Tanya Aldred discusses Virat Kohli ...
Here is the report form Old Trafford ...
That’s me done. Thanks for your company throughout the course of this massive day at Old Trafford. We’ll be back tomorrow at Taunton on the OBO. Have a lovely night. Bye!
Virat Kohli, India’s captain, speaks. To be honest, the pitch didn’t make a lot of difference but the ball started turning in the second half of our batting innings. We wanted to bowl first. There was enough there if you bowled in the right areas. The template has been really good so far, a team batting effort with Rohit’s outstanding knock. To get to 335 you need a team effort. KL laid a good founation with Rohit who showed why he is such a good player, which allowed me to play a certain role and for Hardik to explode. I’m happy playing that role. The template is going really nicely. Kuldeep was brilliant. They were trying to play him off and thinking he would go out of the attack but a longer spell helped and he was getting more rhythm with every other and the ball to get Babar was outstanding with drift and turn. It was a very important moment in the game. It’s the best he bowled since coming to England. I think they outplayed us in the Champions Trophy final but apart from that we’ve played some really good cricket against Pakistan. We never approach these games from the fan point of view, as cricketers we need to know what to do and be professional about. Bhuvi has a slight niggle from slipping on the footmarks, hopefully he’ll be ready in a couple of games or maximum three games from now. We have Shami ready and raring to go so we’re not too worried ahout where it stands. Bhuvi should be fine. He doesn’t feel it is too bad.
Sarfraz Ahmed, Pakistan’s captain, speaks. We didn’t bowl in the right areas and he (Rohit) played really well. Our play is to bowl in the right area but we didn’t hit them. It was a good toss but we didn’t capitalise, which is why we conceded so many runs. We picked two spinners because of the moisture and they bowled well but in the middle part India batted really well. We were going good until we lost those wickets so quickly. When Imam got out we needed a partnership and got it but we lost too many quick wickets. We will bounce back.
I didn’t think of this at the time... but Gary Naylor makes a decent point.
How did it go from an unlikely, but possible, target to a ridiculous one @collinsadam? It's 22 off one ball all over again.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) June 16, 2019
Rohit Sharma is the man of the match for his 140. He says: I’m happy with the way we played as a team. We wanted to get on the park and play having the previous game washed out. We had intent and showed it today. I was unhappy when I got out, I should have read it. A little misjudgment. When you are set you want to get as many runs as possible but I wasn’t thinking about a double hundred. We wanted to kill the game there but I got out unfortunately. I think Rahul played very well. He took some time, which was required at that point. He saw the new ball off then he was looking good but again got out at the wrong time. But the idea was just to play out the new ball then see where the game went from there. We got a good start and built well from there.
A clinical win for India. Their big guns fired with the bat and their bowling attack did the job when it mattered. India remain undefeated in the tournament with Pakistan left languishing in second last position as they enter last chance cafe.
We’ll hear from the man of the match and the captains shortly.
INDIA WIN BY 89 RUNS! (DLS METHOD)
40th over: Pakistan 212-6 (Imad 46, Shadab 20) DLS target 302 in 40 overs Hardik, who picked up two in two balls earlier when the game was still on, gets the final over. Four singles, and that’s the game! India have once again beaten Pakistan in the World Cup. That makes seven out of seven in this tournament. It’s a thrashing.
39th over: Pakistan 208-6 (Imad 44, Shadab 18) DLS target 302 in 40 overs Imad takes a piece of Bumrah, pumping him down the ground for his fifth boundary. He’s batted quite nicely, even if it was after the game was well and truly over as a contest. Gosh, this is not an attractive end - Bumrah has overstepped, Imad getting another four to third man, lifted nicely over the cordon. Free hit, pushed to cover. 12 from this one. One to go.
38th over: Pakistan 196-6 (Imad 38, Shadab 17) DLS target 302 in 40 overs Long hop from Chahal to Imad, put away to cover, prompting a word from captain Kohli. There is a wide shot of the temporary stand on the telly, which had 7800 people in it earlier. There might be 780 people left. Shadab should be taken but Rahul drops him at midwicket. A very simple chance, he’s let Chahal down there. Shadab ends the over with a couple more lofted over cover then a hard-run two to mid-on. 14 from it. 53 an over is the required rate from here. (Sorry)
Updated
37th over: Pakistan 182-6 (Imad 27, Shadab 11) DLS target 302 in 40 overs Bumrah is bowling. Remember when Bhuvi hurt his hamstring slipping around earlier following a rain delay earlier when they ran straight back on? Shadab grabs a couple down the ground then another in that direction. Bumrah is just jogging in, really. Imad slices him over gully for a couple more, then going the other side of point for one. I can’t believe I’m describing these shots. Oh, there’s one to note: Shadab smashes a four down the ground. It’s a lovely off-drive shot from a young man with a massive future.
36th over: Pakistan 172-6 (Imad 24, Shadab 4) DLS target 302 in 40 overs Well, they aren’t going for the 30-odd runs an over they require. Chahal deserves to get into the book for some of the overs he bowled earlier. He’s sending down his usual mix of leggies and wrong’uns. A couple of slaps end the over. Six from it.
The players are back on the field! Pakistan need 302 to win. That’s 139 in five overs. Yes, you’re reading all of that correctly. PLAY!
“After all these years, the game retains the old-school quintessentially British mentality about it,” says Aditya Anchuri “A pointless 5 overs without any rhyme or reason.”
