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India take 2-0 lead over England
-England squandered a good start after being 82/0, restricted to 227/10 in 50 overs.
-Cook scored 44, Hales 42, Bell got 28 but Root could manage only 2 runs along with Morgan(10) and Stokes(2).
-Ashwin picked up 3 wickets along with Raina, Rayudu & Jadeja grabbing one each.
-Shami scalped Woakes for 15, Jos Buttler scored a gritty 42 along with a brisk cameo by Tredwell who scored 30 off 18 balls but was caught & bowled by B Kumar.
-All of the Indian batsmen chipped in with useful innings except for only Shikhar Dhawan.
-Kohli scored a decent 40, Rahane scored 45, Raina 42.
-Rayudu top scored smashing 64* off 78 balls.
-Ashwin picked up the Man of the Match award for his figures of 3/39.
-India now have an unasailable lead of 2-0 with 2 games to be played at Birmingham (2nd Sept) & Leeds (5th Sept).
Ajinka Rahane Controversial Dismissal BCCI's fault?
England v India, 2nd Investec Test, Lord's, 3rd day
After Liam Plunkett struck on consecutive deliveries to remove Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli, India needed none other than Ajinkya Rahane to steady the ship. Rahane came out to bat with a first innings century on his back and looked good for the very first seven balls the Mumbai batsman faced, but then came the shocker.
A rising delivery from Stuart Broad ricocheted off Rahane’s right elbow and popped up in the air with wicketkeeper Matt Prior running and diving forward to complete the catch, England fielders appealed and soon bowler joined in. A dreaded finger of umpire Bruce Oxenford went up and Rahane had a dejected long walk back to the pavilion.
It gets cruel when a batsman in prime form and fresh from hundred gets his innings cut short by an umpiring error. Rahane was quick and natural to show his dissatisfaction behind the decision as he walked past umpire. This is not new, in fact in first innings of this Test match England batsman Joe Root and Indian all-rounder Stuart Binny too were at the receiving end. Going back to first test there were few goofed decisions also.
While most of the Test playing nations prefer and take assistance from technology to aid umpires and use the Umpire Decision Review System India have decided against it. BCCI has continuedits stance against the UDRS and it has actually hurt Team India on field, with verdicts going against them at crucial times, like the Rahane one.
It is part and parcel of the game and umpires after all are humans, so any rare error in judgement istolerable, but if there is a technology on offer and that too when you are the richest cricket board in the world rejecting it is no way the shrewdest of the decisions. BCCI believes that UDRS is not 100% accurate, but it would have needed no ground-breaking technology to call back Rahane if review would have been in place. It is indeed a time BCCI put on their thinking cap and say yes to UDRS, at least we won’t have more Rahane like dismissals, that is for sure.
Murali Vijay keeps India Alive in Even Contest
England v India, 2nd Investec Test, Lord's, 3rd day
London:Murali Vijay anchored India's innings with asolid fifty after England looked to take charge of the 2nd Test at Lord's on Saturday.
India lost 3 wickets for just 5 runs in space of 19 balls to be 118/1 to 123/4 with a lead of just 99 runs.
At stumps on the third day they were 169/4, leading by 145 runs.
Opening batsman Vijay, batting for almost 5 hours, was 59 not out and India captain M S Dhoni unbeaten on 12.
Meanwhile, England's Liam Plunkett had a brilliant day with both bat & ball. Hescored a Test-best 55 not out to help his team to a first-innings lead & then took 2 big wickets in 2 balls.
Sikhar Dhawan was looking to attack upfront with Vijay playing calmly.
But on 31, Dhawan failed to get over the top of a cut off Ben Stokes & was caught by Joe Root at backward point to leave India 40/1.
Fast bowler Plunkett pitched the ball up & he was duly rewarded.
First, he drew Pujara (43) forward & got his outside edge which ended a 2nd-wicket stand of 78 in 30 overs.
Next ball, Virat Kohli made an awful mistake of leaving a ball which came back and was clean bowled for a golden duck.
Plunkett then wasted his hat-trick delivery as Rahane left a ball well wide of off stump.
Rahane, the centurion from 1st innings, was given out controversially because of the absence of DRS in this series.
Another concern for England was the slow over-rate which may result in a ban for the captain, Cook, who has now gone 26 innings without scoring a Test hundred.
Earlier, B Kumar took 6/82 as he recorded his Test-best figures for the second time in this series..
But even he could not prevent England gaining a slender 1st-innings lead of 24.
England's tail added 100 runs to the overnight score of 219/6 before being bowled out for 319.
Plunkett and Anderson, struck a flurry of boundaries as they added 39 in 43 balls.
Kumar had reduced England to 280/9 in initially overcast conditions on Saturday as he bowled Ben Stokes for a duck with a swinging delivery and then had Broad caught at 1st slip.
Related:
Ajinka Rahane Controversial Dismissal BCCI's fault?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.
