Jun
15
Broad smiles as England win
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Stuart Broad claimed the perfect revenge for his ICC World T20 mauling by Yuvraj Singh two years ago by knocking India out.
The Nottinghamshire seamer’s main contribution to the inaugural tournament in South Africa was being hit for six sixes in an over by explosive India batsman Yuvraj Singh as England bowed out of the event with only one win.
But confronted by the same player and the same opponents, Broad delivered a highly-disciplined bowling display to concede only 21 runs in his four overs and took two catches as England completed a nail-biting three-run victory.
It leaves England facing a straight shoot-out with West Indies, who have not beaten them in any form of cricket this summer, at the Oval on Monday, with the winner progressing into the semi-finals.
England set a competitive target of 153/7 after being put into bat on a worn wicket but a policy of short-pitched bowling, which was successful for West Indies in their opening Super Eights victory over India, restricted India to 150/5 in reply.
The triumph follows just three days after England’s humiliation against South Africa at Trent Bridge and keeps alive their hopes of lifting their first ever major one-day trophy.
Man-of-the-match Ryan Sidebottom, restored to England’s line-up at the expense of leg-spinner Adil Rashid, provided an early impetus by claiming two wickets in his new-ball spell.
He followed that by bowling the all-important final over - when India needed 19 for victory - and despite being hit for a six and a four by Yusuf Pathan he did enough to clinch England’s victory.
The focus before the match had been on Broad and how he would react to another confrontation with Yuvraj, with captain Paul Collingwood backing his 22-year-old seamer to emerge successful this time.
His first contribution, though, was to end the determined innings of opener Gautam Gambhir, holding on to a catch off Dimitri Mascarenhas in the deep, which signalled the arrival of Yuvraj with just over half of the overs remaining.
Broad was re-introduced into the attack just two overs later and delivered a masterful over costing only four runs to build the pressure and set the stage for Yuvraj’s dismissal in the next over when off-spinner Graeme Swann encouraged him out of the crease and he was stumped by wicketkeeper James Foster.
His demise left India on 87 for five and followed just three balls after Broad took another impressive catch, this time at long on, to end Ravindra Jadeja’s scrappy innings of 25 off 35 balls.
But an impressive 63-run stand off only 36 balls between captain MS Dhoni and Yusuf almost turned the match on its head at its climax after they approached the final five overs needing 60 runs for victory.
They had reduced that target to 28 needed off two overs when Collingwood threw the ball again to Broad, who demonstrated his great progress in the two years since his Durban humiliation by conceding just nine off his final over and ensuring the victory target remained just out of India’s reach.
Jun
14
Collingwood aims for ultimate reward
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Paul Collingwood is confident the prize on offer during the next four matches can spur England to victory over India.
The England captain has been baffled by the inconsistent nature of his side’s performances during the ICC World Twenty20, with a brilliant display against Pakistan sandwiched by defeats against Holland and South Africa.
Collingwood will set out a simple scenario as a springboard to winning the ICC World Twenty20 crown - win the next four matches - when he addresses the team in the Lord’s dressing room on Sunday prior to their must-win Super-Eight match against holders India.
It’s now or never
He explained: “In the dressing room, what we take out on the pitch we still believe is a side that can beat the best sides in the competition - and we’re going to have to.
“The amazing thing now is that if we win the next four games we win the ICC World T20 and that’s a great incentive.”
If England are to end their long wait for a major one-day success, they must first end their long losing run against an India side who have dominated them in all forms of the game over the last few years.
England’s last success over India in any form of cricket was in September 2007, when they claimed a seven-wicket victory at Lord’s to claim a 4-3 series success as preparation for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa.
Since then India have not lost to England in eight international matches in all forms, but Collingwood will be drawing inspiration from that victory at Lord’s.
Asked why he believed England could end that losing run, Collingwood said: “We’ll probably take our minds back to a performance we put in against them during that one-day series.
Do-or-die
“I know it’s a completely different format of the game but we were 3-3 at the time, it was a big pressure game and we came out and won well on that day.
“Sometimes we play our best cricket when we put ourselves under this sort of pressure. We take our minds back to that Pakistan game, the boys were so desperate to do well and stayed very calm about it.
“As a team we’re very confident. I know we’ve had an up and down tournament so far but we’re still in with a shout and we know we’ve got the players in the dressing room to put the performances in on the day.”
If England are to triumph and preserve their interest in the tournament, they must first silence the explosive strokeplay of middle order batsman Yuvraj Singh, who hit Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over during the last ICC World T20 in Durban.