It’s difficult to understand why the umps didn’t call it. I have a conspiracy theory but I should keep it to myself given I want to keep getting into this World Cup.
It has been a dirty day for Pakistan. The nonsense we’re about to see might actually help their NRR as they are (surely) unlikely to be bowled out. Well...
55.29 Imam-ul-Haq
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) June 16, 2019
50.91 Babar Azam
48.94 Fakhar Zaman
These are the three highest averages in Pakistan's ODI history. The day Pakistan find out why they are not winning despite all these performances, their cricket will improve.
RESTART 7:10pm (!!!!)
Five overs remaining! Pakistan need 136 in five overs to win. What a sport.
The most likely scenario... is surely still that Umpires Oxenford and Erasmus will pull the pin shortly. The rain was light but the clean up takes time. A frustrating way to end a very ordinary game of cricket. But we’ll be here till the end!
Well put.
They're going to try to play some more. Like writing off the car, then sending it for a valet#CWC19 #INDvPAK
— Sam Morshead (@SamMorshead_) June 16, 2019
The covers are coming off
Believe it or not!
A lot of dead rubbers could be coming our way.
Pakistan now need to win 4 out of 4 to stay alive. Tough. Wonder what the morale is like now.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 16, 2019
It’s still drizzling. They can’t remove the covers. It’s unclear when the cut off time is, but we must be pretty close.
“Am I the only Indian fan here feeling a lack of emotion for this efficient Indian team winning games by ruthlessly executing a game plan?” asks Fahd Mashood. “I miss the magic and despair of the days when Sehwag walked out and did whatever he felt like with a big goofy grin on his face regardless of what the coach and captain begged him to do in the dressing room five minutes prior. Instead of tonking six sizes like Yuvaraj, this team would probably knock down the last two balls having met their mini target from the first four balls.
I might even take the dark days of the nineties when we had a middling team held together by the genius of Sachin and Kumble. Because that more accurately represents our country. A few shining lights in a sea of mediocrity, and mostly a lot of things completely inexplicable to anyone who isn’t an Indian. Not this bunch of cold hearted winners.”
Tough to please! Lap it up, I say. This is a superb cricket team.
No news is bad news, I am afraid. It’s raining (lightly) and dark. I suspect this is all heading in one direction. I’ll keep you posted as formal updates land on my desk.
On come the big covers as well. This doesn’t look good in terms of any meaningful re-start. Wasim Akram on the telly, who played here for a decade at Lancs, isn’t hopeful either. The Cricket Ground DJ (my job one day) plays Purple Rain.
“This Indian team is really very good, isn’t it?” says Colum Farrelly. “The best team in the competition so far? Australia are dark horses. England might suffer from having been talked up a bit too much in the press.”
I wouldn’t worry about England listening to the press, etc. They are a very well put together team - superbly led too. But to your first point: yes, India are quite brilliant. The way they batted earlier today made it look so easy and it’s just not.
Rain stops play!
35th over: Pakistan 166-6 (Imad 22, Shadhad 1) Shadhab is off the mark with a single but nothing further. Shankar has 2/22 from his five; quite a handy World Cup debut. We’ll see more of him over the course of the next month, I’m sure. At the end of the over, the umpires come together and they again call for the covers. The rain isn’t that heavy but it is consistent now, the umbrellas telling the story. Pakistan are 86 runs behind the DLS score if the match is called off at this stage.
“Funny that Bumrah has been India’s least effective bowler today!” notes Anand Kumar. “As an Indian fan, pleased that the bowling attack has done well despite Bumrah not firing and Bhuvi going off. Haven’t been able to say this many times in our cricketing history.”
That’s quite right. Bumrah wasn’t at his penetrative best earlier on, aside from one over. As for Bhuvi, he did the right thing going off when he did. India now have a week off (or so), coming at a useful time in the context of that injury.
“Been able to hear OT crowd most of the day here in Moss Side but it’s quietening down now unfortunately,” reports Darren Carter. You’ll hear the Indian crowd again soon when they finish this off, that’s for sure.
Updated
WICKET! Sarfraz b Shankar 12 (Pakistan 165-6)
Trying to create something, the Pakistan captain shuffles across his stumps in an effort to open up the legside against Shankar but only succeeds in cramping himself up, chopping onto the middle stump.
34th over: Pakistan 165-5 (Sarfraz 12, Imad 22) I see rain, I see umbrellas. Not many up yet but we know what is coming. For the second time in two overs from Bumrah, Imad crunches him for four. Last time it was a pull, now a slap straight past the non-strikers’ stumps. Fair play to Imad. He bowled nicely earlier today as the game was getting away from Pakistan and he’s having a a dip here. The umpires consult at the end of the over and agree to let the game go on. For now.
33rd over: Pakistan 157-5 (Sarfraz 11, Imad 16) Shankar is back as well, Kohli still mindful of getting overs out of his change bowlers even if the required rate is increasingly beyond Pakistan. Three nondescript singles follow alongside one piece of brilliant Jadeja fielding. On for Bhuvi as a sub, he makes a lot of ground to his right before diving to cut off a powerful Sarfraz cut shot at backward point.
“Going back to that Kohli wicket for a moment,” asks Deepak Nandhakumar. Sure, why not? “According to the commentators, and I don’t know how they knew this, there was some sort of crack or gap between Virat’s bat handle and the bat itself. This seems to have produced a sound when he swung the bat that led him to think he’d nicked it. Cricket, eh? P.s.: The cameras caught Kohli’s reaction in the dressing room when Dhoni swung the broken bat around and seemed to reproduce the sound. “Enraged” and “heartbroken” don’t even begin to cover it.”
