India vs England – Bangalore, 27th February 2011

Planes Trains and Automobiles: A great film. But planes and other such transportation can’t half get in the way of good sporting drama!

A few weeks ago I missed Wayne Rooney’s wonder goal against Manchester City as I sat, without signal, on a train from Southampton to London.

On Sunday, I boarded a flight from Jersey to Southampton as thousands of miles away in Bangalore, England were batting their way into a winning position against India in the World Cup group game, only to end up drawing a superb contest as I drove home from the Airport. Damn I need to plan my travel better in future!

Little Master crafting his magic

Before the flight, I had watched as India, and in particular Sachin Tendulkar, had batted nicely and accumulated a decent total. They ended up all out for 338, which actually seemed a little light, given the fact they lost a number of wickets late on, a total closer to 360 may have been on for them if they’d been a little more savvy late on.

Tendulkar played another showcase innings which underlined yet again why he is one of the best technical batsmen of all time. His placement, timing and body shape when he hits the ball are all of the highest order, but if there is one criticism on Tendulkar it would be that he seems more worried about his own score rather than the teams’ position in the match, because India could really have done with him going on and getting a few more runs in the first innings here, like Strauss went on to do for England.



Main Man? Bresnan in top form

Bresnan bowled beautifully for England, as did Swann and Yardy, who more than justified his inclusion in the team at the expense of the unlucky Ravi Bopara. England looked more balanced with a second spinner and it meant more importantly that Kevin Pietersen didn’t get the chance to turn his arm over!

There’s no doubt Bresnan is a huge part of this team though, he offers a decent option with the bat, and is a genuine strike bowler as well now, making him an integral part of this One Day team.

The same can’t be said for England’s premier fast bowler, Jimmy Anderson. He looks really short of confidence, stamina, and of ideas’ at the moment, which is unbelievable considering how good he looked in Australia recently.

That said, the boy has been back and forth from Oz 3 times during the tour Down Under to be at the birth of his daughter, so it’s little wonder he looks jaded. He just isn’t bowling “clever” to get wickets or to keep things tight, so perhaps a break, maybe against Ireland on Wednesday, when Stuart Broad could come back into the team in his place, bowels permitting, would do him good?

Broad may offer a better option in the sub-continent then Anderson anyway, with his height and bounce useful on these dry, lifeless wickets, as well as better batting ability, so it may come down to a straight choice between what was the first choice pairing at the start of the Ashes. How times change.



Massive forearms...Struass was hitting big in Bangalore

Batting wise, Struassy’s knock was superb. Seldom have I seen him run down the wicket looking to hit bowlers over the top as much as he did in this innings, although that said, the Indian fielders in the deep are so slow, perhaps it was a calculated risk worth taking?

The Captain will be disappointed therefore that the rest of the team couldn’t get the team over the line after his wicket fell. Similar to India, there was a succession of wickets and in the end, if it hadn’t been for Swann, Bresnan and Shahzad, England could have lost a game they looked destined to win.

I thought it was interesting what Ian Bell said after the game, that previous England teams may have struggled to reach that total, and I think he’s right. Scoreboard pressure did phase England in the past, but this team is made of sterner stuff.

It showed good resolve for Swann, Bresnan and Shahzad to grind out the draw in the end, but with 10 overs to go victory was there for the taking against India, one of the favourites in the tournament, and that would have been a huge boost for the team to beat them.

England don’t appear to have quite reclaimed that ruthless streak they had throughout the Ashes, which went missing before the ODI’s out there started. They will need to rediscover that if they are going to progress into the latter stages of this competition.

However, there’s still time in the group stages to perfect that you feel.