First part
The highlights here start with the wickets from Day 1 – a sort of make-up for the highlights unavailability yesterday.
A brilliant day of cricket especially the last two sessions. Andrew Flintoff who was not out overnight plodded around for a disappointing 18 (75). Eventually, England waded their way to 316 through a 53 by Matt Prior and Anderson’s doggedness: 19 (82).
By the end of it all, most of us fresh from the win over Australia were shaking our heads about scoring rates and there was a general air of expectancy in anticipation of the Indian batting. Flintoff, Harmison and Anderson meanwhile nodded their heads as they produced brilliant spells to have India tottering at 37/3. When Sehwag is unable to get his cut shots going, you know the bowling is good. He eventually got out trying to cut one – having hit the previous ball straight down for four, it appeared like he was preempting Anderson’s next move, who instead bowled exactly the same ball. Most of the havoc was caused in the last over before tea bowled by debutant Graeme Swann. Two LBWs (Gambhir and Dravid) to become only the second player in history to take two wickets in his first over in test cricket. Dravid’s wicket was iffy, but out of form is often = out of luck. Rahul dropped another catch today and though he took a tougher one later on, one just gets that unfortunate nagging feeling that he has only 3 more innings left to get a big one in, despite the fact that no sure replacement comes to mind immediately.
Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman pulled out some stunning shots to take India close to 100. In fact, Sachin whacked the first ball he faced after tea from Swann for a six in similar fashion to his shots against Brad Hogg in the last tour of Australia. Both were out caught and bowled after a change-of-ball break. Flintoff who got Sachin out first ball in his evening spell, bowled beautifully and gave Yuvraj several shaky moments before he eventually was snared by Harmison who animatedly acknowledged Flintoff’s role in the wicket. Flintoff had got under Yuvraj Singh’s skin in the 3rd ODI - surprising, cos in the past getting stared at or sledged only made Yuvraj play better.
Harbhajan Singh (who played a couple of spectacular drives) and Dhoni will walk out tomorrow morning.
Couple of things today – to see Harmison showing signs of getting somewhere near his best was personally gratifying and I only noticed today that Gambhir enters the cricket field with an exaggerated right-foot-first thing.
second part
India vs England 1st Test Highlights 3rd Day Chennai
Scoreline: India 241 all out. England 172/3. Overall lead of 247. Another 100 runs tomorrow, and India could be left wondering, when and how did the pants get yanked off.
MS Dhoni 53 and Harbhajan Singh 40 strung together some important runs, but not quite the partnership they had in the final test vs Australia. Zaheer Khan was lucky to not be given first ball by Billy Bowden but it didn’t really matter in the end. Dhoni got out yet again looking to launch – in the last year and a half in test cricket he’s developed the dependable-in-a-tough-situation aspect of his batting, but in the process, those famed taking the game away knocks have become sparse.
Dhoni’s decisions regarding the bowlers however were fantastic, with Amit Mishra coming ahead of Harbhajan and striking. He then brought on Yuvraj with Pietersen in, and got him too. The defensive field placings were surprising though.
Ishanth Sharma had yet another no-ball day but was terrific in short patches. The Indian bowlers attempted to stir up Strauss, but his response was a runs-collected half century, while Collingwood played some cool shots against the spinners. Harbhajan lost his cool at one point after Rahul Dravid appeared to have conceded a single, and had to be calmed down by Tendulkar. Oh, Rahul – the 2nd innings belongs to you – seize the day.
India vs England 1st Test Highlights Day 4 Chennai | Sehwag The Butcher
Scoreline: England 311/9 declared. Strauss and Collingwood centuries.
India 131/1. Target 387. Sehwag 83.
Brief Highlights also available in Video:
Virender Sehwag was in Butcher of Najafgarh mode going for a win.
Prematch one wondered about the importance of the morning session to decide the possible choices for India – had England scored faster, these choices would have been whittled down to a draw or loss. But England played a strange post-lunch session. At one stage just two 4’s had been hit in 24 overs. Zaheer Khan (in particular) and Ishanth Sharma bowled brilliantly. Zaheer’s final figures were a ridiculous 27-40-3.
Strauss became one of few to score a hundred in both innings of a test but frustrated even the English spectators at the ground in the process. Harbhajan’s reaction after getting him – a slap to his forehead – pretty much summed up the grinding knock that refused to be uprooted.