I think he’ll be okay. Interesting that he walked, though. I suspet that will be, as we say in the caper, a ~talking point~ after the game.
32nd over: Pakistan 154-5 (Sarfraz 10, Imad 15) Bumrah is back instead of letting Kuldeep finish his ten. It feels like a long, long time since we last saw him in the attack. The sting has completely gone out of this game, Pakistan’s 150 barely responded to by their faithful fans, no doubt gutted at what has happened here today. Imad does finish with a top shot, pulling the Indian attack-leader off his nose for a boundary. Drinks it is with the DLS par score sitting at 227. Miles off.
31st over: Pakistan 146-5 (Sarfraz 9, Imad 8) It’s very dark here now, the lights doing almost all of the heavy lifting in terms of keeping the ground visible. The rain probably isn’t far away. The cricket is just as grim, Pakistan walking singles to the sweepers off Hardik; India happy to let them to so. They now need in excess of ten an over. On reflection, should Hasan/Wahab not walked out to at least have a pop at the target before reverting to whatever this now is?
30th over: Pakistan 140-5 (Sarfraz 5, Imad 6) Stepping back from it now the result is all-but certain, Pakistan have only really “won” a few five-over blocks all day. India deserve to win this by a mile. Kuldeep has 2/32 from nine. Deserves another.
29th over: Pakistan 137-5 (Sarfraz 3, Imad 5) Imad pulls Hardik away for four. I don’t want to pre-empt it, but I think Sarfraz might be dropping the anchor in an effort to bat out the 50 overs for what little they would achieve in terms of Net Run Rate for making it that far. I’m increasingly convinced that we’ve outgrown NRR.
Alternatively... “Pakistan appears not to let rain settle the tie,” laments Krishnamoorthy. “Who needs rains when Pakistan is on its self destructive day?”
@collinsadam Tough day for the old geezers. Hafeez and Shoaib – one out for 9, the other for 0, both taken off after bowling one over for 11. Dhoni – out for 1, and argued against a review that would have been successful
— Tim de Lisle (@TimdeLisle) June 16, 2019
28th over: Pakistan 132-5 (Sarfraz 2, Imad 1) Both batsmen yet to score as Kuldeep continues, Kohli going for the kill with his top trump. And what a fantastic bowling change it was from the Indian captain to get Hardik back on from the Statham End, his opposing number watching both wickets from the non-strikers’ end. What do they do now? The DLS target is now 217. Before the four wickets in 20 balls it was going so well, Babar and Fakhar building so positively. Dear me.
WICKET! Shoaib Malik b Hardik 0 (Pakistan 129-5)
Two in two balls! Hardik bowls Shoaib Malik for a golden duck and will be on a hat-trick to begin his next over. It’s a quick delivery and the veteran plays all around it, chopping on. Pakistan have lost 4/12. Old Trafford is HEAVING.
27th over: Pakistan 129-5 (Sarfraz 0)
WICKET! Hafeez c Shankar b Hardik 9 (Pakistan 129-4)
Pakistan are capitulating! Hafeez strikes his clip well, and the shot is there, but he’s popped the catch down the throat of Shankar on the square leg rope. Kohli gives it BIG, knowing that they are not far away from finishing this in a hurry.
26th over: Pakistan 126-3 (Hafeez 7, Sarfraz 0) A wicket maiden is completed by Kuldeep! He’s been outstanding from the get-go in this innings, now boasting the figures of 2/26 from his seven. Sarfraz, once again, has to lead a rally. Pakistan are also now about 40 runs behind the DLS target with the loss of those two wickets.
“Ball Of The Tournament,” declares Abhijato Sensarma of the ball that picked up Babar. Hard to disagree. Certainly as far as the slow bowlers are concerned.
I reckon the rain is about an hour away from Old Trafford and it looks like it will be heavy. Pakistan are behind the DLS rate right now. At some point they are going to have to go for this. #bbccricket
— Patrick Gearey (@paddygearey) June 16, 2019
WICKET! Fakhar c Chahal b Kuldeep 62 (Pakistan 126-3)
He’s got the both of them! Not a great shot from Fakhar, who top edges Kuldeep to Chanal on the 45. The left-hander was sweeping compulsively over the last few overs and it looked a winning strategy, but not on this occasion. It’s gloomy for Pakistan now, both in terms of the chase and the DLS target with rain again likely.
25th over: Pakistan 126-2 (Fakhar 62, Hafeez 7) “He did Babar on two fronts there,” Michael Clarke says. “Flight and drift and then the spin off the surface. This is what makes the young man so talented.” After exchanging four singles to the sweepers from Chahal’s new over, Hafeez finishes with a massive slog sweep over the fence at deep midwicket FOR SIX MORE! Have that, says the new (old) man!
WICKET! Babar b Kuldeep 48 (Pakistan 117-2)
GORGEOUS delivery! Through the gate from over the wicket, Kuldeep has bowled Babar! Nothing outlandish about the shot, the No3 forward and defending - this wicket is all about a piece of magnificent wrist spin. He celebrates accordingly!
