England v India First Test Trent Bridge

First topic message reminder :

The 5 test series cramped into a 42 day schedule gets underway at Trent Bridge tomorrow. The 2 middling sides have a lot to prove. Hopefully we'll get to have some exciting cricket.

Think Dhoni won't mind England avoiding the follow on (long as they don't get too close), with the weather looming, and memories of the New Zealand disaster, he won't mind not having to make the decision.

the thing about Broad is that he's not an easy batsman to stop scoring, particularly on this sort of pitch without a really quick bowler. 50 partnership between these two, England badly need them to carry on though...

Go  Stu!

Commentators stop being so pessimistic.

India had a mini collapse- so did England. They still need 30% of the wickets

good from Broad that, belts a couple of fours over the off-side, mid-off just drops back a few yards so Broad pushes the next one gently to him for an easy single.

just feel Ishant has looked a little weary in this spell. He bowled quite a long spell where he took his wickets and didn't really get much rest afterwards.

Oh and India completely mess-up a run-out chance.

Bumble getting very exercised about the batting collapse...was indeed a shocker ; but it didn't totally surprise me ...I had a nagging fear that a couple of careless dismissals would set the fragile confidence which runs through them at present all out the door. And so it came to pass.
India have played England very well in a psychological sense : not over attacked with bat or ball , worn the bowlers down and made a par score , and then let scoreboard pressure work for them. If England were still the confident outfit of a couple of years back , it wouldn't have worked. But right now , England need very little encouragement to lose their belief.
Watching Broad batting now shows up what happened in that dreadful two hours for what it was. A team disappearing up its own mental fissures...

Luck for Broad then ...nearly a run out ! Thank heavens for that : however long it lasts , this partnership is exhilarating to watch   

good wicket.

but we can still hit 330 from here and bat the day out- root needs to take singles at the right time and keep strike

great cameo by broad though- those runs have made it a lot easier for us

Oh blast ! Dharmasena gives Broad lbw ...and actually Hawkeye says he is correct - I fancied it pitched outside leg but apparently just in line.

Fun while it lasted ; but we now need something solid from Plunkett.

and Broad on his way. Dharmasena just gets that one right, pitched just in line, and nipped back to trap him LBW. I may just have spontaneously combusted had it pitched outside leg. Well-bowled by Kumar, an important wicket for India. England need more wagging from the tail here.

over-rate has been dreadful since lunch, to the extent that we might just be struggling to get the overs in (22 after this one).

This Indian swing bowler isn't half bad at all. very jimmyesque

Broad having a good game, bowled very tidily and has batted well

Shami back into the attack, unsurprisingly (see my previous post).

A worry that our bowlers are gonna be out in the field again soon

This series could be the end of Anderson

Shami trying to keep Root down at the non-striker's end for the next over, but pushes that one a little bit too wide

mystiroakey wrote:good wicket.

but we can still hit 330 from here and bat the day out- root needs to take singles at the right time and keep strike

great cameo by broad though- those runs have made it a lot easier for us

Not sure I'd use the term "easier" ...even in a relative sense    Still nearly 180 behind and a lot of overs left tonight. But it put a bit of spirit back into the contest , and hopefully will rub off on the rest of the team.
Barring a good amount of rain , they have a lot to do to get out of this over the next two days . Need to summon the spirit that saved games in Cardiff , SA and NZ during the good years. And hope for a few marginal things to go their way.
At least it won't be a "boring" draw if it happens.

slightly odd to see mid-off and mid-on deep for Root to Jadeja, he doesn't really go over the top down the ground much.

Olly wrote:A worry that our bowlers are gonna be out in the field again soon

This series could be the end of Anderson

It is indeed , Olly. (Though hopefully these two will bat well !) But it has been a regular England failing recently to get dismissed too quickly when batting second , ensuring the bowlers rarely get adequate rest. Was the killer in Australia , and it is happening again this summer.
Funny; this is the first time ever England have fielded a 1-9 who all have Test centuries ; and they can't bat a day on a road ...

Have faith ...it will turn around in time . It always does.

Eventually   

If we can bat out the day and get to 330 tomorrow(which seems on) India will still have a very tough decision on how to approach it and when to declare- I cant see them leaving us 4 sessions with only 350 to score.(they would still have to smash 220 in less than two sessions to get to that position)

they would surely prefer to go longer and try and to bowl us out in a day so we have no chance of winning. 

The draw is well on even without any rain

India are more likely to bowl us out needing 150 than 300

GSC wrote:India are more likely to bowl us out needing 150 than 300

sadly true

50 for Root

nice little knock amidst all the carnage around him.

