann all played slow, measured innings to keep us in the match. At the end, both Anderson and Finn showed resilience as well, as we clung on, which means that we won the series 2-1.



Batting Award: Matt Prior, 2 good performances to save the match.
Bowling Award: James Anderson, another consistent performance from him.

[cricfan1]

Good You Played with Topley

I will be looking the progress of this Talented Bowler

[DaveK93]

Good You Played with Topley

I will be looking the progress of this Talented Bowler

He's done ok in the couple of matches I have played him, but with the Kiwis coming up, I'm looking at a weakened squad, so he may get a more important role on that tour

[DaveK93]

England vs India T20I Series

England Squad:
A Hales
J Taylor
I Bell
L Dawson
J Bairstow
J Buttler
C Kieswetter
R Bopara
S Patel
T Bresnan
S Broad
R Topley
G Swann
S Borthwick
S Finn

Bopara looks set to get a game this time,as this squad will probably play the ODIs as well. Kieswetter gets recalled, and Liam Dawson is given the chance to impress after a great T20 campaign. Other than that, it’s a changed squad from the one that played the T20 World Cup. Bell returns, and will probably open, and hopefully, he will prove useful to have in the squad, after missing previously through form and injury issues.

[DaveK93]

First T20I

Teams:

England:
A Hales
L Dawson
I Bell
J Taylor
R Bopara
J Bairstow
S Patel
S Broad
T Bresnan
G Swann
S Finn

India:
V Sehwag
A Mukund
G Gambhir
M Tiwary
R Sharma
MS Dhoni
I Pathan
R Ashwin
P Kumar
H Singh
V Kumar

Toss: England win the toss and bat.

Match Report:
Not a great performance by all accounts. Our batting was alright, Liam Dawson getting 24 on debut at the top of the order. The rest of the batsmen got started but couldn’t progress. Only Broad and Bresnan got over 30, with Swann getting some handy runs at the end.
India looked comfortable throughout, despite the loss of wickets. Only Finn really made any breakthroughs, as once again, the tail wagged for India, Ashwin and Praveen Kumar causing major problems for us.



Batting Award: Tim Bresnan, most runs, and hit them quickly.
Bowling Award: Steven Finn, the only bowler to look dangerous.

[DaveK93]

Second T20I

Teams: Buttler and Kieswetter both come in for England, replacing Bairstow and Taylor. India make no changes.

Toss: India win the toss and bat first.

Match Report:
Apart from Sharma and Gambhir, India didn’t look impressive. But neither did our bowling. Whilst the Indians struggled to put any runs on, we struggled to get any wickets. So, the total of 166/7 was in fact a decent one, as the pitch was turning, and crumbling. Swann and Dawson both bowled well, Dawson picking up 2 wickets in his second match. He could be a good player, so I’m going to keep an eye on him.

We batted better than the last match, but once again, batsmen would start their innings, but couldn’t keep going. Bell, Bopara and Jos Butler were the architects of the innings, all getting into the 30s, before Broad hit the winning runs at the death. A good match, and it levels the series for us.



Batting Award: Jos Buttler, stayed in until the end.
Bowling Award: Graeme Swann , gets the award for being slightly more economical.

I’m not going to worry about the stats for these matches, as there were only 2, so straight on with the ODI series.

[DaveK93]

England ODI Squad:

England Squad:
A Hales
J Taylor
I Bell
A Cook
J Bairstow
J Buttler
C Kieswetter
R Bopara
S Patel
T Bresnan
S Broad
R Topley
G Swann
C Woakes
S Finn

Only two changes to the T20 squad. Cook comes in for Liam Dawson, who I’m going to keep back for the series against the Kiwis. Chris Woakes also replaces Scott Borthwick, as Samit Patel is promoted to the role of the second spinner.

Pre series Friendlies:





No match reports for these, but here are the scorecards for your enjoyment.

[DaveK93]

First ODI:

Teams:

England:
A Hales
J Taylor
I Bell
A Cook
J Bairstow
R Bopara
S Patel
T Bresnan
S Broad
G Swann
C Woakes

Steven Finn is perhaps the unlucky one here, as I opt for the extra batting option in Tim Bresnan. However, I would think he will feature in the series.

India:
V Sehwag
A Mukund
R Sharma
M Tiwary
G Gambhir
MS Dhoni
I Pathan
R Ashwin
H Singh
P Kumar
V Kumar

Toss: England win the toss, and elect to bat.