A sensational knock by Virender Sehwag followed – 83 off 68 balls and that’s only because he slowed down a little when Monty Panesar started an Ashley Giles line of attack to which Sehwag responded in jest with a Chanderpaul sort of stance. His first 50 runs came off just 32 balls.
Gambhir appeared to be lucky when a glove-sniffer was ruled not out.
Absolutely must-watch stuff from Sehwag, eventually out after looking a trifle bored a few deliveries before his end.
India going for a win has now become almost a mandatory choice. What a day of cricket tomorrow. Will Rahul Dravid seize the moment. Will Tendulkar obliterate the pain of losing to Pakistan on the same ground, after single-handedly bringing India within a few runs of a win.
Life is great. And so is Sachin Tendulkar.
Scoreline Today: India win after chasing down 387 in 98.3 overs. Sachin Tendulkar 103. Yuvraj Singh 85. Gautham Gambhir 66.
Brief Highlights also available in Video:
After the 4th day’s play, this blog wondered if Rahul Dravid could seize this day and Tendulkar could exorcise the pain of losing the Chennai Test to Pakistan in 1999. Dravid unfortunately couldn’t while Tendulkar would probably say the 8 year long wait was worth it.
After Virender Sehwag’s 83 yesterday (for which he was given the Man of the Match), India had only one option today – to go for a win. The brilliance of this Tendulkar knock was the different paces and facets to it. At different stages of the game, as long as singles and twos were coming along he went along with that. The moment a bowler made things uncomfortable he would go on the offensive – cuts and fine-over-the-slips shots to pacers and paddle sweeps to Monty Panesar when he adopted a legstump line.
After Gambhir and Laxman had forged crucial partnerships, Yuvraj Singh walked into an onslaught from the English fielders and bowlers, Flintoff in particular. Having got under his skin twice in this tour, it was a decent option. Flintoff was relentless at times imitating Yuvraj’s stiff walk-away from the words – that’s quite a funny moment actually. It worked to a certain extent in that, Yuvraj had just played two spectacular shots to the spinners and in an attempt to not throw it away, curtailed his scoring shots. But the important thing was he stuck around through that phase and played a fantastic knock after that. The presence of Tendulkar also helped (as acknowledged by Yuvraj in a post-match interview). The best part of his knock was that his best moments were against the spinners – a much-discussed chink in his batting.
The final moments were perfect. With Tendulkar close to his hundred and not much of the target left, Yuvraj to rapturous cheers from the crowd, began defending and refusing a third run etc. After a nervy moment, Tendulkar walked up to him and asked him to go for his shots, but you can see Yuvraj saying something of the sort – not a big deal. Soon, India needed 4 runs with Sachin on 99 – a perfect paddle sweep completed both.
Andrew Flintoff stood out starkly in the England bowling attack. Almost like a one-man show. Harmison surprisingly hardly got a bowl. Flintoff tried everything he could, even on one occasion, bowling without using his leading arm – it almost got Gambhir.
Dravid came in at his regular No 3 spot. Though there have been suggestions that he be demoted, on this occasion, it was the best option. In the past, when India were setting a target against the Aussies, Dravid coming down made sense considering his form relative to VVS Laxman. But in a Day 5 situation, the draw option needs to be kept at the back of your mind and the great test batsman that Dravid is, he deserved a shot at holding the innings together, with a whole day to get into form. It didn’t work out today and unless he can produce something in the 2nd test, it would take tremendous resolve on the part of Srikanth to back him for another series. However, considering that no immediate replacement springs to mind, he probably should.
Pre-play: Rahul Dravid and Gautham Gambhir will resume. 256 runs more needed across 3 sessions in quest of the initial target of 387. Virender Sehwag’s brilliant knock yesterday has made a win the foremost option today.
Watch Sachin Tendulkar paddle one to reach his hundred and win the Chennai test on Day 5. Following all the celebrations are a couple of interviews, first with Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar, and then the presentation interviews. Yuvraj talks of his dream as a kid to play a match winning knock with Tendulkar. Some cool funny moments there. Pietersen speaks and then Sehwag – the best parts are when he talks of his game on a turning track – Ya, in that case I play only a few shots.
