#rd ODI ,England’s innings:

England’s innings did not start well as they lost Strauss to a slower delivery from Irfan Pathan who got the batsman to edge a nick to Wicket keeper Dhoni. England think tank sent in Blackwell as the pinch hitter as they tried to score some runs quickly.


Blackwell announced his intentions on his arrival by scoring two quick boundaries but struggled to cope up with Irfan Pathan’s slower deliveries as he brilliantly bowled by Irfan Pathan with his slower delivery.


Shah who came in as next also did not last long as he was once again foxed by Pathan into drive which was brilliantly caught by Yuvraj Singh at point. Flintoff and Prior tried to break the shackles as they added 40 runs for the fourth wicket but a terrible misunderstanding between Flintoff and Prior resulted in Prior losing his wicket.


Flintoff was the next one to follow as he was once again lured into a drive by Powar as Flintoff was caught at deep midwicket by Sehwag. Solanki who came in as next also did not last long as he was caught by Yuvraj at midwicket of Harbhajan Singh.


Jones alongwith Collingwood tried to revive the England’s run chase with a 105 run partnership which included some outstanding shots played by Collingwood ended when Jones tried a big hit of Pathan which was easily pouched by Sehwag.


Collingwood singlehandedly tried to break the shackles but in vain as he was caught of a mishit of Harbhajan’s bowling,As England lost their eight wicket at 223.Agarkar cleaned up the tails with two reverse swinging Yorkers as England were all out for 245 to give India a three nil lead in this series

3 rd ODI,India's innings

Rahul Dravid won a good toss and rightly decided to bat on a good batting wicket.Gautam Gabhir was dropped and the Skipper Rahul Dravid himself came to bat with out of form Virender Sehwag. Sehwag cracked two boundaries as he showed glimpses of his past form .


But he was unable to show his class as he was bowled by Anderson for an individual score of 15 runs.Irfan Pathan was rightly promoted to no:3 as Indians were short of one batsman. Pathan and Dravid made a very sedate start to the innings as they accelerated the scoring rate steadily.

Just when seemed this pair would take India to a good score ,Dravid perished as he was bowled by Collingwood. Pathan also did not lost long as he once again fell to Flintoff.Kaif soon followed Pathan as he fell for a fourth duck in five innings as he was caught by Jones of Pulnkett.


At 130/4 India were in some sort of trouble as they were playing one batsman short with only Dhoni to come besides Yuvraj and Raina. England could had India in more trouble had not Jones missed an easy stumping chance of Raina who was playing for the turn.


Then it was only fours and sixes as Yuvraj Singh and Raina settled down nicely in the beginning and then started to play shots all around the park as the fifth wicket partnership between Raina and Yuvraj Singh added 143 runs between them .

Yuvraj Singh was the main destroyer as he hit 3 sixes and 10 fours in 103 runs knock from just 76 ballls.Raina played a more supporting role as he scored 61 runs from 76 balls which included a huge six of Blackwell.

Dhoni who was next to come was more aggressive as he scored 2 runs of a ball which was defelcted on to stumps by Jones as he run the first run hard as he still saw Jones on his kneeds he went for second run as he completed it neatly.

In the end ,India finished with a score of 294/6 as Indians pounded more than 104 runs from the last 10 overs.

2nd ODI INDIA VS ENGLAND

The second one day international match was played at Faridabad and once again Andrew Flintoff won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch which looked to be a spinners paradise.

England's innings:
England began on a slow note as they scored only 3 runs from the first 3 overs asSreesanth and Pathan bowled superbly to keep England scoring rate very tight.

Prior and Strauss then accelerated the scoring rate as England reached 44 for no loss at the end of ten overs.Harbhajan Singh who was introduced into the attack at the expense of Sreesanth drew the first blood when he trapped Prior LBW for 32.

Owasis was the next one to go as he was caught superbly by Dhoni who took a diving catch to give Ramesh Powar his first wicket in this one day international .


In between Strauss had his luck when Ramesh Powar dropped a sitter of his own bowling to give Strauss a life who was very tentative when the spin bowlers were introduced.

Pietersen also had his share of luck when he was dropped by Suresh Raina at long on when he was on 3.He cashed on it as he and Strauss forged a useful partnership in the middle .

