England Story

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4th ODI vs SL

Team News: No changes for us. Sangakkara returns in place of Maneshan.

We won the toss and batted.

Joe Root fell early to Jayampathi which brought the out of form KP to the crease, now was his time to shine! His responsibility was emphasized further as Cook also fell early. However he couldn't make his start count as we fell even deeper into trouble. Thankfully a partnership of 110 between Taylor and Bopara put us back into the game. We were going to struggle to keep them down, early wickets needed!

As i predicted we struggled, Thirimanne led the way and despite heavy pressure from Anderson, they chased our score with ease, we need to win this series!

Batting Award	James Taylor. Gave us a fighting chance.
Bowling Award	James Anderson. Went for less than 3 an over which was great considering the situation.
Series State	2-2 draw with 1 to play, it's going to be a tough last game.

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5th ODI vs SL

Team News: Swann for Bell. They make no changes.

Sri Lanka won the toss and batted.

Their in form men Mathews and Thirimanne came out batting well once again, leading the way for their men. However, they were set to make the late 200's towards the back end of their innings and we timed our flurry of wickets to perfection, getting into their long tail at the perfect time. The chase wasn't going to be easy though.

A steady first ten had set a platform that I hoped we'd push on from, 38-0. At the half way mark, we were 107-0, this was a great start for us and the game is ours to lose, and we didn't throw away that opportunity! This was the perfect chase in my opinion, timed and measured to perfection! To top it off, Cook and Root both scored centuries aswell, and put on 196 together!

Batting Award	Alastair Cook! The man is really coming into his peak years, as if he wasn't good enough to start with!
Bowling Award	Graeme Swann. The decision to bring him in was justified after a tight 10 overs with the wickets of the 2 openers!
Series Result	We win 3-2!

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1st T20i vs SL

Squad News: We name the same squad that played India except Kieswetter replaces Buttler.

Eng XI: Cook, Bell, Pietersen, Ballance, Kieswetter, Root, Stokes, Broad, Kerrigan, Anderson, Topley.

SL XI: Karunaratne, Perera, Mathews, R Silva, Thirimanne, A Silva, Sangakkara, Kumara, Kulasekara, Herath, Malinga.

We won the toss and batted first.

The first 10 were good, 75-2! Ballance and Pietersen were both new to the crease though. We absolutely smashed it from here on out. Everybody struck at over 150 and most notably Kieswetter's 18 ball 38 took us up to a huge total!

They started poorly but a 12 ball 28 from Thirimanne left Stokes demoralised and the total still in sight, however their chase ran out of steam and we finished them off swiftly.

Batting Award	Craig Kieswetter. He was not out and absolutely mullering it.
Bowling Award	Stuart Broad. 4 wickets and our most economical bowler.
Series State	1-0 England with a game to play.

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2nd T20i vs SL

Team News: Morgan for Root. They make no changes.

SL won the toss and chose to bowl.

At 52-6 we would have been lucky to get 100!! But Stokes and Broad came together to bat excellently and pull us out of the crap. All in all a disappointing innings.

We were beaten as expected, but, series tied!

Batting Award	Ben Stokes. A mature innings from the young all rounder.
Bowling Award	Simon Kerrigan, same as Broad but in an over more.
Series Result	1-1 draw!

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Tri Series Squads

Next up, some no pressure ODI fun! No effect on the rankings but would be great to win this series in OZ!

England Squad


India Squad


Australia Squad

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Aus/Eng/Ind Tri Series - Match 1

In our first game we play India, who swept the Aussies aside easily in the opener! Finn misses out due to injury.

England XI: Cook, Root, Bell, Ballance, Bopara, Taylor, Kieswetter, Broad, Swann, Anderson, Kerrigan.

India XI: Dhawan, R Sharma, Pujara, Kohli, Dhoni, Jadeja, Y Singh, Ashwin, I Pathan, K Sharma, I Sharma! All rounders galore!

We won the toss and batted!

Root took on the aggressor role in the first ten as Cook sat back and we were 42-0. Ashwin and Jadeja bowled exceptional for the next ten as they put on a tight squeeze, but the main thing was 0 wickets lost! Neither opener managed to push on after they reached their 50's but the platform allowed the team on a whole to push on. Most notably, Taylor and Kieswetter hit some blistering runs late on.

