England triumph with tried and tested policy
It's not often you see England win a one-day international as emphatically as this.
Their victory was built on the tried and trusted policy of putting runs on the board, and then taking early wickets.
The fielding was also outstanding with Alastair Cook diving to take a brilliant catch at slip, Matt Prior shone behind the stumps and even Monty Panesar pulled off a surprising run out.
Batting has been England's Achilles heel for too long, with only Marcus Trescothick in the top three proven at dominating bowling attacks.
Finding a line-up capable of making the most of the Powerplays has to be one of England's most urgent priorities.
Therefore there was widespread surprise that Owais Shah had lost his place after some good performances against West Indies, and that Ian Bell was retained at number three.
Perhaps Bell's spirited batting against India at the Oval in the final Test was the deciding factor - but neither Bell nor Cook is known for being comfortable at improvising.
But how well they played, and the fact that they have both shown that they are able to score centuries in this form of the game will have a huge impact on their confidence.
There were no silly shots and, importantly, no getting out when they were set. I am not sure that Rahul Dravid did all he could in terms of field placings to put pressure on the pair - and India's fielding was rather sluggish - but Cook and Bell showed how it is possible to build a solid platform without slogging.
This was England's highest score in their last 10 attempts at batting first - but with such a tremendous base, they should feel disappointed at having scored only 78 runs from their last 10 overs.
Indeed, to lose only two wickets throughout the innings makes for rather a strange scorecard.
The last thing you want when chasing a big score is to lose an early wicket, and Sourav Ganguly had a brainstorm when he set off for a second run in the only the third over.
His partner, Sachin Tendulkar, had his back to him when he charged out of his crease allowing Panesar's throw from mid-off to defeat him.
When they were reduced to 34-4, India were virtually out of the game in only the 17th over, and although Dravid and Mahendra Dhoni added 68, they used up nearly 20 overs leaving the lower order with no chance.
I am quite surprised that the english selection has not been questioned. We played 5 front line bowlers [Mascarenas, Broad, Panesar, Anderson and Freddie] plus collingwood, and Bopara who was batting below 2 all rounders, and is also a part time bowler. Would it have been more sensible to drop him and play Shah or another batsman, such as Benning. Also the continued decisions to make Prior open baffle me. He never looks like scoring runs, and always starts slowly. Drop Bopara and move Prior to 7, and open with Benning or another hard hitting opener to try and gain the initiative.
Complain about this postAs well as that this column seems to be more a match report than a review/comment.
At last a decent display from England. Good batting backed up with superb bowling. One worry though; I hope their success with the bat does not blinker the teams tactics too much. Its commonly thought now that England need to take a different approach at the top of the order, and today's good performance does not change that. If they are to progress they need to show themselves to be versatile, sometimes crafting an innings, sometimes going hard eraly on.
Complain about this postwell it is nice to see england do well! matt prior is the right player up the top of the order though! i just feel cook needs to work on giving him more of the striek for the first 10 overs or so! and he should be happy with singles and the odd boundary! until he gets in and can start to open up with a decent platform behind him! set up by prior taking it to the opposition!
Complain about this postWell done England. Embarassing India. I think it was great that England thrashed this poor India line-up. This way at least India know what they are up against. Shambolic fielding, batting and bowling. You can't blame Dravid for putting England in. He should have known though that his side turned up just to make up the numbers. I pretty much saw the whole match except Zaheer's cameo at the end. They looked like they had not practiced all week.
Anyhow, there were plenty of plusses for England and they have set the benchmark now for the rest of the series. It will be much harder, one would think, to match this performance. Still, given the circumstance they should have topped 300 and that should be a worry. Bell was impressive, but the reason England won was his partnership with the excellent Cook. They showed up the right handed Indian seamers and I would be surprised to see Agarkar and Chowla again on Friday such was their tedium.
I think India will still win this series. They are going to have to pull out all the stops and change the team a bit. But it can't get worse for India!
The team needs to practice hard. Nets, nets and fielding for the older and younger members of the squad.
England just need to keep players fit and stay on the button.
Bring on Bristol. I am going to be at Edgbaston and just praying for some sun. Can't wait.
Complain about this posti am curious to read english fans's reaction to this - if england lose, they will say that ODI's are not important
now that england has won, will they change their stance
RavBulu
Complain about this postThis is my problem with 50 over stuff. I left once 60-4 to goto the pub (in southampton nontheless) as it was as sure as anything India were out of it.
Maybe this could be replaced with 2 innings 20/20 matches? Anyone else think that could be interesting???!!!
Complain about this postAt last! We bat first, centuries are scored, and the bowling and fielding matches our test match standards. Obviously the next step is to be able to bat that well and get above 300 but these are encouraging early days for a"new era". I guess what we need now is Prior/or whoever else is chosen as the big hitting opener with cook to actually do some big hitting successfully! Overall, great to watch...
Complain about this postI think England have got to be delighted with their win today. It's been their best performance for absolutely ages!
