Thursday, November 25, 2010

Ashes 2010:Day 1 Session 1

I don't remember the last time I woke up at 5:30AM.But,I just had to today.There was no way I was going to miss the first session of the much-awaited Ashes '10.

So,England won the toss and elected to bat first.The much talked about Gabba pitch didn't seem as green as some prior reports suggested.Yes,there was some a hint of seam,but apart from that looks like a good toss to win.(I obviously haven't seen the pitch myself,so this is from what I could make out sitting at home and what commentators said.)

For the first over,Ben Hilfanhaus had the bright red cherry in his hand.Right from the start he was getting a good shape into the left-handed Andrew Strauss.It took him just three balls to strike and he got another lefty,his 24th in 49 test scalps.The ball probably bounced a little more than Strauss had expected.Without getting on top of it,he tried to cut it.Mike Hussey at gully,was never going to miss it and Australia drew the first blood.It was 0/1.

Peter Siddle shared the new ball with Hilfenhaus,which to me was a surprise.Mitchell Johnson should have been the one according to me.It would given a good right-left combination.Siddle went onto waste the new ball as he kept bowling a bit too short.Sometimes,he was too far away from the off-stump of Trott and also allowed him some easy boundaries by drifting towards the pads.Neither was he bowling very quick,mostly around the 135 kmph mark.

After early departure of skipper Strauss,Jonathan Trott and Alastair Cook tried to steady the ship.Cook looked shaky and a little uncomfortable.Trott on the other hand was middling the ball right away.Apart from an odd edge down to third man,he looked good.But it was a beauty from Watson which got the better of Trott.Watson bowled a few out-swingers and then brought one back in to take his off-stump.It surely is the ball of the match so far.It was 41/2.

With some time in the middle,Cook started to look a little more confident and was joined by Kevin Pietersen.KP started off solidly and looked to be at the height of his concentration.He is certainly a big match player and will look to bat long to silence the critics talking about his bad run of form.Mitchell Johnson was introduced in the 11th over and he didn't look superb or ugly either.He wasn't bowling at his quickest and didn't trouble the pair at all.

In the 13th over,debutant Xavier Doherty got his first over of International test cricket.The first ball to Cook,turned sharply and ended up close to his off-stump.KP who has been dismissed 17 times by a left arm slow bowler,looked to be positive against Xavier.He stepped down the track a couple of times to stroke it nicely through midwicket.

The big moment for Cook came when a uppish cut shot was dropped by Doherty.Doherty got both hands to it and should have done better.With Cook getting better with more time at the crease,Doherty will be feeling the pain of the drop.The score at the time was 73/2 with Cook batting in the mid 20's.

England went to lunch without any more hiccups at 86/2.One more wicket would have surely made Ricky Ponting happier than he is currently.England on the other hand,will be fairly satisfied with the comeback from a dodgy 41/2.

I won't be able to watch the other two sessions of the day's play,but it sure would have been fun.It is a good batting pitch,England will look to post around 350-400 since both KP and Cook are looking good.

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