Strauss after scoring his half century was not very careful as he ultimately lost his wicket when he was bowled by Ramesh Powar.

Flintoff who came in as next did not last too long as he was stumped by Dhoni of Ramesh Powar who claimed his third wicket as he finished with his best one day figures of 3 for 34.

Collingwood was the next one to go as he was superbly run out by Dhoni who ran to square leg and hit the stumps with only one wicket to aim as Pietersen watched helplessly from the other end .


Geriant Jones who came in as next provided good support as Pietersen did the bulk of scoring as he scored 13 runs from one over of Gautam Gambhir .

The very next over he thrashed a four and hit a huge six over the midwicket ,but Yuvraj came back superbly as Pietersen was deceived by Yuvraj as he spooned a simple catch to Dravid at Midwicket with the score reading at 193.

Blackwell who joined Jones scored some useful runs as England were dismissed for 226 .

India's innings:

India began the chasing on a good note as Sehwag and Gambhir put on 61 runs for the wicket as Flintoff delayed the second power play .Just when Sehwag looked for a big score he was bowled by Blackwell around the stumps as India lost it’s first wicket .Gambhir was the next one to go as his attemped pull found his top edge which safely carried to Anderson who calimed his first wicket.


Dravid was the next one to go as he was run out superbly by Collingwood as Dravid attempted to steal a single because of Jones direct hit at the stumps.Kaif who was short of confidence was the next one to go as his attemped to pull a ball which ultimately trapped him in the front of the wicket.

Yuvraj looked in good touch as he hit some delightful boundaries was the next one to go as he tried to cut a ball which was coming in as he was bowled by Blackwell who came for his second spell.


With the score at 92/5 the match surely looked to go in England’s way and it would have been more disaster had Anderson held on to difficult chance of his own bowling.Dhoni who came in as next adapted very well to the situation as he stoutly defended and forged a useful partnership as they scored of singles in the initial overs and scored boundaries as they settled in.


When Dhoni lost his wicket for 38 runs after he and Raina took India to Safety as India needed ony 17 runs to win the match with more than 4 wickets in hand.


Suresh Raina was superb as he scored most of his runs in the initial part of the innings in singles and opened up after reaching his fifty as finished unbeaten on 81 from 89 balls which also included a huge six of Blackwell over long on.As India reached the target with more than one over to spare.

1st ODI IND Vs ENGLAND

England captain Andrew Flintoff won the toss and decided to field first in the first oneday international match .Indian openers Sehwag and Gambhir began on a good note in their home ground but Sehwag once again got out to a rising delivery to give the initial advantage to England on a pitch which did not assist batting.

Dravid who came in as next was lucky as he was dropped of the very first ball he faced at slips by Owasis
Shah who failed to hold on a easy chance at the slips of Kabir Ali’s bowling.

Gambhir who was given an other chance in one day internationals found his form initially as he hit some beautiful shots on off side and he showed a lot of promise when he pulled a ball from Kabir Ali to Six over mid wicket.

Gambhir once again proved that he is not fit to make big scores when he edged an away going delivery to
Wicket keeper Geriant Jones. Yuvraj Singh who came in as next did not lost long as he dragged on a delivery from outside his off stump on to his stumps as India lost it’s third wicket in quick succession.


Kaif who came in as next also lost his wicket due to negligence as he was guilty of watching the ball as he responded to quick call from his captain for a quick single as it caught Kaif just short of his crease.

Dravid who was in very good touch and just when he set for a big score he was bowled as he responded late to a incoming delivery from Kabir Ali. As Dravid lost his wicket at the individual score of 33 ,as India looked in dire straits with the score on 92/5 with only Raina ,Dhoni,Pathan to come.

Pathan and Raina were involved in a fruitful partnership as just when they were looking set for a big score Raina chipped a shot to Pietersen at cover as India lost his sixth wicket. Dhoni who came in as next adapted very well to the situation as he did not look for big shots in his initial part of the innings.

Pathan who scored a delightful 28 also his lost wicket as he played a rash shot to leave India struggling .As Dhoni and Harbhajan came together to forge a partnership which took India to score of 200 with Harbhajan playing some superb shots much to the delight of crowd .Kabir Ali once again came good as he claimed two quick wickets in the end to dismiss India for the score of 203 with more than four overs remaining.

