Lions, Indians play out tame draw
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
A tepid final day at Chelmsford produced an expected result with the Indians' second practice match ending in a high-scoring draw. England Lions' batsmen made the most of a good batting pitch in their second innings, rattling up 227 for 2 in effortless fashion before the Indians played out 20 overs before stumps, reports Cricinfo.
The Lions ended the day with more positives: Andrew Strauss, under-fire for his poor run of scores, spent a valuable 155 minutes out in the middle, Stuart Broad celebrated his Test call-up with a five-wicket haul while Owais Shah helped himself to a confident 77.
The Indian bowling continued to struggle on a featherbed of a pitch and Rahul Dravid may not have too many dilemmas while choosing his bottom four for the first Test. Ishant Sharma's struggles, along with Ranadeb Bose's insipid showing in the previous match, leaves RP Singh as the clear favourite for the third-seamer slot.
Strauss, a Lord's debutant himself, would count himself lucky to have won the toss, giving himself a couple of chances to regain form ahead of the series, starting Thursday. He failed in the first innings but made amends with a fluent 80 today, driving confidently down the ground and suggesting a return to the good days. The ball did occasionally beat the outside edge of the bat but Strauss overcame those jitters to compile a timely half-century. It's almost a year since he reached three figures in Tests but he now heads off to his favourite ground, one where he averages 61.5, with three hundreds and two fifties.
Shah, another who fell cheaply in the first innings, also made the most of his second chance, grinding out 77 against an attack that began with purpose but ended as lollypop. The sight of Yuvraj Singh imitating Ravi Shastri with his left-arm spinners and Dinesh Karthik alternating between offspin and legbreaks summed up the day's play, one where batsmen didn't have to struggle for returns.
Scorecard
England Lions 1st innings:
AJ Strauss b Khan 1
JL Denly Dhoni b Powar 83
OA Shah c Khan b Sreesanth 11
IJL Trott c Ganguly b Khan 46
RS Bopara c Karthik b Tendulkar 29
TR Ambrose c Dhoni b Khan 4
A Rashid c & b Powar 0
TT Bresnan not out 126
SCJ Broad c Yuvraj Singh b Sreesanth 50
CT Tremlett not out 32
Extras: (b 8, lb 2, nb 21) 31
Total: (8 wickets dec; 97 overs) 413
Did not bat: G Onions
Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Strauss, 4.3 ov), 2-62 (Shah, 11.5 ov), 3-142 (Denly, 29.5 ov), 4-174 (Trott, 38.4 ov), 5-184 (Ambrose, 42.4 ov), 6-185 (Rashid, 43.3 ov), 7-225 (Bopara, 53.5 ov) and 8-354 (Broad, 85.2 ov)
Indians 1st innings:
KD Karthik c Ambrose b Broad 5
W Jaffer lbw b Onions 1
VVS Laxman c Ambrose b Onions 0
SR Tendulkar c Shah b Onions 171
SC Ganguly c & b Tremlett 14
Yuvraj Singh c Strauss b Broad 59
MS Dhoni b Broad 76
RR Powar b Bopara 4
Z Khan c Ambrose b Broad 28
S Sreesanth c Shah b Broad 0
I Sharma not out 0
Extras: (b 4, lb 8, w 2, nb 11) 25
Total: (all out; 86.4 overs) 383
Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Jaffer, 1.2 ov), 2-2 (Laxman, 1.5 ov), 3-14 (Karthik, 4.5 ov), 4-65 (Ganguly, 18.2 ov), 5-205 (Yuvraj Singh, 56.6 ov), 6-304 (Tendulkar, 75.5 ov), 7-317 (Powar, 78.5 ov), 8-361 (Khan, 84.4 ov), 9-361 (Sreesanth, 84.6 ov) and 10-383 (Dhoni, 86.4 ov)
England Lions 2nd innings:
AJ Strauss b Powar 80
JL Denly c Jaffer b Khan 18
OA Shah not out 77
IJL Trott not out 31
Extras: (b 5, lb 1, w 1, nb 14) 21
Total: (2 wickets dec; 59 overs) 227
Did not bat: RS Bopara, wicket-keeperTR Ambrose, A Rashid, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, CT Tremlett and G Onions
Fall of wickets: 1-60 (Denly, 10.3 ov) and 2-140 (Strauss, 31.2 ov)
Indians 2nd innings:
KD Karthik c Bopara b Rashid 51
W Jaffer not out 22
Yuvraj Singh not out 6
Extras: (b 4, lb 6, w 1, nb 1) 12
Total: (1 wicket; 20 overs) 91
Did not bat: SR Tendulkar, SC Ganguly, VVS Laxman, wicket-keeperMS Dhoni, RR Powar, Z Khan, S Sreesanth and I Sharma
Fall of wickets: 1-72 (Karthik, 12.6 ov)
Toss: England Lions, who chose to bat first.
