England v India, 3rd npower Test, Edgbaston, 4th day

INDIA VS ENGLAND 3rd Test, England reach No. 1 with emphatic win

 England 710 for 7 dec (Cook 294, Morgan 104) beat India 224 (Dhoni 77, Broad 4-53, Bresnan 4-62) and 244 (Dhoni 74*, Anderson 4-85) by an innings and 242 runs

Michael Atherton leads the presentation and starts by congratulating England on their win and, to the cheers of the crowd, their No. 1 ranking.

MS Dhoni , classy as ever, starts by congratulating England on becoming the world's best team. "We need to see what limitations we have. A few of our players are not great fielders and we're not the best looking fielding side in the world. What we're really proud of is our bowling and batting. We have not been able to keep good deliveries out, it's a major area of concern. We need to see out the good ones and make use of the loose deliveries. A couple of defeats doesn't change anything I am still proud of my team. When you play for India there is a lot of expectation and people expect us to win everything but that's not possible. Being No. 1 or not being No. 1 is not important, it's all about being consistent. I've been quite happy with the preparation but it's one of those series where nothing has really clicked for us."

Andrew Strauss: "It wasn't a massive gamble to bowl first, there was probably less in the wicket than we thought there would be and by the time we batted the wicket had gone flat. The wickets have been shared around the bowlers and the pressure they have applied has been relentless, I don't think there are many better in the world right now. It was fantastic to get runs myself and then sit on the sofa and watch Cookie bat for two days. He has amazing concentration and determination, he's in this patch at the moment where he's very clear what his game was and he's an example for us all. Getting to No. 1 has been a goal for a long time and it fills me with a lot of pride to know we have completed something very special. We have had to work very had and the guys have put a lot of hard graft to get to No. 1. "

Alastair Cook is named man of the match And fair enough really, he's been on the field for the entirety of it. "The work put in over the week off has paid dividends for me. Over the last 12 months scoring big hundreds was what I needed to work at and I'm glad that's happened. You want the attacking middle order players to go at the tiring bowlers later in the day. I'm very pleased but it's a huge team effort to bowl a team like that out for less than 250 on a flat wicket in both innings."

To relive this historic day do have a look at Andrew McGlashan's report and our gallery. It's been a long journey for England, ranked the world's worst team at the end of 1999 to climb to the top. Staying there will be almost as difficult. That begins at The Oval next week but for now that's all from me, Sahil Dutta, and from the rest of the team.

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England win by an innings and 242 runs and lead series 3-0 Edgbaston rises as the England players walk off. In the dressing room Andy Flower looks absolutely calm but as the players greet him he manages a smile. This has been a special performance from a very special team. Yet again they have flattened the celebrated India batting line up for under 300. James Anderson led the way with four wickets but was, as ever, backed up by the Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan. MS Dhoni managed to salvage some personal pride with an unbeaten 74 but his team were a long, long way out of the contest. It's the 15th worst innings defeat in Test history and also Dhoni's first series loss as captain.

England won by 196 runs Test at Lord's, London, England

London: James Anderson grabbed his 11th five wicket haul in the longest form of the game, as England won the historic 2000th Test against India by a whopping 196 runs on the fifth and final day at Lord's on Sunday.

Anderson finished with figures of 5/69 as India lost their last three wickets for a mere five runs.

Praveen Kumar (2) was bowled neck and crop by Stuart Broad, before Anderson got back to back wickets of Suresh Raina (78) and Ishant Sharma (1) to settle the issue in favour of the home team.

Kevin Pietersen was declared man of the match for his unbeaten 202 in the first innings.

With this win, England have taken a 1-0 lead in the four match series, as both teams turn their attention to Nottingham for the second Test which starts on Friday.

Tremlett struck for England after the tea break by getting rid of Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Dhoni was caught behind by England wicketkeeper Matt Prior for 16.

The visitors lost their seventh wicket when Harbhajan was dimissed for 12. The Indian off spinner skied an attempted pull shot off the bowling of Anderson who took his fourth wicket of the innings as Tremlett completed a fine running catch.

Earlier, Raina brought up his sixth half century, and was involved in an unbroken partnership of 53 with Dhoni.

Raina was unbeaten on 54 and Dhoni was giving him company on 16 at the end of the second session.

Anderson got the all important scalp of Sachin Tendulkar (12) in the post lunch session by trapping the maestro leg before wicket.

The visitors lost the crucial wickets of Rahul Dravid (36), VVS Laxman (56) and Gautam Gambhir (22), and went into lunch at 142/4.