The highlights here start with the wickets from Day 1 – a sort of make-up for the highlights unavailability yesterday.
A brilliant day of cricket especially the last two sessions. Andrew Flintoff who was not out overnight plodded around for a disappointing 18 (75). Eventually, England waded their way to 316 through a 53 by Matt Prior and Anderson’s doggedness: 19 (82).
By the end of it all, most of us fresh from the win over Australia were shaking our heads about scoring rates and there was a general air of expectancy in anticipation of the Indian batting. Flintoff, Harmison and Anderson meanwhile nodded their heads as they produced brilliant spells to have India tottering at 37/3. When Sehwag is unable to get his cut shots going, you know the bowling is good. He eventually got out trying to cut one – having hit the previous ball straight down for four, it appeared like he was preempting Anderson’s next move, who instead bowled exactly the same ball. Most of the havoc was caused in the last over before tea bowled by debutant Graeme Swann. Two LBWs (Gambhir and Dravid) to become only the second player in history to take two wickets in his first over in test cricket. Dravid’s wicket was iffy, but out of form is often = out of luck. Rahul dropped another catch today and though he took a tougher one later on, one just gets that unfortunate nagging feeling that he has only 3 more innings left to get a big one in, despite the fact that no sure replacement comes to mind immediately.
Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman pulled out some stunning shots to take India close to 100. In fact, Sachin whacked the first ball he faced after tea from Swann for a six in similar fashion to his shots against Brad Hogg in the last tour of Australia. Both were out caught and bowled after a change-of-ball break. Flintoff who got Sachin out first ball in his evening spell, bowled beautifully and gave Yuvraj several shaky moments before he eventually was snared by Harmison who animatedly acknowledged Flintoff’s role in the wicket. Flintoff had got under Yuvraj Singh’s skin in the 3rd ODI - surprising, cos in the past getting stared at or sledged only made Yuvraj play better.
Harbhajan Singh (who played a couple of spectacular drives) and Dhoni will walk out tomorrow morning.
Couple of things today – to see Harmison showing signs of getting somewhere near his best was personally gratifying and I only noticed today that Gambhir enters the cricket field with an exaggerated right-foot-first thing.
second part
India vs England 1st Test Highlights 3rd Day Chennai
Scoreline: India 241 all out. England 172/3. Overall lead of 247. Another 100 runs tomorrow, and India could be left wondering, when and how did the pants get yanked off.
MS Dhoni 53 and Harbhajan Singh 40 strung together some important runs, but not quite the partnership they had in the final test vs Australia. Zaheer Khan was lucky to not be given first ball by Billy Bowden but it didn’t really matter in the end. Dhoni got out yet again looking to launch – in the last year and a half in test cricket he’s developed the dependable-in-a-tough-situation aspect of his batting, but in the process, those famed taking the game away knocks have become sparse.
Dhoni’s decisions regarding the bowlers however were fantastic, with Amit Mishra coming ahead of Harbhajan and striking. He then brought on Yuvraj with Pietersen in, and got him too. The defensive field placings were surprising though.
Ishanth Sharma had yet another no-ball day but was terrific in short patches. The Indian bowlers attempted to stir up Strauss, but his response was a runs-collected half century, while Collingwood played some cool shots against the spinners. Harbhajan lost his cool at one point after Rahul Dravid appeared to have conceded a single, and had to be calmed down by Tendulkar. Oh, Rahul – the 2nd innings belongs to you – seize the day.
India vs England 1st Test Highlights Day 4 Chennai | Sehwag The Butcher
Scoreline: England 311/9 declared. Strauss and Collingwood centuries.
India 131/1. Target 387. Sehwag 83.
Brief Highlights also available in Video:
Virender Sehwag was in Butcher of Najafgarh mode going for a win.
Prematch one wondered about the importance of the morning session to decide the possible choices for India – had England scored faster, these choices would have been whittled down to a draw or loss. But England played a strange post-lunch session. At one stage just two 4’s had been hit in 24 overs. Zaheer Khan (in particular) and Ishanth Sharma bowled brilliantly. Zaheer’s final figures were a ridiculous 27-40-3.
Strauss became one of few to score a hundred in both innings of a test but frustrated even the English spectators at the ground in the process. Harbhajan’s reaction after getting him – a slap to his forehead – pretty much summed up the grinding knock that refused to be uprooted.
