Story The Dominators - Global Challenge

[MWaugh]

Hello,
I have been reading all of the threads in this section with great enjoyment. Lately i have had a little time on my hands so i am going to try my own thread. I wanted to make sure that no one has done this before so i picked the long international season. I know it is VERY long but ill keep it down to the good bits for everyone. Hope you all enjoy the reading.

The patches i will include on my global challenge include:
boss's version 2 game play - the only note on this is that while im awaiting boss's version 3 i will be autoplaying the bowling. otherwise teams will be bowled out for under a hundred. that and it will take forever. batting will be difficult though
assortment of kits - mostly from dazza - most current, except pakistans
accurate stump and pitch ads for all nations (eg - 3 in tests in oz, standard bank in saf)
accurate bats for all players. i have done my best to get the bats right for as many players with the bats i have now. the australians are mostly correct as are the new zealanders and the windies.
lineup editor used - prakash
player editor - prakash again
obviously sachinisgods international season - thanks sachin
adboard pack
sky sports 2 tv pak - even though its aussie this just looks best.

enjoy

 

[MWaugh]

the squad for the international season has been announced by cricket australia officials at the season launch in sydney overnight. the team consists of:

J.Langer
M.Hayden
R.Ponting (c)
D.Martyn
M.Clarke
S.Katich
A.Gilchrist (vc)
S.Warne
B.Lee
J.Gillespie
G.McGrath
I.Harvey
B.Hogg
M.Kasprowicz
D.Lehman
A.Symonds
S.Watson
B.Williams
M.Hussey
S.MacGill

The first match will be against Pakistan at the M.C.G.

 

[MWaugh]

Pakistan arrived into Melbourne today confident of a strong showing against the worlds number 1 team. Coach Bob Woolmer "We are quietly confident that we can put up a solid performance against the australians. we are obviously aware that beating them in their own backyard will be terribly difficult but we are going to try some new things, shahid afridi will more than likely open and i am excited to see how our younger guys will perform on this big stage"

 

[sohail]

Mwaugh - I have the same thread opened but im touring Australia. It would be weird if people see the same match but in two different threads don't you think?

 

[MWaugh]

Tony Greig "Well ladies and gentlmen welcome to the 1st match of this international seasons featuring to very enthusiastic teams. As is always the case here in melbourne we have been greated with a marvelous consistant picth. Ian Healy your thoughts?"

Healy "Well Tony i agree, this pitch looks great for batting on, get the choice on what to do and your in the box seat. I would imagine ricky ponting has batting firmly in his sights, its a strong lineup the Australians have and id definatly look to post runs on the board first. That way you can take full advantage of the new scoring system, much like the frizzel championship system in England. I know im definatly looking forward to this match."

teams for the two teams:

Australia
M. Hayden
J. Langer
R. Ponting (c)
D. Martyn
M. Clarke
S. Katich
A. Gilchrist (vc) (wk)
S. Warne
B. Lee
J. Gillespie
G. McGrath

Pakistan
S. Butt
S. Afridi
Y. Kahn
I. Ul Haq (c)
Y. Youhana (vc)
S. Malik
K. Akmal (wk)
A. Razzaq
M. Sami
S. Aktar
D. Kaneria

toss screen and pitch

 

[MWaugh]

Mwaugh - I have the same thread opened but im touring Australia. It would be weird if people see the same match but in two different threads don't you think?

oh ok sohail. i couldnt see any body playing the season with australia so i thought it would be cool but ill leave it for ya then. when yours is finish ill resume then. but these matches are on a one off basis so after the end of this test match im off to zimbabwe then new zealand but i can see the possibility of confusion so ill leave it for a bit for ya. sorry

 

[The Champ]

No problen waugh u can continue its just everybody's story i dont think anyone will be confused,

Both urself and sohail can continue

 

[sohail]

Ur right "TheChamp" u can carry on Mwaugh. Good luck Pakistan

 

[MWaugh]

ok thanks guys.

tony greig "well we are down here now with the toss of the coin and ricky ponting has been successful, ricky youve decided to have a bat, tell us your thinking behind the decision"

ponting "well tony quite simply this pitch is a solid batting strip. i think whoever gets first crack at it with the bat will be in command. we have seen over recent history that when we bat first and post large totals its out us in good stead for the rest of the test. everyones feeling really fresh coming into this so we should see some good performances"

tony greig "thanks punter, now inzimam, your thoughts?

ul haq "yes thank you tony, would have liked to have had a bat on this pitch but its not to be. we will try hard in the field but this is a strong batting lineup, shoab and sami will have to do well with the new ball but we need to take regular wickets, not just a few"

tony greig "well there you have it guys, australia to bat, a magic warm day at the mcg and lets hope we see some good cricket"

match progression will be continued in the very near future

 

