Showing posts with label alastair cook. Show all posts
Humiliation all over for India
England demolish India to take the series 3-1
The Indian Innings was demolished for the 2nd time in 3 days, this time touching a new level of humiliation as they were bundled out for a mere 94 inside 30 overs. Sir Don Bradman had a better career average than this!! Such a shame for 11 men who boast of world class batting line-up who couldnt get past 100.
Being an Indian Cricket Fan, I feel devastated, and I am not able to comment more on this as I am in shambles right now just like the Indian Batting.
Please read the match report Here.
India crumble against England pacers again
India have learnt nothing from defeats: Gavaskar
- England won the toss & elected to bowl on a green pitch in overcast conditions.
- Seamers justified Captain Cook's decision by reducing India to 90/9, taking wickets at regular intervals.
- Only MS Dhoni showed his mettle yet again with a gutsy 82, the only batsman to score in double digits along with Vijay(18) & Ashwin(13).
- Gambhir got dismissed for a Golden Duck whereas Rahane got out for duck first time in his 18-innings career.
- Chris Woakes & Chris Jordan bagged 3 wickets each with Broad & Anderson also scalping 2 dismissals apiece folding up the Indian innings at 148.
- Alastair Cook(24) & Sam Robson(33)* remained unbeaten with England at 62/0 at stumps on Day 1 of the 5th Investec Test at the Kia Oval.
Related:
England Complete their "Perfect Test"
England v India, 3rd Investec Test, Ageas Bowl, 5th day
 |
| Anderson after dismissing Rohit Sharma |
Skipper Alastair Cook remarked during the presentation that it was "indeed a perfect test match for the team".
Yes indeed it was, their Batsmen put runs on the board, most importantly Cook scoring 95 & 70*, their fast bowlers cleaned up India's 1st innings, and the part-timer Moeen Ali displaying the attributes of an All-Rounder.
The Off-Spinner bagged 6 wickets to grant England to a cruising 266-run victory over India on 5th day that leaves the series at 1-1 with 2 matches to go.
India crumbled to 178 all out in their 2nd innings on Thursday morning thanks to Ali's superb figures of 6/67, his 1st 5-wicket haul in tests.
England thus, secured their 1st Test victory since they beat Australia at Durham last August, ending their 10-mach winless streak.
Moeen dismissed Jadeja, B Kumar & Shami within 12 deliveries, before he bagged the final wicket of Pankaj Singh.
Earlier, James Anderson, led England off to the perfect start by getting the key wickets of Rohit Sharma & MS Dhoni.
India's lone warrior Ajinkya Rahane played with tremendous composure scoring his 2nd half-century of the match, but his unbeaten 52 was in vain as he got little to no support from the other end.
Anderson got Sharma to edge one faintly through to the debutant wicket-keeper Buttler before dismissing Dhoni in similar a fashion with a ball that swung away from the right-handed batsman.
Just then captain Cook made a crucial bowling change, by bringing Moeen who bowled Jadeja before getting Kumar's wicket, who edged on to his pad and the ball looped up to Anderson at gully.
He continued to trouble the Indian batsmen & bowled Shami and Singh to wrap up a well-deserved victory for the side.
The 4th Test will take place on 7-11 August at Old Trafford, Manchester.
Tag :
alastair cook,
anderson,
cricket,
dhoni,
england,
ind vs eng,
india,
investec,
jadeja,
moeen ali,
rahane,
southampton,
test,
England Pile On Runs On 2nd Day
England v India, 3rd Investec Test, Ageas Bowl, 2nd day
 |
| Debutant Jos Buttler launching an assault on the Indian Bowlers. |
England declared on 569/7 & then Anderson got Dhawan out early as India ended the day on 25/1 in 14 overs.
The Three Lions were led in by their centurions, Ballance and Bell, with Cook following behind after a hard day's work.
Led by Captain Cook's 95, England scored 569 runs for 7 wickets in the 1st innings of the 3rd Test. B Kumar was the most successful bowler for India, scalping 3 wickets. Buttler scored a quick-fire 85 in the end. At one stage of the innings he 2 back-to-back sixes off Pankaj Singh and then scored a boundary to gather 21 runs from the 163rd over.
Earlier, Ian Bell & Gary Ballance were near-perfect for England, they seldom missed, rarely edged & looked completely dominating as they raised the run-rate in the first session. It looked like a perfect day for batting. Ian Bell never looked like a man who has been out of form for a long time and hasn't scored a test.
MS Dhoni changed the bowling 15 times in as many overs in order to extract something from the Indian Attack. B Kumar, who has constantly been India's go-to man, couldn't do much himself. Shami continued his undisciplined bowling & Pankaj Singh lost his steam after bowling impressively at the start of both days.
England declaration meant that Indian openers had 14 overs to survive but it was a huge task cut out the way Broad & Anderson squared them up time and again. Both of them were swinging the ball at high speed consistently.