Complain about this postIt's been such a good performance because we probably didn't help ourselves in one or two places: We need to make sure that the powerplays don't go untouched, we had two slower batsmen in the top 3 today, and it did slow us up.
That's not to say Cook and Bell didn't play well, but we may have had an extra 50 runs if Pietersen was in at 3, or if Flintoff was.
I think that's just a small thing we need to change if we're going to compete with the very best, but overall absolutely fantastic! Can't believe we've actually won an ODI so commandingly!
Is Aggers in fact Johnners' secret love-child? Even disregarding the identical nose, he gets to look and sound more like him every day.
Complain about this postIt was a great result, but did we not say during the World Cup etc that the problem for England is that in conditions here matches are won by starting slowly and then firing, whereas that approach isn't appropriate under most other conditions in world cricket?
Complain about this postNothing today suggested to me that we've moved on to become a team who could win away from home.
I hope there is no getting carried away with this preformance as it still has a few problems. Great that both Bell and Cook got centuries but if Cook had got out he could have left the team in trouble due to his slow start. Again the power plays were not attacked but that was probably due to the early loss of Prior. I am not sure about the omission of Shah as i felt it was only himself and collingwood who ended the west indies odis with full credibility but his selection would probably come at the expense of Bopara.
Great start in the series and i think the main aim would be to get a score of 300+ in the coming series and to bowl India out a few more times.
Complain about this postWell England have beaten Australia and New Zealand in Australia very recently.
Ok, ODI's, i'd rather win 1 test than an ODI series, i'd rather be top of the test championship, than the ODI one, i'd rather our batsman and bowlers be world number 1 in tests, not ODIs.
But it doesn't mean they don't matter.
We might not care as much about them, but simply because there are too many.
Complain about this postA win is a win and this was a good one (and a massive surprise to just about everyone, even more so after losing the toss - perhaps Rahul Dravid believed the dismssive predictions of the fans that this would never be a contest). However, the game rather meandered at the end; from 105-6 after 32 overs how is it the England only bowled out India with the last available ball of the 50 overs?
Plenty is being said about selection (despite post #1). Owais Shah was unlucky, but who should have been dropped to accomodate him? Ian Bell? Matthew Prior (who is still looking vulnerable with the bat, although his 'keeping today was superb, including an inspired catch, a crucial run-out and no byes)? England need 5 bowlers, plus at least one back-up in case someone picks up an injury or gets some hammer. Ravi Bopara had to get a game, although no one could have predicted on recent form that he would neither be needed to bat or bowl.
In fact, for once, England had a side with deep batting and plenty of bowling options. That is the basis for a successful One Day side. Other days the same team will play better and lose, but it was an encouraging performance. Now we need the side to do the same on Friday. However, even if we were to win 7-0 I would still have preferred to see us win the Test series.
Complain about this postengland 9/10 -
Complain about this postwould have given them 10/10 if they could have scored little more in the last 10 overs
INDIA - o well ..umm 1/10
poor fielding..poor batting..poor bowling ...poor running..u just cant win games like that...i think they have to stop thinking abt their test series win and concentrate on one dayers....i mean whats the point of promoting dhoni and then asking him to bat like as if they need to save a test match (i m sure dravid instructed him to take it easy)....ofcourse they were 4 down but when the asking rate is 8/over..u gotta look for runs then saving wickets...
even after this disaster i have a good feeling india will win this series...they needed a loss like that to wake them up
i think ireland wouldve beaten india tonight, they really werent great...agarkar is far too slow to open the bowling and made the england top order look better than they are. because of the indians lack of options in the middle of the innings, bell and cook were able to get big scores...i still believe against a top attack england will struggle with the current tactics, well the world cup illustrated this! need a big hitter along with cook at the top of the innnigs, luke wright or darren maddy get my vote. Prior to drop down the order and swap bopara, who isnt a specialist in either the batting or bowling department and bring in another batter
Complain about this posta great win for england even if it is just one win....the bowling line up looks great...3 fast bowlers, 3 medium pacers and a spinner.
the only weak spot is the batting..but today it paid off...and thats exactly what england have been gambling on.
I cant imagine what the england side would be like if Simon Jones & Marcus Trescothick were present!
Complain about this postCongratulations Enland. Strong performance. Monty with a run out, well the fielding was awesome.
Its nice to see KP come in, play a natural game, and the lads in front have done all the hard graft and 2 top draw batting performances.
Good tight fast and mean return from Freddie and the other bowlers. Jimmie the lad from Burnley getting 4fer.
We look a strong all round side and who knows if we keep the pressure up in all departments at Bristol.
Well Done Paul Collingwood, success is always sweet for a skipper, albeit just the first match. You can see the hard fielding work the skipper and coach have injected.
Complain about this postregarding what matt said about two overs of 20-20: I´ve thought that too at some points. the other thing I´ve wondered if at the 25th over the other team comes into bat for 25 and after that the first team resumes where it was and bats out. split one innings into 2? or is that just not the way it´s done.
