1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

Top Contributors
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

Now this has been entertaining!

Collymore and Gayle have been getting into it with Pietersen, especially Gayle.
Gayle and KP even intentionally bumped into each other during a single.

KP has gotten all riled up, and started hitting boundaries like there's no tomorrow. (And if England declares as expected, there really won't be a tomorrow for KP to bat.)

180-3 after 48

The Pietersen/Collingwood partnership is going at nearly 10 per over, and it's mostly Pietersen.
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

200-3 after 51, drinks break

the lead is now 315 runs

If England (well, Kevin Pietersen) can keep this pace up, they might be able to declare later today and make West Indies bat for a bit before stumps.
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

Powell dropped Collingwood in the deep a few overs ago, and was replaced by Runako Morton.
This time Collingwood hit it straight to Morton and he held on.
A wise move that paid off for the West Indies



England 241-4, that's a lead of 357

England may wind up not declaring today, just because the West Indies might be offered the light by the umpires, and of course, they'd accept it.
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

Gayle and Pietersen still going at it.
Gayle gets Pietersen lbw, but Asad Rauf doesn't give it.
Replays show that Gayle got him!




Bravo gets Bell for his second well-deserved wicket.

248-5, England's lead is 364
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

Maybe West Indies should have left Collingwood or Bell out there,
Prior comes on and scores 16 from his first 5 deliveries!
(one 4 and then two 6's)



And now Gayle finally gets Pietersen!
This time the lbw is given!
KP is out for a very entertaining 109, and Gayle gives him a friendly hug as he goes off.


England 264-6, the lead is 380
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

Gayle gets his second of the over, Plunkett is stumped!

264-7
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

Prior gone for 21 from just 9 balls.
Gayle gets his third, thanks to a typically impressive running catch from Dwayne Bravo.

271-8, a lead of 387

Looks like England will keep batting here


Panesar looks like the last man in, as it's unlikely that the injured Moggard will bat
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

284-8, and England finally declare with a lead of 400

They're only going to get to bowl 3 overs today, and that's IF the umpires don't offer Gayle and Ganga the light.
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

So the target is 401, and West Indies have to make it through 3 overs today.



I'll predict they score 3 runs from them.
0 from Gayle, 0 from Ganga, and 3 extras from Harmison.
:p
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

Well, they only had to face 2 overs thanks to Harmison nailing Gayle where it hurts.

West Indies 7-0 at stumps, a 4 from Ganga, two wides from Harmison, and one wide from Plunkett. At least I was close with my prediction of 3 extras.

West Indies need 394 runs tomorrow, and England need 10 wickets. 394 doesn't sound very likely, unless Panesar and Collingwood both get hurt and Harmison has to bowl every over.
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

West Indies have progressed to 0/42 off 10 overs. No loss of wickets today but the chances of someone winning this game are slipping as drizzle if falling. The drizzle has been coming down for almost the last hour and it looks as if an early lunch will be taken.

Gayle is on 24 with Ganga also there on 9 runs.
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

Typical English weather ruining what could have been a good chase.

Still no play since the last post. The covers came off at about 2:05pm local time but the rain started again and were put back on 35 mins later.

At 2:30pm local time, there were 59 overs remaining in the game, 44 plus the extra 15. Using the premise that one over is lost for every four minutes lost, there are approximately 15 overs left, 35 standard plus the extra 15.

A draw is seeming more and more likely at this stage.
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

The covers are off and play will start in 10 minutes!


Of course, it's probably too late for anything but a draw now, barring a dramatic collapse from the West Indies.
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

Play has been stopped for the last 20 mins due to bad light.

West Indies have improved to 0/89 off 22 overs, perhaps they could have won they game if it weren't for a combination of poor weather. Gayle is not out on 47 with Ganga alongside him sitting on 31.

There may be no more play today as it is rather bleak at the ground.
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

They're still sitting here at 89-0 in a delay.
They really should just call the test off now.
There's no point in delaying the inevitable.
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

So it ends in a draw, as many expected.

Alastair Cook was named player of the match, and Matt Prior had a superb test debut.

West Indies showed flashes, especially when Gayle and Bravo were bowling and got fired up at the end of Day 4. They also did well to reach 437, despite no batsmen scoring centuries. Look at their batting scorecard from their first innings. If nothing else, you'd have to call that a balanced attack. It's worth pointing out that 7 of their 11 players raised their batting average after this test.
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

For the England squad in the second test, I'd expect Flintoff to be back. They said he'd be good to go for the second test, right? I'm sure Shah will lose his place. Hoggard is likely out due to injury. He'll probably be replaced by James Anderson, though I suppose Onions will be a name a lot of fans in England will ask for. Harmison is the big question mark. He won't get better by not playing, but after a draw in the first test, you have to wonder if England might drop him and go all out for a win in the second.


The West Indies squad looks a little more straightforward at this point. As mentioned, 7 of the batsmen raised their average (Gayle, Ganga, Chanderpaul, Bravo, Ramdin, Powell, and Taylor). Of the other 4, Sarwan, Devon Smith, Morton, and Collymore didn't exactly have a bad test. Especially not Collymore. Maybe Morton underwhelmed.

But of the 15-man West Indies test squad, the remaining players available are Fidel Edwards, Sylvester Joseph, Darren Sammy, and Ravi Rampaul.

Jerome Taylor certainly stands out as someone who could be replaced, and I wouldn't mind seeing Fidel Edwards come in for him. I'd vote against Ravi Rampaul, as I think he had a tough time in previous matches against England. Though I suppose he may have improved since then. I kind of think Fidel should come ahead of him though.

If you want to replace Runako Morton, I'd love to see Darren Sammy get a test debut. But I kind of have a feeling that Sylvester Joseph would get the nod ahead of him. Though honestly, I suspect Morton will keep his place. Taylor really looks like the only candidate for replacement.
 
Re: 1st Test: England vs West Indies at Lord's

And I certainly can't complain about the West Indies picking up a draw this time. I'm tired of seeing them lose, and they earned the draw fair and square, without needing the weather's help.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top