England's innings:

England began the chase of 203 on a very distratrous note as they lost Strauss to the first of the ball of the innings as Irfan Pathan deceived him with an away swinger.Shah who came in as next cracked a boundary of the very first ball he faced as looked in good form ,but Pathan striked back as he trapped Shah with an in swinger as England lost his second wicket in the very first over.

Prior and Pietersen who came in as next did the rescue attack as they played some attacking shots to force
Dravid to delay the second power play .Mathew Prior was unlucky to get out as he top edged a sweep to be only caught at Deep Square leg by Gambhir of Harbhajan Singh.

Flintoff who came in as next joined Pietersen in the middle to force India on a back foot as they attacked Indian bowlers with some brute force as England raised to 117 in 19 overs . Pietersen who was in very good
Form just when he looked well set for a half century a full toss from Yuvraj Singh did the trick as topedged a delivery to be caught at Deep Square leg by Gautam Gambhir.

The very next over Bhaji got into form as he trapped Flintoff in front of wicket as Once again an England batsman got out to sweep shot. Geriant Jones was the next one to go as he was bowled by an Harbhajan off spinner which spun sharply to hit Jones middle stump.

Collingwood who was the last recognized batsman also lost his wicket when Mohammed Kaif caught an absolute reflex catch to get rid of Collingwood .Blackwell was the next one to go as he was caught at deep midwicket near the boundary line by Gambhir.

Kabir Ali was the next one to go as he was trapped by Yuvraj in front of the wicket as India raised away to victory.Anderson and Plunkett tried to forge a partnetnership but it was too much late as the England innings folded at 164 when he edged a delivery from Pathan to Dhoni.

Fifth day

Indians began the day on a good note as they lost only two wickets during morning session as them added about 50 odd runs during the pre lunch session.


After Lunch it was some disastrous batting performance by India as they loss the remaining 7 wickets just for the addition of 30 odd runs. Sachin Tendulkar was the top scorer as he hit 34 runs during his stay in the wicket.

Sehwag was once again guilty of not scoring runs as he was out for zero after facing as many as 16 deliveries,Yuvraj Singh hit a couple a boundaries during his knocks but failed to live upto his expectations.Dhoni also did not lost too long as he gave a another chance to Panesar who dropped himthree balss earlier


Dravid was once again failed to score more runs as he once again fell to the plan set by English Skipper who showed maturity in his captaincy by devising separate plans for separate batsman.


Munaf Patel was the last man to go as India lost by a huge margin of 212 runs as England leveled the series with India

Fourth day:

Fourth day:
England began the day on good note as the overnight pair of Shan Udal and Shah prevented any further damage in the first hour of play as it took more than 14 overs for the Indians to separate them.


Shan Udal was the first one to go as he edged a wide delivery from Irfan Pathan to Jaffer at second slip.Peitersen was the next one to go as he was caught by a diving Kumble to his left of his own bowling.


Shah and Collingwood prevented any further damage being done as they played cautiously for Lunch. Shah was the first one to go as he went off for a suicidal single to be run out by Sachin Tendulkar who quickly moved to right to throw to Dhoni who completed the run out.


Collingwood was lucky to survive as he was dropped more than once.Flintoff also got another lease of life as Yuvraj Singh dropped him on more than one occasion .Finally when the partnership was broken England had reached Safety score as they were well past 150 mark.


England’s innings folded at 191 runs with the major contribution from the skipper Flintoff who once again scored a crucial fifty in the second innings.


India’s second innings:

Indians began on a surprise note as they sent Irfan Pathan as an opener as Sehwag was struggling with back spasms. Irfan Pathan was unlucky to got out as he edged a full toss from Anderson on to his stumps.


Anil Kumble who was sent in as night watchman along with Jaffer prevented any further damage being done as India ended the day on 10-1.

Third day:

England drew the first initiative as they claimed the wicket of Yuvraj with just 5 runs added to India’s overnight total.Rahul Dravid then combined with Dhoni who looked out of sorts as he began on a sedate note.


Just when seemed that the pair would take India well past 200 run mark disaster struck as when Rahul Dravid glanced a delivery which was superbly caught by Jones of leg side.


Irfan Pathan who joined Dhoni in the middle put on a useful partnership as they took India to the score of 189 when Pathan skied a catch to Hoggard at deep midon of Monty Panesar.