All in all though my conclusions on game are england batted exeptionally in the first 40 overs, should have gone for it a bit more in the last 10 though, perhaps Bell was too settled in his rythm to break out and take on risky shots but that´s a pretty harsh criticism given the margin of victory. The other conclusion though is Sachin should be dropped from the one day team. It seems his only value now is his intelligent play which still has value in a test, but the days of of incredible boundaries and massive one day scores seem to be over.
Complain about this postExcellent batting by Bell and Cook. This is not one day slog, but classic batting straight out of text book by both. Superb timing, placing and simply awesome batting. Anderson is soon becoming to be a great force in international cricket.
That said, India are slow starters. The whole Indian team looked like they would rather not play today. They just did not show the enthusiasm. The eleven looked like they would rather curl up in a blanket and sleep soundly in their hotel room than play.
Oh well. Trust me. The series will start on friday. By then hopefully Indians would have gotten used to the chilly conditions that are completely alien to them.
Complain about this postthis is a good victory,i like it very much.cook and bell played termendous cricket.i hp england will keep it up for the next odis
Complain about this postJack's comments seem eminently reasonable. I would ask him what he feels the best bowling line up England have is given everyone in a state of good form and fitness. Simon jones is on the list - who would accompany him.
Complain about this postWell done England. Prehaps should've made 300-310 given the platform they set themselves but the bowling more than compensated. Team selection was a bit strange as well, it may have made more sense to drop one of the seamers in favor of Shah but that didn't hurt England in this match.
Complain about this postAlthough England played well, they were up against a side with a one day record as abysmal as ther own. They were further helped by Rahul Dravis curious decision to field first. I still have a sneaking suspicion that England would have looked considerably less good against a team with a bit more savvy re: local conditions. India will learn from this and will present a much stiffer challenge from here on in
Complain about this postHopefully this win will generate some momentum. However, to prove that England really can cut the mustard, they must beat India well in this series
Well done England 10 out of 10. India fans all I have to say is why are the old boys still part of this team, they keep making the same mistakes they never learn you end up saying whats the point. Yes India might win the series but how can you stand for the same mistakes being made over and over again. No sign of a fight, timid and clueless. Freddie was Pitching it back of length and all your brilliant batsmen were doing was play it back to him when will we see counter attack, and aggressive shot making from the Demi Gods of cricket. Hope they play good one day cricket. England u beauty!!!!!!!
Complain about this postIf you wondered why the biggies of Indian Cricket (Sachin, Rahul, Saurav...) did not go o the 20/20 Cup might have had your answer last evening. This Indian team is too old for limited overs cricket. The so called classy Indian players will always struggle when someone refuses to be overawed by their reputation and squares up to them manly. England did that this last time. But I doubt if England has the ability and confidence to carry on that attitude. I, however, have no doubt that this Indian team will lose more matches than they will win with the declining abilities of their ageing superstars and the utter lack of fight and self respect of the brat packs
( leader: Yuvraj Singh).
Indian limited over cricket needs a complete change of makeover where players need to find place on the basis of contemporary form and fitness, not star values on past records or television appeal.
What was apparent last evening is the already detected (by rival coaches and inteligent players) fact that people like Sachin and Saurav have lost the ability to improvise against well planned strategies laid by rival coaches. A decade back they had the abilities to do it (remember Sachin in WC 2003) consistently, not now. Occaisional good innings would be only like saline for their shelf life.
Imagine this, a great football club like Man U brings out John O'shea to score life saving goals. And India requires Rahul Dravid to improvise to save India! The first has failed to save Man U this season and India would win fewer cricket matches if they continue to hug these super stars. Old Fergie is smart enough to understand what is wrong. But old Borde? Greg Chappell knew it but made a hash of the remedies. I won't have to repeat what Khush and Guesswhat555 have already commented.
This Indian team will never go very far. If they manage to win this ODI series after a performance like yesterday, it would only confirm my belief in the wretchedness of English teams in whatever sport most of the times.
Complain about this postThanks Roger, you said it!
Complain about this postI thought the overall match was very promising. I was at The Rose Bowl, and the atmosphere was excellent, despite the artic conditions!
HCC did the ODI arena proud. I can't wait for a Test to be played here. Well done guys!
I hope that we can move to Bristol and build on our performance.
Cook and Bell were legends. I hope they can maintain the performance.
KP - what can I say. Being a local boy, I am bias, but he came out and continued the flow of runs.
Dimi - had a good spell with the ball, and I thought he was pretty tight.
Monty - always full of energy.
Freddie - a good return to the arena. What a player.
India, well, they were never in the game - no passion, no bowling, no fielding. The fans were upbeat though, even when 34-4! They were chanting 6-1, I'm not so sure! They have a lot to do in the rest of the series.
I thought the performance of England was tight, and really pressurised the Indians for the majority of the match...
WELL DONE.
