India vs England: Five lessons from the draw - ICC World Cup 2011
match analysis
The Group B match that was played yesterday between the host team, India and England was an extremely intense affair. It was just the kind of match the crowd had come to see. People had got their money’s worth but it was also a game that left a lot to be
desired with some explicit mistakes from the players as well as the officials. Such blatant errors at this level are totally unacceptable and the only way to avoid them in the future is by learning from them.
Batting is not everything!
The teams who think they can compensate for a poor show in the field with superior batting need to rethink and reconfigure these notions. It appears that teams are solely relying on their batsmen to get them across the finishing line. The match may have
been a run feast but it was flawed due to the lack of discipline in bowling and fielding from both sides. The Subcontinent is a batsman’s paradise because the wickets are flat. Agreed, but Zaheer’s superb second spell and Bresnan’s excellent outstanding five-wicket
haul goes a long way to show what quality bowling can accomplish.
Play the full quota of overs
Why would a team risk an idiotic run of the second last ball and end up not playing its allotted 50 overs? An amateur act any day and an unpardonable crime in the context of the tied match. India learned their lesson the hard way against the determined English
chase that went to the last ball.
Referrals can be sour
The on-field umpires and the Decision Review System (DRS) made a mockery of a fairly straightforward leg before decision in which Ian Bell was the fortunate beneficiary. Billy Bowden messed up a routine lbw decision after Yuvraj Singh had trapped Bell right
in front of his stumps. Dhoni and company were sure they had got their man so they went upstairs and the replays were so compelling that even Bell started to walk towards the pavilion, before he was declared not out much to the dismay of the huge crowd that
sighed in disbelief.
Make the Power plays count
The England team seemed well on their way to eclipsing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750’s mammoth total before they took their third power play. The move that was meant to accelerate the innings became the reason for their batting collapse. The batsmen just lost the plot from there
on in and struggled to collect runs. With two set batmen at the crease and more than run a ball required, the timing to take the power play seemed perfect but the right execution was what they lacked.
Catches win matches
It is an old cliché but it stands tall among all the possible ways of winning the match. The drop catch by Harbhajan Singh was a bitter reminder of this harsh reality. Harbhajan dropped Andrew Strauss on 22 after which the English captain went on to score
a career best 158 runs. Harbhajan made a half baked attempt at catching the ball by just offering his one hand to catch it. Strauss took the missed catch in stride on his way to a marvelous match altering knock without which the chase would have probably run
out of steam.
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