da 888casino： The more I watch one-dayers, the more convinced I am that this is a gamethat revolves how well a side can force the opponents to be on thedefensive
Erapalli Prasanna23-Jan-2002The more I watch one-dayers, the more convinced I am that this is a gamethat revolves how well a side can force the opponents to be on thedefensive. ‘Pressure’ is the keyword, and it plays an important role nomatter what the reputation of a player is.The obvious game plan is to put up a reasonable score on the board andthen try to restrict the other side. It was no different in the secondone-day international played at Cuttack, which, in my opinion, is bestdescribed as a flop show by the Indians.
© AFPI think England did pretty well to score 250 after being asked to batfirst. There was some moisture in the wicket, but the Indian seamersfailed to make full use of it. Once again, Nasser Hussain impressed mewith his approach to the game. He played a good hand of 46 though hethrew away his wicket at the wrong time.Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood played excellent cricket. Theyshowed the Indian batsmen the importance of taking quick singles andconverting the ones into twos. It was the run out of Vaughan that gavethe Indians some respite.The target of 251 runs was never expected to be a tall order for theimposing Indian batting line up. All it needed was for one of thebatsmen to play a long innings and India were through. That, however,did not happen, as the three run outs turned out to be crucial inIndia’s defeat.
© CricInfoI must applaud the commitment showed by this English team. Theirfielding was brilliant and this meant that the Indian batsmen wereconstantly under pressure. And once Sachin Tendulkar was unluckily runout, the pressure on other batsmen multiplied manifold and they meeklysuccumbed to it.I have written in previous columns that there is nothing to choosebetween the two teams. Now that the series is tied at 1-1, the remainingmatches are bound to be much closer affairs. I can only wish and hopethat the Indian batting comes good sooner than later as I haveabsolutely no faith in the Indian bowling attack.Nothing seems to be in sync when India is in the field. If the bowlershave to make an impression, they have to get back to the basics.Ganguly, for his part, must back his bowlers with better fieldplacements. The bowlers, meanwhile, will have to remind themselves thatit is important that they bowl on one side of the wicket (and to thefield set for them) if they are to reap any rewards at the highestlevel.Before ending, I must congratulate the England team for their fine allround display which helped them to pull off a remarkable win on Indiansoil.