Complain about this postAgarkar is a joke. I cant believe he still bowls. After his first year in intl cricket he has gone only one way - downhill. I remember I used to be a supporter of his and used to keenly follow his career when I was a kid. But his repeated dissapointments and inability to get back to the way he played in his first 30 odis forced me to write him off. He has been given umpteen chances by the selectors to get back to how he started when he is being touted as a wicket taking all rounder who could belt a few at the end, but has been failing since. I like the guy but he just needs to go.
Complain about this postS'trewth Mate,
Let's hear it for Jimmy Anderson. Is this the Donald influence? (Are you Troy Cooley in disguise?)
AD's a man of substance rather than sporting metaphor. Not that I've got a gripe with sporting metaphors. Gee, I love them almost as much as I love the titles of sporting 'autobiograhies':
"Doing it my way"
"Calling the Shots"
"Playing with Fire"
"Bowling a delivery"
"Padding up but then taking them off again"
"Losing the toss often"
As for metaphors, how about this little gem:
'Stepping up to the plate'.
What, in the name of sweet Matilda's mammaries, is that about? When you get to the plate there's nothing on it! Not even a bit of piecrust. It wouldn't be so bad if, upon arrival at said platter, there were a few French fancies and beef butty.
Complain about this postAggers,
To be brutally honest, I often find you are too harsh in some of the points you make. Credit where it's due: you are often right, but some nuance wouldn't kill...
On the other hand: I'm delighted to see you come back from earlier points made about (particularly) Bell's selection, and praise the wonderful partnership between him and Cook. I too was doubtful (although I would have dropped Cook, rather than Bell), but what a display.
Someone here made the comment that the 'big hitter' opening with Cook, should indeed take some more big hits. I'd like to see Prior get a run, to prove he can do just that. If it doesn't work, we've still got the likes of Flintoff and Pietersen: all we'd need is for Prior to switch then...
Anyway: what an allround display! Good stuff cap'n! Long may it last!
Complain about this postGreat result for the boys last night! OIn top of the result it was good to see emphatic performances from Anderson and Flintoff with the ball, as well as Cook and Bell with the bat. Exellent fielding on display from all especially Prior behind the stumps.
Picking holes in the performance may seem a tad harsh but the only change I can see being made is moving Bell up to 2 and dropping Prior down to 7. I can't help but feel that Pieterson would have pushed the score well over 300 and could do this in closer games.
The selection of Bopara over Shah seems a good one even for a Middx man like myself. He offers excellent fielding, attacking batting (if required) and if Collingwood proves expensive as he did yesterday evening he gives us another medium pace option.
Complain about this postI have listened to Test Match Special for almost 20 years now and continue to love doing so. However, I am more than a little irked at the CONSTANT references by JA and his cohorts to Monty's fielding. It doesn't matter whether they are right or wrong-it is really tiresome to listen to the same thing being repeated over and over again. Give the guy a break, but just as importantly, give your listeners a break too. For this reason, last night was the first time I have ever wanted to switch TMS off-not a feeling I want to have again.
Other than that, great stuff.
Complain about this postI think England's openers still need one brutal batsman and for me Mal Loye should be playing, in Australia he started badly but showed lethal prowess by hitting the likes of Brett Lee for slogged sixes.
If an opener like him comes in, blasts 50 of say 40 balls, then goes out leaving Bell/cook, cook/pietersen, bell/pietersen to partner through to around over 35, you could easily top 300, Prior is a batsman who would be great if unleashed in the last five overs, we have seen how cleanly he can hit it, take the pressure off him by putting him in late to finish off the bowling attack
Complain about this postAugust 21 a great ODI in dry but blustry conditions and perfect organisation by Hampshire CC at the Rose Bowl. The Park and Ride scheme was very efficient both in and out. Job done. The Rose Bowl is now a test venue with no traffic issues.
Complain about this postA great performance from England and well deserved in every department.
India, really need to pull it out of the hat to turn this series around.
They seemed to be frightened of the quick balls. Flintoff and Anderson were so quick and accurate. They couldn't score off them.
Dhoni really struggled to get runs and even from Maschernas, he kept playing the same shot straight to the fielder.
India I feel struggled under the floodlights and I can't help feeling that the Ganguly run-out triggered this collapse.
England managed to take all 10 wickets, India managed just 2!
They should draft in Sreesanth in place of Agarker. Even though Sreesanth wasn't supposed to be part of the one day squad, he would have a more attacking positive impact on the Indian Team and he bowled well at the Oval.
If they don't take Sreesanth then Munaf Patel for Agarker.
I also felt that due to the overcast conditions, India didn't need a spinner..
Batting wise, they need Uthappa in for Gambir. It is such a shame that Sehwag is not around. He isn't afraid of the quick balls..
The England team looks good. So many batting and bowling options. Hopefully India can run them closer on Friday at Bristol. Based on yesterdays performance though, i doubt they can turn it around so quickly..
