Tour Match: Indian Board President's XI v England XI at Hyderabad, 22-24 Nov 2001 Anand Vasu |
England XI 1st innings:
Indian Board President's XI 1st innings: |
Dinesh Mongia, stroking the ball well into the gaps, looked like he had set his stalls out for one of his characteristic long innings. A rush of blood however, saw the southpaw hit a delivery from ball straight to Graham Thorpe in mid-on. Mongia made 44.
Sridharan Sriram, patient as ever, compiled runs at his end at his own sweet pace. Playing the spinners especially well of his pads, the left-hander was unbeaten on 69 when the players left the field for tea.
The English bowlers, spinners and mediumpacers alike, toiled but could not threaten the batsmen. If the batsmen played a few strokes and looked to push the scoring rate, the bowlers would certainly have had a better chance.
Skipper Jacob Martin had an eye on the five national selectors gathered at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium and made sure he did not put a foot wrong. Never a terribly attractive batsman, Martin was painstakingly efficient and at times bordering on boring. He had 42 to his name at tea.
Mongia, considered by many as a classy batsman with a bright future, went after Martyn Ball, coming down the wicket and striking the ball for two boundaries in one over. James Ormond (6-1-10-0) bowled tidily, while Craig White managed to keep the batsmen very quiet, returning figures of 4-2-5-0. This perhaps had more than a bit to do with the fact that Mongia (30 not out) and Sriram (14 not out) were playing for lunch.
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Date-stamped : 24 Nov2001 - 06:36