The England India match at Bangalore ended in a tie, much to the disappointment of Indian fans. India won the toss and elected to bat. Riding on superlative century from Sachin (His 47th) India ended up with a mammoth 338 in 50 overs. Though they were set for something in excess of 360 but the last six wickets fell for only 33 Runs. However India would have fancied their chances defending 338. Well 9 out of 10 times they would. They were surprised by another superlative innings in the form of Andrew Strauss (158). His batting was such that India looked totally down and out and England were cruising towards an easy victory. India then clawed their way back when Zaheer picked a few wickets in a short span. England now looked down and out with 29 runs required with 2 wickets in hand and all recognised batsmen back in the pavilion. Chawla was given the ball at this stage and he was hammered for 15 runs. 14 Runs were required of the last over. England made 13 of this over from Munaf and the match tied.
Brief Scores: (India 338- Sachin 120,Yuvraj 58: Bresnan 48/5 AND England 338 - Strauss 158, Bell 69:Zaheer 64/3)
Indians were lucky to see this match tie. Strauss and Bell made the chase look easy. They were sitting pretty at 281/2. Even the India fielders had thrown the towel. Then two wickets fell in two balls which changed the game in India's favors. One should agree that it was a placid pitch. Nothing much for the bowlers and the dew factor made it all the more difficult for the bowlers. All is still not lost for India. Yeah, some serious thought has to be brought into our bowling giving away more than 600 runs in two matches. Fielding looks pathetic. India has to lift their game from here on. We can’t expect our batting to win us games all the time. Defending 338, we took them lightly and paid the price. I don’t think we bowled that badly. The Pitch had nothing in it for them. It’s a known fact that there is no fire power in our bowling. In such placid pitches, I believe there is no need to have that extra batsman because he would hardly get a chance to bat. Even if he does, he gets to bat only the last few balls. More than an extra batsman, situation now demands for a genuine 5th Bowler. This applies especially on placid pitches.
India now taken on Ireland in their next match. Since they would be playing again on this same pitch, its worth going for that extra bowler. Preferably Nehra. All the very best team India
