Another poor one day performance

When will they learn, chasing a meagre total of 203 England went on to lose the first one day international in India by 39 runs. They were bundled out by the spinners for just 164 on a wicket that, if they had batted sensibly, they should have won the game on. After a disastrous start losing two wickets in the first over they fought themselves back into the match to lie in a comfortable position. Then they through it all away with Pieterson and Flintoff both getting out to shots that they did not need to play. This is the worst possible start and they will have to hope that the bowlers can continue to deliver to keep them with a chance of taking the next game. The test team may not have missed Trescothick and Vaughan but the one day side definitely did.

It’s difficult to take any positives out of games like this, if pushed I would point to the bowling of Kabir Ali, his four wickets will help to build his confidence. The fact he went for nearly five an over is something that he will have to address but in these days of 300+ scores being achieved on a regular basis then this can be quite an acceptable rate to maintain. It will be interesting to see if there are any changes made before the second game with some notable poor performances for Strauss and Shah. I does not matter how good the bowling is you should not be giving away two wickets in the first over, its madness. The coaches will have to work on shot selection for both Pieterson and Flintoff as it was essentially there dismissals that caused the start of the downfall. As much as I like Ian Blackwell he needs to start putting in some big performances or his participation in the World Cup next year will be in doubt. Lets hope he is not one of the casualties of this abysmal performance.