Yuvraj warmed up for Sunday’s match by hammering 67 off 43 balls during Friday’s shock defeat to West Indies - but Collingwood is confident Broad’s greater experience this time will ensure there is no repeat of that stunning display.
“I saw some highlights the other day and it proved how raw he was at the time, but what he’s done in the last couple of years has been exceptional.
New Broad to ball!
“Stuart’s grown as a man, his skills are much better and his execution is much better. I’m sure he’s absolutely relishing this competition that’s going to come up tomorrow and I’ve got no doubts he’ll be desperate to come on and bowl when he comes in.
“The last time he was trying to have an answer, but his execution on the day wasn’t right.
“He was trying to get those yorkers in and didn’t actually get it right, but I think he’s proven over the last couple of years how versatile he is as a bowler.
“He can be a really good wicket-taking option but he can also stem the flow of runs. At the moment he’s one of the most economical bowlers in the competition, which shows how far he’s come as a bowler.”
Ryan Sidebottom, dropped after the Holland loss, is back in consideration as England attempt to strengthen their bowling options.
The versatility of Middlesex batsman Eoin Morgan - also overlooked since the Holland match - could also figure.
Approaching milestones
- Yuvraj Singh (27) needs three sixes to become the first batsman to register 30 sixes in Twenty20 Internationals.
- Gautam Gambhir (47) requires three fours to become the first Indian batsman to post 50 fours in Twenty20 Internationals.
Head to Head
- India and England have played against each other only once. India had defeated England by 18 runs at Durban on September 18, 2007.
- India have won 9 and lost 5 (NR 1, Tied 1) out of 16 contested - winning % 56.25.
- England have won seven and lost 11 out of 18 contested - winning % 38.89.
Mar
22
Flintoff disappointed by IPL switch
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Andrew Flintoff has admitted his disappointment at being denied the chance to savour the IPL experience in India. 
The clash between the lucrative Twenty20 tournament and the impending elections in India has prompted the organisers to look at alternative venues because government officials could not guarantee sufficient security for the matches.
South Africa and England are the leading candidates to become hosts at short notice and both boards are looking into the logistics of of staging 59 matches in six weeks from April 10 to May 29 with a decision due on Monday.
“I love playing cricket in India”
It opens up the prospect of England’s leading players spending more time at home but all-rounder Flintoff, the joint highest paid player after the Chennai Super Kings successfully bid US$1.5million for his services, would have preferred to experience the IPL in India.
“It’s disappointing news because one of the big attractions for me about the IPL was playing in India,” said Flintoff.
“I love playing cricket in India, particularly one-day cricket. I’ve never played a Twenty20 match over there but I can imagine it will be an unbelievable experience because as a player you don’t get a chance very often to play in front of big crowds of 40,000 to 50,000 people.
“It’s unfortunate but if we don’t do that this year then hopefully we can do it again next year.”
Flintoff was told the news on Sunday morning by agent Neil Fairbrother and must now wait with the other leading England players - Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah - snapped up at the recent auction to discover where they are heading for their three-week stint in the tournament.
Dimitri Mascarenhas was also due to return and play with holders Rajasthan Royals while Essex’s Graham Napier has agreed a deal to play with the Mumbai Indians.
“It would make it logistically easier to have it at home (in England),” stressed Flintoff.
“It would be good to spend some more time at home so obviously I’d prefer England, but I’m sure South Africa would do a good job of staging it if it went there as well.”
He added: “I only heard about it this morning when I got a text from Neil Fairbrother telling me it wasn’t going to be in India and there were a couple of other options.
“I haven’t spoken to the franchise yet but I suppose that will happen once we know what is happening.”
Dec
22
England stall India charge
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England’s persistence forced India to halt their plan to attempted to establish a major lead in the second Test in Mohali.
Having conceded a 151-run first innings deficit when they were dismissed for 302 early on the fourth day, the tourists could have faced a testing finale to the series had India given themselves time to bowl England out by scoring quick runs.
But despite beginning their reply quickly - they scored 30 runs in the first six overs - England’s ability to make steady inroads slowed their progress and forced them to bat for the remainder of the fourth day and extended their lead to 285 at the close by reaching 134 for four - giving them less time to bowl the tourists out tomorrow.
India had begun their reply shortly before lunch after England, who resumed 171 runs adrift on 282 for six, lost their last four wickets for just 20 runs in only 10.5 overs, and attempted to set the tone for their innings by racing to 30 without loss inside six overs.
