|
Looking Ahead : NatWest Challenge, 1st
ODI at Trent Bridge |
- A Preview to the 1st ODI at Nottingham by
Venkat
The three match NatWest Challenge between
India and England kicks off at Trent Bridge
tomorrow. With the Indians going through a lean
patch and a low morale, and a confident England
blowing away the Windies, the contest promises
almost everything a cricket lover wants. For
India, these matches come as a bonus to get
things in place ahead of the Champions Trophy
and for England, it gives them a healthy chance
to reorder their One-Day form. Cricketfundas.com
gives its readers an exclusive analytical
preview to the 1st ODI between India and England
in the NatWest Challenge to be played on the 1st
September 2004.
Pitch:
The pitch at Trent Bridge for tomorrow's game
should be a belter ! But, hey bowlers, there
will be something for you early on - typically
English and it'll be left to see if the bowlers
use it to their advantage. The stats suggest
that it is good to chase on this wicket
traditionally, but winning the toss and batting
first shouldn't be a bad idea at all !
Past 5 Matches
- India beat England (World Cup 2003)
- India beat England (ICC Champions Trophy
2002)
- India beat England (Natwest Series Finals
2002)
- England beat India (Natwest Series)
- India beat England (Natwest Series)
India:
Surprisingly for India, their batting has let
them down, in the matches they have played so
far in the season and its time the batsmen stood
up and lived up to their reputations. With the
pitch not having any say in the verdict of the
game, if all goes well, the supposedly strong
batting line up of India should be able to set a
stiff proposition for England or chase a total
of 270 odd. If reports are to be believed, then
Rahul Dravid will be India's keeper and the
customary combination of 7 batsmen will be
played. The Indians are bowling well in patches,
according to skipper Saurav Ganguly and one only
can hope that the second innings of Bruce Reid
with the Indian bowling unit will show
improvements in the results. The key to
success in England and especially at Trent
Bridge is how best a bowler can control the
exaggerated swing and the lateral movement he
could get - and if Balaji and Pathan can control
them all to good effect, they could get
some good wickets. One gets the impression that
we will see a three-seamer and one spinner
combination, mainly due to weather and pitch
conditions and it'll be interesting to see which
of the spinners the management decides to leave
out, as both of them have a strong liking for
the English batting line up. On field discipline
will be the key to India's success henceforth -
fielding has to be immaculate and well, the
bowlers have to improve their control and
discipline. India will go in as strong
favourites to take it all, but having said that,
they have a history of messing it up at the last
juncture and of course as usual they have to
guard against complacency, as the opposition on
paper seems a bit weaker than it actually is.
England:
The Englishmen have been traditionally a good
test side and have not been as successful in the
shorter version. Well, here is the right time to
reverse that tradition. England will certainly
go into this 3 match series as underdogs,
although they are high on confidence and are
playing at home. After an exit in the Natwest
Series, the side could be in anticipation of an
Indian side, that is fighting for form. The
English batting looks strong with the likes of
Vaughan (who is not that good in ODIs), Strauss
and the ever-destructive Flintoff. They have
been the run machines of England all season, and
there is everything to suggest that these
machines wont stop unless the Indians bowl well.
Geraint Jones will be the keeper and one can
expect a few tonks from this highly and
potentially dangerous lower order bat. Something
that Duncan Fletcher and Michael Vaughan will
be racking their brains over is the bowling unit
to be played - Harmison and Anderson choose
themselves and Alex Wharf, the bowler in supreme
form in the County Circuit, could make his
England ODI Debut. Ashley Giles could be the
lone spinner to play on these docile tracks.
Lets see if he can crack through the best
players of spin after his rich success against
the Windies. If records are to be believed,
then England are better chasers than setters,
but over the few years, they have made a hash of
chasing low totals. One gets the feeling that
the harder they try, as they did in the Natwest
Series, the poorer will be the results. Like
their opponents, if they get their discipline on
target, the Indians better watch out ! England
need to gather some confidence prior to the
Natwest Series and one needs to see how much of
an impact their dream test run can make on the
one day scene !
Cricketfundas
Probable XI (The final XI is subject to changes)
India:
Virender Sehwag, Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman,
Rohan Gavaskar, Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Dravid,
Mohammad Kaif, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra/Ajit
Agarkar, Laxmipathy Balaji, Anil Kumble/Harbhajan
Singh
England:
Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick, Micheal
Vaughan, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood,
Vikram Solanki, Geraint Jones, Ashley Giles,
Darren Gough/Alex Wharf, James Anderson, Steve
Harmison.
According to me, this is a crucial game
for India, especially after a good bowling
performance against the Aussies in Holland. This
gives them a chance to take their progress
further and a chance to finish all their
calculations and experiments ahead of
the Champions Trophy and to treat it as a Warm
Up match would be disastrous. For England, it is
a chance to improve or reinvent their ODI
performances, after a poor show in the Natwest
Series. Two teams capable of beating each other
on a given day, evenly matched in both skills
and confidence - battling it out - we can expect
more than a good cricket match.
Top of the Page
|