Match Report:
We started well, Hales and Cook batting well at the top of the order. They were dropped a couple of times, but both got decent scores. Bell and Bopara couldn’t get started, but Taylor and Patel both played good knocks. Patel reigned in his attacking instincts to allow Taylor to run amok, as he reached his first ODI century comfortably. We got to 292-5, in what was a good performance by our batsmen.
Woakes and Broad bowled well from the off, Mukund falling early. More wickets fell, and only Sehwag gave any resistance, before Gambhir ran him out, with a poor call for a run. Gambhir did redeem himself though, getting a good 71. Swann got 4 wickets for us, but was expensive, as were both Patel and Bresnan. Woakes and Broad weren’t as expensive, but they didn’t bowl 5 of their overs, so whether they would have been expensive I can’t tell. Nonetheless, we won, and by a comfortable margin, and if the rest of the tour is like this, then this will be enjoyable.



Batting Award: James Taylor, his first ODI century, and an impressive display against a high calibre bowling attack.
Bowling Award: Graeme Swann, was expensive, but he did take 4 wickets, and stalled the Indian innings.

[DaveK93]

Second ODI

Teams: England replace Bresnan with Finn, India remain unchanged.

Toss: India win the toss, and elect to bat.

Match Report:
India started slowly again, and only managed to kick on when Irfan Pathan came in. He hit a century, despite some good bowling, to thwart us, and get India to a strong score. Earlier in the innings,Finn had justified his recall to the playing eleven, and Woakes had been impressive and economical in his bowling.
We also started poorly, as we lost both of our openers cheaply. Bopara failed again with the bat, and his place is looking shakey. Bairstow and Bell put together a mini-partnership, and Taylor also got into the 40s, but no-one could push on. Broad and Woakes came to the crease with England still very short of the target, but both played good knocks. Broad managed to stay in until the end of the innings, getting a fine 74*. The last over, we only required 4, but Broad got one, and then Finn couldn’t get off strike until the 5th ball, leaving us 2 to win off the last ball. Broad could only slice it down to third man for one though,and the game finished in a tie. Probably a fair result, in a game dominated by the exploits of two all-rounders.



Batting Award: Stuart Broad. Could it be anyone else? He kept us in the match right until the end.
Bowling Award: Steven Finn. Justified his selection over Tim Bresnan with 4 useful wickets in the middle of the innings.

[DaveK93]

Third ODI

Teams: England remain unchanged, as do India.

Toss: India win the toss and bat.

Match Report:
This match was not as close as it looks.Once again we bowled well at the start, and it was only down to a quick-fire 63 from a rejuvenated Irfan Pathan that put India in a position where they had a decent total to defend. Woakes bowled well again, and Ravi got his first wicket of the series, after stepping in for the expensive Patel.

We batted superbly. Cook and Hales didn’t get past 20, but Ravi finally got some runs, getting 34 before departing. This brought Taylor to the crease alongside Bell. They played some of their finest cricket, to get us within touching distance of the total, before they fell, leaving Samit Patel to hit the winning runs. Taylor and Bell have been superb on this tour. They probably won’t go to New Zealand, but I am fairly confident that they will be a key part of the ODI team in years to come.

This result leaves us 2-0 with 2 to play, so I may start to implement some rotation now we cannot lose the series. I’m certainly looking to drop Cook and Bairstow, who haven’t been at their best this series. Reece Topley may also be given a go ahead of Patel as the fifth bowler, conditions dependent.



Batting Award: Ian Bell, a fine century.
Bowling Award: Chris Woakes, 3 wickets at the start, he is proving to be a useful opening bowler.

NB: The thought only just occurred to me that James Anderson isn’t in the squad for this tour. On these performances, I’m not quite sure how he’ll fit back in.

[DaveK93]

Fourth ODI

Teams: Bairstow and Patel are rested, Kieswetter and Topley come in. India unchanged again.

Toss: England win the toss and bat.

Match Report:
Yeah…. It wasn’t good. I’m going to conveniently forget this match happened. Hence the lack of match report. Needless to say, there will be changes.



Batting Award: Alex Hales, 96* whilst chaos reigned around him.
Bowling Award: I suppose it has to be Finn, although I don’t think anyone really deserves it.

[DaveK93]

Fifth ODI:

Teams: Cook and Topley miss out, Buttler and Bresnan start. India bring in Rahane for Mukund.

Toss: England win it and bat.

Match Report:
An easy victory. I’ll keep this brief, but England dominated with both bat and ball. Bopara and Bell shone with the bat. Ravi must have been acutely aware I was considering dropping him, as his form has picked up dramatically. We could have posted a higher total, but as it turns out, we didn’t need to.

India lost wickets regularly, and the only man to offer resistance was Irfan Pathan. He’s been their player of the series. Once Swann removed him, they crumbled, and gave us the 3-1 series win.