A sensational knock by Virender Sehwag followed – 83 off 68 balls and that’s only because he slowed down a little when Monty Panesar started an Ashley Giles line of attack to which Sehwag responded in jest with a Chanderpaul sort of stance. His first 50 runs came off just 32 balls.
Gambhir appeared to be lucky when a glove-sniffer was ruled not out.
Absolutely must-watch stuff from Sehwag, eventually out after looking a trifle bored a few deliveries before his end.
India going for a win has now become almost a mandatory choice. What a day of cricket tomorrow. Will Rahul Dravid seize the moment. Will Tendulkar obliterate the pain of losing to Pakistan on the same ground, after single-handedly bringing India within a few runs of a win.
Life is great. And so is Sachin Tendulkar.
Scoreline Today: India win after chasing down 387 in 98.3 overs. Sachin Tendulkar 103. Yuvraj Singh 85. Gautham Gambhir 66.
Brief Highlights also available in Video:
After the 4th day’s play, this blog wondered if Rahul Dravid could seize this day and Tendulkar could exorcise the pain of losing the Chennai Test to Pakistan in 1999. Dravid unfortunately couldn’t while Tendulkar would probably say the 8 year long wait was worth it.
After Virender Sehwag’s 83 yesterday (for which he was given the Man of the Match), India had only one option today – to go for a win. The brilliance of this Tendulkar knock was the different paces and facets to it. At different stages of the game, as long as singles and twos were coming along he went along with that. The moment a bowler made things uncomfortable he would go on the offensive – cuts and fine-over-the-slips shots to pacers and paddle sweeps to Monty Panesar when he adopted a legstump line.
After Gambhir and Laxman had forged crucial partnerships, Yuvraj Singh walked into an onslaught from the English fielders and bowlers, Flintoff in particular. Having got under his skin twice in this tour, it was a decent option. Flintoff was relentless at times imitating Yuvraj’s stiff walk-away from the words – that’s quite a funny moment actually. It worked to a certain extent in that, Yuvraj had just played two spectacular shots to the spinners and in an attempt to not throw it away, curtailed his scoring shots. But the important thing was he stuck around through that phase and played a fantastic knock after that. The presence of Tendulkar also helped (as acknowledged by Yuvraj in a post-match interview). The best part of his knock was that his best moments were against the spinners – a much-discussed chink in his batting.
The final moments were perfect. With Tendulkar close to his hundred and not much of the target left, Yuvraj to rapturous cheers from the crowd, began defending and refusing a third run etc. After a nervy moment, Tendulkar walked up to him and asked him to go for his shots, but you can see Yuvraj saying something of the sort – not a big deal. Soon, India needed 4 runs with Sachin on 99 – a perfect paddle sweep completed both.
Andrew Flintoff stood out starkly in the England bowling attack. Almost like a one-man show. Harmison surprisingly hardly got a bowl. Flintoff tried everything he could, even on one occasion, bowling without using his leading arm – it almost got Gambhir.
Dravid came in at his regular No 3 spot. Though there have been suggestions that he be demoted, on this occasion, it was the best option. In the past, when India were setting a target against the Aussies, Dravid coming down made sense considering his form relative to VVS Laxman. But in a Day 5 situation, the draw option needs to be kept at the back of your mind and the great test batsman that Dravid is, he deserved a shot at holding the innings together, with a whole day to get into form. It didn’t work out today and unless he can produce something in the 2nd test, it would take tremendous resolve on the part of Srikanth to back him for another series. However, considering that no immediate replacement springs to mind, he probably should.
Pre-play: Rahul Dravid and Gautham Gambhir will resume. 256 runs more needed across 3 sessions in quest of the initial target of 387. Virender Sehwag’s brilliant knock yesterday has made a win the foremost option today.
Watch Sachin Tendulkar paddle one to reach his hundred and win the Chennai test on Day 5. Following all the celebrations are a couple of interviews, first with Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar, and then the presentation interviews. Yuvraj talks of his dream as a kid to play a match winning knock with Tendulkar. Some cool funny moments there. Pietersen speaks and then Sehwag – the best parts are when he talks of his game on a turning track – Ya, in that case I play only a few shots.
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