1st ODI vs England
England won the toss and elected to bat.
Playing XI: Heads, REMOVED, Ballich, Dharan, Spark, Clark, Ikram, Corrin, Howe, Noble, Phlegm
Phlegm and Noble took the new ball and immediately did some damage. Phlegm made his first over a maiden, before Noble induced an edge to slip from Trescothick before a run had even been scored. KP started with aggression, but Phlegm conceded only three runs from the same number of overs while Noble struck, getting Strauss (1 off 9) to nick behind. After 6 overs England were 17/2.
Pietersen had scored 16 of those runs and with England in trouble, he lauched a counter attack. CW's change bowlers were unable to keep the scoring down, and by the time Corrin came on after 16 overs, KP was already up to 48 off 54 balls, the score having recovered to 69/2.
Newman took over the attack against the spinners, and after having moved cautiously for his first 20 runs, he suddenly shifted through the gears. By the 25-over mark, Newman had gotten to fifty from only 54 balls, and England were going strong on 120 for 2.
It was a similar story throughout the majority of the innings as the hundred partnership turned into a seemingly unbreakable one. The only moment of respite for the CWers should have come after 34 overs - the score on 166/2 at this point. Newman tried to flick Corrin through midwicket and mistimed it to Spark, only for the chance to go down. It was the 35th that finally yielded a wicket, Howe getting KP adjudged lbw, and gone for 97 off 117.
Newman carried on merrily with Flintoff, their run-a-ball partnership taking the score well past 200. Newman's hundred came up in the 42nd over, off 106 deliveries. England reached 240/3 with five overs remaining, still on the verge of truly hitting out.
Newman was not to do it for them, as Noble bowled him in the 46th for an admirable 110 off 119. Flintoff continued as he had been, staying until the end with 40* off 41, but Vaughan did the real damage in the slog overs. The England captain made 31 off 17 before holing out in the deep off the final ball of the match, and having allowed England to post a daunting 285/5.
Heads and REMOVED were not going to die wondering. The new ball quickly lost its shine as a flurry of boundaries came from the opening pair. 54/0 would have been a good start from the first 10, but the fact that that was the score after a mere 6 overs meant CW were well on their way.
REMOVED was the main aggressor, having scored 36 out of the 54 when Heads departed, edging to first slip for 18 off 13 balls. CW were well ahead of the rate, and so Ballich could afford to play himself in, but Tremlett send down a beauty to dismiss him for 3. The game was right in the balance as REMOVED brought up his 50 from 41 balls, and CW had reached 86/2 after the first 15.
When REMOVED fell - caught behind off Harmison - for 62, England began to dry up the runs, and gotten back a modicum of control as the required rate slipped above 6. When Spark then hit Flintoff for successive cover drives for four, it slipped back below and the match was in the balance once more.
It was then that it all started to go horribly wrong for the CWers. spark (16 off 26) missed a straight delivery from Flintoff, before a frustrated Dharan run himself out for 15 off 28. Ikram was next to go, as he edged Giles behind on his second ball, and from 130/6, his side were going nowhere fast.
Devon Clark stood up to play the innings needed, but no-one could stay with him. The allrounder put on 22 with Corrin (3 off 9), and 17 with Howe (7 off 11), but when Noble walked to the wicket as the #10, there were still 117 more to get from 18 overs.
Amazingly, the pair made their way towards the target. Noble chanced his arm and hit the boundaries, while Clark rotated the strike and put away the bad balls. As the score passed 200, Clark raised his half century from only 58 balls, and the partnership was up with the rate too.
It couldn't last. With 51 more needed, and the ninth wicket stand at 46, Giles got the crucial wicket of Clark lbw, the left arm spinner picking up his third. It was too many to ask from the final pair, and in the 46th over Tremlett beat Phlegm for pace to bowl him for 6. The world champions had been soundly beaten.
England won by 48 runs
MotM - Sam Newman