Wednesday 22 August 2007

England run India ragged


England won the first one-day match at the Rose Bowl convincingly, outplaying India in all departments.

On yet another cold day, Dravid chose to bowl first hoping to get some help from the conditions but the wicket was flat and favoured the batsman. England made a steady start and did not take advantage of the power plays, deciding to build a solid foundation instead. They played correctly and the run rate began to increase as the innings progressed. One felt that they were missing a trick again but this time the batting came good with Cook and Bell making maiden one-day centuries, with Bell particularly impressive, continuing where he had left off at the Oval on the last day. They stole the show from the stars, with Pietersen only coming in for the last few overs and Flintoff not required.

India have few options in the bowling department and looked very ordinary. In the absence of swing, their bowlers had no other weapons and were just hoping for the batsman to make mistakes. Ajit Argakar, with a distinct lack of pace looked very ordinary and India may have to re -think their bowling attack. The other major factor was the fielding which one felt would always be their weakness and it really showed up today as there was nowhere to hide. England took full advantage and literally ran India ragged by taking an extra run on most occasions. A total of 288 was good but possible to get by the stellar batting line up. England would have been disappointed not to reach 300 from the position they were in but this was a handy total to defend.

The crucial blow for India right at the start was the run out of Saurav Ganguly by none other than Monty Panesar. They never really recovered from that and were relying on Ganguly to make full use of the power plays. England bowlers bowled superbly, revving up the pace in the absence of swing. Anderson was right on the money and made the crucial breakthroughs in his first spell, leaving India in tatters. To add to this there was the comical running between wickets which only got worse as there seemed to be a total lack of understanding between the batsman who simply stared at each other after every gaff.

Andrew Flintoff marked his return with an impressive spell full of aggression and speed. His presence certainly strengthens the team and gives them more options. He seemed back to his best straight away and the celebration after he took Dhoni's wicket said it all as he has not shown that sort of determination since 2005 Ashes. It all augers well for England and India will have to think of ways of counteracting his pace and accuracy.

Many fans did not stay until the end and the stadium was half full before the end, as an England victory was inevitable from an early stage. The Indian fans , who take this to heart will have been very disappointed by their teams performance. They did not have a chance to show their presence today and were dampened not only by the weather but by India's performance.

England fans on the other hand will be hoping that their team can go on to reproduce this kind of performance consistently throughout the series. They proved their detractors wrong on this occasion and showed what they are capable of. They pulled off one of their best one-day performance in a long time.

It sets it up well for the next match at Bristol on Friday.


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dravid got it wrong on the toss to bowl first on flat track, though the conditions were overcast.

I feel in ODIs the overcast conditions dont count much and its just few overs that purchase the swing and if you do have the bowlers of capability(?) of Agarkar, then its always good to bat first which is strength of India over the years.

And India never got anything right. Though Zaheer troubled batsmen few times, the other bowlers let it go. And fall of just 2 wkts tell how well England dominated.

And its ridiculous to see England playing poor cricket in world cup looking at the way they played yesterday.

India needs to get few answers -- 3rd seamer and the # 3 batting slot... Gambhir as # 3, no way. Why not Sehwag ?

Rashmika said...

I think Dravid preferred to chase but which ever way it is looked at England came out on top in all areas because they played better cricket.It is difficult to see that this is the same team that struggled in the WC.

India have to regroup and the bowling and fielding has to improve.

This is just the first game and a long way to go before both teams are judged.

Homer said...

Rashmika,

were u at the Oval? If so, where is the post? and the pics??

Rashmika said...

Hey Homer

No I didn't go to the Oval so no pics I'm afraid. Iknow how much you like them..lol

I'm not much into ODI's, was hoping for more tests but this series has been interesting.

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