Alastair Cook’s batting woes deepened when he was bowled for 5 as
England closed day two on 43-1 in reply to India’s mammoth 457 in the
first test at Trent Bridge. Cook, averaging 25 since his last century 14
months ago, could not take advantage of a batting paradise as he
shuffled too far across and exposed his leg stump to fast bowler
Mohammed Shami in the fourth over of England’s first-innings reply. It
was a pitiful dismissal after facing only 10 balls. To underline what a
missed opportunity it was for the captain, he had just witnessed India
tailenders Bhuvneshwar Kumar (58) and Shami (51 not out) post
career-best scores in a last-wicket partnership worth an invaluable 111
runs. They frustrated England, which expected to be batting much sooner
after taking four wickets for two runs swiftly after lunch to leave
India on 346-9. “We tried pretty much everything with the ball . but it
wasn’t really doing a huge amount,” Stuart Broad said of Kumar’s and
Shami’s partnership. “You were hoping for a batsman error, and credit,
they didn’t give us that error.” Kumar brought up his half century with a
single off James Anderson, and on the next ball, Shami hit him up and
over for six to bring up his milestone. “We walked off at tea a little
bit frustrated,” Broad admitted.
“But we stuck to our guns fantastically well. 457 could have been 600, no question about that. The bouncer was pretty much out of the game.” India, resuming the day on 259-4, lost only Murali Vijay for 146 in the opening session. He added 24 runs to his overnight score until an Anderson delivery nipped inwards and hit him high on the leg. Umpire Bruce Oxendale gave him out but replays revealed the ball would have cleared the stumps. Replay reviews are not being used in this series, consistent with India’s longstanding policy. The opener’s fourth test century and first outside of India included 25 boundaries and a six from 361 balls. He and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni tallied 126 for the fifth wicket. After lunch, England seized the initiative. Ben Stokes took the first wicket and his first of the match when Ravindra Jadeja edged behind to Matt Prior on 25. Anderson then ran out Dhoni for 82 from mid-off, when Dhoni attempted an ambitious single. Dhoni was dropped on 50 in the morning session by Matt Prior off Broad, and capitalized by adding 32 more to his total. Dhoni hasn’t scored a century for 17 months, but unlike Cook, this was his second successive half century. Stokes struck again, removing debutant Stuart Binny when he hit to Joe Root at backward point on 1. Broad then bowled Ishant Sharma for 1, and England would have expected to dismiss the tourists for well under 400, but the attack faltered as Kumar and Shami dug in. Shami’s day got better when he removed Cook, but Sam Robson (20) and Gary Ballance (15) negotiated the remaining 13.3 overs, and will look to enjoy the pitch for themselves on the third day. SOURCE-http://www.crictoday.com/news/194-slider/1
“But we stuck to our guns fantastically well. 457 could have been 600, no question about that. The bouncer was pretty much out of the game.” India, resuming the day on 259-4, lost only Murali Vijay for 146 in the opening session. He added 24 runs to his overnight score until an Anderson delivery nipped inwards and hit him high on the leg. Umpire Bruce Oxendale gave him out but replays revealed the ball would have cleared the stumps. Replay reviews are not being used in this series, consistent with India’s longstanding policy. The opener’s fourth test century and first outside of India included 25 boundaries and a six from 361 balls. He and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni tallied 126 for the fifth wicket. After lunch, England seized the initiative. Ben Stokes took the first wicket and his first of the match when Ravindra Jadeja edged behind to Matt Prior on 25. Anderson then ran out Dhoni for 82 from mid-off, when Dhoni attempted an ambitious single. Dhoni was dropped on 50 in the morning session by Matt Prior off Broad, and capitalized by adding 32 more to his total. Dhoni hasn’t scored a century for 17 months, but unlike Cook, this was his second successive half century. Stokes struck again, removing debutant Stuart Binny when he hit to Joe Root at backward point on 1. Broad then bowled Ishant Sharma for 1, and England would have expected to dismiss the tourists for well under 400, but the attack faltered as Kumar and Shami dug in. Shami’s day got better when he removed Cook, but Sam Robson (20) and Gary Ballance (15) negotiated the remaining 13.3 overs, and will look to enjoy the pitch for themselves on the third day. SOURCE-http://www.crictoday.com/news/194-slider/1
No comments:
Post a Comment