India reached the follow on target with 4 wickets in hand and Dhoni just after reaching his fifty opened up as he scored 3 fours in a over of Flintoff,and in the very next ball he was controversial given out by third umpire when the bails were still intact as he grounded his bat on the crease.


Harbhajan Singh who came in as next did not last too long as he was superbly caught behind by Jones of Flintoff’s bowling with the score on 217.


Anil Kumble and Sreesanth then came together to forge a useful 55 run partnership of just 72 balls as they took India past the 250 mark.


Munaf Patel was the last man to be out as he was yorked by Anderson.

England’s second innings:
England’s second innings began on a disastrous note as they lost both the openers very quickly as Shah and Shan Udal joined in the middle . Shan Udal was very lucky to survive as he survived a confident appeal for caught behind.


Shah and Shan Udal prevented further damage as they took England to 31/2 when the stumps were drawn.

Second day:

England began the day on 272/3 with Two of their premier batsman in the form of Collingwood and Flintoff in the crease.


Flintoff lived off dangerously he was dropped at second slip by Sehwag and the very next ball he was dropped by Anil Kumble at gully of the very next ball as Indians missed two chances in two balls and once again the bowler was Munaf Patel .


He also survived a third chance as he was caught by Irfan Pathan who just steeped over the rope to give another life to Flintoff of the same bowler.


Flintoff used this opportunity to good effect as he scored some quick runs of faster bowlers with Collingwood at the other end .In the crucial first hour Munaf Patel was fiery in his spell as three chances went down begging .


Sreesanth who replaced Munaf Patel drew first blood as he claimed the wicket of Collingwood with an away swinger as Collingwood was caught behind by Dhoni who completed the catch to make it a very good dismissal.


Owasis Shah who came in as next resumed his innings with the score on 50 with Flintoff who was at the other end. Flintoff was the next one to go as he was caught at deep midwicket by Tendulkar of Anil Kumble’s bowling. With the score on 338.


Geraint Jones was the next one to go as he was caught by Anil Kumble of Sreesanth’s bowling.As England lost some quick wickets in the second hour of the day.


Shaun Udal joined Shah in the middle as Shah scored some quick runs to take the score past 350 marks.At Last, Munaf Patel claimed his first wicket as trapped Udal in front of the wicket and the very next ball he beautifully bowled Hoggard as Hoggard once again become Patel’s victim.


Shah was the ninth wicket to fall as he was caught superbly by Rahul Dravid at slips of the bowling of Harbhajan Singh who claimed his first wicket in his favourite ground.


The last pair of Monty and Anderson added 15 odd runs before Anderson was caught at slips by Rahul Dravid.


India’s First innings:
Indians began the first innings on a disastrous note as they lost Sehwag cheaply.Jaffer was the next one to go as India found itself tottering at 26/2, to make matters worse for India, Anderson claimed the prized wicket of Tendulkar as he edged a wide delivery from Anderson to Jones which should have been left away to leave India struggling at 28/3.


Yuvraj who joined in the middle along with Dravid stroked the ball well as he and Rahul Dravid put up a 61 unbeaten partnership to take India to 89 for the loss of three wickets at the end of the day.

Third test,first day

Rahul Dravid won the toss and decided to field on a pitch which had bit of moisture in the morning. England openers Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell began on a good note as they put on more than 50 runs for the first wicket.


In that partnership, Andrew Strauss was the major partner as he scored 32 runs in the 52 run partnership.


Bell at the other was more sedate in his innings and just when he was trying toaccelerate his innings he was out to a slower delivery from Sreesanth who bowled with great enthusiasm during his second spell.


The next one to come was Owasis Shah who had played in one day internationals for England and it was here he was making his test debut here in the place of Alaistar Cook who fell to illness.


Owasis Shah was very much impressive as he always played with a straighter bat and he never played wrong line and he along with Strauss very well negotiated Indian bowling to prevent any further loss.


After Lunch, both Owasis Shah and Andrew Strauss began to play their shots and Irfan Pathan in particular was singled out for some special treatment as Shah scored 12 runs from his one over and seven from next as he was immediately taken of the attack by Rahul Dravid.