Despite the early wicket, the Indians kept their cool. Pujara and Dhawan put on a very good partnership together before falling at similar times. By the 40th over, they were on target just about, needing 55 runs with 7 wickets left, a big bonus for them. Anderson took the 2 massive wickets of Dhoni and Kohli both in the same over and they now needed 44 from 7. It was looking promising but I knew they could bat all the way. They lost 2 wickets in an over again not long after, this time Jadeja and Yuvraj Singh, but the 'big wickets' continue to come to the crease. 23 from 4 now with 3 wickets remaining. Irfan Pathan and Ashwin decided enough was enough and finished the game off in 2 overs. So close!

Batting Award	Joe Root. Set a good platform with Cook.
Bowling Award	James Anderson. Everyone went about the same rate but he took most wickets.
Series State	We sit in 2nd behind India.

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Aus/Eng/Ind Tri Series - Match 2

Team News: Finn in for Kerrigan.

Australia: Watson, Warner, Maxwell, Voges, Burns, Cowan, Doolan, Henriques, Faulkner, Agar, Mckay.

Australia won the toss and batted.

Finn provided the early wicket of Watson on his return! By the 20th, Anderson, Finn, Bopara and Swann all had a wicket to their name as they were 4 down. Burns and Cowan rebuilt the damage for the next 10, taking them to 110-4 from 30. They took an early powerplay but struggled to move the score on meaningfully and hit just 46 from the next 10. Burns fell in the 45th after just getting going, he ended on 60 from 100 and they were 181-7. Henriques and Faulkner took them to the last ball where the latter fell to Broad.

Their openers started tightly, 10 overs, 0-17. Cook and Root had to be careful here. Both fell disappointingly. Root for an embarrassing 9 from 42 and Cook 25 from 50. However, this unleashed Gary Ballance, who put the game beyond doubt by smashing 77 from 46 balls as Agar and Maxwell had no answer. It was nearly a dramatic ending as we fell from 207-6 to 207-9, needing just one to win! We got over the line though, just!

Batting Award	Gary Ballance. His innings was a match winning one
Bowling Award	Steven Finn. Returns to take the best figures!
Series State	We still sit in 2nd, India smashed the Aussies again!

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Aus/Eng/Ind Tri Series - Match 3

Team News: No changes.

India XI: Dhawan, R Sharma, Pujara, Kohli, Dhoni, Jadeja, Y Singh, Ashwin, I Pathan, Kulkarni, I Sharma.

India won the toss and chose to bowl.

The openers got off to a better start this time, 46-0 from 10. Root stayed strong while 3 wickets fell around him, those of Cook, Bell and Ballance. By the 35th we were well set at 166-3! The powerplay was handy, with Root passing 100 and the team passing 200 to set up a good last 10! We had a collapse but still managed to reach 262, with Root hitting 140 from 135 balls! It was a poor team effort with only 3 men passing 10!

A positive from the first 10 was 3 wickets taken! However we were conceding runs at an alarming rate! When we had them 158-5 we were confident, however their depth was displayed as Jadeja and Singh put on over 100 to finish the game!

Batting Award	Joe Root. His highest ODI score!
Bowling Award	Ravi Bopara. Bowled the most economical. We need to start taking more wickets!

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Aus/Eng/Ind Tri Series - Match 4

Team News: Thakor in for Bell.

Australia: Watson, Warner, Khawaja, Maxwell, Burns, Voges, Paine, Henriques, Faulkner, Agar, Mckay.

We won the toss and batted.

Despite losing Cook we moved it on well in the first ten, 48-1! Root and Thakor took us to the 35th where we were 162 for 1, a great position to be in! Root was unbeaten on 77 and Thakor on 59, justifying his selection! By the end of the powerplay, Thakor had caught up to Root as he looked to attack! Thakor and Root fell though and we just couldn't get going as well as I'd have liked, a decent total though, I hope.

Broad opened with Anderson as we looked to save Finn, this paid off as he took the only wicket of the first 10. We managed to take fairly regular wickets and the decision to keep Finn back was another that paid off as he took some key wickets in the middle. From the final 10 they needed 65, with 4 wickets left. This was too much for them and we bowled them out.

Batting Award	Shiv Thakor. Returned to bat very well!
Bowling Award	Steven Finn. His wicket taking ability makes him dangerous in the middle!

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Aus/Eng/Ind Tri Series - Match 5

Team News: No changes for us. India make no changes from the last XI they fielded.

We won the toss and batted.

We decided to put Kieswetter in as pinch hitter! With Cook at 3. It sort of paid off as he hit a quick 25! Nobody really got fully going, falling at the wrong times. But our good run rate meant we were able to compile a good total in a good team effort!