But from the moment explosive opener Virender Sehwag ran himself out in the sixth over until VVS Laxman was also run out 33 overs later, they had clearly decided to bat out the game and added only 50 runs during that period.
Rahul Dravid was as patient as ever, facing 19 balls before being bowled by Stuart Broad for a duck, while Sachin Tendulkar fended James Anderson to the gully.
Opener Gautam Gambhir was the mainstay of the innings and after starting promisingly, hitting two boundaries in the first over, he had reached an unbeaten 44 when bad light halted play after 50 overs at the crease.
England had begun the day hoping to frustrate India’s hopes of victory, but suffered an early setback with Matt Prior falling to the 13th ball of the day when he edged a leg glance behind off Harbhajan Singh.
Harbhajan struck again in his next over when Broad shouldered arms to a delivery which he thought would turn but instead continued its path and knocked back his off-stump.
India turned to left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan after several overs of leg-spinner Amit Mishra from the other end and the change of bowling earned another breakthrough in his second over.
New batsman Graeme Swann had allowed the previous two deliveries to swing away outside off-stump but his middle stump was removed with the next ball, which surprised him and swung in to edge India closer to a massive first innings lead.
Last man Monty Panesar lasted four overs until the innings ended with Harbhajan claiming his third wicket of the morning when he edged to short leg as England lost their last six wickets for 22.
Dec
20
Patience pays off for England
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England reaped the rewards for a patient bowling display to prevent India progressing to a far more formidable first-innings total. 
Resuming the second day on 179 for one at the PCA Stadium, the tourists were facing the prospect of replying to a massive total while Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid were sharing a record 314-run second-wicket stand.
But instead of building on that partnership, India struggled - with no other batsman reaching 50 - and were dismissed for 453 before bad light ended play without the tourists starting their reply.
Off-spinner Graeme Swann, playing only his second Test, was the catalyst for England’s fightback - claiming three wickets in 10 overs to remove Gambhir, Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.
Without their experienced middle order to supervise India’s intended acceleration beyond 500, their momentum collapsed - and they lost their last nine wickets for 123 runs in 49 overs.
It still leaves England, who need victory to level the series following their disappointing defeat in the first Test at Chennai, facing a major first-innings deficit - but it could have been far worse.
Swann was rewarded for his efforts with three for 122, while all-rounder Andrew Flintoff finished with three for 54 from 30.2 impressive overs.
Dec
15
Tendulkar finishes off England
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Sachin Tendulkar guided India to a stunning six-wicket victory with a superb century as England slumped to defeat in the opening Test.
Set a daunting target of 387 just after tea on the fourth day, India sealed a famous triumph with 21 overs of the final day remaining to complete the fourth-highest successful run chase ever.
Marginal outsiders at the start of the day when they resumed still 256 runs away from victory on 131 for one, it took a brilliant 163-run unbroken partnership between Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh to secure what eventually became a comfortable victory.
Arriving at the crease just three overs after the start when Rahul Dravid edged Andrew Flintoff behind, master batsman Tendulkar provided the steady influence to pace the chase brilliantly.
He finished unbeaten on 103 having spent over five hours at the crease withstanding everything England could throw at him while Yuvraj, subjected to a fierce verbal battle with England’s fielders at the start of his innings, hit an unbeaten 85 in his comeback Test.
England looked on course for an excellent victory - particularly considering their disrupted build-up to the Test following the terrorist attacks on Mumbai - when Flintoff struck so early in the day.
Tendulkar was immediately given a testing introduction with Flintoff examining his technique with a number of short balls before he demonstrated his class by cutting the first of five boundaries on his way to his half-century.
Opener Gautam Gambhir, who resumed overnight on 41, reached his half-century in the sixth over of the day with a clipped single off Graeme Swann after two and a half hours at the crease.
Dec
12
Swann sparks England’s day
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England’s bowlers proved that it doesn’t matter how many thousands of runs a top order has, each innings is a new one and all batsmen are human. A fine combined effort from the five-man attack reduced India to 155 for 6 in reply to their 316 on the second day in Chennai. Graeme Swann grabbed the spotlight with two wickets in his first over in Test cricket and three strikes in the final hour - one apiece for Monty Panesar, Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison - allowed England to cement unexpected control. 
The pitch has already played a part in this fascinating contest and chasing in the fourth innings isn’t going to be easy. There was help for Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra, but also for England’s spin pair as Swann and Panesar matched them. After stumbling to 37 for 3, courtesy Swann’s two in four balls before tea, India partially recovered through Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. But their dismissals in consecutive overs after the break stunned the crowd into silence.