Complain about this post'AussieRalph'',
Complain about this post'Stepping up to the plate' is a term from American baseball. The batter stands on on 'the plate' to hit the ball. It just means taking your turn to bat but it is often used to mean that you are volunteering yourself to do something special.
reminds me of the first ODI against Pakistan, in Pakistan, 2005. Look what happened to our fortunes following that victory....
Complain about this postAs a club cricket umpire I have witnessed many "run outs". For some time I have wondered about the fairness of including run-outs in the total completed innings for the purpose of calculating batting averages. In many cases, the unfortunate dismissed batter is not at fault. I know that calling and completing runs is an essential component of a batsman's game, but considering that responsibility is shared with a batting partner do you agree that "run outs" should be classed as "NO"s for statistical purposes?
Complain about this postOne stat that alert listeners will have heard is that in day/nighters at the Rose Bowl the side batting second has usually won. It puts into perspective the decision to send England in. Quite apart from anything, with England's recent ODI form and shaky batting in the Test series Rahul Dravid must have hoped to have England 2 or 3 down in quick order.
Plenty has been said about England's slow start. 62 off 15 overs was perhaps a tad slow, but India, with their powerful batting line-up, managed just 38-4 off 15 overs. With conditions giving the bowlers just enough help to make it a good contest the balance between agression and caution was not so far wrong.
10 years ago most sides hoped to score 80-90 off the first 15, the World Cup though showed that such fast starts are pretty rare because the fielding side's tactics have evolved to cope with blitz batting at the start except on pitches that are totally loaded in favour of the bowler. For one day at least the tactic worked to perfection: in conditions that made fast scoring difficult, get a reasonable start and then build on it.
What was good to see after a summer dominated by medium pace, was two England bowlers getting the ball over 90mph again. It doesn't matter who the batsman is: accurate bowling at 90mph+ is very difficult to get away and forces mistakes. Jimmy Anderson really is beginning to look like he has got his spark back and, if he has, any side in the world will find an attack of Harmison, Hoggard/Sidebottom, Flintoff, Anderson and Panesar tough going in any conditions. Right now, if everyone is fit it is going to be tough to decide the bowling line-up for the Sri Lanka Tests. Recent fitures in the side like Plunkett and Mahmood may well not even get into the touring party and it is by no means certain that Matthew Hoggard will win his place back.
Complain about this postenglish fans do not forget your good start against west indies odi,than the wheels came off dont get too extited it is the first one india lost 6 odis to go..
Complain about this postAll in all a good result for England, however, I would have been a lot happier if they lost another four or five wickets in the last ten over and put another fifty to seventy five runs. Getting ones and twos is very good and it showed we could win a game. I hope that now the likes of Bell and cook have secured their places they will play with more dominance and score all over the park.
India have always been slow in starting a tournament – lets just hope England don’t drop a gear.
Complain about this postGood Win but England should not get carried away like they usually do. Still more games to play.
Being a top side means winning on a consistent basis.
Complain about this postIf you are going to play Bopara why not open with Bell and Cook with Bopara at 3 and Prior back down at 7. Bopara was basically a fielder yesterday which is a waste of a good talent. Either that or rotate him with Shah. Just becasue he's young and promising doesn't mean he should walk into the team.
Complain about this postAnd true this is just a match report, but where's the praise for Jimmy Anderson who completely blew away the top order.
I unfortunatley missed watching England's win yesterday. When I was reading over the scorecard, I was surprised to read that Bopara did not bowl. If this was planned, why did England not drop Bopara for another batsman. I am a big fan of Marcus Trescothick and I believe that if England were to select him to open the batting with Cook, that would result in England becoming a very big force in ODI's.
Complain about this postSalaam (#41):
Are these the same fans that claimed after beating Bermuda that the Super Eights at the World Cup were a travesty because their side wasn't there?
The sad fact is that neither India nor England are one of the better One Day sides and both will need a long series of good results to be ranked up there with Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa. England fans rarely get carried away. Opposing fans tend to use this line a lot, but out of the 40 comments prior to yours, the immense majority are extremely cautious.
Complain about this postReal progress by England. Encouraging to see us taking a much more positive approach as well as producing a well rounded performance in the field.
However, I'm still not convinced by the batting order. The partnership between Cook and Bell may have been excellent but if you only lose 2 wickets in a 50 over game, you expect to surpass 300.
Prior needs to be the man to take on the powerplays OR the alternative is to open with Cook and Bell with KP promoted to 3 and Prior down to 7.
Complain about this postMartin (#42):
I think that the selectors knew what they were doing yesterday. With doubtful conditions they wanted as many bowling options as possible. In the end, Paul Collingwood was expensive, but it didn't matter by then, so Ravi Bopara was not needed, but to their credit, the selectors had a full hand of men to bowl quick or to take the pace off the ball, whichever proved more effective. They also packed the side with credible bowling without weakening the batting and had Broad as low as 9. The difference between that batting line-up and the "5 out, all out" of the Test series with India was abysmal.