Munaf Patel the hero of Mohali test once again troubled the batsmen with his line and length as he bowled some outstanding deliveries to Stauss and Shah. Patel also tested the batsman with well directed short pitch deliveries and reverse swinging Yorkers but was unlucky to get any wicket.


Strauss who had good starts in the series converted this opportunity to a big score as he scored his 6th test half century with a pull shot of Pathan .Kumble also bowled well but was unlucky to get any wicket as he was once again sorted out by England batsmen.


At tea, the partnership was more than 100 runs with Shah scoring his maiden half century andand Strauss on 85.After tea Pietersen and Strauss came to bat as they lost Owasis Shah who retired hurt due to dehydration.


Munaf patel who began his third spell troubled the batsman as bowled a great
Line and length and also troubled Pietersen in particular as bowled well directed short pitch deliveries and he was unlucky on many occasions as he did not get a wicket.


Strauss who completed his century was looking very good he singled out Irfan Pathan as he scored 10 runs from his one over. He was finally caught behind with the score on 236 as he edged a delivery from Harbhajan to Dhoni who caught it on second attempt to give Harbhajan his first wicket in this test match.


Pietersen also departed seven runs later at 239 as he edged a delivery from Sressanth to Dhoni for a well made 39 of 63 deliveries.


At stumps, England was 272/3 with Flintoff on 15 and Collingwood on 9.

India’s win

India’s chase of England’s target began on a steady note as Sehwag and Jaffer gathered runs at a steady pace and in particular Sehwag began on a slow note as he was unsure of his place in the team because of the pressure put by by some good performances from youngsters.


Jaffer was the first one to go as he was caught on crease by a quick Hoggard who bowled with great purpose in the second innings.


Dravid who came in as next played his usual innings as the Indians cruised at steady pace.Though Sehwag was slow in his initial part of the innings he got his rhthym as he reached his 11 test half century of 67balls which may be the slowest fifty in his test carrer


Then he singled out Collingwood for special treatment as he hit a six and two fours in one over form him.With Dravid hitting the winning runs ,India cruised to 9 wicket win over to gain 1-0 lead in this three test match series.

2nd test,England's fourth innings

England began the day on a distratrous note as they lost Geriant Jones to fifth ball of the day as he played on a ball from Munaf Patel on to his stumps who got his second wicket in this innings and fourth overall in this match.


The next one to go was Plunkett as he was trapped in front of the wicket by Munaf Patel as he played a wrong line across .

Hoggard who was the next man and much was expected of him to provide some kind of resistance at one end to allow Flintoff to play his natural game,but he also returned to pavilion because of a beautiful in swinging yorker which crashed on to his stumps to give Patel his fourth wicket of the innings.


Harmison who came after Hoggard provided some kind of resistance to Indian bowling which allowed Flintoff to play his natural game and he was able to garner the runs quickly as both of them added more than 45 odd runs for the Ninth wicket.


Just when they were looking good ,Harmison lost his wicket to beautiful piece of stumping by Dhoni who collected the a rank bad delivery from Anil Kumble on legside to dislodge the bails to get the wicket of Harmison who was well short of his crease.

Flintoff got out to Piyush Chawala just after getting to his fifty as he top edged a delivery from Chawala which was caught by Munaf at Fineleg to give Chawala his first wicket,as the England innings folded at 181 to give India a target of 143 runs from 70 overs.

2rd test,England’s second innings:

England’s second innings did not began on a good note as Indians got Cook quick to play at a wide delivery which was brilliantly pouched by Dhoni to give Munaf his fourth wicket in his debut test match.

Bell who replaced Cook at the other end was very composed in his innings as he carefully defended and played some attacking shots f the bad balls he got


Andrew Strauss at the other end was struggling as he got only 13 runs of many balls he faced. And finally Kumble got better of him as he under edged a sweep shot which hit his boots and rose in the air only to be caught by Dravid at slips.


Pietersen who replaced Strauss did not stay too long as he top edged a ball from Harbhajan to be caught at slips by Rahul Dravid.


Collingwood who came at the fall of Pietersen did not look comfortable either as hestruggled against Kumble during his stay at the innings and he also had a let off when he was dropped by Rahul Dravid at the slips ,meanwhile Bell grew in confidence from end to end as he negotiated Kumble and Harbhajan very well.