[MWaugh]

live from the M.C.G. Australia started very slowly against a highly skilled bowling attack from pakistan, lead by the rawalpindi expres (shoab) the pakistan fast bowlers really took precedings to australian openers langer and hayden. however the openers struggled well until hayden was dismissed by his nemisis shoab. the breakthrough pakistan had hoped for occured when hayden was out LBW to aktar for 12 off a defiant 40 balls. however this in turn brought ricky ponting to the crease with the score at 36. langer was playing soundly along with his skipper until mohammad sami produced an inside edge from a langer off drive that trickled onto the stumps. langer had batted sensibly for a well compiled 36 off 71 balls. the match was evenly placed.

enter damien martyn, the man that had rescued australia many times before. while sami picked up martyn shahid afridi had been bowling very well from the other end. the pressure brought about on martyn from afridi saw the western australian number 4 dismissed lbw to afridi for 14. the matched appeared there for the taking for pakistan.

below:
scorecard at lunch on day 1
langer chopping a sami ball onto off stump
langer vs shoab - neither willing to take a backward step

 

[MWaugh]

with the resumption of play after lunch pakistan took control of the test by dismissing martyn, however this saw the introduction of michael "pup" clarke. he was greeted with enormous cheers from the australian public. all aware of the potential he holds, especially after his 150 in india an 140 against pakistan in brisbane.

clarke and ponting were forced to work hard for there runs, ponting a picture of class and determination not just in helping his team but also leading team mate clarke, the most inexperienced player in the sqaud. this appeared to lift clarke as ponting surged to his and his teams first 50 of the season.

below
ponting... picture of class
ponting celebrating his first 50 of the season

 

[MWaugh]

after starting strongly, clarke and ponting begin to consolidate their position. clarkes first innings at number 5 proving fruitful has be began to dominate afridi and company. one surprise aspect of the pakistan attack was the amount of overs bowled by afridi, however he bowled extremely well, great turn and bounce, a constant threat to ponting and clarke.

as the match began to swing in favour of the hosts, ponting and clarke both neared personal milestones. as sure as his front foot driving, clarke went on to reach his 50 off just over 70 balls. 3 runs later and the capitan produced one of his most convincing centuries. leading his team from trouble at 3 for just over 100 to 3/263 at the end of the day. ponting unbeaten on 122 and clarke unbeaten on 78, quickly catching his leader.

below:
michael clarke, his first 50 ever in melbourne
captain punter on reaching his 1st century
clarke and ponting leaving after a successful day at the office

 

[MWaugh]

end of play analysis with mark taylor and richie benaud:

richie - "well mark a evenly matched game of cricket today, both teams playing very nicely, what did you make of todays play?"

taylor - "oh well richie a good performance from pakistan given the conditions they faced. the pitch today was always going to be good for the australians, however i felt it played a little slower than the melbourne pitches we are used to. that helped shahid afridi, i thought he was the pick of the bowlers, constantly troubling ponting and clarke this afternoon."

richie - "yes mark very much agreed, although i have to say i would have thought a score of at least 350 was on the cards when play began"

taylor - "yes rich, im sure thats what ricky ponting and john buchanan thought of at 11am this morning however the way the pakistan bowlers boweld, particularly mohammed sami and shahid afridi, they were a definate factor. keep in mind that if they want those bonus points they will have to score over 400 in the next 40 overs. it shouldnt be overly difficult, especially with gilchrist still to come"

all in all. match evenly placed at stumps on day 1. australia still looking to take control and establish a large lead against a potentially fragile pakistan batting attack

 

[The Champ]

Good day for AUS, but considering their strength i would have loved to see them score 300 on the first day.

Congrats Ponting.

 

[MWaugh]

day 2 begins with ponting resuming his century knock with 122 and clarke looking to complete his first century in front of a big melbourne crowd and continue his amazing rise to be one of if not, the best young player in world cricket. abdul razzaq and mohammad sami did the majority of work in the early overs of day 2 with ponting and clarke continuing their solid form with a slow but stable partnership.

46 minutes into the second days play and clarke had completed his tremendous 100. the well compiled knock was sealed with a leg glance off sami down to fine leg. the century, which came off a patient 169 balls showed the maturity that clarke has brough to the team. unfortuntunatly this maturity lasted for only 10 balls more before clarke was dismissed looking to go over the top on the leg side, caught sami bowled razzaq for 103.

katich joined ponting with the score at 4/304 and looked to play himself in while ponting went in search of quick runs to ensure that a total of 400 would be reached to ensure maximum points were achieved. however ponting eventually holed out in his search for runs for 144 off 255 balls, bowled by razzaq.

below
clarke reaches 100
clarke dismissed for 103
ponting bowled by razzaq for 144 - another great knock by the captain