Jos Buttler and James Taylor continue India's struggles in Australia with a nail-biting win at the WACA
An out-of-form India were lucky to get away with two points after the washout against Australia on Monday, because that has given them a big opportunity to beat England at Perth and reach the final of the Carlton Mid One-day International Tri-series. England have five points from there three matches, while India has two, and the winners of today encounter will play against Australia in the final on Sunday, again at Perth. However, as straightforward as it may sound, the job of beating the English team won't be easy for MS Dhoni's men who are yet to register a win in the tournament. They continue to be uncertain over Rohit Sharma's fitness. The batsman hasn't played since scoring 138 in the team's opening match against Australia, on account of a hamstring injury. He had a hard training session on Wednesday, but with an eye on upcoming World Cup, it's highly unlikely India will risk playing him. With scores of 2,1 and 8, opener Shikhar Dhawan's from has hit rock buttom and that has made matters worse. The left-hander can hope to get yet another opportunity to get some form ahead of quadrennial tournament. Some run off his bat will make Dhoni's life easier as regards the composition of the eleven.
England, on the other hand, have no such grave worries. They beat India with a bonus point and lost twice to Australia, but they are improving with every match.When they played India at Brisbane, medium pacer Stevenn Finn had bounced out Dhoni's men. with a career-best 5 for 33. Since the WACA oitch has the reputation being the most quick and bouncy in Australia, England fast bowlers will back themselves agian. In the batting department too, Eoin Morgan's team holds the edge. Ian Bell after scoring 0 in the tournament opener against Australia, made 88* and a carrer best 141 in the following games. Joe Root, James Taylor and Morgan himself have been among the runs. 'I think it is important to win this game the lake of success we've had before this tour. we've have build a confidence in their preparation, in the game in Brisbane and in performances leading into start of this series. So momentum and confidence goes I think it's quite a big game," Morgan said ahead of the match
The odds are heavily stacked in England's favour when one looks at the way India haved played so far, but there is no doubt that Dhoni's team has a big chance today to put things right to some extent.
England had won the toss and elected to field. England are unchanged. India make one change, Ishant sharma was injured and Mohit Sharma comes in for him.
Pitch report: The conditions are overcast. The pitch looks very hard. There is good grass covering on it. There will be a lot of bounce on this deck.
England will take on Australia in the Tri-Series final after overcoming a case of the wobbles to beat India by three wickets in today's one-day clash at the WACA Ground. Chasing 201 for victory on a WACA deck possing some demons, England were in all sorts of trouble at 5-66 in the 20th over. India can turn their full attention to the World Cup following a disastrous Test and one-day tour Down Under that failed to yield one win. With England in desperate need of a savage mission, James Taylor (82) and Jos Buttler (67) came to rescue with a 125-run stand to lift England to victory with 19 balls to spare. The result catapults England into Sunday's final against Australia in what will be a precursor to their World Cup showdown on February 14.
friday's result could have been vastly different had Ajinkya Rahane hit the stumps from short range to run Buttler out for three. Instead of being 6-72, England made the most of the reprieve as Buttler and Taylor combined for a match winning partnership. Earlier, India's batsmen struggled to score freely on an unpredictable pitch that offered varying bounce. Rahane made a patient 73 and fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan made a scratchy 38, but their 83-run stand one of few highlights for the Indians.
At 1-103, India had a chance to build a competitive total despite their slow run rate. But collaspses of 4-33 and 4-13 ended any hopes of India building anything sizeable, with their innings eventually brought to an end after 48.1 overs. Paceman James Anderson conceded just 10 runs from his first six overs before finishing with 1-24, while spinner Moeen Ali snared the key wickets of Virat Kohli (8) and Suresh Raina (1). Anderson wasn't just miserly, he was also destructive. One delivery kicked off the pitch to such an extent that it struck MS Dhoni flush on the front of the helment. Dhoni was unhurt and even had a bit of a giggle about it. But he wasn't laughing a few balls later when an Anderson delivery kept remarkably low to trap him lbw. Tail-ender Mohammed Shami provided some highlights at the death, with the 24-year-old cracking 25 off 18 balls to push the total to 200.