Darn

Plunks gone

mystiroakey wrote:If we can bat out the day and get to 330 tomorrow(which seems on) India will still have a very tough decision on how to approach it and when to declare- I cant see them leaving us 4 sessions with only 350 to score.(they would still have to smash 220 in less than two sessions to get to that position)

they would surely prefer to go longer and try and to bowl us out in a day so we have no chance of winning. 

The draw is well on even without any rain

Few "ifs" in there , roakey...but you are right. The timing of a declaration won't be easy for Dhoni. (And I can't see India managing a fast 220 , even on this pitch.)
Trouble is the way England have been batting lately , a day might be ample to see them all out...

Plunkett gone : only the Burnley Lara left to help Root see it through to stumps.

Plunkett gone, a little loose there, left a big gap and Kumar, who's bowled very nicely, found it.

England really haven't been good enough with the bat as a unit today, simply put. There's no excuse for being 7 9 down for less than 300 on this pitch against a decent but not special bowling attack.

when your bowlers have had to bowl 160 overs, you have to bat longer than this. With all the tests back-to-back it's vital the batsmen give the bowlers more rest than this.

reverse-sweep from Jimmy

Olly wrote:A worry that our bowlers are gonna be out in the field again soon

This series could be the end of Anderson

Olly - I wouldn't be in too much of a rush to write Jimmy's cricketing obituary. However, not only is this a 5 match series but also a 5 match series crammed into 6 weeks. There's almost certainly going to be a need to rest him at some stage. The continuing demands on the seamers also increases the need to bring in a full time spinner, as per my post last night (thanks for your response, Alfie).

Burnley Lara!!! Completely flummoxed playing the forward defence, figures the reverse sweep is the percentage play. Four runs

Poor shot from Plunkett. He's better than that. I'd be annoyed if I were Root.

Root has battled well ..."ugly" runs , but vital. But England are looking at a big deficit and a tough task to bowl again so soon .

I think it is looking about 80% an Indian win. Perhaps I am being pessimistic...

Jimmy Jimmy- thats a tendulker shot!

Backfoot cover drive from Lara.

that's a glorious shot from Jimmy

alfie wrote:Poor shot from Plunkett. He's better than that.  I'd be annoyed if I were Root.

Root has battled well ..."ugly" runs , but vital.  But England are looking at a big deficit and a tough task to bowl again so soon .

I think it is looking about 80% an Indian win.  Perhaps I am being pessimistic...

very pessimistic- if they try to bat fast they may go out fast- if they dont there isnt  much time to bat out the draw. there is also big chance of rain

45% india win, 45% draw 10% england win

Hope you're right roakey.

But I fear you have been unduly influenced by Duty   

odds

1.67 draw
3.6 india
11 england

alfie wrote:Hope you're right roakey.

But I fear you have been unduly influenced by Duty   

as you can see by the exchange odds I have over rated an india win.

I don't think I've ever actually seen Root play a decent reverse-sweep (off a spinner, I've seen a good one off a medium-pacer), and yet he keeps playing it. Needs lessons from Jimmy

If the forearm isn't counted as part of the bat, and umpires are told to assume the ball barely turned, when there is impact on the half-volley, how did Root not given?

I'd take 7/2 on an Indian win!

there must be a reason captains almost inevitably do this (drop the field back for 4 balls an over when a "batsman" is playing with a tailender), some statistical analysis or something that suggests it's worthwhile, but it always seems to me to be letting the game drift a bit too much. India would surely rather England bash a quick 30 or so in say 6 overs than plod along for about 10 overs for 20 or so?

Its not entirely out of the equation that England win this. Indian complacency, a bit of luck, one magical performance, and we're there!

3.6 is 5/2 not 7/2

its a decimal odd

so you have to take 1 pt off

kingraf wrote:If the forearm isn't counted as part of the bat, and umpires are told to assume the ball barely turned, when there is impact on the half-volley, how did Root not given?

I thought it hit the wristband of his glove, which counts as part of the bat?

I thought it hit his actual oversized wristband.

kingraf wrote:I thought it hit his actual oversized wristband.

anyway to get an advantage

getting up to my 330 and getting close to seeing the day out!

good stuff

Jimmy on fire!!

It must be said that jimmy is a much better batsman than plunks. It must be physiological trying to get a 100 partnership last wicket to match theirs!

Come on Jimmy!

Jimmy teaching Root how to play the reverse sweep

Dhonis letting this drift #dhoniout #cookcriticisms

Surprising odds. Perhaps the weather forecast is getting worse ?

Or maybe they fancy Jimmy for a big innings    You'd think he's a better bat than Shami , so why not ? Oh yes , India haven't already bowled 120 overs...

Jokes aside these two are putting up a good effort. Unfortunately too many colleagues failed to do their bit .