Story England's Journey To The ASHES 09 - Natwest Tri-Series: ENG v IND FINAL!

[Jaztheman]

Awesome presentation, punk. A good start with all top 3 batsmen making starts. Strauss just chose the wrong shot to play at the wrong time so was expected to get out to be honest. Cook has had a quality start and has looked in good touch and with Pietersen at the touch, a good partnership could develop. I feel Pietersen will get out before Cook though.

Looking forward to the next update.

 

[surendar]

How have you managed to get the stumps to fly out the ground? I've never had that happen to me

It happens many times Tommy

And it seems, Windies need another Lara to score long double/triple hundreds. Consistency is what has been missing in Windies batting line-up. Lets see if they can try collapsing the English batsmen

Amazing presentation

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

Second npower Test Match, Old Trafford - Tea Break

The tea break has come with a bang, as we were treated to some exciting cricket. England really turned up the run scoring in this session and the crowd loved it. It's been a good day out for everybody and a few of the local workers will be flooding the stadium to relax and enjoy the days heat, whilst watching some good test cricket. It's also been a good day for England, let's see what has unfolded.

Cook Leads England!

Alistair Cook has really lead England from the front with some great energetic batting. He has taken no time at all to get going and has timed the ball sweetly all innings. It's as if he has been playing in the England test squad for a long long time, he's settled in amazingly and his skill and class is really showing off now as he strikes an amazing hundred here at Old Trafford. He will be pleased with himself as he cements his place into the squad, he will be unhappy that he couldn't continue his innings longer, as he fell to a beautiful delivery a few balls after reaching his century!

Vaughany and Pietersen Do Some Damage!

After Cook was going on strong, Vaughan was following suit, however he did not stop his aggresive nature after Cook was dissmissed. Vaughan carried on the bat as he was from the very start of his innings. He was what we'd called "Classic Vaughan" playing his classy shots all around the wicket, he was then joined by Kevin Pietersen, who also thought taking the aggresive route was a great idea. Both men charged on and got England to a great position by Tea time. Lets take a look at some of the stroke play and tecniques of these batsmen below!

England Wicket Highlights!

The West Indies eventually got rid of a few of the danger men but the damage has already been done. However one or two quick wickets and the Windies are right back in this. They'll need to bowl England out for a low total mind you, with some batting still to come the Windies really need to up their game in this last session of the day!

The first wicket to go was Cook's he had only got his hundred a few balls prior to being dissmissed, but he was un-done by an amazing delievery. It looked to be way outside off stump but swang enough to decive Cook and bowl him straight through the gate. A truely magnificent delievery which even Cook appreciated as he gave the bowler a gentle nod as if to say "good ball". However as we said he has done the damage to the West Indies and they need to regroup quickly if they are to save this test match.

Whilst all the English batsman were looking good we thought there could be no possible mistake. Well as we've seen so many times in this series a batsmen chooses the wrong shot selection. Well Vaughan pretty much did the same, miss-judged the lenght of a particularly held back delivery by Butler, Vaughan got bat on it but it wasn't enough as he played it onto his own stumps and was bowled befor we knew it. He surely looked like he was going to make a big hundred but it wasn't to be for the England captain. There's one positive though, at least he's back on the scoreboard which hasn't always been the case over the last few months!

The Scoreboard at Tea

 

[MacWorld]

Im loving this presentation man, the story is good and the graphics and writing make it even better. England are looking good at the moment but need to keep it up. Cook did very well to get his 100 but got out.

KUTGW

 

[gutterman]

Great knocks by Cook and Vaughan. they have really set up England's innings. great pres once again and kutgw

 

[Pakistani Army]

England are scoring at more than 5 runs per over! This is good as the likes of Pietersen and Flintoff will be able to maintain this in the later stages of the Innings. Great presentation Punk.

BTW: What font do you use for the names on the scorecards?

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

Second npower Test Match - End of Day Two

The second day has come to a close, the events that have unfolded have been suprising and have put the sting back in this test match. The England boys have a lot of hard work ahead, as well as the Windies, who will need to battle hard to win this match. But in all fairness we have been treated to some good and exciting test cricket and we can't wait until tommorow!

Windies Turn The Tables!

The West Indies will feel that they have tipped this match up to their advantage with the taking of a couple of crucial wickets, at a crucial time. They picked up the wickets of, Pietersen, Bell and then Flintoff. They couldn't have asked for anymore. The first to go was Pietersen, it was plumb on the stumps, Pietersen made it look like it clipped his bat befor hitting the pads, but we didn't pick up two noises here. He made a valiant fifty but fell to a good ball!

Ian Bell played wonderfully well and positively in this innings for England. He looked like he was also going to reach fifty with ease when he was undone by another good delivery trapping him right in front for a no brainer leg befor decision, he went on 49!

The last wicket to fall fell in the last over of the day, and it was the big wicket of Andrew Flintoff who was batting with ease and comfort as he does when on form. Also striking the ball cleanly, he then went for a out of the blue aggressive dance down stroke which he nicked to third slip who took the catch with ease. This will be a big blow for England as they needed the top end batsmen out there tommorow morning!

Can England Win This?

The question going around now is, can England win this? Have they done enough? We think the match can still be saved and maybe won, but Solanki needs support from the likes of Jones, Harmison and Broad. They have played some good strokes to get to where they are now, but much much more is needed if they are to create a big and troubling lead for the West Indies.