24th over: Pakistan 117-2 (Fakhar 60)
Updated
23rd over: Pakistan 113-1 (Fakhar 58, Babar 46) Forget what I said about Babar not taking a risk, he’s getting down low here to slog sweep Chahal BIG for SIX! 88 metres into the western stand beneath the old pavilion. What a strike! Ten are taken from the over after four singles are added, Fakhar now very happy sweeping at every available opportunity. The 100 partnership is up too, making it the highest stand for Pakistan in a World Cup game against India, would you believe.
“Good evening Adam.” Hi Venkat from Bangalore. “A basic query: for a potential stumping, why does the third umpire check for a no ball? Can’t a batsman be stumped off a no-ball?” Nup. You can be stumped off a wide but not a no-ball.
22nd over: Pakistan 103-1 (Fakhar 56, Babar 38) Fakhar is turning up the volume now. For the second time in as many overs he has employed the slog sweep, this time hitting it low and flat, bouncing into the boundary in front of the enormous temporary stand to the east of Old Trafford. With the shot, Pakistan bring up their 100. They need over eight an over from here but these two have put on 90.
Fakhar to 50!
21st over: Pakistan 95-1 (Fakhar 51, Babar 35) BIG! We have our first SIX of the innings, Fakhar tucking into the first ball of Chahal’s fresh over, just clearing the two men out on the rope with a slog sweep. It was high in the air for a long time but he had enough on it to clear the rope by a couple of metres, completing his half-century in 59 balls. “He saves his best for India,” says Michael Clarke on telly. They go back to the leg before pad-bat/bat-pad from Chahal’s previous over on TV and it did hit the pad first. Kohli liked it at the time and was seemingly talked out of reviewing by Dhoni. Back to the middle Chahal is happy to give plenty of air, enough to bring caution from Babar, who won’t be taking any risks. Yet.
20th over: Pakistan 87-1 (Fakhar 44, Babar 34) After the close call, Fakhar gets off strike down the ground, Babar playing out the rest of the Kuldeep over carefully.
NOT OUT! Dhoni whipped the bails off quickly but the left-hander got his toe back in time.
IS FAKHAR STUMPED BY DHONI? We’ll find out.
19th over: Pakistan 86-1 (Fakhar 43, Babar 34) Babar picks out point from the first ball, Fakhar absorbing a couple of dots before giving the strike back. Chahal’s wrong’un nearly gets Babar later in the set, zipping off the surface. It was not far away at all for a pad/bat situation, which would have ended his stay I’m fairly sure. Clarke believes it was pad first, on TV comms. An excellent over, two off it.
“First thing that springs to mind is Melle Mel’s rap intro to Chaka Khan’s I Feel For you,” Gregor Salsa says in relation to Shikhar Dhawan earworms.
18th over: Pakistan 84-1 (Fakhar 42, Babar 33) Kuldeep gets spun around to bowl from the Jimmy Anderson end as well, following the example of the seamers used so far today. One, two, three, four, five singles on the trot with all the sweepers forward of square all getting a chance to touch the ball along the way.
“Hey Adam.” Hi Paul Macadam. “ Before today, the toss-winning captain at this tournament has chosen to bowl first on 14 occasions (excluding washouts). Only six times has it led to victory. Have some skippers been guilty of looking too much at the gloomy clouds and not enough at the less threatening pitches? Or is it more a case of teams using the new ball poorly?”
Perhaps the T20 influence, as well. Anything you can make we can make more?
17th over: Pakistan 79-1 (Fakhar 40, Babar 30) Yuzvendra Chahal for the first time today from the Brian Statham End. Fakhar is immediately lapping, albeit from the toe of the bat. Now Babar, who takes him on first up too, with the cut, but Karthik - on as a sub - makes a wonderful one-handed stop at backward point. This is a really important period of the game. Can they get on top of India’s spin twins?
16th over: Pakistan 75-1 (Fakhar 38, Babar 28) Good batting from Babar to begin, taking on mid-on after getting on the front foot to drive Hardik. Fakhar’s turn, leaning back to WALLOP the seamer’s length delivery over midwicket from the front foot, bouncing a couple of times before crashing into the boundary in front of the old pavilion. He makes it two fours in the over with a less convincing stroke from the outside to third man. Actually, watching it back he might have meant it with so much room to swing at a slower ball. Either way, it makes ten from it.
15th over: Pakistan 64-1 (Fakhar 28, Babar 27) Kuldeep’s second over is being played as watchfully as his first, until the final delivery when Fakhar leans back to slap but miscues off the edge. Still, he gets three for it. India aren’t far away from another. Drinks!
14th over: Pakistan 58-1 (Fakhar 24, Babar 25) Hamstring tightness is the word from the Indian camp when it comes to Bhuvi. Do they run the gauntlet and get him back on? It would be a high-risk strategy, but we know this game means more to those on the field than the two points on offer in this tournament. Hardik is unlucky to concede a boundary from a good ball that gets big on Fakhar, edging to the third man rope. He also prompts a false stroke from Babar, his outside edge in action too with the ball going to third man rather than to hand. Very good set.
Updated
13th over: Pakistan 51-1 (Fakhar 19, Babar 23) Turn it is, Hardik replaced by the left-armer Kuldeep. A fraction slower than his legspinning colleague, will Pakistan target him, I wonder? If they can put a dent in one of the spinners - with Bhuvi already in strife - they can change the nature of this chase. Especially with rain still floating around on the radar and DLS likely to play its part. Well, not initially they don’t. It’s an accurate first set from Kuldeep, releasing mostly from the back of his hand. It takes Fakhar five deliveries to get off strike, with one to deep cover, bringing up the 50. Babar keeps the strike with another single, lapping fine.
