Hooper
ICC Board Member
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2006
- Location
- West Australia
- Online Cricket Games Owned
- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - Steam PC
England Vs South Afica - 1st Test from Lords
By Hooper
The Test Match in this one-off nPower test series got underway
last week, and after much anticipation the 3 days of play proved very
eventful and provided great viewing for all its spectators.
The Pitch for the match was a strip that would surely assist the
bowlers early on, with a thin layer of grass helping the seam bowlers.
Overcast conditions were Grey and cloudy so the ball should swing
around a bit early on.
The Line-Ups for the match were as below. Skipper Michael Vaughan
was unable to pull up after off-season knee surgery. South Africa went
into the match with 4 Seamers and decided to include left-arm
orthodox spinner Robin Peterson, Jaques Kallis was unable to make it
for this First Test, after rolling an ankle at training:
England South Africa
A.Cook A.B.de Villiers
A.Strauss G.Smith (c)
I.Bell H.Gibbs
K.Pietersen A.Prince
P.Collingwood J.Rudolph
A.Flintoff (c) M.Boucher (wk)
C.Read (wk) S.Pollock
S.Mahmood R.Peterson
M.Hoggard M.Ntini
S.Harmison A.Nel
M.Panesar D.Steyn
L.Plunkett (12th Man) H.Amla (12th Man)
South Africa 1st Innings
Day One
On day one stand-in Captain Andrew Flintoff decided to bowl on a
wicket that was surely going to favor his quick bowlers early on. But
that decision proved costly early on as Graeme Smith took advantage
of some erratic bowling from Steve Harmison. Smith and de Villiers
piled on the runs until Flintoff decided that he must bring himself on
and make something happen. Yep, you guessed it. In his first over
captain Freddie produced a gem of a delivery that jagged back into de
Villiers pads and he was on his way for 12, after he seemed settled.
Captain Andrew Flintoff brings himself into the attack early and gets A.B de Villiers.
Not long after this dismissal it was Flintoff again who had Smith
prodding forward to a ball that seamed away from him and snicked it
to a wide third slip. After Lunch on day one and South Africa are
cruising on 2/82 and England hero Monty Panesar is brought into the
attack and got Gibbs to edge a full flighted ball to Strauss at slip. Now
South Africa were on the back foot at 3/82. Panesar and Sajid
Mahmood then took wickets late in the 2nd session to have South
Africa struggling at 7/158 ,with rain delaying play for a good 3 hours. But an unbeaten half-century from Pollock
helped push the Proteas total to a more respectable 191.
Hoggard Nearly Finds the edge of de Villiers early on.
Day Two
Day Two didn't start well for the English as veteran Shaun Pollock extracted a huge amount of seam and swing, from a pitch that was quite moist after some dew had seeped in under the covers overnight. Pollock had Strauss first ball, plumb lbw and the rest of England crumbled while Alaistir Cook compiled a fighting fifty. Captain Freddie looked good, but ended up flirting outside his off stump and ended up snicking the ball behind for a damaging 47. But the damage was already done with Pollock claiming 6/42, and Ntini wrapping up the tail with 4 wickets. So with England's innings only lasting 36 overs, South Africa began their second innings.
South Africa's tactic in this second innings was to be patient and wait for the loose ball to hit. Smith was the first, nicking an away swinging ball from Hoggard that ended up in a simple catch for Chris Read. De Villiers innings was very uncharacteristic for him as he took 58 balls to score a paltry 2 runs before being caught at bat pad by Cook.
Day 3
The final day of this match was a day for the bowlers with 12 wickets falling. First it was the South African middle order crumbling again, as Hoggard and Flintoff took advantage of some early movement. After Hoggard had Rudolph caught a second slip by Collingwood, he totally confused Boucher with a slower ball that made the batsman spoon the ball up to the bowler. Again it was left to Shaun Pollock to pile on some late runs to post a respectable score, but he eventually ran out of partners and was stranded on 39 not out.
Pollock cracks one through the covers during his 39 not out.
So in the end the bowlers had done their part with Hoggard taking a brilliant 5/57 from his 20 overs while Flintoff and Panesar chipped in with 2 wickets each. So this left England with a very gettable 223, or so it seemed.
Sajid Mahmood Finds the edge but Freddie Cant hold on.
The run chase started well, with England only needing 223 for victory with all the time in the world to get them, as openers Cook and Strauss put on 35. But then it was...Yep, you guessed it, Shaun Pollock got the breakthrough, bowling Strauss with a ball that nipped back into his pads. This is when the drama really started for England. The middle order consisting of Ian Bell, Kevin Peitersen, Collingwood and Flintoff contributed a shameful 11 runs as Pollock wrecked the England scorecard yet again. Dale Steyn picked up 4 late order wickets that helped South Africa gain the upper hand, as Cook was trying to score all the runs himself, in the process top-scoring with 27.
Match Summary
So in the end South Africa win the Test comfortably by 144 runs. The wicket proved difficult for every batsman with the ball seaming around all day and early movement in the air, whilst early wickets proved crucial.
In the end the obvious choice for Man of the match honors was South African All-rounder Shaun Pollock. His match figures of 10/63 was the difference in this match, while his batting efforts of 56 unbeaten and 39 not out where instrumental in South Africa posting some decent totals.