My biggest doubt about Matthew Prior is is ability to carry out the role that he's been selected for and exploit the gaps at the start of the innings. He has been given a settled role and an important job, but his returns are pretty mediocre. If he's going to have to bat at 7 where he'll either bat in a crisis or with just a few overs left, perhaps we'd be better with Chris Read (who was a useful finisher), Paula Nixon (ditto, but surely we need a younger number 2), or maybe even go with Mustard as an opener/'keeper. I'm not a great fan of the idea of Andrew Flintoff opening; he was tried at 3 where he had to play against the new ball and looked completely lost.
What I'll never understand though is why Jon Batty, who can slot in anywhere from 1 to 8 and is both a fast scorer and a good gloveman, has never ever been given a try. It's too late now, but he would have added so much flexibility to the line-up.
Complain about this postINDIAN TEAM FOR ODIS.
Complain about this postKARTIK
UTTAPA
DRAVID
DHONI
GANGULY
YUVRAJ
R P SINGH
SHRISHANT
ZAHEET KHAN
KUMBLE
CHAWLA.
Well done England for a wondreful performance. They out played India in all 3 departments of the game. I had predicted a 4-2 win for England in the series. India are still in the euphoric mood after the test series win and the whole team appears to be under "hang over". They could do with a kick up their backside which hopefully they got yesterday. Even though England batted well, with only 2 wickets lost, yhey should have scored in excess of 300. Other than that everything else was fine for them. Ganguly's run out summed up india's performance. They were too casual and appeared they didnt wanty to be in the field to play cricket. There was an appaling piece of running by Dhoni. He didnt start running till the ball reached the boundary line!. I think Ganguly's run out was the turning point as they were going along great. Suddenly Gambir walked in, not having played for India against international opponents recently. Few dot balls and pressure was on him and gave the wicket away. Dravid shouldnt have come in then as he cannot force the pace with men in the ring. Dhoni should have been sent to cash in the power play as Tendulkar was in the other end. I didnt see anybody playing any shot in the sir during power plays.
Complain about this postHopefully the Indian team would wake up and give some competition to England in the series. Other wise I have to change the prediction from 4-2 to Tngland to 5-1 to England (Atleast India can win one game)
I just think that Shah would provide a far more solid batting line up.
We already have 6 player who can bowl without him so I think we should drop Masceranhas and Im still not convinced with Prior (Mustard to replace him).
I also think that Panesar should be dropped for another spinner such as Doshi because Monty has been distinctively unimpressive throughout the series, and ODIs don't match his game at all! He has also become far easier to slog.
Complain about this postI just think that Shah would provide a far more solid batting line up.
We already have 6 players who can bowl without him so I think we should drop Masceranhas and Im still not convinced with Prior (Mustard to replace him).
I also think that Panesar should be dropped for another spinner such as Doshi because Monty has been distinctively unimpressive throughout the series, and ODIs don't match his game at all! He has also become far easier to slog.
Complain about this postNo comment by Aggers on Anderson . Why? Ten overs, 4 for 23 which included four of India's top five batsmen. The guy should at least get a mention!
Complain about this postGood win for England but it is early days. I think the win had more to do with India playing awfully rather than England doing well.
I think India will still probably win the series but just a thought: What were the odds at the start of the summer of India winning the Test series and England winning the ODIs?
Pretty good I would imagine.
India to win series 3-2 in my view though.
Complain about this postI'm not sure Prior has the same skill level as Gilchrist to open the innings. I'd send Flintoff in first to make use of the gaps in the early powerplays as the Aussies do with Gilly.
With a 'normal' opening batsman in Cook with him, playing orthodox shots as last night, that would provide the contrasts to confuse the fielders and it's still a right/left combination.
And if it fails then Bell followed by Pietersen and Collingwood is a good top 5 anyway. Plus with the likes of Freddie, Collingwood and Bopara able to share 20 overs between them, you get to pick an extra batsman too that will shore up the order should Freddie opening the batting fail as it is bound to do from time to time.
Complain about this postSome people are just so picky. Cook got 100 in about 120 balls, which is OK for the solid opener, and Bell got 120+ at better than a run a ball. OK, so neither looked flamboyant in doing so, but it suggests that England's plan can work. Also, check the result; I think we scored more than enough runs.
Also, as for getting over 300, it looked like the outfield was a bit slow and the ball not flying through the air very well, so 288 in those conditions would probably have been 310 in slightly faster ground conditions. Also, perhaps some credit should go to the Indian bowlers of the last 5 overs for keeping control in tough circumstances.
Complain about this postVarious comments on Shah being recalled seem a bit wide of the mark. The value of having 5 genuine bowlers was proved in yesterday's game. Bopara is in the team as a batsman and, in my view, his form this year supports him being in the side ahead of Shah.
Complain about this postI am very impressed with the England performance as a whole. There were no bowlers who seemed to leak runs, we got the early wickets that you need to win big matches, we had 2 batsmen who built a very solid partnership which got us big runs at the 20-35 over stage, where we often lose wickets, and we seemed to have the atmosphere of a very tight team.