12th over: Pakistan 49-1 (Fakhar 18, Babar 22) Shankar is charging in and bending his back, both batsmen happy enough stroking out towards deep point. Babar nearly beats the sweeper off the front foot for a couple and doubles it from the final ball, leaning back in his crease to steer behind point. That’s a beautifully timed boundary. After losing an early wicket Pakistan have got their mojo back.
“Your Shikhar Dhawan earworm can be found at the 2:10 mark in “Brick House” by The Commodores,” suggests Marie Meyer in Santa Fe. Let’s give it a go.
11th over: Pakistan 41-1 (Fakhar 17, Babar 15) How long until we see spin, I wonder? With the sun now out, grip shouldn’t now be too much of a bother for Kuldeep and Chahal. Hardik bowls the first over after the fielding restrictions are lifted, Babar and Fakhar trading in singles for now. No inch given.
10th over: Pakistan 38-1 (Fakhar 16, Babar 13) Shankar has been swung around to follow Bumrah from the southern end. Both he and Hardik have a lot of work to do with Bhuvi seemingly out of the equation (for now at least), Bumrah the sole specialist seamer in this new equation for Kohli. He starts well here to Babar, finding his outside edge, the ball spitting out to third man. Fakhar is also short of convincing, his inside edge clipped. Shankar will be disappointed not to finish the over quite so well, a wide sprayed down the legside, Babar striking the extra ball from the middle of the bat wide of mid-off to keep the strike. Nice contest.
Updated
9th over: Pakistan 34-1 (Fakhar 15, Babar 11) TV picks up a message being sent from the rooms to Kohli between overs, presumably relating to the state of Bhuvi’s hamstring. Hardik is brought on to replace Shankar and after watching a couple, Babar leans into a full-blooded cover drive the bisects the men on the circle, racing away for four of the best.
8th over: Pakistan 29-1 (Fakhar 15, Babar 6) Fakhar was the difference between these teams in the 2017 Champions Trophy final and holds the key to any serious chase today, alongside the man he is with at the moment. Bumrah is being played conservatively by the opener, as you would expect, until the final delivery on his hip that he gets inside and pulls around the corner for four! Easy peasy.
“I’m guessing someone will have previously earwormed ‘Ba ba ba Babar Azam’ to the improbably jaunty Beach Boys tune?” asks Brian Withington. “If not, may I be the first to claim the prize goldfish?”
All yours. I have a song in my head for Shikhar Dhawan but I have no idea what it is called. A mid-00s indie dancefloor filler. I’ll Shazam next time I hear it.
7th over: Pakistan 25-1 (Fakhar 11, Babar 6) Shankar stays on. Bhuvi clearly slipped when he was bowling the delivery where he hurt his hamstring. An occupational hazard for a quick when there is rain on the run up. Not fun at all. The all-rounder isn’t as good with his first ball this time around, on the hip of Fakhar and put away accordingly by the opener behind square leg. Giving the strike to Babar, the new man at the crease is trying to get on the front foot to score but plays respectfully.
6th over: Pakistan 20-1 (Fakhar 6, Babar 6) Contests don’t come much more Box Office than Bumrah vs Babar. Early in the over, the Pakistan No3 is off the strike using the pace to third man. He’s back down the business end later in the set, cutting with authority in front of point for four. More between these two, please.
“Oi Collins.” Here is Robert Wilson, off the long run in Paris. “I’m nauseated by all the OBO back-slapping about you low-rent rejects from sit-com Writers’ Rooms. Particularly when you’re going all eugenic superjock about the laughable paltriness of the French/Harrow/Inadvertent cut. You athletic types have no conception of the moral grandeur that sporting duffitude requires. The mechanics of the thick edge are nothing. It’s the presence of mind and moral authority to make it look like you meant it that wins all hearts. I once did the Robin Smith kneebends after a perfectly square thick eded four..That little touch of eff you and it went exactly where I meant it to go (all while avoiding giggles from the slips) is not available to the merely muscular.”
Sometimes, you have to take these as a comment. Crouch well, Bob. Crouch well.
5th over: Pakistan 14-1 (Fakhar 5, Babar 1) Babar has one ball to deal with and it’s jagging back in, finding the inside edge. What a start to his World Cup career with the ball! He’s into the side today replacing Shikhar Dhawan, the opening batsman, let’s not forget. That was his third ODI wicket in this his tenth start.
We’ll keep a close eye on the Bhuvi situation. By the way, the technology shows that the Imam lbw was hitting leg stump, so it was a good call not to review.
Updated
WICKET! Imam lbw b Shankar 7 (Pakistan 13-1)
Shankar traps Imam with his first ball! He is on replacing Bhuvi, who leaves the field after the fourth ball of the over. Bhuvi twice beat Imam with a pair of beauties earlier in the over but was reaching for his hamstring. The concern was enough to send him off. Shankar was given the ball to bowl the two balls remaining in the over and nabbed Imam immediately, who needn’t review as that’s smashing middle. Cricket! Good luck explaining that to the uninitiated.
Updated
4th over: Pakistan 13-0 (Imam 7, Fakhar 5) Bumrah has two slips in place, Imam playing him respectfully early on before breaking up the off side field with a quick single. Good running. Ooooh! Bumrah bowls a ridiculous delivery in response, pitching middle and leg before somehow missing both the off-stump and Fakhar’s outside edge. Luck is with the opening batsman there. Unplayable, it is.
