***Official*** England in Pakistan

[ClownSymonds]

Well, Butt is out due to a loose shot in the air, but I don't see it getting much easier for England. It seems like you can't get a wicket on this pitch without the batsman gifting it.

 

[shaka]

Eng really did need a wicket. Pak making the power plays work for them.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Err, no. There just isn't any help on the pitch for a bowler like Flintoff. And once the slow ball becomes your stock ball, it is far more easier to negotiate.

The pitch looks a belter, but Plunkett looks to be bowling a fair bit faster than Fred was. The ball needs to be pitched up for me, anything even slightly short is meat-and-drink to the batters.

 

[Beleg]

BB,

You are certainly true. Flintoff does look a bit haggard, but honestly, IMO, even if he was completely fit and bowling at 85+ mph constantly, he'd still have gotten belted. More pace with no lateral movement or swing = easier for the ball to travel to the boundary.

 

[Scaly piscine]

I personally think it's these sorts of pitches that make ODI cricket boring, there's no contest between bat and ball.

 

[BoyBrumby]

BB,

You are certainly true. Flintoff does look a bit haggard, but honestly, IMO, even if he was completely fit and bowling at 85+ mph constantly, he'd still have gotten belted. More pace with no lateral movement or swing = easier for the ball to travel to the boundary.

Yeah, fair enough. But going for loads is almost as good a reason for not bowling him as him being injured is anyway!

Harmy's turn to take his lumps now, gorgeous cover drive from Younis for 4 there.

 

[ClownSymonds]

I personally think it's these sorts of pitches that make ODI cricket boring, there's no contest between bat and ball.

I don't think they make it boring, but they do detract from the quality of the cricket. It becomes a contest between bat and bat.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I take it all back! Fred comes on & gets Younis driving off a thick edge to Colly.

 

[ClownSymonds]

As usual, it will really come down to Yousuf and Inzamam.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Blackwell & Jones go up for a ball that pitches about a foot outside leg. Yes, it would've hit the stumps boys, but.....

 

[BoyBrumby]

Good over from Colly & then Inzi skies one from Blackwell, drops safely tho. Don't think Plunkett picked it up out of the lights.

The tubby fella's bowling ok, actually.

 

[ClownSymonds]

Blackwell is looking good.

 

[Beleg]

Ouch. Soft dismissal. England in the driving seat, at the moment.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Get in! Colly takes Inzi! Thin edge to Jones, who flirted with dropping it but didn't consumate!

 

[ClownSymonds]

Oh man... Inzamam out to Collingwood... Who would've thought it possible?

I think that's game, set, match. England should win fairly easily from here.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Oh man... Inzamam out to Collingwood... Who would've thought it possible?

I think that's game, set, match. England should win fairly easily from here.

Dunno about that. Yousuf looks well set & Malik & Razzaq can smack the leather off the ball, so it's still anyone's.

Colly actually got Inzi with the slower ball. Well bowled.

 

[ClownSymonds]

Dunno about that. Yousuf looks well set & Malik & Razzaq can smack the leather off the ball, so it's still anyone's.

Well, that may be so, but Blackwell and Collingwood are really doing well, and Pakistan don't seem able to do anything without Inzi. Besides, after Razzaq it's just Rana and the rest of the bowlers.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Well, that may be so, but Blackwell and Collingwood are really doing well, and Pakistan don't seem able to do anything without Inzi. Besides, after Razzaq it's just Rana and the rest of the bowlers.

Fair enough, two more wickets & I'll agree with you!

 

[ClownSymonds]

Ian Blackwell is pretty cool. "An unwillingness to adhere to England squad's strict fitness regime meant that he spent much of the following two years in the wilderness..."

 

[ClownSymonds]

And now Andrew Flintoff is threatening to Mankad Yousuf.