The Lions ended the day with more positives: Andrew Strauss, under-fire for his poor run of scores, spent a valuable 155 minutes out in the middle, Stuart Broad celebrated his Test call-up with a five-wicket haul while Owais Shah helped himself to a confident 77.
The Indian bowling continued to struggle on a featherbed of a pitch and Rahul Dravid may not have too many dilemmas while choosing his bottom four for the first Test. Ishant Sharma's struggles, along with Ranadeb Bose's insipid showing in the previous match, leaves RP Singh as the clear favourite for the third-seamer slot.
Strauss, a Lord's debutant himself, would count himself lucky to have won the toss, giving himself a couple of chances to regain form ahead of the series, starting Thursday. He failed in the first innings but made amends with a fluent 80 today, driving confidently down the ground and suggesting a return to the good days. The ball did occasionally beat the outside edge of the bat but Strauss overcame those jitters to compile a timely half-century. It's almost a year since he reached three figures in Tests but he now heads off to his favourite ground, one where he averages 61.5, with three hundreds and two fifties.
Shah, another who fell cheaply in the first innings, also made the most of his second chance, grinding out 77 against an attack that began with purpose but ended as lollypop. The sight of Yuvraj Singh imitating Ravi Shastri with his left-arm spinners and Dinesh Karthik alternating between offspin and legbreaks summed up the day's play, one where batsmen didn't have to struggle for returns.
Scorecard
England Lions 1st innings:
AJ Strauss b Khan 1
JL Denly Dhoni b Powar 83
OA Shah c Khan b Sreesanth 11
IJL Trott c Ganguly b Khan 46
RS Bopara c Karthik b Tendulkar 29
TR Ambrose c Dhoni b Khan 4
A Rashid c & b Powar 0
TT Bresnan not out 126
SCJ Broad c Yuvraj Singh b Sreesanth 50
CT Tremlett not out 32
Extras: (b 8, lb 2, nb 21) 31
Total: (8 wickets dec; 97 overs) 413
Did not bat: G Onions
Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Strauss, 4.3 ov), 2-62 (Shah, 11.5 ov), 3-142 (Denly, 29.5 ov), 4-174 (Trott, 38.4 ov), 5-184 (Ambrose, 42.4 ov), 6-185 (Rashid, 43.3 ov), 7-225 (Bopara, 53.5 ov) and 8-354 (Broad, 85.2 ov)
Indians 1st innings:
KD Karthik c Ambrose b Broad 5
W Jaffer lbw b Onions 1
VVS Laxman c Ambrose b Onions 0
SR Tendulkar c Shah b Onions 171
SC Ganguly c & b Tremlett 14
Yuvraj Singh c Strauss b Broad 59
MS Dhoni b Broad 76
RR Powar b Bopara 4
Z Khan c Ambrose b Broad 28
S Sreesanth c Shah b Broad 0
I Sharma not out 0
Extras: (b 4, lb 8, w 2, nb 11) 25
Total: (all out; 86.4 overs) 383
Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Jaffer, 1.2 ov), 2-2 (Laxman, 1.5 ov), 3-14 (Karthik, 4.5 ov), 4-65 (Ganguly, 18.2 ov), 5-205 (Yuvraj Singh, 56.6 ov), 6-304 (Tendulkar, 75.5 ov), 7-317 (Powar, 78.5 ov), 8-361 (Khan, 84.4 ov), 9-361 (Sreesanth, 84.6 ov) and 10-383 (Dhoni, 86.4 ov)
England Lions 2nd innings:
AJ Strauss b Powar 80
JL Denly c Jaffer b Khan 18
OA Shah not out 77
IJL Trott not out 31
Extras: (b 5, lb 1, w 1, nb 14) 21
Total: (2 wickets dec; 59 overs) 227
Did not bat: RS Bopara, wicket-keeperTR Ambrose, A Rashid, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, CT Tremlett and G Onions
Fall of wickets: 1-60 (Denly, 10.3 ov) and 2-140 (Strauss, 31.2 ov)
Indians 2nd innings:
KD Karthik c Bopara b Rashid 51
W Jaffer not out 22
Yuvraj Singh not out 6
Extras: (b 4, lb 6, w 1, nb 1) 12
Total: (1 wicket; 20 overs) 91
Did not bat: SR Tendulkar, SC Ganguly, VVS Laxman, wicket-keeperMS Dhoni, RR Powar, Z Khan, S Sreesanth and I Sharma
Fall of wickets: 1-72 (Karthik, 12.6 ov)
Toss: England Lions, who chose to bat first.