Updated
3rd over: Pakistan 12-0 (Imam 6, Fakhar 5) Shot! Bhuvi has settled really well with plenty of high-quality dots until sliding onto Imam’s pads, the classy southpaw flicking four through midwicket with immaculate timing. Such a fine young player. He grabs another to fine leg to finish, keeping the strike.
All six of Bhuvneshwar’s deliveries in his opening over swung away from the left-hander. They’ll need to watch for the inducker. #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/DzIEvSk6cg
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) June 16, 2019
2nd over: Pakistan 6-0 (Imam 1, Fakhar 5) You don’t see that often, a full toss outside off stump from Bumrah, cashed in on by Fakhar through cover for four. Sure enough, the world’s No1 ranked ODI bowler bounces straight back with a delivery that cuts away from the left-hander off the deck, beating his horizontal blade. Fakhar is back defending with the straight bat to finish.
1st over: Pakistan 2-0 (Imam 1, Fakhar 1) This is what we expect form Bhuvi. After Imam gets on the board first ball with a flick and Fakhar does likewise, he beats the former with a lovely off-cutter. The sun is out and the crowd are thrilled.
“Did Lord Meghnad Desai just write in?” asks Nuggehalli Nigam. “Is that the first time that a Lord has written to the OBO? Mind you, there might a couple of million Meghnad Desais our there but it will be quite charming if this is him.”
Lord Desai (or not?), the floor is yours.
Try again? Everyone is in position. Bhuvi has the ball, ready to bounce away from us at the northern end. Imam is facing up to the first ball. PLAY!!!!!
Odd scenes. With the sun following the rain, India stay out on the field and the umpires do too, despite the fact that the hovercraft cover is on. They want to get this on straight away. Pakistan’s openers - Fakhar and Imam - are also standing by the sight screen, ready to run on as soon as the covers come off. As they do now.
“Obvious solution,” writes Pete Salmon in relation to the French Cut discussion. “If the Sqaure Cut is a description of the angle of the trajectory of the ball in relation to the pitch, then surely it should be the Obtuse Cut.”
Very good. But I like the Bozza Cut better. To get this to stick, we’re going to have to back it in heavily from now until the end of his Prime Ministership.
RAIN.
The Pakistani openers were taking guard and Indian fielders about to take their positions. Guess what happened next? Yep. Here comes that hovercraft.
“Doesn’t it sound eerily familiar to Australia’s innings v Sri Lanka yesterday?” asks Tuvic Tuslow in relation to Pakistan’s mini-fightback at the end. It does, actually. Sri Lanka’s death bowling was the best I’ve seen in the tournament. A shame they have no logical route to a score above 300 with the bat.
RESTART: 3:25pm (No reduction in overs)
“Since we’re on a rain break,” writes Steve Bloomfield. “I thought you might fancy taking a look at this profile of Virat Kohli we’ve got in the new issue of Prospect. Phil Collins wrote it and it’s pretty good.” *Right click / save to Pocket *
“Thanks a lot for your interesting (and quite relaxed) coverage of the game,” emails Vinayak Sapru. “As an Indian in the Middle East, I find myself at work on a Sunday afternoon surrounded by Pakistanis. I’m quite enjoying gloating quietly at my desk while my colleagues follow the more stress inducing ball-by-ball commentaries.” Thanks for being part of the mighty OBO fam.
“What’s with all the beards in the present day Indian team?” asks Don Wilson. “In the era of Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and Co, the only beard around was on Bhaji, now MS is the only clean shaven one, are they all just trying to emulate Kholi or what?” That’s a fine question. I’ll ask Harsha Bhogle and get back to you. We do know that Virat is an influener though. We all saw this ad, I trust?
A good suggestion for renaming the French Cut. “If it is a matter of luck for the incompetent, can we rename it Boris cut?” asks Meghnad Desai. We must. Did everyone catch Marina Hyde’s column yesterday? Goodness me. All the lines.
I’ll keep churning through my inbox, as we’ll be back on soon. “I‘ve been following the commentary from north of Toronto and can’t help feeling India have left some runs on the table after the great start by Rohit in particular,” writes Stephen Hodson. “Pakistan will struggle unless they can bide their time and preserve wickets in the reply. Makes for a compelling contest.”
I share that first view. With 150 on the board at the halfway mark, they will be at least a little bit disappointed not to hit 350. Pakistan almost pegged it back well.
Better news: the sun is out again. No more rain. Just very light drizzle.
It’s going to be that kind of afternoon.
More emails, then. “Loving the coverage as per usual!” writes Seamus Whitehead. Thank you. FULL CREDIT to Tim de Lisle. It is very, very difficult to OBO a high-scoring ODI innings, especially a high-profile fixture with emails flooding in. He did a magnificent job. “My weekly six-a-side Sunday league takes place at the Trafford Sports Barn, a mere slog-sweep from the cricket today. As the goals flowed on the pitch we could hear the roars of the crowd pick up with uncanny timing. They were cheering for us weren’t they?”
Tell us then, who won? Pop any in?
“Whether it will go the distance or not depends on which Pakistan shows up to bat,” suggests Uma Venkatrama. “The one that is worse than an amateur player or the one that is an unstoppable force. I am hoping for the latter.”
I just want a game that is still alive, one way or another, at about 6pm.
It's raining again.
I’m sorry.