"In a perfect world, it wouldn't have got that tight, but it was definitely a tough pitch, and their bowlers extracted the most out of it," Taylor said. "We showed some character. "I'm delighted to score some runs in a pressure situation. "That's what I pride myself on- finishing games and winning games. We got over the over line, which is the most important things."
Indian captain MS Dhoni is confident on his team's winless tour of Australia won't dent their World Cup prospects. " From a confidence point of view, we are quite good because we always try to give more emphasis on what needs to be done- the proper planing and where we need to execute," Dhoni said. "We've been in this situation (before), so we know what exactly we feel and how to overcome this feeling."
Man of the Match is bagged by James Taylor for his brilliant innings of 82 that held one end when the wickets were tumbling around. That is from our side. Do join us for the finals on Sunday between two heavyweights, Australia and England at Perth on Feb 1, 2015. Until then it's goodbye and cheers!!
England will take on Australia in the Tri-Series final after overcoming a case of the wobbles to beat India by three wickets in today's one-day clash at the WACA Ground. Chasing 201 for victory on a WACA deck possing some demons, England were in all sorts of trouble at 5-66 in the 20th over. India can turn their full attention to the World Cup following a disastrous Test and one-day tour Down Under that failed to yield one win. With England in desperate need of a savage mission, James Taylor (82) and Jos Buttler (67) came to rescue with a 125-run stand to lift England to victory with 19 balls to spare. The result catapults England into Sunday's final against Australia in what will be a precursor to their World Cup showdown on February 14.
friday's result could have been vastly different had Ajinkya Rahane hit the stumps from short range to run Buttler out for three. Instead of being 6-72, England made the most of the reprieve as Buttler and Taylor combined for a match winning partnership. Earlier, India's batsmen struggled to score freely on an unpredictable pitch that offered varying bounce. Rahane made a patient 73 and fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan made a scratchy 38, but their 83-run stand one of few highlights for the Indians.
At 1-103, India had a chance to build a competitive total despite their slow run rate. But collaspses of 4-33 and 4-13 ended any hopes of India building anything sizeable, with their innings eventually brought to an end after 48.1 overs. Paceman James Anderson conceded just 10 runs from his first six overs before finishing with 1-24, while spinner Moeen Ali snared the key wickets of Virat Kohli (8) and Suresh Raina (1). Anderson wasn't just miserly, he was also destructive. One delivery kicked off the pitch to such an extent that it struck MS Dhoni flush on the front of the helment. Dhoni was unhurt and even had a bit of a giggle about it. But he wasn't laughing a few balls later when an Anderson delivery kept remarkably low to trap him lbw. Tail-ender Mohammed Shami provided some highlights at the death, with the 24-year-old cracking 25 off 18 balls to push the total to 200.
"In a perfect world, it wouldn't have got that tight, but it was definitely a tough pitch, and their bowlers extracted the most out of it," Taylor said. "We showed some character. "I'm delighted to score some runs in a pressure situation. "That's what I pride myself on- finishing games and winning games. We got over the over line, which is the most important things."
Indian captain MS Dhoni is confident on his team's winless tour of Australia won't dent their World Cup prospects. " From a confidence point of view, we are quite good because we always try to give more emphasis on what needs to be done- the proper planing and where we need to execute," Dhoni said. "We've been in this situation (before), so we know what exactly we feel and how to overcome this feeling."
Man of the Match is bagged by James Taylor for his brilliant innings of 82 that held one end when the wickets were tumbling around. That is from our side. Do join us for the finals on Sunday between two heavyweights, Australia and England at Perth on Feb 1, 2015. Until then it's goodbye and cheers!!
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