India have finally been beaten!! Thank god for that! They started quickly but lost regular wickets and this meant we bowled them out for 212!

Batting Award	Alastair Cook, proved a good decision to put him at 3
Bowling Award	Stuart Broad. We like to see wickets and he took the most!
Series State	To be revealed after the next game.

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Aus/Eng/Ind Tri Series - Match 6

Team News: We make no changes and they bring in Doolan for Paine from their last selection.

Australia won the toss and batted.

At 150-1 from 32 they were looking to pass 300! However, we managed to peg them back and some wickets from Steven Finn helped us reduce them to 274. Warner and Khawaja were the mainstay of the innings and both got out at the wrong time, if they'd have stayed it could have been messy!

We got off to a great start with Root and Kieswetter putting on 107, Kieswetter was the man to go for 50! At the halfway mark we were 127-1 and the game could go either way! However a monumental collapse left us in no way fit to win the game and the match just fizzled out really...

Batting Award	Joe Root. He really is a class act for his age!
Bowling Award	Steven Finn. 4 wickets is always good!
Series State	We're looking favourites to go through with India at the moment.

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Aus/Eng/Ind Tri Series - Match 7

Team News: Bell for Taylor. They make no changes from their last team.

The pressure is really on us. Australia beat India in the last game so we need to win one of our last 2 to secure qualification to the final!

We won the toss and batted.

We got off to a great start with Cook and Root both firing, 67-0! The spinners pegged us back though and after 31 overs we were 137-2! This paved the way for a power hitting finish and who else better than Gary Ballance to lead it, hitting 66 from 33 balls! None of our top 5 got less than 46 and all scored at a good rate! Kumar went for an embarrassing 92 from his 10! We need to win this!

I forgot to type and play. Their depth is SO annoying!!! Just when a game seems to be over they come back and win it!!! It's all down to one game now!

Batting Award	Gary Ballance. 66 from 33, can't argue with that!
Bowling Award	James Anderson. Most economical.

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Aus/Eng/Ind Tri Series - Match 8

Team News: Kerrigan for Swann. Aus have the same side as the last game.

They won the toss and bowled.

We lost Root early but this time it was Cook's turn to score all the runs, and he did! 135 not out this time! Bell batted very well and BOPARA smashed 35 from 10 balls at the end. Lets hope Cook getting a big 100 won't curse us this time!!

They started nervy and were 42-2 from 10! However they began to pick up and although 6 down they were scoring at a good rate. It was time to bring our strike bowlers back! It worked, Anderson and Finn finished with 4 each and we were into the final

The Cook score curse is over!

Batting Award	Alastair Cook. A great innings to get some form before the finals!
Bowling Award	James Anderson. He bowled 10 overs, Finn bowled 6, work it out!
Series State	We progress into the 3 match final with India!

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CB Tri Series Final - Game 1!

England XI: Cook, Root, Thakor, Bell, Ballance, Stokes, Kieswetter, Swann, Kerrigan, Anderson, Finn.

India XI: Dhawan, Gambhir, Pujara, Kohli, Dhoni, Jadeja, Y Singh, Ashwin, I Pathan, K Sharma, Kulkarni.

We won the toss and bowled!

A chance filled first 10 only gave us one wicket, that of Gambhir! We bowled very well with helpful conditions and spin was key, in the middle. At 146-5 though, I knew they could still get to 250+ due to their depth! We bowled very well at the death and restricted them to a chasable target!

In form Cook led the way as we hit over 50 in the first 10 overs! By the 25th, Root had started to take over from Cook as he was 79 from 77 and Cook had taken a back seat role. We were 138-0 at halfway but anything can happen! In the end we made it slightly harder than we should when they bowled some really tight overs. We took no chances and hit out to finish it early!

Batting Award	Joe Root. His 5th ODI hundred of the year!
Bowling Award	James Anderson. Steady bowling.
Series State	England lead the finals 1-0 with 2 to play.

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CB Tri Series Final - Game 2

Team News: Bopara replaces Kerrigan. They make no changes.

India won the toss and bowled first.

We struggled to adjust to the conditions and made just 188, however the overcast conditions meant we could maybe, just maybe, salvage something out of the game.

They played a well measured chase to a mediocre total and the final is going down to the last game!

Batting Award	Ian Bell. The best player in a mediocre performance.
Bowling Award	Ravi Bopara. Bowled 10 straight through and did a good job.
Series State	1-1 with a game to play!