And on the note of praising Cook - can you imagine what would probably change if we had him at the top of the order in the WC?
Complain about this postAgarkar out and Munaf in.
Possibly Gambhir out and Utthappa in but I reckon Gambhir deserves another chance.
Complain about this postVery confident performance by England and the team selection was spot on. only 1 problem is Priors form opening. He is there to get us off to a flier but isnt doing it. Being a Durham fan id like to see phil Mustard in the opener spot cs if anyone can take advantage of the powerplays its him, and a quick fire 50 from him takes so mutch pressure off the likes off bell cook and peterson, as they are then allowed to take a little more time in getting going and know they dont have toplay a shot a ball.
Complain about this postVery well done england.. i still cant believe 288/2... anyways but still long way to go..6 more to come... it is sure india will fight back.it is also rahul's wrong decision to choose bat first.I m excited for 6 more games..
Complain about this postGoing beyond the "match report disguised as a blog" feeling, I would welcome the correspondents views regarding the events, and outcome, of this match on both the remainder of the series and England's general approach to the 50 over format.
I take out of this the view that beyond just scoring more than 100 runs that building a solid platfrom, not playing silly shots and not getting out once set are all part of playing well - even if that prevents making the most of the supposedly crucial Powerplays - but failure to accelerate the scoring consistently beyond 8 (or more, preferably/presumably) an over, when the field is spread and a new batsman is at the crease, are not.
Whatever the case, Bell and Cook answered their critics as best they could when faced with the opportunity and absence of Shah, but did their innings' clarify or confuse the strategy(-ies) needed to be employed to win these games on a consistent basis?
England showed they could win a game without scoring heavily at the start the of innings, so are they actually any closer to "finding a line-up capable of making the most of the Powerplays"? And, "having scored only 78 runs from their last 10 overs", should they be looking at ways to score faster at the death? Is it that these irrelevant in the face of victory? (It seems unlikely.)
Or, should we be looking for both, and with that the signs of flexibility/adaptability/improvisation, in the games to come?
Complain about this postAgree with Matt - well done England for a win - but fans do you honestly find this 50 over stuff exciting any more? After the first 10 overs of India's innings the game was over, same as the FP Final last Saturday, except that took just the first 2 balls. After that you may as well leave let alone come back the next day!.
Boring I'm afraid - no excitement anymore in one day cricket becaasue there are to many games that have no importance. Seriously is this stuff worth £40 plus a ticket?
Complain about this postI wouldn't read too much into this game from the Indian perspective. They are always capable of games like this. The next match will show us if this is a trend or if it was just an anamoly.
Things could have been different had Ganguly not been run out. You have to give it to the English bowlers though. The way they got Tendulkar, Yuvraj and Dhoni, it was all well planned. Yuvraj has to seriously take a look at his starts. How many times has he gotten out like that! Once we were down four wickets, they just wanted to avoid a major humiliation. For Dravid, it was a par innings. You can't expect him to pull a miracle in ODIs. Dhoni probably thought that as long as he was there he would be able to get the runs in the end. That may be true but they needed to work a few more singles while they were defending.
The only positive for India may be that now Cook and Bell will get to play the remaining six mathces.
Complain about this postWell done England.. India was totally outplayed in the first one dayer... The current indian bowling line up has no sting sadly... and top it up with dreadfull fielding!! Indian batting has likes of sachin.. dravid.. ganguly all have more than 35000 runs between them.. but sadly none have contributed when India needs them the most.. Its the same old story.. Big total.. Mental presurre.. and a big defeat.. Its just the start of the series.. hopefully this performance is not repeated by team India
Complain about this postEnjoyed the game but not the venue. Despite what other posters say I believe the Rose Bowl is not a good venue for big matches like this. We were stuck in the temporary stands, packed in like cattle into small seats with no leg room for 8 hours with manic supporters behind us blaring banalities all game. The catering facilities were very limited and of poor quality but high prices, the avenue around the arena holding the catering and toilet facilities was impossible to navigate during the interval for the number of people. I for one will give the Rose Bowl a miss next time until they sort out the stands.
Complain about this postEngland batted well, their bowlers did not waver and their fielding was marvellous. Congrats. Team India has to come up with better and special all round performances. Sooner the better !
Complain about this postTheir victory was built on the tried and trusted policy of putting runs on the board, and then taking early wickets.
This is about as insightful as saying that a football team won because they scored lots of goals and didn't concede any.
Complain about this postA good result for England but lets be honest here, India have just won the test series and are surely allowed a hangover. England won many test series and had the same hang overs in the one days (when the Ozzies won the ashes they had such a hangover and let england win the tri series). Have we lost the best Test coach in the world a coach in Duncan Fletcher that turned a poor poor Test country into the one of the best so that we can win at one dayers. Well I know what I prefer. I am also sure now we will slide in the test rankings and before you know it back to were we where. Bring back Duncan...........
Complain about this postA batting debacle is very common for India. As an Indian fan, I'm quite used to it. So I'm not going to waste any more time ranting on that.