The motive for England tommorow will be to hit out and hit hard, of course don't literally hit out...but you get the point they need a big partnership which we know will be hard to come by as Englands lower-order havn't been on top form as the last two innings of this series show, but tune in to see what unfolds in this thrilling test match tommorow!

The Scorecard at End of Day Two

ENGLAND LEAD BY 124 RUNS!

 

[MacWorld]

Looking good for both teams, looks like the windies could win but i would say England will win this if they can bowl well. Excellent work punk, i love that scorecard, did you make it?

KUTGW

 

[gutterman]

a good lead here for england. i think now the windies confidence as dropped as this match is starting to slip away. kutgw

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

Second npower Test Match, End of Innings

The English innings have finally come to an end, and this match now hangs in the balance. The West Indians innings will most likely decide the outcome of this match. They have pressure on them to perform well and a collapse in wickets could lead to a loss for the Windies. So as it stands now things are getting heated up and the real excitement is about to start, stay tuned!

Solanki Try's His Best!

Vikram Solanki made a great effort to try and boost Englands scoring rate as much as he could. He played some great strokes which the crowd really enjoyed, supported a little bit by the tail end he tried his hardest to give England a big lead, but will his knock be enough. He'll also have pressure on himself with the gloves so far he hasnt dropped any but it's crucial that every catch is caught in the next innings as they need to get the Windies out as quick as possible

Englands tailenders made a little bit of an improvement compared to last weeks test match where they were dire and got out really quick. This time they tried to stay in and just support Solanki which was a little bit of an improvement but much more is needed, maybe a look at the Australians tail enders would help. Anyway Solanki departed to a good delivery by Banks which held it's line a little and got a faint nick, a good take by Ramdin wrapped up the innings for England!

Solanki plays a great knock of 78!

The Scorecard and Summary!

 

[Pakistani Army]

That late knock of 78 from Solanki has payed off for England. They have a healthy lead and if they get some early wickets then the West Indies will struggle to gain a lead. Fantastic works Mohsin bhai!

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

Second npower Test Match, Old Trafford - Tea Break, Day Three

Tea time has come and boy has it been a thrilling session, we've seen it all and we can safely stick to the thought that cricket is a random game where many outcomes are possible. This session has turned the game around and well we really don't know whats going to happen, so we'll just let you know whats gone on since!

CRACKING START FOR ENGLAND!

England got off to a smashing start with Anderson bowling beautifully it looked like this game was in the bag. The pitch was holding out a bit making the ball come on to the bat a tad bit slower then it had done in the earlier innings. This brought about many miscalculations from the West Indian batsmen which lead to an easy fall of wickets...three of them that is, three wickets down and they needed to set a big target it looked impossible at this stage!

The batsmen seemed settled but the wickets fell so quick that it just turned the match upside down and we thought we were seeing a match winning performance from the English bowlers. Chris Gayle in particular is livid with himself, he has gotten starts in nearly all of his innings thus far but has not been able to convert into 50's or 100's which is what the Windies really needed!

WINDIES BOUNCE BACK HARD!

The West Indies didn't let the collapse of wickets effect them they attacked and attacked hard, not letting the bowlers get the better of the new batsmen on the crease. Devon Smith in particular to the game to England and swung the advantage back to the West Indians side, just take a look at some of these shots!

He has saved the Windies with a truely classic knock of a hundred this will be one of the more remembered test match hundreds. He's come in and played like it was a Twenty20 game, smashed the bowlers to all parts of the ground and given West Indies some hope. However the next few batsmen will need to back him up as he was dismissed for 101 runs which, for some reason we knew he would get out straight after making the hundred as his innings were way to explosive and if they had carried on then England could say goodbye to the series!

SOLANKI IN THE LINE OF FIRE!

Well well well, Solanki has dropped yet another catch that will probably cost England. It was Sarwan that was dropped yet again on the score of 29, and now he has gone on to make a half century that could be converted into yet another hundred...

To add salt to the wounds, Flintoff caught and bowled Sarwan but off a no-ball, things can't have got luckier for Sarwan and England need to get rid of him or Samuels quick if they want a chance to win this match easily!

The Scorecard at Tea Time, Day Three!

WEST INDIES LEAD BY 157 RUNS!

 

[Ollie_H]

If they trailed by 196 coming into the innings and they have now scored 200 surely they should only lead by 4?


Otherwise great update mate, Solanki's drop on Sarwan is starting to cost them!

 

[Highlander999]

Yeah your maths is confusing me mate (No excuse for it being late this time btw )

Other then your 5 year old standard maths very nice work. Really have enjoyed reading this. You have done nice and regular updates as well. Keep it up mate

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

IMPORTANT NOTICE!

Hello there, thanks for all the support from everyone who has posted in this thread regularly, really keeps me going and wanting to post more updates.

Anyway to the point, I have played all of the West Indies second innings, and they have made a 387 run lead. Now the problem is I had fraps running but it did not capture any screenshots, I don't know why the heck it didn't capture. So basically I will not be able to update the rest of their innings. I hope this doesn't dampen the match or series for you guys. So as it stands now, I have a bit of Day 4 to play and then Day 5 to get the rest of the runs. Hope you will be interested, update coming tommorow evening!

Thanks, Punk!