Updated
A quick round of emails, shall we? To begin: Abhijato Sensarma has a man crush on Yuvraj. Him and a billion others. What a player.
“Really can’t top Pete Salmon’s wonderful Kohli related earworm,” writes Brian Withington, “but wanted to share my regret that we had not been treated to the portentous opening riffs of Led Zepelin’s Kashmir at his arrival to the crease. (I’m guessing it might have been considered a little insensitive given the wider geopolitical baggage.). Still gets my vote as the OBO anthem of choice for when rain stops play:
Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face
Stars fill my dream
I’m a traveller of both time and space
To be where I have been
Sit with elders of the gentle race
This world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait
All will be revealed
I think this came up the other day? We’ve had a lot of rainy OBOs this week.
“This is a bit prosaic, but what’s the story with OT’s temporary stand?” asks Romeo. “They have it for concerts, I assume, and obviously for big games like
this, but what do they do with the space when it isn’t there? It must
cost a lot to dismantle and then remantle, and apart from it being
rather sad to see empty stands when Leicestershire come for a County
Championship game and even the old man and his dog don’t turn up, why do
they ever remove it?”
I have a partial answer to that, via Will Macpherson, once from this parish:
The big temporary stand at Old Trafford is incredible:
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) June 16, 2019
- 71 rows
- 8,560 seats
- has 47k of scaffolding
- took 25 days 15 people to build#CWC19
I better wrap up this post as I have some news to report. It’s not good news.
Updated
India finish with 336-5
50th over: India 336-5 (Shankar 15, Jadhav 9) Shankar shows his worth here in the final over, getting on one knee to loft Amir over extra cover with style for a one-bounce four after the left-armer started well. The 28-year-old is on World Cup debut, playing just his 10th ODI. Can he stick the landing? Not quite, shovelling one to long-on after Amir misdirected a wide. Jadhav faces up to the final ball of the innings with protection mostly on the off side rope. He can’t bisect those sweepers though, one to cover his lot. Nine from the 50th. Pakistan need 337.
49th over: India 327-5 (Shankar 9, Jadhav 7) Technology shows no edge from Kohli despite the fact that the Indian captain looked to.... walk? There was no out signal from the umpire, according to the telly. Anyway, Wahab now to bowl the penultimate over, beginning with a sprayed delivery, repeated outside the tram trams on the off side. When Jadhav does get something to hit he launches it over extra cover into the gap for four. “He gets in line and hits through the line,” says Ganguly on TV. He gives the strike back to Shankar, who hacks hooks two out in the same direction then finishes with one to the sweeper at cover. 12 off it.
I have a great many emails already. It’s that kind of fixture. Be patient with me.
48th over: India 315-5 (Shankar 5, Jadhav 1) What a superb job Amir has done throughout the Indian innings, across three spells. Efficient and effective, he has the figures of 3/38 with the 50th over ahead of him from the Jimmy Anderson End.
Updated
WICKET! Kohli c Sarfraz b Amir 77 (India 314-5)
Kohli bounced out by Amir! He’s been Pakistan’s best bowler by a mile today and now has picked up the Indian skipper hooking, a little edge going through to his opposing number Sarfraz. The green machine have pegged this back nicely.
Updated
47th over: India 311-4 (Kohli 75, Shankar 4) Wahab to Shankar from the first ball after the rain delay, squeezed over cover for one. Now to Kohli, he goes with the slower ball bouncer but it is just over his head by far enough to be called a wide. Rebowling the final delivery, Kohli has enough space to prod the ball from fifth stump past the short third man down to the rope. Excellent placement. So, six runs from two balls - the ideal re-start.
“Mention of the OBO going back to 2003 is as good an excuse as any to bring up this classic from the lovable Scott Murray,” emails Ben Christopher Jackson. “He certainly was a pioneer of the medium and now excuse me while I go back to hitting F5 on the Golf page to see if he’s started his US Open fourth round updates yet.”
Magnificent. I’m reading every word of that during the (brief) innings break.
Right, so where were we? Well, India are 305/4. As we left for rain, Shankar (3) was given out caught behind, the decision overturned by DRS. Wahab is the man with the ball in his hand, four balls into the 47th over. Kohli is up the other end on 71 from 62 balls, already passing 11,000 ODI runs in this innings - the fastest to do so by some 63 innings, I’m told. As you do. The players are now back on the field so we can get this party (re)started. PLAY!
RESTART AT 2:40pm
Thanks, Tim. As you can see in the header, I bring very good news: we’re starting again in ten minutes! No overs lost either, with lunch reduced to 15 minutes.
Now for the big news. Adam has finished his lunch.
He texts to say THE COVERS ARE COMING OFF, so it’s over to him. Thanks for your company, your wisdom on Indo-Pak relations, your man-crushes and your unexpected compliments. It’s been a pleasure as ever, and the 2019 World Cup, like this game, is still not quite half over.
For some reason, everyone’s being nice today. So look away now if you don’t want to see the OBO blow smoke up its own keyboard. “Hello!” Hello Hilla Krüger! “Thank you so much for your excellent coverage!” No, thank you! “Don’t miss watching the match at all as I prefer reading what all of you have to say, sitting in Switzerland!” It’s always good to hear from a reader with an umlaut.
