England v New Zealand, 1st ODI, Lords

First topic message reminder :

First of 3 ODIs start at 10:45 today, with both sides looking to get in tune for the Champions Trophy. New Zealand have won the toss and will bowl first. Worryingly for England, Dernbach has been picked. Teams:

England: Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Jade Dernbach.

New Zealand: Brendon McCullum, Luke Ronchi (wkt), Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, James Franklin, Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, Mitchell McClenaghan.

msp83 wrote:Boundary of a free hit from Woakes. Think McCullum should now think of getting a few bowled from his 5th bowler, Eliott, Williamson and Franklin. Tough chance put down of Woakes of Southee.

Depends whether you are a gambler though , doesn't it ? If you go for the throat and Southee gets these two out it probably doesn't matter who bowls later as you are through to the rabbits...

Kane Williamson is on now.

McCullum never brought on the 5th bowlers after Franklin's expensive spell even when wickets went down, we can put that down to an attacking game plan, but bringing Williamson on in the powerplay, well, one thing is sure, he's not quite a conventional skipper.

Williamson continues in the powerplay, and he strikes!!.

Buttler gone. Huge wicket. Couldn't execute the reverse sweep well. England in serious trouble. Bresnan joins Woakes.

Butler gone !

NZ big favourites from here.

Some really poor batting from England today

Just 19-1 in the powerplay.

Woakes riding his luck...England need him to just about bat through if they are to have any chance of posting a defendable total.

Even 220 looking tough now.

msp83 wrote:Just 19-1 in the powerplay.

I am scratching to think of an ODI in which England have ever done well in the batting power play !

Reckon they ought to take it as soon as two batsmen get a stand past thirty , even if that means overs 19-23

Goodbye Woakes....Be lucky to get much over 200.

NZ will surely cruise home from here.

Useful runs from Bresnan and Swann...still need every run they can scrounge.

McLenaghan bowling much better at the death than early on...NZ answer to Dernbach

14 balls left, 230 possible?

Good slower ball accounts for Bresnan...Southee once again doing well on this ground

Very handy knock by Bresnan just the same . Score would have looked sick without his 25.

Well that's Brezza gone, runs coming from all over the XI but no-one went deep this time. Shame Dernbach is rubbish at batting, we might need him to add a few here!

Jimmy starts with a lovely cover driven boundary !

Should be batting higher

Could still get to 230 ...

Up to Swann now ...McLenaghan was very hittable early on.

But he starts with a dot...I'll go for 226

England end with 227-9.

227-9 off our 50 overs

We got a chance

OK , close enough : 227 .

Handy effort from the tail , but really , that was rubbish from England . Credit to NZ , some decent bowling ( Southee excellent ) and terrific ground fielding , but most of the batsmen got themselves out when set...very poor show.

Will need a heck of a bowling effort to retrieve this...I know NZ were frail in the Tests , but I think this will suit their batsmen better , and I expect them to win fairly comfortably.

We're about 50 runs light here. England will require a top-notch bowling display from our 2 world-class bowlers, Anderson and Swann. Whatever Bresnan, Woakes and Dernbach can do is a bonus.

Great catch by Swann, just the start we needed!

227 isn't good enough IMO. We need a big hitter in the team down the order.

We need Luke Wright in the team.

However great catch from Swann, so you never know!!!

WHAT A CATCH FROM BUTLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1-2 what a catch by Buttler!

This is nice, 2 wickets in the first over - what a catch by Buttler! Oh Jimmy Jimmy...

Absolute dross from Dernbach so far

afternoon all. Just got back from some lovely Kayaking on our local lake to see we've underperformed a bit with the bat.

Looks like a fantastic first over from Anderson and then all the pressure taken off by Dernbache. Why do they persist with him?

Broad and Finn are both injured it would seem Trebbs.

New Zealand's plan is probably very simple: Defend against Anderson and Swann, take what you can get, and attack Woakes, Bresnan and Dernbach.

what a nightmare ahead of the champions trophy.

With this dross back in that puts NZ in charge and favourites for this series with their big hitters then probably?

I guess it's better we have the good bowlers for the Ashes and not risk them now.

well NZ will be getting there quickly at this run rate now. This is tailor made for Taylor really with his style.