The Indians got off to a poor start on the last day when Dravid who made 36 was caught by Prior off the bowling of James Anderson.

India then lost their fourth wicket when Graeme Swann got rid of Gambhir.

Gambhir lunged forward as the ball hit his pad and umpire Asad Rauf took his time before deciding in the bowler's favour.

James Anderson struck a killer blow for England by getting rid of the well set Laxman for 56. Laxman was caught by Ian Bell at short mid wicket after an attempted pull by the batsman failed to clear Bell.

Earlier on Sunday, a sixth Test hundred by England wicketkeeper Matt Prior, and an unbeaten 74 by Stuart Broad put the hosts in a commanding position.

At stumps on day four, India were 80/1 having lost Abhinav Mukund (12), and still 378 away from their victory target with Dravid (34) and Laxman (32) at the crease.

India had conceded a lead of 190 runs after being bowled out for 286 in reply to the hosts' first inning total of 474.

Prior then went to score his sixth Test ton as England declare their second innings at 269/6 to set India a victory target of 458.

In pics: England vs India, 1st Test, Day 5

England team unchanged for 2nd Test against India

Celebrating a massive triumph in the series opener, England on Tuesday named an unchanged 12-member squad for the second cricket Test against India to be played at Trent Bridge from July 29.

Pacer Tim Bresnan was once again added to the squad that defeated India by 196 runs at Lord’s on Monday even though he could not make the cut for the playing XI in the lung-opener.

England national selector Geoff Miller lauded the team’s performance in the opening Test and hoped it would only improve in the remaining three matches.

“There was a lot to be pleased about from the opening Test at Lord’s. We saw some excellent performances with both bat and ball which resulted in an outstanding win on the final day of what was a memorable match,” Miller said in a statement.

“While the squad from the first npower Test all came through unscathed we have included Tim Bresnan in the squad for this next Test and he’ll once again be pushing for selection following a short turnaround in between Test matches,” he added.

England squad: Andrew Strauss (Captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, Jonathan Trott.

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/

Tendulkar not thinking of 100th Test ton

London: A billion-plus fans in India would be expecting a record 100th ton when Sachin Tendulkar walks out to bat against England in the first cricket Test at Lord's but that is the last thing on the batting maestro's mind as he simply wants to enjoy during the tour.

Sachin, who is on a vacation in England with his family, insists that enjoying the game is the key to success.

"I am not thinking of records," Sachin was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph.

"I am just thinking of enjoying this tour. The secret to any performance is not in chasing records. I think about, 'What is the best way to enjoy the game, and how can I enhance that enjoyment factor?'

"If I enhance the enjoyment then, naturally, the standard of play becomes higher. To me, that is more important. If I am playing well, things can happen. I don't need to go around chasing them. It is a process. You construct a solid foundation and build on it."

Besides spending time with family, Tendulkar has been training here for the four-Test series while his team mates are set to join him soon from the West Indies.

Tendulkar said that being in England enables him to balance life by doing things he will not be able to do in India due to the crazy fan-following.

"When I spend time in England, it is different. I get to do certain things that I wouldn't be able to do in India: to go into the park with my children, to do whatever they want to do, whether it be a game of soccer or cricket. I enjoy the best of both. The idea is to balance life in India with life away from India, to get the best of both and to be a happy man."

When asked about retiring from the game he has played for over 20 years, Sachin said: "I haven't. I am enjoying every moment. It has been fun. In fact, I am looking at how to enjoy the game more and how to improve the standard of play. It is about getting better. Nobody knows what is going to happen tomorrow. At least today I know that I want to enjoy cricket, to enjoy the moment."


News Source: http://sports.ndtv.com

India series up there with the Ashes: Strauss

London: England Test captain Andrew Strauss considers the upcoming series against India as tough as the historic Ashes but is banking on home advantage to upstage the world's number one side.
"This series against India is certainly up there with the Ashes. I think the one thing we have in our advantage over the Ashes is home advantage," said Strauss ahead of the series starting July 21 at the Lord's.
"We expect to beat any side at home – and so you should – because it is a substantial advantage. But you only have to look at what India have done in the last two years to know they will be incredibly confident," he added.
Tough it might be but Strauss said the prospect of facing the world's top side is also great motivation to do well.
"They have a lot of good players and are heavily motivated to win. We will have to be at our best if we want to compete with them. We're under no illusions on that, but that excites us. 


News Source: http://www.indianexpress.com