The India-England match was shifted from the country's most famous cricket ground, the Eden Gardens, to the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore, inviting unhappy remarks from a lot of people. Crowds of people thronged the stadium for the tickets, even as it threatened to rain.
If the match was washed out by rain, one point each would have been awarded.
It wasn't. India started off well, Tendulkar scoring a century, his 98th, in his typical style. The others made some partnerships. Suddenly, towards the end of the innings, there was a flurry of wickets, most of them by Tim Bresnan. India never got to finish the innings, the tenth wicket falling off the last ball.
England paced their chase very well. They kept up the run rate and exploited the poor bowling by hitting frequent boundaries. Strauss scored a brilliant 158. However, in the end Zaheer Khan picked up some valuable wickets that gave the hosts a glimmer of hope. They slowed the visitors down a little, and it boiled down to two runs required off the last ball - and England took a characteristic single. The match was tied.
A tie also means a point apiece.
All that nail-biting for nothing?
I don't think so really, because we saw some good cricket. And it's good to speed up the heartbeats once in a while (my ideal).
Shane Warne in fact was the only one who predicted a tie before the match. He was regarded a genius by English captain Andrew Strauss.
India need to get their act together in bowling and fielding if they don't want to embarrass themselves against Ireland next week.
We still need an upset. Pakistan beating Sri Lanka was not all that unexpected, and the islanders are proving themselves favoutrites right now. I'm in fact looking forward to the time a minnow team surprises one of the big guns.
May the most deserving team win! Not necessarily best!
Cheers!
If the match was washed out by rain, one point each would have been awarded.
It wasn't. India started off well, Tendulkar scoring a century, his 98th, in his typical style. The others made some partnerships. Suddenly, towards the end of the innings, there was a flurry of wickets, most of them by Tim Bresnan. India never got to finish the innings, the tenth wicket falling off the last ball.
England paced their chase very well. They kept up the run rate and exploited the poor bowling by hitting frequent boundaries. Strauss scored a brilliant 158. However, in the end Zaheer Khan picked up some valuable wickets that gave the hosts a glimmer of hope. They slowed the visitors down a little, and it boiled down to two runs required off the last ball - and England took a characteristic single. The match was tied.
A tie also means a point apiece.
All that nail-biting for nothing?
I don't think so really, because we saw some good cricket. And it's good to speed up the heartbeats once in a while (my ideal).
Shane Warne in fact was the only one who predicted a tie before the match. He was regarded a genius by English captain Andrew Strauss.
India need to get their act together in bowling and fielding if they don't want to embarrass themselves against Ireland next week.
We still need an upset. Pakistan beating Sri Lanka was not all that unexpected, and the islanders are proving themselves favoutrites right now. I'm in fact looking forward to the time a minnow team surprises one of the big guns.
May the most deserving team win! Not necessarily best!
Cheers!
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