Scorecards -
This is my first "Cricket Story", Comments welcome
.
By Hooper
The Test Match in this one-off nPower test series got underway
last week, and after much anticipation the 3 days of play proved very
eventful and provided great viewing for all its spectators.
The Pitch for the match was a strip that would surely assist the
bowlers early on, with a thin layer of grass helping the seam bowlers.
Overcast conditions were Grey and cloudy so the ball should swing
around a bit early on.
The Line-Ups for the match were as below. Skipper Michael Vaughan
was unable to pull up after off-season knee surgery. South Africa went
into the match with 4 Seamers and decided to include left-arm
orthodox spinner Robin Peterson, Jaques Kallis was unable to make it
for this First Test, after rolling an ankle at training:
England South Africa
A.Cook A.B.de Villiers
A.Strauss G.Smith (c)
I.Bell H.Gibbs
K.Pietersen A.Prince
P.Collingwood J.Rudolph
A.Flintoff (c) M.Boucher (wk)
C.Read (wk) S.Pollock
S.Mahmood R.Peterson
M.Hoggard M.Ntini
S.Harmison A.Nel
M.Panesar D.Steyn
L.Plunkett (12th Man) H.Amla (12th Man)
South Africa 1st Innings
Day One
On day one stand-in Captain Andrew Flintoff decided to bowl on a
wicket that was surely going to favor his quick bowlers early on. But
that decision proved costly early on as Graeme Smith took advantage
of some erratic bowling from Steve Harmison. Smith and de Villiers
piled on the runs until Flintoff decided that he must bring himself on
and make something happen. Yep, you guessed it. In his first over
captain Freddie produced a gem of a delivery that jagged back into de
Villiers pads and he was on his way for 12, after he seemed settled.
Captain Andrew Flintoff brings himself into the attack early and gets A.B de Villiers.
Not long after this dismissal it was Flintoff again who had Smith
prodding forward to a ball that seamed away from him and snicked it
to a wide third slip. After Lunch on day one and South Africa are
cruising on 2/82 and England hero Monty Panesar is brought into the
attack and got Gibbs to edge a full flighted ball to Strauss at slip. Now
South Africa were on the back foot at 3/82. Panesar and Sajid
Mahmood then took wickets late in the 2nd session to have South
Africa struggling at 7/158 ,with rain delaying play for a good 3 hours. But an unbeaten half-century from Pollock
helped push the Proteas total to a more respectable 191.
Hoggard Nearly Finds the edge of de Villiers early on.
Day Two
Day Two didn't start well for the English as veteran Shaun Pollock extracted a huge amount of seam and swing, from a pitch that was quite moist after some dew had seeped in under the covers overnight. Pollock had Strauss first ball, plumb lbw and the rest of England crumbled while Alaistir Cook compiled a fighting fifty. Captain Freddie looked good, but ended up flirting outside his off stump and ended up snicking the ball behind for a damaging 47. But the damage was already done with Pollock claiming 6/42, and Ntini wrapping up the tail with 4 wickets. So with England's innings only lasting 36 overs, South Africa began their second innings.
South Africa's tactic in this second innings was to be patient and wait for the loose ball to hit. Smith was the first, nicking an away swinging ball from Hoggard that ended up in a simple catch for Chris Read. De Villiers innings was very uncharacteristic for him as he took 58 balls to score a paltry 2 runs before being caught at bat pad by Cook.
Day 3
The final day of this match was a day for the bowlers with 12 wickets falling. First it was the South African middle order crumbling again, as Hoggard and Flintoff took advantage of some early movement. After Hoggard had Rudolph caught a second slip by Collingwood, he totally confused Boucher with a slower ball that made the batsman spoon the ball up to the bowler. Again it was left to Shaun Pollock to pile on some late runs to post a respectable score, but he eventually ran out of partners and was stranded on 39 not out.
Pollock cracks one through the covers during his 39 not out.
So in the end the bowlers had done their part with Hoggard taking a brilliant 5/57 from his 20 overs while Flintoff and Panesar chipped in with 2 wickets each. So this left England with a very gettable 223, or so it seemed.
Sajid Mahmood Finds the edge but Freddie Cant hold on.
The run chase started well, with England only needing 223 for victory with all the time in the world to get them, as openers Cook and Strauss put on 35. But then it was...Yep, you guessed it, Shaun Pollock got the breakthrough, bowling Strauss with a ball that nipped back into his pads. This is when the drama really started for England. The middle order consisting of Ian Bell, Kevin Peitersen, Collingwood and Flintoff contributed a shameful 11 runs as Pollock wrecked the England scorecard yet again. Dale Steyn picked up 4 late order wickets that helped South Africa gain the upper hand, as Cook was trying to score all the runs himself, in the process top-scoring with 27.
Match Summary
So in the end South Africa win the Test comfortably by 144 runs. The wicket proved difficult for every batsman with the ball seaming around all day and early movement in the air, whilst early wickets proved crucial.
In the end the obvious choice for Man of the match honors was South African All-rounder Shaun Pollock. His match figures of 10/63 was the difference in this match, while his batting efforts of 56 unbeaten and 39 not out where instrumental in South Africa posting some decent totals.
Scorecards -
This is my first "Cricket Story", Comments welcome
.
