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Closest sport in America is baseball. But cricket lasts five days. We break every now and then for food. And we spend a lot of time rubbing our balls on our trousers — Andrew Flintoff
new Zealand clIncH SerIeS wITH guPTIll’S 189
SPORTS Tuesday, 4 June, 2013
england’S cT PlanS HIT by deFeaTS, InJurIeS
SOUTHAMPTOn AGENCIES
england’s plans for the Champions Trophy could need a significant rethink over the next few days following their two heavy defeats against New Zealand amid growing concerns over the fitness of Stuart Broad and Steven Finn less than a week before their opening match of the tournament against Australia. Broad and Finn have missed the first two ODIs against New Zealand with knee and shin problems respectively. They are due to undergo fitness tests on Monday, although a clearer picture of their chances of making the Champions Trophy may not be available until Tuesday when the england squad reconvenes at Trent Bridge. Broad’s knee problem was picked up on the final day of the Headingley Test when he took a caught-and-bowled off Brendon McCullum. Finn’s shin soreness suggests a more stress-related problem after his early-season workload. It would be a major, and almost unworkable, gamble for england to enter the Champions Trophy with two of their strike bowlers under injury clouds. Teams can replace injured players, subject to ICC ratification, at any time but once a player is removed he can’t return to the 15-man squad. “They are both a concern,” admitted Alastair Cook, “but five or six days is still quite a long way away. They’ve missed two games and been out for a while, so we’ll see.” However, even in the worst-case scenario where england lose both bowlers, Cook did not believe it had to be terminal to their chances.
SOUTHAMPTOn
A
AGENCIES
record-breaking day from Martin Guptill earned New Zealand another one-day trophy on english soil with an 86-run victory at the Ageas Bowl. Less than 48 hours after leading his side home at Lord’s, Guptill plundered New Zealand’s highest individual one-day innings with a monumental, unbeaten 189 which left england shell-shocked and reflecting on their first home ODI series loss since 2009. Guptill, who went past the previous individual mark of 172 by Lou Vincent against Zimbabwe during the penultimate over of the innings, provided more than half of New Zealand’s overwhelming total of 359 for 3 - the second-highest conceded by england after the 387 for 5 in rajkot in 2006. Agonisingly for england, like at Lord’s, they offered him a life on 13, when Jonathan Trott - who later scored a 98-ball
hundred - spilled a relatively straightforward catch at midwicket, although it proved more costly than anyone could have imagined. The final 10 overs of New Zealand’s innings were carnage, costing 132 runs, as Guptill and Brendon McCullum brought up their hundred stand - the third of the innings - in just 45 deliveries as england’s bowling was scattered to all corners. Guptill’s hundred had come off 111 deliveries; the final 44 balls of his stay brought 89 runs and six of the last seven deliveries he faced went for four. He equalled Viv richards’ 189 at Old Trafford in 1984 as the highest innings against england in an ODI and Guptill’s two hundreds in three days was also a repeat of the feat achieved by Mark Greatbatch, the only other New Zealand batsman to score a one-day ton in england, when he notched back-to-back landmarks in 1990. Two partnerships formed the bedrock of the New Zealand innings which allowed the later onslaught: Guptill and Kane Williamson added 120 for the second wicket, then ross Taylor joined in a third-wicket alliance worth 109 in 17 overs as the innings accelerated. Not that Taylor’s departure slowed things down as Guptill and McCullum ensured mayhem in the closing overs. Apart from James Anderson first spell, england’s bowling was disappointing throughout, occasionally verging on woeful, albeit on the best batting surface of the international season so far, coupled with a lightning fast outfield. Jade Dernbach’s 10-over spell for 87 was the fourthmost expensive return by an england bowler in an ODI. Anderson, whose two scalps put him level with Darren Gough as england’s leading ODI wicket-taker, made a deceptive early breakthrough for england by knocking back Luke ronchi’s middle stump to continue his lean start with the bat. Tim Bresnan, who is waiting on news of his heavily pregnant wife, was also economical with the new ball as england kept control during the first Powerplay; New Zealand were 36 for 1. It added further heady context to what happened during the rest of the innings. Woakes, after suffering the dropped catch off his bowling for the second time in three days, sent down another expensive opening spell which cost 29 as New Zealand’s second-wicket pair increased the tempo. Both Guptill and Williamson timed the ball beautifully square of the wicket particularly off the back foot. Joe root was the first spin option used by england and when Graeme Swann was introduced his first ball was crunched through cover by Guptill. They continued to milk him for a run-a-ball. Williamson, who fell for a duck two days ago, completed an unfussy half-century off 59 balls, his tally of three fours highlighting the efficient running which kept the pressure firmly on england - a point hammered home when Guptill dismissively pulled Woakes for six off the front foot - before Williamson bottom-edged a pull off Swann into his stumps. Taylor took time to play himself in; he used 28 balls to reach 21, then clubbed 39 off his next 26 deliveries which included two sixes, one from a full toss by Bresnan, then a second with a trademark bottom-hand flick against Anderson. He fell next ball attempting a repeat but the damage had only just started for england’s bowlers. With the quality of the pitch, speed of the outfield and new fielding restrictions it was not beyond the realms of possibility that england could have made a decent stab at