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India bat to a Draw at Trent Bridge
England v India, 1st Investec Test, Trent Bridge, 5th day
India suffered a serious scare at the start of day 5 as England took 3 wickets for 17 runs in the 1st hour of the play. But Stuart Binny batted them to safety & was looked on course for a century on debut before Moeen Ali dismissed him LBW with 10 minutes to go for tea. B Kumar then scored his 2nd fifty of the match & England didn't get to begin a second innings as the players shook hands when MS Dhoni declared at the stroke of the final hour.
By then, Alastair Cook had provided the Trent Bridge crowd with 1 over of seemingly useless offspin & 1 over of gentle medium-pace, with which wrapped up Ishant Sharma caught behind down the leg side. Cook's Bob Willis impersonations summed up the Test match, during which it had become increasingly difficult to assess the 2 sets of players, on a surface with nothing in it for the bowlers. This test match will mostly be remembered for the lower-order batting records.
Binny showed his batting agility, but it can't be said that he completely justified his selection, it would be harsh to judge his seam bowling on this pitch. He might even find himself in the strange position of being left out of the team for the second Test after coming close to a century on debut and helping save a match from a wobbly position.
India on front-foot but Tail resists
England v India, 1st Investec Test, Trent Bridge, 3rd day
 |
| The script changed dramatically after lunch as Ishant Sharma trapped Robson and Ballance lbw in quick time |
It was like the second day in reverse. England's batsmen dominated the first session, India's bowlers took a clump of wickets in the second session, and England's lower order frustrated the bowlers after tea. India were on the verge of taking a massive lead and possibly bowling England out short of the follow-on mark before Joe Root averted the danger along with the lower order to end the day batting on 78. Root put on 78 with Stuart Broad, and an unbroken 54 with last man James Anderson as England ended the day trailing by 105.
The pitch remained slow and unresponsive through the third day, but India's seamers got more out of it by bowling a much straighter line than their English counterparts. Where India's batsmen defended 288 balls from England's seamers and left 257 balls alone, England's batsmen, by stumps, had defended 175 balls and only left 87 alone. But it took until the 33rd over of the day, and the second over of the post-lunch session, for India to taste any success.
It came from Ishant Sharma, who got the ball to duck back in from a good length to make Robson pay for staying stuck in his crease. The ball hit his front pad before cannoning onto his back pad, and both of these happened in front of middle-and-off. Umpire Bruce Oxenford had little hesitation in giving Robson out, even if Hotspot picked up what might have been a faint inside edge.
The umpires changed the ball two overs later, after it looked to have gone out of shape, and the replacement, much to India's delight, showed itself far more responsive to the clouds that had gathered overhead, after two clear days. Ishant immediately got it to curl late into the left-handed Gary Ballance and ping him on the front pad right in front - this time, there was absolutely no doubt about the decision. Only two Indian batsmen had been dismissed bowled or lbw. All of England's top three had been dismissed with no help from fielders.
via: www.cricinfo.com
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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."
England a Venue Where I Want to Excel: Kohli
Virat Kohli
Star Indian batsman Virat Kohli has described England as 'one of the toughest venues for sub-continental teams' but said they are focussed on putting up a strong performance in the five-Test series to start the transition of the young Indian team to a good quality side. (Being part of Indian Team more important that being skipper: MS Dhoni)
The opening Test begins on Wednesday in Nottingham, as both teams started their preparations at Trent Bridge. (Stuart Broad ready for gruelling India tour)
"This tour is right up there with South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. I would say these are the four places where sub-continental players do want to perform well. I too have that in my mind," said Kohli. (England tour an opportunity to rise in ICC Test rankings)
"It is a pretty special place to play cricket and I'll be playing a Test at Lord's for the first time. So all-in-all, it is a very exciting tour for me personally because I have never played Test cricket here before and I am really looking forward to it. I have some goals I want to achieve, and I have been thinking about them. I am pretty excited about playing here." (Kohli, Pujara key to India's success in England)
India have not done too well against England in their recent Test encounters. They lost the 2012-13 home series by a 2-1 margin and prior to that suffered a humiliating 4-0 whitewash in the summer of 2011. It might appear to be a big burden on the outside but Kohli negated that this factor is having any effects on this new-look Indian team. (Indian batsmen can breathe easy for 1st Test)
It's time to Right a Wrong in England, Says Sourav Ganguly
Calling it the Revenge Series, former skipper Sourav Ganguly feels this is India's best chance to win a Test series in England. India haven't won a series in England since 2007 and the last time MS Dhoni's men toured UK in 2011, they were hammered four-nil. (Sachin and Dravid: An Unusual Coincidence)
England are in a bit of doldrums. They just lost a series against Sri Lanka at home and skipper Alastair Cook is under tremendous pressure to step down or take a break. But Ganguly says it will be foolish to write off the England captain, who remains his team's leading batsman with 8125 runs (25 centuries) with a good average of almost 47. Not only Cook, Ganguly identified the dangermen in the England camp
"Cook is too good a player to be written off after a poor series, or two. He will bounce back. They also have Ian Bell, who has always scored big against India. Then there is Joe Root, who is a fine young batsman. Moeen Ali too has been impressive," Ganguly told The Times of India in an interview.
via:- http://sports.ndtv.com/england-vs-india-2014/news/226422-it-s-time-to-right-a-wrong-in-england-says-sourav-ganguly