Flintoff produced another of the chest-thumping spells for which he has become famous. With his first ball back he had Tendulkar caught and bowled and then got under the skin of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. There is a belief that Yuvraj doesn’t have the same taste for Tests as he does for one-dayers and the roughing-up worked: in the penultimate over of the day he drove at Harmison, edging to Flintoff at second slip.
That left England, dismissed mid-way through the afternoon session after Matt Prior’s battling half-century had led them to 316, happy with a total that appeared initially about 100 short. It began with James Anderson cramping Virender Sehwag for room, before Swann stole the spotlight in grand style. Often spinners are given the final over of a session as a token gesture - a few minutes later it looked like a masterstroke.
Swann’s first delivery was cut away by Gautham Gambhir, but the following ball brought a big appeal for a short-leg catch, ultimately turned down by Daryl Harper. Next ball, however, Gambhir padded up to one that straightened to give Swann his first wicket. If that wasn’t enough, with the last ball before tea an out-of-form Rahul Dravid was beaten by one that spun in sharply, though replays suggested it would only have grazed leg stump.
Swann - and England - probably wished play hadn’t stopped for tea, as when the players returned Tendulkar and Laxman settled in, having been able to gather their thoughts. They calmly steadied the innings but, unlike England’s leaden-footed middle-order their first instinct was to attack. Tendulkar swept Swann over midwicket for six, and Laxman effortlessly turned him through the leg side from a ball that could reasonably have gone through cover.
Panesar was the last option Pietersen introduced though he struggled initially to find his pace and line. Tendulkar toyed with him, one over in particular evidence of his greatness in making bowlers do what he wants. A short ball was cut away and when Panesar compensated by pitching up Tendulkar drove him past deep cover.
It looked like normal service, only for Laxman to suddenly chip a return catch to Panesar. There was shock all around; Panesar because he’d caught it (just, in the heels of his hands), Laxman because of the error and the crowd because they had started to enjoy the rally. The Barmy Army, though, were in fine voice and chants of ‘Monty Monty’ soon turned to cries of ‘Super Fred’ as Flintoff got in on the act after tea.
The batting hadn’t gone quite as well for Flintoff, his dismissal in the third over of the day putting paid to England’s hopes of reaching 400. It was an out-of-character innings, as he prodded around for 75 balls, until a lunge at Mishra was snapped up at short leg. In contrast to Flintoff’s heavy-footed technique against spin was Prior’s lightness at the crease.
When Prior was dropped after the Sri Lanka tour last year it was because of his glovework and not his batting. His fifty came off 96 balls and although the innings including a lone boundary he was the one England batsman to remain busy. However, his tactics with the tail were odd, as he continually exposed both Harmison and Panesar. The final-wicket stand lasted 37 balls, of which Panesar faced 26.
His best support came from Anderson - dropped by Dravid at slip - who again excelled in his role as nightwatchman. He defended stubbornly and even had the gumption to reverse sweep the day’s opening boundary off Mishra.
The dismissal that woke everyone up, however, was the ball from Harbhajan that leapt off a length and took Swann’s glove to slip. It was a sign of what the batsmen can expect as this match progresses and highlighted the importance of gaining a first-innings lead. England are likelier to harbour those thoughts tonight.
Nov
27
England’s tour of India on hold
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England’s tour of India has been put on hold in the wake of Wednesday night’s horrifying terrorist attacks in Mumbai. 
With security issues in India still a major cause for concern, the tourists have definitely decided to cancel the two remaining ODIs, but talks are to be held over the next 24 hours in a frantic bid to ensure that the two Test series scheduled for December goes ahead.
Early reports on Thursday had claimed that England’s entire tour had been cancelled by the ECB, with one official, who requested anonimity pending a formal announcement, saying that the England team had expressed reservations about continuing the tour and had conveyed their concerns to the BCCI.
However it has since been announced that Kevin Pietersen and his side will stay at their base in Bhubaneswar for the time being while talks continue with India’s cricketing authorites.
Regarding the fate of the two-match Test series scheduled to start in Ahmedabad from December 11, the BCCI secretary said, “We hope they will come to play the Test matches.” Morris, on his part said they would be holding discussions with Indian Cricket Board officials on the Test series.
In a statement, ECB Managing Director, England Cricket, Hugh Morris said: “On behalf of the Board and the England team, we would like to express our condolences to the families and friends of those people who were killed or injured in last night’s attacks.
“The safety and security of the England team is of the utmost importance to ECB. We have reviewed all our security arrangements in the light of these attacks and will be taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of the team.