Bell in the company hit some sweetly timed shots to reach his first Half century against India in the mean time Collingwood edged another ball which was brilliantly pouched by Dravid at the slips.


Bell too did not last long either as he was brilliantly caught by Dhoni of Anil Kumble to give Kumble his third wicket in this innings and 8th overall in this match.


In the end Flintoff and Jones prevented any further damage being done as England ended the day with a lead of 75 runs with five wickets in the hand.

Fourth day:
Indian began the day on a distratrous note as they lost Dhoni woth only four runs added to the overnight total as once again Harmison striked a crucial blow with the short pitch delivery as Dhoni gloved a ball from Harmison to Jones.

Pathan who came in his a next was in his usual stride as he and dravid quickly added runs and Flintoff again striked a crucial blow as he Dravid palyed on a delivery from Flintoff on to his stumps for a wellmade 95 as he missed the century by 5 runs.


At 229/6 the match could have goner either way but Pathan and Kumble forged a very good partnership to take India past the 250 mark and Pathan once again got out after making a good half century with India a still short off 40 odd runs.

And the Lunch was taken at 269/7 with Kumble and Harbhajan who have more than 7 half centuries between them .

After Lunch Harbhajan unleashed a flurry of shots in the company of Kumble as he made 36 runs from 40 balls and they also a completed a Half century partnership between them as they took the score past the 310 mark.

Piyush Chawala was the next one to go as he slashed at a wide delivery to be only caught at point by Collingwood to give Flintoff his fourth wicket for his good bowling performance in this innings.

Munaf Patel the no:11th batsman frustrated the English attack as he struck a huge six of Hoggard straight over the bowler’s head and both of them added some quick 20 odd runs before Kumble was yorked by Plunkett to give India a slender lead of 38 runs.

2nd,India,s first innings

Indian innings:
Indian innings began on a good note as Sehwag quickly raced to double figures with the help of two boundaries on off side.Just when he was looking good he got a beautiful delivery from Harmison which took from the pitch to brush Sehwag’s gloves as Jones behind the stumps completed the catch.


Dravid who came in as next played his part well as he and Wasim Jaffer rotated the strike well to un settle |English bowlers and also the short delivery which was used as a weapon by English bowlers against Indian batsman was very well negotiated by both of them.


Jaffer looked very good in his knock of 31 and just when he was looking to a complete another half century he was completely deceived in flight by Panesar as Jaffer spooned a simple catch to Flintoff at cover.

Next Batsman Tendulkar looked very uncomfortable during his short stay and once again it was a smart move from Flintoff to introduce himself as he got Tendulkar out to rising delivery.


Yuvraj who was playing his first test match on his home ground looked very composed in his innings as he showed no signs on nervousness and Yuvraj’s dismissal was also very well planned by the England Skipper as introduced Hoggard from the other end with 7 men on the Off side and only 2 on the leg side.


In the end Dhoni and Dravid prevented any further damage being done to Indian innings as the Indians ended the day on 149/4 with Dravid on 60 and Dhoni on 12.

2nd England,Third day:

Third day:
England began the day on a lucky note as Dravid dropped a catch of Munaf Patel which came of Flintoff’s blade in the second over of the day.Kumble at the other end was simply fantastic as he bowled accurately from the other end as he troubled Jones again and again with his googlies and straighter ones.


Jones was lucky to survive the probing period as Kumble nearly had him when he nearly trapped him in the front of the wicket.

Flintoff at the other end was in his innings as usual as he unleashed a wide array of shots to unsettle Young leg spinner Piyush Chawala who bowled brilliantly in his short spell but he was very unlucky as he was against a world class all rounder.


In mean time Flintoff played a captain’s knock and completed his well deserved half century which included about 7 hits to the fence.

Indians were lucky with the second ball as Munaf Patel got Flintoff as Munaf held a superb catch of his own bowling.The lunch was taken at 263/7 with the England in a spot of bother.


After Lunch Jones played some very good shots to reach his first half century against India as Hoggard provided the much needed support to Jones at the other end with his very good defensive technique.


Just when they were looking good ,Jones was brilliantly bowled by Kumble as he once again foxed the English batsman with his line and length.

The very next ball he trapped Harmison in front of the wicket to get his five hundred test wicket and he was only the fifth bowler to do so after Walsh, Warne, Muralitharan and ,Mcgrath.

