Cricket Web XI vs England
3rd Test - Old Trafford
Scorecard
Ball by Ball
Three times called and thrice lucky, Neil Pickup won the toss again and elected to bat first despite cloudy skies. Problems at the top of the order were hardly solved with an early burst by Matthew Hoggard accounting first for Mork, then the in-form Andrew Cloete. The latter was bowled with a sharp in-nipper, having just driven through the covers for four amongst his 7 runs. Chris Butler steadied the innings with a calm 48, supplementing the outstanding chanceless innings of Young.
Promoted to open for the first time since his recall, Young fought for 249 balls and compiled 7 boundaries in 95. With Butler he put on 98 and with Dauth the partnership was 130. More confident strokeplay was the hallmark of Dauth's innings, though he too fell short of a hundred, bowled for 97. Sidebottom's strike was a crucial one, as it came soon after Young had played on to his stumps. The debutant Jasotharan had then come to the crease and started with the ease of a seasoned batsman. He was joined by Mike Wilson at 295-5, and the allrounder struggled against Sidebottom in the early going, offering a return catch when he had 2.
The two Colts fought through in partnership of 52 for the sixth wicket. Ultimately it was the spin of Vaughan that dealt for Wilson (27), then Panesar followed up quickly to snare Halsey. Jasotharan accepted the challenge to expand his strokeplay and hit Hoggard for a boundary to raise his half-century. He had taken just 42 balls and launched the next into the stands at midwicket for six. It was a memorable debut innings, though it was ended a ball later by Hoggard and an athletic catch by Collingwood. The end total of 372 was quickly fashioned by Hoggard, finishing with another 5-wicket haul.
Hardworking with the bat, the Webheads were more potent with the ball, and five English wickets fell in the final session. Demeza ripped out the first three with raw pace and surprising accuracy. And by the time Pickup found the leading edge of Bell (11), the score stood a dire 55-5. Backs to the wall, Kevin Pietersen (48) and Matt Prior (51) carried the innings to stumps through rearguard strokeplay. The innings resumed on day three at 127-5. Pietersen whipped the first ball off his hips for a boundary, then carelessly thwacked another to Halsey at cover point. Kennett pumped his fist in celebration, and again two balls later as he bowled Broad for a duck.
Prior raised his fifty before playing around a Demeza delivery, and the innings soon ended on 181. England managed to avoid the follow-on, but remained 191 runs in deficit at the second innings of CW XI. The drama carried fluently into the final half of the match. Prior twice fluffed chances off Young to the dismay of Sidebottom. Chances for England were fewer and further between, whilst the tourists were off to their best start of the series - 81. Cloete dazzled with three boundaries after the pleasant start but nicked through to Prior for 19. Mork fought for his fifty and went to stumps with the nightwatchman Kennett at 187-3.
Both batsmen continued to fight on the fourth day, though overcast conditions and increasingly variable bounce made strokeplay less comfortable. Kennett (8) could not quite assist his club captain to a hundred, but Dauth celebrated alongside Mork soon after. Though Mork continued to play with stout defiance, he lost Dauth (19) quickly after the celebrations. An excited murmur rose from the crowd when Jasotharan took guard for the second time in the match. He faced up to Panesar early on and struggled to tame the spinning ball, struck on the pad and then caught behind for 6. Wilson edged to third slip for 6, bringing Halsey to partner the unbeaten Mork. Some inventive batting from the spinner pressed the innings along urgently, and the score crossed 300 and the lead 500 when Pickup declared half an hour before Tea.
The England openers were careful at the outset, knowing that escape lay in surviving the four sessions remaining in the game. So despite the intensity of competition, there was little action about when England got to stumps on 76-0. Success for CW XI did not come until the first half hour of day five, with the breakthrough of Demeza. Halsey came into the attack at 103-1, then proceeded to drop the simplest of return catches against Michael Vaughan. It was undoubtedly a costly miss, further stated when Vaughan swept the spinner for a single to reach 50. Owais Shah (11) was caught at short leg later in the over and CW XI then had 72 overs to take the final 8 wickets and a 2-0 lead in the series.
The missed chance off Vaughan became progressively more costly through the afternoon. At short fine leg, Demeza dropped a half-opportunity off the England captain, who looked extremely solid otherwise in reaching tea with 92 to his name. Pietersen was at his aid and offered a catch early on in the final session, to see it put down by Butler at second slip. By then it was evident that England would complete their great escape, and Pietersen and Vaughan brought up their respective milestones within the next hour. For Vaughan it was an emotional innings, largely due to its match-saving stature. He knocked up 117 not out and faced 393 balls without a single boundary. Together with Pietersen the third wicket increased 155 without loss. Another frustrating end for the Webheads, but a much-improved England, as they stay alive in the series and trail 1-0 heading into the final Test.
Cricket Web XI 1st innings 372 (111.3 overs)
RJ Dauth 97, PE Young 95, S Jasotharan 59, CR Butler 48
MJ Hoggard 5-96, MS Panesar 2-59
England 1st innings 181 (58.2 overs)
MJ Prior 51, KP Pietersen 48, RJ Sidebottom 20
TJ Demeza 4-45, MW Wilson 2-27
Cricket Web XI 2nd innings 313-7 dec. (118 overs)
H Mork 130*, PE Young 47, TC Halsey 31*
RJ Sidebottom 2-58, SCJ Broad 2-60
England 2nd innings 263-2 (132 overs)
MP Vaughan 117*, KP Pietersen 76*
TC Halsey 1-52
Match drawn.
Man of the Match: MP Vaughan