“This morning I held initial discussions with the Hon Sec of BCCI, Mr N Srinivasan, as well as representatives from the Indian team management at the team hotel in Bhubaneswar. I have also briefed the England players and management on the situation as well as liaising closely with the ECB Chairman and Chief Executive and the Players’ Representatives.
“The events of last night were deeply distressing and the situation is still unfolding. We are urgently seeking information from expert sources regarding last night’s attacks and will continue to hold further discussions with our colleagues from the BCCI over the next 24 hours.”
England have so far played five one-dayers, losing all the matches to trail the seven-match series 5-0. They were also scheduled to play two Tests in Ahmedabad (Dec 11-15) and Mumbai (Dec 10-23), where at least 100 people were killed in terror attacks on Wednesday.
The tourists were to fly from Cuttack to Guwahati Thursday prior to Saturday’s sixth one-day international as part of the seven week tour of India. The final ODI was scheduled to take place in Delhi on December 2.
The fate of the Champions League Twenty20 will also be discussed later on Thursday as the ramifications of Wednesday’s horrific events become clearer.
Nov
23
India wrap off series win in Bangalore
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India beat England to win take an unassailabel 4-0 lead in the seven match ODI series. What a moment for MS Dhoni and his boys.
India have wrapped off the series with, taking an unassailable 4-0 lead in the seven match ODI series. This has been a sensational performance by the hosts.
Nov
21
Umpires’ decision steals limelight
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The third ODI between India and England, which ended in India’s favour, was overshadowed by the umpires’ decisions.
The match had initially been delayed by 45 minutes due to the early-morning mist, but despite being aware that light fades quickly in Kanpur, the officials reduce the game to 49 overs and later shortened the lunch break to 30 minutes.
Indian coach Gary Kirsten, whose side needs just one more match to win the series, backed the umpires’ decision.
“I don’t think the umpires could have done anything different,” Kirsten said.
“They couldn’t have set up the game knowing there was going to be bad light; they had to set it up according to the time that was available.
“We just played to the rules of the game. We won a game of cricket and we’re very happy with the circumstances. It’s got nothing to do with us how the rules are made.”
Kirsten did admitted India were happy with England’s decision to bat first after winning the toss because it enabled them to control their run chase to ensure they kept ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis target.
“I think we were going to bat second anyway, it worked in our favour,” he added. “We were obviously aware, having looked at the weather and the light yesterday, that it might come into play and we prepared accordingly for that.”
The England camp echoed a different sentiment from India to the umpires’ decision. Captain Kevin Pietersen was seen protesting to umpires Russell Tiffin and Amit Saheba after India won the game on the Duckworth-Lewis. India reached 198 for five in 40 overs chasing England’s 240.
“I knew it would be difficult to get a game in,” admitted Pietersen. “I mentioned it yesterday at training and I mentioned it the day before when we had a team meeting.
“It’s a very, very bitter pill to swallow but what has happened has happened.
“I knew when the decisions were made that there was no way we were going to get this game finished. We tried to get it turned around but decisions were made and we can’t go against decisions that were made by the hierarchy.
“What we were worried about was the half an hour that it took to start the game after the 9.15am toss. We wanted to start it as early as possible because we knew we needed to do that to get a full game in.”
It was a particularly galling experience for England as Green Park has four newly-installed floodlights, but both sides agreed not to use them as they had not been tested before.
Pietersen also revealed England’s concern about the sixth match in the series in Guwahati on November 29, which has already been brought forward to an 8.30am start.
“In hindsight I definitely would have used the lights,” he said. “I think they are going to go back to the drawing board now and things are going to have to change.
“They are going to have to change for the sixth game in Guwahati, which is further north than here. We’re starting at 8.30am there but it’s still not going to make too much of a difference. At 4.30pm it’s dark here so it’s going to go dark at 3.00 or 3.30pm.”
Coach Peter Moores echoed his captain’s sentiments.
“We knew the light could be an issue so we were trying to make sure we could get a game in this morning,” he added.
“The umpires made their call and we can make recommendations afterwards.
“The key for me is that we try to make sure it doesn’t happen again. A lot of people have come to watch the game and you’ve got television so we have to do everything we possibly can to get the game in.”
However, ICC match referee Roshan Mahanama defended the decisions made.
“Everything was taken into account and the game was played according to the playing conditions,” he said.
“Yesterday the umpires were here at the ground because they knew that light could be an issue and today the fact that it was getting dark and the lights couldn’t be used had already been agreed.”