He missed the hatrick on next ball as Panesar played the yorker from Kumble very well.The very next ball he Panesar caught at slips by Rahul Dravid to wrap the innings in style.

Third test match,First day

First day:
Once again Andrew Strauss and Cook put on a good partnership before Strauss slashed at a ball which was far wide of the off stump only to be caught behind brilliantly by Dhoni which gave Irfan Pathan his first wicket in this test match.


The Next one to go was Cook who was trapped in front of the wicket by Irfan Pathan.After the dismissal of Cook for 17, Bell and Peitersen were involved in a good partnership and just when Bell was looking good, he was brilliantly bowled by Kumble who foxed him with a delivery which clipped the bails.


Pietersen was very brilliant in his little knock of 64 as he counter attacked the Indian bowlers with shots all around the park.

Munaf Patel the debutant in this match bowled very as at one point the completelyyorked Collingwood who was lucky to survive a fiery spell from Munaf who was palying his first match in international cricket.

Once again Pietersen threw away his wicket as he spooned a simple return catch to give Munaf his first test wicket in an International match.The next man Flintoff was lucky to survive as the day’s play was called of due to bad light with England at 161/4.

Second day, second test

Second day:
England began their innings on 161/4 and the overnight pair of Flintoff and Collingwood added 19 runs when Anil Kumble brilliantly bowled Collingwood through his gate to inch closer towards the 500 wickets mark.

The last recognized pair of added 20 runs without further damage being done as the England ended the day on 200/5 when the play was called off due to bad light for the rest of the day.

India’s Second innings:
With England setting a target of 368 runs to chase all expected Virender Sehwag to hit England bowlers to all the parts of the ground as he once again disappointed the crowd as he was bowled by Hoggard in the fifth over of the morning.

With Dravid and Jaffer at the crease there was no trouble for India as both batted with a solid defence and punished only bad balls which was too short or strayed into leg side.

Dravid was in particular was very good in his defence as his first 35 runs came of nearly 120 balls indicating how he batted well for his most past of the innings.Jaffer made a good start and capitialised on it as he made England pay for a missed run out and a catch as he scored his maiden hundred in test match cricket.

Jaffer once after reaching 90’s he played defensively as he had a eye on his century to make a strong point to the selectors to indicate that he is the right kind of opening batsman for India they had been looking for.

Indians steeped up on the gas after tea as Dravid scored his runs very quickly and a they looked forward to win the test match as they sent Irfan Pathan in after Dravid’s dismissal which clearly indicated they are looking for a win.

Pathan and Dhoni who came in place of Jaffer played some good shots and Tendulkar who came at the fall of Pathan also continued the good work done by Pathan as he scored his runs quickly and once Dhoni was gone it was clear that Indians would be pitching in for a draw as the match ended in draw with more than 11 overs to be bowled.

England's second innings(first test)

England’s second innings began on a good note as both Cook and Strauss batted well and forged a near century partnership of 95 runs when Irfan Pathan striked with the wicket of Strauss who was four runs short of a well made half century.Ian Bell soon followed him as he edged a delivery from Irfan Pathan to straight into the hands of wicketkeeper Dhoni.


At 97/2 the match could have gone either way as another wicket or two would have exposed the England middle order, as Peitersen played some attacking cricket to pull
England out of trouble as he and Cook added some quick and important runs which had a demoralizing effect of Indian bowlers.

Indians were also undone by a wrong decision from the third umpire who gave Pietersen not out but television replays showed the other way as he was extremely lucky to survive there.

Indians were also guilty of missing as many as 5 chances as let England off the hook once again, the ground fielding was very poor as even dependable Kaif dropped a sitter to him in the outfield.

And finally When Pietersen was out ,England had crawled to a relatively safer position and then it was the turn of Rookie opener to hog the limelight as he scored his maiden hundred on his debut test match as he and Collingwood finished the day unbeaten with the England score reading 297/3 giving them the overall lead of more than 367 runs.

Collingwoods century on second day

Paul Collingwood answered his critics by hitting a maiden test century as he lead a brilliant fight back by England Team in the company of Hoggard,Harmison and Panesar as the last three wickets yielded more than 149 runs.

England began the day on a good note as the Hoggard and Collingwood pair added added 21 runs to the overnight total of 246 before Hoggard was sent back by Sreesanth.