SCOREBOARD NEw ZEALAND mj Guptill not out 189 2 L Ronchi† b Anderson KS williamson b Swann 55 60 LRPL Taylor c woakes b Anderson BB mcCullum* not out 40 EXTRAS (b 4, lb 4, w 5) 13 359 TOTAL DID NOT BAT GD Elliott, jEC Franklin, NL mcCullum, DAj Bracewell, KD mills, mj mcClenaghan FALL OF wICKETS 1-12 (Ronchi, 2.6 ov), 2-132 (williamson, 24.4 ov), 3-241 (Taylor, 41.4 ov) -1-73-0 , CR BOwLING: jm Anderson 10-0-65-2, TT Bresnan 10 woakes 7-0-49-0, jw Dernbach 10-0-87-0, jE Root 3-0-16-0, GP Swann 10-0-61-1 ENGLAND AN Cook* b mills 34 IR Bell c Franklin b Bracewell 25 109 IjL Trott not out 28 jE Root c Bracewell b NL mcCullum EjG morgan c †Ronchi b Elliott 21 jC Buttler† c Guptill b mcClenaghan 2 13 CR woakes st †Ronchi b williamson 0 TT Bresnan run out (williamson) 1 GP Swann b williamson jm Anderson b mcClenaghan 28 2 jw Dernbach c mills b mcClenaghan 10 EXTRAS (lb 3, w 6, nb 1) 273 TOTAL FALL OF wICKETS 1-50 (Cook, 7.6 ov), 2-64 (Bell, 10.3 ov), 3-122 (Root, 21.4 ov), 4166 (morgan, 29.2 ov), 5-169 (Buttler, 30.1 ov), 6-212 (woakes, 35.6 ov), 7-213 (Bresnan, 36.3 ov), 8-218 (Swann, 37.4 ov), 9-265 (Anderson, 42.4 ov), 10-273 (Dernbach, 44.1 ov) BOwLING: mj mcClenaghan 8.1-0-35-3, KD mills 9-0-55-1, DAj Bracewell 8-1-55-1, NL mcCullum 8-0-47-1, jEC Franklin 5-0-40-0, GD Elliott 2-0-13-1, KS williamson 4-0-25-2 match details Toss New Zealand, who chose to bat Series New Zealand led the 3-match series 2-0 Player of the match mj Guptill (New Zealand) Umpires Rj Bailey and Sj Davis (Australia) TV umpire Aleem Dar (Pakistan) match referee DC Boon (Australia) Reserve umpire RK Illingworth
creating history themselves. But, with the exception of Trott who made his fourth one-day hundred 13 balls quicker than it took Guptill, the top order continued in the wasteful vain they had shown at Lord’s with four of the top five falling between 21 and 34. Alastair Cook had collected five crisp boundaries before losing his middle stump to Kyle Mills; Ian Bell’s frustrating season continued when he spliced a drive to mid-off; root picked out long-on and eoin Morgan, a player capable of matching the pyrotechnics of Guptill and McCullum, swiped across the line in Grant elliott’s first over to feather an edge to ronchi. Although the match was always under New Zealand’s control during the chase, McCullum’s proactive captaincy was again to be admired. elliott taking a wicket in his first over owed plenty to good fortune, but it also needed the captain to delve into the options he had available and pace off the ball is rarely a bad ploy to england’s middle order. Neither did he let the game drift, immediately recalling the sharp Mitchell McClenaghan when Morgan and Jos Buttler came to the crease; at Lord’s the reward was Morgan’s wicket, here Buttler drove McClenaghan’s first ball back to short cover.
Success in Trophy is not foreign to Gayle & Co chAMPIoNS TroPhy TEAM ProFILE: WEST INDIES
overview Dark horses - and overachievers - in a period when West Indian cricket has struggled after it once dominated the game, the boys from the Caribbean have played in the final of the Champions Trophy on three occasions. Their only triumph came in 2004, but with a crop of players that recently won the World Twenty20, they will be quietly confident of adding more silverware to their cabinet.
strengths The West Indians have a style of their own. It is thoroughly entertaining for the crowd but is also very difficult for the opposition to combat if the boys in maroon gain some momentum.
Power-hitting is undoubtedly the greatest weapon that the West Indies bring into this tournament. There are no cleaner strikers of a cricket ball in the world than Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and Kieron Pollard. The presence of these batsmen in the line-up means that no target will be out of reach for this exciting team on their day. The bowling stocks are also healthy, with mystery spinner Sunil Narine leading the charge. He will be ably supported by experienced seamers in the form of Dwayne Bravo and ravi rampaul, who will enjoy the conditions.
weaKnesses It has already been mentioned that the West Indies have a style all of their own. This style does not usually involve digging in and grinding it out when the going gets tough. The result is that it can go very wrong when they are placed under pressure and the power hitters can’t manage to get them out of trouble in a hurry. They do not possess the best fielding unit. They boast some of the best athletes in the world in Bravo and Pollard. Unfortunately, the brilliance of some of the fielders is off-set by the inability of others,
such as Narine.
one to watCh There is one man who leads the batting onslaught and puts great fear in many bowlers around the world. If the big left-handed opening batsman performs, then it will be tough for any side to get the better of the West Indians. The man to watch is of course Chris Gale, as he is likely to set the tournament alight with his heavy bat and some of his signature dance moves.
proBaBLe BenCh-warMer The West Indies have found success by packing their team full of batsmen and only selecting three specialist bowlers. The allrounders share the remaining overs and the philosophy is that it doesn’t manner how many runs they concede because they back their batsman to chase anything. Due to this policy, the inexperienced Jason Holder will learn a great deal from being in the team environment, but may not get an opportunity to show his worth in the middle.
Last three tournaMent finishes
2009: Group A exit to Australia 2006: Losing finalists to Australia 2004: Winners
preDiCtion The West Indies can beat anyone on their day and that is why this tournament suits them. We feel that they will do enough to progress from the group stages along with South Africa. Once they are in the semi-finals it is anyone’s guess what will transpire, but we fear that the knock-out game will be as far as they get this year.
squaD Dwayne Bravo (captain), Denesh ramdin, Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, ravi rampaul, Kemar roach, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith.
fixtures 7 June: v Pakistan, London 11 June: v India, London 14 June: v South Africa, Cardiff