11/21/24
August 01, 2011
SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
After their fantastic gesture yesterday around Ian Bell's runout, (another reason to love cricket : Bell was out because he was "leaving the field for tea"), India are being given no reward whatsoever by the cricketing gods.
England pounded out to 544 runs - a lead of 478 - and now have India at 55-6.
Tim Bresnan (11 and 90 with the bat, currently 6-65 with the ball) is trying to steal the man of the match off Stuart Broad (64 and 44 with that bat, currently 7-65 with the ball), but whoever wins it should turn around and give it to Dhoni and the Indian team.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 10:34 AM on August 01, 2011
All this game needs now is Tendulkar's 100th century (if he can find someone to stay out there with him). Extraordinary performance from England. They were 124 for 8 in the first innings, and now they're only 4 wickets away from a 300 run win! (Americans: that is extraordinary.)
posted by JJ at 11:05 AM on August 01, 2011
Bang goes that idea. Tendulkar out for 56 (his 60th test 50). 107 for 7. They might mop this up tonight.
posted by JJ at 11:26 AM on August 01, 2011
They can ask for the extra half hour if they can convince the umpires that would allow them to finish off...
Although some of England's fielding suggests they'd like to come back tomorrow.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 11:38 AM on August 01, 2011
A 90 in the morning and five wickets in the afternoon and Bresnan still won't win the man of the match.
An utter battering for India, which is a bit of a shame after the class they showed yesterday.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 12:40 PM on August 01, 2011
Test Match Special just handed Dhoni a magnum of champagne for his sportsmanship yesterday.
Dhoni said that he felt Bell was out, but then when they all got into the dressing rooms for tea they said it "didn't feel right" and that "sometimes the laws of cricket and the spirit of cricket are different things."
posted by Mr Bismarck at 12:50 PM on August 01, 2011
A 90 in the morning and five wickets in the afternoon and Bresnan still won't win the man of the match.
The statistics matter less than the timing. Broad's partnership with Swann shored up the first innings when England were in deep shit, and his spell with the new ball ripped open the Indian batting lineup when Yuvraj and Dravid looked well bedded in.
It's been brilliant Test cricket so far: full of momentum shifts and performances from unexpected sources. India's fitness and mental toughness have been exposed, which worries me, because the last thing Indian cricket needs is more reason to focus on the IPL, and a set of one-sided results may create that kind of defensiveness. Sehwag is apparently arriving tomorrow, Gambhir should be fit for the third Test, and I do want Tendulkar to get his 100th century on English soil.
posted by etagloh at 01:55 PM on August 01, 2011
Dhoni said that he felt Bell was out, but then when they all got into the dressing rooms for tea they said it "didn't feel right" and that "sometimes the laws of cricket and the spirit of cricket are different things."
The idealist/pacifist in me says it would be nice if baseball could adopt this attitude instead of what this thread is all about.
posted by Howard_T at 03:16 PM on August 01, 2011
"The statistics matter less than the timing. Broad's partnership with Swann shored up the first innings when England were in deep shit, and his spell with the new ball ripped open the Indian batting lineup when Yuvraj and Dravid looked well bedded in."
I'm not arguing with Broad's win at all, just accentuating it, if anything - considering Bresnan is really the first reserve bowler and could well be out again for the next test and that he can put up a performance like that and not be man of the match really shows the depth of England's attack right now.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 04:08 PM on August 01, 2011
Another hiker was killed on Half Dome today. While looking into it, I found an incredible picture of a guy who fell but did not die when he somehow arrested his slide 30 feet from the cliff's edge.
Scroll down to the Scott Clancy item for an explanation. He had to remain motionless three hours to maximize friction and avoid sliding further.
posted by rcade at 04:17 PM on August 01, 2011
rcade: sounds like he didn't self-arrest so much as get lucky, after doing some really dumb things that got him into trouble in the first place.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 05:54 PM on August 01, 2011
Yeah, Mr B: I realised what you were trying to say as soon as the edit window closed.
Bresnan's performance again raises the question of whether England would contemplate a five-man attack; Strauss and Flower haven't wanted to change a winning formula, but with Trott's injury, questions remaining about E-O-I-N Morgan's Test form, and a tail that bats a long way down, now might be the time.
posted by etagloh at 09:42 PM on August 01, 2011
Thierry Henry's bid to join Arsenal during a game was denied by FIFA.