While M Vijay fended off most of them well enough, it was Dhawan who edged one to Alastair Cook at 1st slip after Anderson attack him from round the stumps. Poor Dhawan couldn't be blamed entirely for the dismissal such was the quality of the England Attack that it looked impossible stay for those 14 overs.
In the end Vijay & Pujara guided India to 25/1 on stumps without any further loss.
In the end Vijay & Pujara guided India to 25/1 on stumps without any further loss.
Cook and Ballance amongst Runs as England Dominate India
England v India, 3rd Investec Test, Ageas Bowl, Southampton, 1st day
Southampton:Alastair Cook fell justagonisingly short of ending his dismal spell without a Test century as he led from the front against India at Southampton on Sunday.
The England Captain won the toss & then made 95 out of England's 247/2 at stumps on the first day of the 3rd Test.
Gary Ballance, who with his captain put on 158 for the 2nd wicket, then reached three figures to be 104 not out at stumps along with Bell who was 16 not out.
Ballance has now smashed 3 hundreds & 2 fifties in his first 6 Tests.
The Indian Attack missed Ishant who was unfit for the game.
The first-wicket partnership of 55 was ended when Mohammed Shami squared up the Australia-born & Jadeja held the catch in the slips.
2 cut shots off spinners Rohit Sharma, playing in place of Stuart Binny, and Jadeja helped Cook to 48 not out at lunch.
He completed a 98-ball fifty as the crowd signalled its support with a standing ovation.
At tea, England were 186/1, with Cook 82 not out and Ballance 72 not out.
Alastair Cook's 5-hour innings ended when he got a bottom edge, while swiping at a long hop from left-arm spinner Jadeja, & was caught down the legside by wicketkeeper MS Dhoni.
Umpire Marais Erasmus took his time before giving him out, but replays confirmed that he was correct.
As he walked back, Cook received another standing ovation, having faced 231 balls including 9 boundaries en route to his gritty 95.
England now were 213/2, hey were fortunate when Bell survived an LBW appeal from Pankaj Singh after the bowler's excellent outswinging delivery wrapped him on the pads.
However, Singh deserved better than his figures of 0/62 in 20 overs but his was just one of several economical contributions as Indian bowlers kept England's run-rate below 3 per over .
Tag :
alastair cook,
b kumar,
ballance,
cricket,
dhoni,
england,
ind vs eng,
india,
investec,
shami,
southampton,
test,
India on Brink of Historic Win
England v India, 2nd Investec Test, Lord's, 4th day
London India were on the verge of their 2nd Test win at Lord's, the 1st one being in 1986, as Alastair Cook's latest batting failure fumed the debate about his future as England captain.
England were 105 for four at stumps on Sunday's fourth day, needing a further 214 runs to reach their victory target of 319.
Joe Root was not out on 14 & Moeen Ali on 15 at stumps, after England lost 3 wickets for just 2 runs from 70/1 to 72/4.
Captain Cook fell for 22 off 93 to make it 27 innings since scoring the last of his England record 25 hundreds.
His departure came shortly after Ian Bell, the most experienced batsman in England's top order, had been dismissed for 1, his 19th innings without a Test hundred.
Fast bowler Ishant Sharma removed both Bell & Cook no runs in 7 balls.
At lunch, India were 267/7, a lead of 243.
But the 10 overs post lunch saw Jadeja and seamer B Kumar score 66 runs.
Jadeja made a rollicking 68 while Kumar was last man out for 52, his 3rd fifty in 4 innings this series after his best bowling figures of 6/82 in England's 1st innings.
India claw back after Ballance century
India tour of England, 2nd Investec Test: England v India at Lord's
On Friday, India took 2 quick wickets in the closing hour of the game after Ballance scored his 2nd Test century, very much like Ajinkya Rahane did, to rescue England & put the game in balance. Ballance and Moeen Ali, two of England's success stories
in recent times, combined to good effect putting on 98 for the 5th wicket, having come together when their side was in trouble at 113/4.
England captain Alastair Cook had yet another failure with the bat. B Kumar picked up the top 4 English batsmen returning with impressive figures of 4/46 in 23 overs as the home side reached 219/6 at stumps on day 2 of the 2nd Test at Lord's.
Cook nicked a good length away swinging ball from Kumar to wicketkeeper Dhoni.
Sam Robson drove loosely at a wide ball & was caught behind scoring just 17. Ian Bell also departed for a mere 16 runs.
Root was lbw for 13 to left-armer Ravindra Jadeja.
Related:
Rahane Stands Firm as Wickets Tumble
Dale Steyn Bursts through Lanka
Rahul Dravid joins Laureus World Sports Academy
Rahane Stands Firm as Wickets Tumble
England v India, 2nd Investec Test, Lord's, 1st day
London: A gutsy fine ton from Ajinkya Rahane & the precious 90-run partnership with Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped India recover from a batting collapse to reach a respective score of 290/9 against England on the 1st day of the second cricket Test.