Batting Award: Ian Bell, another good performance from the 30yr old.
Bowling Award: Graeme Swann, for removing Pathan before he got too many runs.

[DaveK93]

England vs New Zealand

England Test Squad

V Chopra
A Hales
I Bell
J Roy
R Bopara
P Horton
L Dawson
J Buttler
C Kieswetter
C Woakes
T Smith
J Harris
D Briggs
R Topley
S Kerrigan
G Onions
J Dernbach
S Meaker

It’s an experimental squad and whilst I won’t be able to look at all these players, it won’t do any harm to have them with me in the squad. Hales will play to see if he can reach 1000 Test runs this season, which would be a great debut season for him. Horton is most likely to open with him, but that is subject to change. Briggs and Kerrigan are the spinners, and Liam Dawson takes the spinning all-rounder role. His bowling average is a little lacking, but 900+ runs opening for Hampshire this season gets him into the squad.

Pre-Series Friendly:

[DaveK93]

First Test:

Teams:

England:
A Hales
P Horton
I Bell
R Bopara
J Buttler
J Roy
L Dawson
C Woakes
J Harris
R Topley
D Briggs

New Zealand:
B Watling
B McCullum
R Taylor
J Ryder
D Brownlie
K Williamson
M Guptill
N Wagner
D Bracewell
M Henry
M Gillespie

Toss: England win the toss and bowl.

Match Report:

Day 1:
New Zealand were bowled out for 170 on what was a rain affected innings. Danny Briggs was key for us, picking up 4 wickets, and both Topley and Harris picked up a couple. It would have been over soon, had it not been for Wagner, who proved to be difficult. I can see him staying in like Ashwin did for India last series.
England had 6 overs to face, and finished on 9/0, playing it safe at the close of play.

Day 2:
By the end of Day 2, we had been bowled out for 243, only Hales, Dawson and Horton providing major runs. A little disappointing perhaps, but this pitch,and the weather have been very unforgiving so far this test match.
New Zealand finished the day on 18/0.

Day 3:
New Zealand got to 301/8, but the majority of those runs came from a good performance by Watling, but he fell late in the day, which gives us some hope. It’s still a chaseable total at the minute, due to our first innings lead, but we need wickets and fast.

Day 4:
The Kiwis finished on 336 all out, leaving us a target of 263 to chase.
We finished on 232/3, after some good work from Horton, Hales and Bell. Those three are looking to be crucial for us on this tour I think. We should win now, having only 30 odd to win, so this last day should be easy.

Day 5:
The game closed out with no more wickets lost. A comfortable win.



Batting Award: Paul Horton, consistent across both innings, helped to build a good platform.
Bowling Award: Danny Briggs. Finally had some deserved success in the test arena.

[DaveK93]

Second Test:

Teams: England remain unchanged for this one, with a view to wrapping up the series. New Zealand give S Rhodes a debut, replacing Martin Guptill.

Toss: England lose the toss and bat.

Match Report:
Day 1:
The first day was fairly eve, as we finished on 288-5. Hales, Bopara and Bell all reached good half centuries, but each of them fell. The new ball did damage late in the day, getting Bopara and Roy, but Dawson and Buttler closed out the day with no major problems, and we now need to build on this.

Day 2:
We finished on 449 all out, after some great work by Liam Dawson. He batted well down the order to get 86. He’s already displaying the county form that led me to select him in the test team. There were also useful knocks from Woakes, Harris and Topley down the order.

New Zealand crumbled to 145/7 after some good work by the bowlers. Only BJ Watling provided any real batting, as the Kiwis looked in danger of having to follow on.

Day 3:
the Kiwis finished on 295, after some good batting from Watling and Bracewell saw them safely avoid the follow on, then shorten Englands lead to nearly 100. We have enough of a lead to be safe for now though.

We finished the day on 125/6 after some poor shot selection from the batsmen. Only Horton and Bell batted sensibly, but we are ahead by 279, on a pitch that will become more difficult to bat on.

Day 4:
We fell for 176 all out, leaving New Zealand 339 to win.

New Zealand finished on 269/6, after a late flurry of wickets limited the chase. Ryder and Taylor had pushed on throughout the day, but Harris removed them both, and both Browlie and Rhodes fell before the close of play, leaving the match evenly poised.

Day 5:
New Zealand continued to crumble in the early morning, as Briggs and Dawson got the last 4 wickets for 8 runs. The only reason they were bowling is because there was only 8 overs until the new ball, but in the end we didn’t need it. A far closer match than it should have been, but gives us the series win.



Batting Award: Ian Bell, top scored in both innings.
Bowling Award: Danny Briggs, 8 wickets in the match, and helped spark a Kiwi collapse in the second innings.