http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Somerset-c843 - Part 1: Analysis of Somerset’s First Innings
India’s practice match against Somerset ended in a draw, at the County Ground, Taunton in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 on Sunday, July 17, 2011. The game was completely dominated by the hosts, leaving a lot of questions for the tourists ahead of their first Test match against
England at the Lord’s cricket ground on Thursday, July 21.
Somerset batted first and piled up 425 runs for the loss of three wickets in their first innings. The team’s batsmen were in full control of the game on the first day’s play of the three-day match.
The highlight of the innings was a sensational batting performance by the home team’s opener, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Arul-Suppiah-c1084, who scored 156 runs. He played exceptionally well and remained the top scorer of the match until the end.
South Africa’s http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Marcus-Trescothick-c1898, decided to bat first after winning the toss. The conditions were ideal for the batsmen, as the pitch was hard and dry. This allowed the hosts
to score a lot of runs in their first outing.
England’s Test match captain, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964 took part in the game for Somerset, as he wanted some batting practice ahead of the series against India. He had been a bit out of touch in the past few games and wanted to regain his form.
The stylish left-handed opener made most of the good batting conditions and peppered the visitors’ bowlers in the match alongside his opening partner, Suppiah. The pair put together 101 runs for the opening wicket, guiding Somerset into a very solid position.
Strauss found some form, as he collected 78 runs at the top of the order. He didn’t waste too many balls in his innings, scoring his runs off 98 deliveries with the help of 16 boundaries. His innings finally came to an end after he was efficiently stumped
by the Indian wicketkeeper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/WP-Saha-c2800.
Although the fall of the first wicket brought some cheer on the faces of the Indian team, they were soon put on the back foot by a magnificent century partnership between Suppiah and Nick Compton.
Both players played tremendously well, collecting 223 runs for the second wicket partnership. The latter was dismissed after scoring 88 runs whereas Suppiah ended up with a superb 156 runs off 259 balls. He struck 15 fours and one massive six in his impressive
innings
Middle-order players, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/James-Hildreth-c1647 scored unbeaten 51 and 30 in their respective outings, guiding the team’s total above 400 in the end.
India’s bowling failed miserably, as their leading pacers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SK-Raina-c2539 took one wicket apiece in the innings.
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