Then came the tall English batsman who his also known for his ability to play shots in addition to his bowling capabilities as both Collingwood and Harmison counter attacked the Indian Bowlers to take the score well past the 300 mark.

When Harmison was out for 39 runs with the score reading 327 runs it seemed certain that England would be all for less than 350 runs but then the unexpected happened as Panesar and Collingwood revived the England with a 66 run partnership which also helped Collingwood to reach his maiden test century in six matches.

In the end it was a relatively safe total for England and once again Indians let the opposition of hook as England was 246/7 at one stage.

India’s Fight back:

India made a disastrous start their first innings as Sehwag was dismissed cheaply by Hoggard for 2 runs as he spooned a simple catch to Pietersen at cover in the early part of Indian innings.

Dravid who came at the fall of Sehwag’s wicket forged a good partnership with Jaffer as both of them batted well against England’s pace attack to take India to a
relatively safe total at the end of the day.

Jaffer made his mark on return to test cricket as he scored his third half century and remained unbeaten on 73 at the end of the day. He was very careful in his stay as he left many balls outside the off stump and scored only of the bad balls.

He was very careful not to hit through offside which has been his weakness and scored more than half of his runs through Leg side only. Meanwhile Dravid at the other was very self composed in his knock as he batted without taking any risks.

First test ,Third Day:

Third Day:
India once again began the day on a disastrous note as they lost the wicket of Rahul Dravid very early to doubtful LBW decision as the TV cameras clearly showed that the ball may have missed the leg stump.

Nine runs later Wasim Jaffer was the next one to go as he carelessly went for a cover drive only to be caught behind by Flintoff as once again the bowler was Hoggard.Laxman who arrived next was the next one to go as he received a in swinger from Hoggard which struck him on pads.

Kaif who came in next thwarted the hatrick as he and Sachin were involved in a rescuing act as they added 27 runs before Sachin was trapped by Panesar who was playing his first test for England.

Dhoni who came at the fall of Sachin did not last too long as he was caught behind by Jones of Flintoff bowling.Irfan Pathan was the next one to go as he was caught by Flintoff at the second slip to give Hoggard his Sixth five wicket haul in his test match carrer.

With India reeling at 190/7 ,Kaif found a able partner in the form of Anil Kumble as both thwarted the English bowling attack with some rock solid defence as they were involved in a match saving partnership of 128 runs to lessen the advantage the
England gained during this test match.

Kumble was in particular as after being dropped on 9 by Jones, he showed great determination to pull India out of trouble with Kaif and gave him a good support as batted with grit and determination which allowed Kaif to play risk free cricket at the other end.

It was third time lucky for Kumble as he scored his third Test half century in this ground the previous being 78 against SriLanka in 97-98 and 52 against WestIndies in 94-95.

Kaif also paled very well in his knock of 91 runs as he batted with grit and concentrated on his batting very much to hit back at his detractors who advocated
against selecting Kaif for the Test match cricket .He also showed that he is a useful test cricketer with this knock as it was his third test half century the previous being against Australia which was also a knock which came under trying circumstances.

Englands first innings at first day

England captain Andrew Flintoff won the toss and elected to bat on a good batting wicket as his decision was justified by the opening pair who put on 60 odd runs for the first wicket.

Andrew Strauss was the first one to go as he chased a wide delivery from Sreesanth to be only caught behind at slip by VVS Laxman.Ian Bell who was very uncomfortable in his short stay soon returned to the pavilion as he edged a delivery from Harbhajan to Dravid at first slip.


Pietersen the hero of Ashes who came at the fall of Bell’s wicket was very impressive in his short stay but he soon returned to the dressing room as he dragged on a delivery to his stumps.

Alastair Cook the Debutant who looked well set for a century was bowled by Irfan Pathan as he went for a big cover drive on off side. As England suffered a mini collapse at 136/4.

Collingwood and Flintoff who came at the fall of Cook’s wicket a showed some sensibility as they played some risk free cricket and added runs at a good pace as they were involved in a partnership of 67 runs with Flintoff contributing 43.

Jones was the next one to go as he was trapped in the front of the wicket by a sharp in swinger from Pathan.Blackwell was the last wicket to fall on the day as he was bowled by Pathan for 4 runs.