Complain about this postWhat happened to the bowling? The Indian bowlers seemed sluggish at the best. What about all those 'one-day-specialist' bowlers who were brought in? I hope the selectors come back to their good senses and put back the same bowling line up for the one dayers that worked for the Tests
I am very pleasantly surprised at the good natured congratulations from the Indian fans in general. Long may the goodwill continue, and English fans be as magnanimous in defeat.
Well played England, well handled India
Complain about this postAgainst India, any team has potential to get an emphatic win as england did. Anything less will have been failure for england, especially when Indian batsmen have no clue as to how to play fast bowlers...
Complain about this postI know india really played bad yesterday, and this is not surprised to me that if it is first odi or first test they always play bad and come back in remaining matches, and i hope for same here, I think they will come back pretty hard. i think they will win the series 5-2
Complain about this postWhy haven't the Indians brought in Mohammad Kaif? He is a useful midde/lower order batsman who could hold up partnerships and give you some runs in the end of games...
Also why are Saurav Ganguly and Sachin still playing? They have repeatedly failed against quality opponents in recent years in ODIs, so why keep them around?
Complain about this postI just don't understand why Karthik was playing at 7. He should move to 3 and Dravid to 4, with Gambhir being dropped for M. Patel.
And also Powar for Chawla, because Powar wins India matches whenever he plays. Besides, Chawla is still learning.
Complain about this postcongratulations guys on an excellent victory! i , as an indian fan, i am happy for you. i'm glad india batted under lights, which favoured the bowlers..atleast it made the contest even. i was worried we'd bat first..post 300+ and win the game..openning up the issue that england lost because of the toss..again!!
Complain about this postengland are a top class side and deserve to win this series 5-2..but unfortunately reality might interfere..good luck!
Ravi,
Complain about this postStatistically, sides batting second under lights at the Rose Bowl are more likey to win than lose. The series looks wide open to me. If India continue to field like that they will struggle in every game.
Headline in today's paper: "Aggers is preggers".
Complain about this postQuite a surprise, for your average TMS listener.
It turned out to be Christina Aguilera.
Jonathan'
Excellent comments on the match. I enjoy your commentary.
I should have contacted you long ago, but I will always remember your excellent and very sensitive interview with Phil Carrick just before he tragically died.
Complain about this postbest wishes
charles Shepherd
England excelled in batting, bowling and fielding. I particularly liked the field placing of Cllingwood and the bowlers bowling to the field. This was excellent display by England for a long time in one day cricket. At times everything falls in place and everything goes according to plan. I hope this is not one off performance from England.
Complain about this postBoth Cook and Bell got centuries. To me Bell is the best England batsman in both formats of the game. He has the best of defence and can play all the strokes in the book.But he is rarely given credit due to him. I have read some people responding to this blog suggesting for his sack. But it seems England selectors are wise enough to persist with Bell. Well Played Bell.
As regards India's performance there is nothing to write home about.India is a bit disturbed team as four of their players namely Kumble, Laxman snd Srisanth Jaffer who played in the three test series have not been selectee for the one day side.It takes time to regroup and play in different format. I think it will be the third one dayer will we see a regrouped Indian team. The only thing came to my mind was about not including Uthappa in the playing eleven. Watch out for him. He is such a fellow he can take the game away from the opposition. Of course it is too early in the day, but this guy has promise.
I'm from Canada so I don't know much about Kent CCC, but don't you think Kent should have predicted the awful state of the pitch at Canterbury and changed the venue to Kidderminster in their current match so that Worcs could have gained 22+ pts from an easy team like Kent? Does this sound pathetically and conceitedly familiar, or what? Chair and Secretary of Kent take note.
Complain about this postWhat is happening to TMS?
Some of the commentary is so mundane. Cricket is a long, drawn out strategic game subject to the elements. Your new commentators don't seem to understand cricket, let alone the needs of the listener.
As for catching some of them when it's raining. Oh, dear!
I'm sure it's very difficult but, the verbal fluency and descriptive qualities of former years is sadly missed - Aggers and Blowers notable exceptions.
Complain about this postBear in mind, though, the dire state of India's middle bowling "attack". Absoluletely dire, barely decent club standard, which any self-respecting batsman should have gorged upon.
Complain about this postI am confident England will win the one-day series as they have mastered indian bowling. The Indian bowling is not dangerous as the Sri Lankan bowlers. The two centuries from Bell and Cook was a excellent batting performance. Paceman Anderson's three wickets in his first spell was a major breakthrough for England as Indians were never back in the game.
Complain about this postI think India did quite well in their first one day against England! England could have got the 300 Plus runs on the board, but Zahir and RP bowled really well.
Complain about this postEngland were really lucky to get early wickets! But Indian will bounce back really strongly now. Indian Tigers would take the revenge! If Utthapa replaces Tendulkar then this Indian side is one of the best one for the recent times. Bravo India and Show the cricket lovers what you are capable of.
Vinod Dhawale