India suffered a batting collapse, On a green top pitch at Lord's, losing 4 wickets for just 42 runs, but Rahane (103) & Kumar (36) put on a brave stand that saved India from 145/7 to a competitive score. At stumps, Shami was batting on 14 and Ishant on 12.
England's pace spearhead James Anderson picked up 4/ 55 while Broad got 2/ 79. Liam Plunkett, Ben Stokes & Moeen Ali got a wicket each.
Anderson was the most threatening bowler. His bowling did all the talking against the Indian batsmen, who have always been vulnerable to seam bowling.
Both the openers Shikhar Dhawan (7) and Murali Vijay (24) were dismissed early to reach 73/2 in their 1st session & then added another 67 runs by losing 4 wickets in the 2nd session to reach 140/6 at tea.
Shortly in the post tea session, Binny (6) was trapped lbw by Anderson, who looked as if he was taking a revenge against the Indians.
Next was a great fight-back by Rahane & Kumar, who also struck match-saving 50s in the first Test.
Related:
Tail-enders lift India to 457
England v India, 1st Investec Test, Trent Bridge, 2nd day
 |
| Kumar's 58 included some pleasing strokes. |
India were in danger of surrendering to England after building a competitive total carefully over 4 sessions as they lost 4 wickets for just 4 runs after lunch today. But Bhuvneshwar Kumar & Mohammed Shami saved the day with a 111-run last-wicket stand that took out the fuel reserves of a frustrated England bowling and mustered India's total to 457.
Shortly after his heroics with the bat, Shami dismissed Alastair Cook in the 4th over of England innings, bowling the England captain round his legs as he walked too far across the stumps.
Throughout the remainder of the final session, Indian seam bowlers searched for the right length to discomfort Sam Robson and Gary Ballance. But they found themselves a bit shorter, but Ishant Sharma landed one in the perfect spot 2 overs from stumps only for the outside-edge from Ballance to drop a foot short of 2nd slip. Ravindra Jadeja, who bowled 2 overs, showed he could be key later in the Test after he got 1 ball to explode out of rough at Ballance.
Tag :
alastair cook,
b kumar,
cricket,
dhoni,
england,
ind vs eng,
india,
investec,
nottingham,
report,
score,
shami,
test,
Vijay ton steadies India
England v India, 1st Investec Test, Trent Bridge
M Vijay's 4th Test century (1st away from home) held India's innings together on a first day full of momentum shifts on a typically slow and lifeless Trent Bridge pitch. India suffered setbacks at a number of critical junctures, of which the double-loss of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli immediately after lunch could have proved particularly devastating. But Vijay batted calmly through the day to go to stumps on an unbeaten 122.
The rest of the match could depend on 2 selection calls, 1 by each team. India handed Stuart Binny a debut, giving themselves an extra seamer in place of a specialist batsman, Rohit Sharma. England brought in Ben Stokes for Chris Jordan. Stokes, who had made a Test hundred in Perth batting at No. 6.
Alastair Cook eyes India series for Much-Needed Runs
India's tour of England 2014
Alastair Cook says his England captaincy should not be blamed for his poor form with the bat & he will lead from the front when the five-match Test series against India begins at Nottingham on Wednesday, 9th July.
Cook has not scored a Test ton in 24 innings since his 130 against NZ at Headingley in May 2013 and scoring just 78 runs in 4 innings against SL last month.
But he told a news conference on Tuesday that he does not feel out of form, despite coming under pressure not just for his scarcity of runs but also a lack of attacking instinct as captain.
"I never have felt that I've been hitting the ball particularly badly this summer - I scored some runs for Essex at the beginning of the season and I haven't managed to transform that into runs for England," he said.
"I know how important it is at the top of the order to do that and I'm desperately keen to lead from the front and score some runs.
"As a batter especially, you're in there because you are one of the top 6 batters in the country and your job is to score the runs to set up the game for England. Doesn't matter if you're captain or not.
"I haven't been doing that over the last year or so, and no-one's keener than me to put that right," he added. "I know I've got to score runs at the top of the order in this series."
Cook did not think leading the team had interfered with his job of laying a strong platform for England's middle order, his side failing to register a win in their past 8 Tests & slump to series defeat to Aussies & SL.
Rahul Dravid has been asked to mentor the younger players as they look to win their 1st Test overseas since 2011.
"We wanted a mentor with the side who can talk about his past experience, a lot of stuff but not just talking about technical things," wicketkeeper-batsman Dhoni told reporters.
"A lot of it is [Dravid] interacting with the youngsters, & they are comfortable talking to him.
"We noticed that in South Africa. He was part of the commentary team and they'd go up to him and approach him, have a chat whether it's cricket or something else."