Maiden for Dernbach!

Trebbs

Neither Broad nor Finn are seriously injured, just missing this and the next game because of niggly little things (I think Broad has a bruised heel and Finn a sore knee). Both expected to be fit for the Champions Trophy matches.

And while I was typing the above, a miracle occurred: Jade Dernbach bowled a maiden.

yeah that was unusual to see :-) If he can keep to that length he can be quite tidy here.

Poor old Dernbach...he can bowl some good overs , but he just isn't nearly consistent enough for international cricket.
He has been kept in and around the team for a fair while now , but it is surely getting to the time for the selectors to cut their losses...persisting with him is looking like an excess of hope over experience...

Now Guptill also opening up, putting Woakes under pressure straightaway. NZ 52-2 after 10.

Was a great start by England (well Anderson) with the ball ...but this is the sort of pitch on which any half decent team should expect to chase down 227 with ease.
Those two wickets gave them an early shock , but with Taylor getting in the groove quickly NZ are well on the way to re-establishing their advantage.

Two points : England should have opened with Bresnan : and with Finn missing it would have made more sense to call up a fast bowler ...too early for Tremlett I guess , but perhaps Meaker ?

Woakes nearly got one caught on the boundary there...but no joy , six it is...

Better get Swann on fairly early and hope he can work some miracles , but a slender hope I feel : this bowling attack looks pretty innocuous on a good wicket , and with no time pressure NZ ought to walk this.

Seems putting eng in was a good tactic.

Bumpy start but NZ are breezing to this on a nice wicket against a poor looking England attack without Finn and broad.

Agreed Alfie, they can play odi well, they won't squander this chance. This looks another bits and pieces odi side from engl. could lose this series 3-0 with a poor attack.

Ten an over now. A bit shambolic from England. We look lacking in depth badly now. They'll be there in 35 overs at this rate.

Cook has to bring Swann on pretty soon. One of those first over wickets would be very timely indeed!.

Woakes did OK with the bat , but he still doesn't really look true international class as a bowler.
If England are expecting Dernbach and Woakes to bowl twenty overs between them they better plan on making three hundred plus every time.

Fortunately Broad and Finn are just resting niggles. Does make you worry a bit about potential back up in case of injuries though...

Swann on .

Some good stuff here from Bresnan...combined with Swann might slow the runs a bit.
Trouble is NZ can afford to take it carefully now for a while as they are well up on the rate. As long as they don't do anything silly they can always accelerate later...and they know certain other bowlers will be back at some point ...

Swann hasn't been able to provide a breakthrough as yet, but since he has been brought on, the run flow is under control.

Ben Stokes is fit again and I believe he's a much better batting option than Woakes is. Root, Pietersen and Trott can all bowl an over or 2. Think they should look to someone like Stokes for that number 7 position.
Adil Rashid seems to have improved as a batsman, could he be an option?

The runs seems to have really dried up for NZ. Would be hoping for an over or 2 from Dernbach pretty soon.

Until he plays , we don't know whether Stokes will measure up at this level. The number seven isn't such a big issue really , as the first choice team will see Bresnan.Broad.Swann.Finn.Anderson as a pretty settled 7-11.
As long as the top six do their job that should be fine.

Problem seems to me more what do we do if any of those bowlers are injured ?

Batting ought to be OK once KP returns though of course they are still without him for the Champions.
Pity really they couldn't find room for Bairstow today...coming off a good Test at Headingley he might have been able to advance his cause. His confidence would have been up.

Bresnan's ODI bowling record isn't great, and I am not sure his batting is number 7 quality. With the kind of top order England have got, they need a good stroke playing batsman at 7. The new regulations, coupled with thin bowling options in the top 6 means that the number 7 should be a proper bowler as well.

how on earth can sky be saying eng look good for the champions trophy?

they look expensive and pretty incapable of taking wickets and fragile in batting.

SL, SA, Aussie, India, Pakistan and NZ all look more suited to the short forms right now.

well woakes looks horribly out of his league here. going at 10 and now 12 an over. good lord.

Boyd Rankin called up to the squad as back up for Broad and Finn

Say whaaaaaaaaat

Giles loves his Warwickshire doesn't he? Very strange decision