“Top of the morning to you!” And to you, Anurag Mathur. “Thanks for making this so enjoyable. Am out on errands so getting to read your commentary live in every break. Sigh! Wish commentators were as exciting (and funny). You bring the fun back into a game that is converted into a spreadsheet on most channels!” To be fair, the TV commentators are a help to us OBOers – both because they spot things, and because, as you say, they don’t tend to play it for laughs.
Updated
More on the Harrow whatever. “The Harrow Cut,” says John Starbuck firmly, “is obviously a term used by boys from other public schools. It is also variously known as a Derbyshire Cut, a Staffordshire Cut and a Chinese Cut. The point is that it is a scoring shot unintended by the batsman, hence by a lucky semi-incompetent: very insulting and not to be used in these days. We ought to be able to come up with something better.” Hmmm. The Chinese cut clearly has the potential to be offensive, but the others are OK, aren’t they? Just a little touch of local colour. If any Harrovians are reading this, perhaps they can tell us whether they take umbrage.
“Diplomatic incident,” says Reg Gorczynski (13:55). “The rain is more likely to cause India some angst…if it lasts a reasonable time, Pakistan may get a free pass at a short ‘big bash’ when they were quite unlikely to surpass what was looking to be a very big 50-over total.” Good point.
It would be so great for the tournament if Pakistan could somehow pull it off. So far the big four – Australia, India, New Zealand and England – have dropped only six points between them, whereas the other six teams have dropped an average of six points each. The table is like a plane that has first class and economy, but no business class.
Time for a man crush. “Noticed during the India v Australia game,” says Pete Salmon, “that the OBO riffed about players’ names that gave them earworms. Couldn’t participate as I was at the game, but mine is not only an earworm but also reflects the man crush I think any sensible chap would have:
Kohli, Kohli, Kohli, Kohli
I’m begging of you please don’t take my man
Kohli, Kohli, Kohli, Kohli
Please don’t take him just because you can
“Get flutters just humming it.” There’s an entire drag act waiting to happen in that stanza. Kohli Parton, a sensation on the Edinburgh Fringe.
“Next update 2.30pm,” says Adam Collins, texting me from the back half of the pantomime horse. “So I will grab a quick plate and bring it back to my seat in the press box.” There is such a thing as a free lunch, but only for cricket writers who actually go to the game.
Some more correspondence. “Can someone please explain,” asks Nigel Smith, “what a Harrow shot is?” It’s a thin inside edge, which takes the ball close to the stumps, but often goes for four because professional captains don’t post long stops. Why it’s named after a famous old school, I’m not sure – over to the hive mind.
Time for some Dad stuff. I’ve been neglecting the fact that it’s Father’s Day, but Brian Withington has stepped up to the plate. “Having just tucked in to a delightful Father’s Day brunch,” he purrs, “I was thrilled to open one of my cards and discover that I have finally made it successfully into my ‘favourite’ daughter’s all-time top two parents list.” Ha. We all need a sarky daughter. “Now enjoying the obligatory celebratory lemon sherbert whilst awaiting the impending feast of Powerplay 3. Bring it on.”
My kids didn’t let me down either. My daughter said she’d be following the OBO even though she only understands about 12 per cent of it. With precision like that, love, you really should be a cricket fan. My son said “Happy Father’s Day Dad. Hope you don’t cause a diplomatic incident.”
Updated
Rain stops play! India 305-4
While the TV umpire was rocking and rolling, the on-field umpires decided the drizzle had turned to proper rain, so they’ve taken the players off.
Updated
Not out!
There’s a gap between bat and ball that is so wide, it could be the gap between India’s politicians and Pakistan’s.
Wicket? Shankar given caught behind
Off Wahab. There was a noise, but Shankar seems confident...
46th over: India 302-4 (Kohli 70, Shankar 1) A wicket and only five runs off the over from Amir, who now has the figures he deserves – 8-0-34-2. And at least Pakistan have forced Shankar to bat. But Kohli motors on and the 300 comes up, with the third hundred taking only 68 balls, whereas the first two were just over 100 apiece. India have already won this, haven’t they?
Updated
Wicket! Dhoni c Sarfaraz b Amir 1 (India 298-4)
At last, the wickets are coming in pairs. Amir strikes again, by scrambling the seam and taking the edge. It’s all about Kohli now.
45th over: India 297-3 (Kohli 67, Dhoni 1) How would you or I bowl in the face of a barrage like this? The way Hassan bowls now, sending consecutive balls down the leg side, which Kohli has only to glance for four. Oh dear. And Kohli has gone to 11,000 ODI runs in 222 innings, the fastest in history.
Updated
44th over: India 286-3 (Kohli 56, Dhoni 0) Amir returns, with enough overs to stay on for the rest of the innings. A flick for two takes Kohli to fifty, which is greeted the way a triple-hundred would be by any other crowd. Amir deserves a wicket, and it’s worth getting rid of the dangerous Pandya, but Pakistani hearts won’t be lifted by the sight of Old Man Dhoni.
“You’re serving the OBO with pizzazz nowadays, then, Tim?” scoffs Phil Sawyer. “I’ll have olives and mushrooms on mine, ta.”
Updated
Wicket! Pandya c Babar b Amir 26 (India 285-3)
Pandya gets a little too Mr Whippy, flicking more than on-driving and giving Babar Azam another straightforward catch. A decent cameo, though: without being at his murderous best, he used up only 19 balls.
43rd over: India 274-2 (Kohli 48, Pandya 22) Pandya, who can be so destructive, has started quietly – until now, as he misjudges Hassan’s slower ball and edges for six. He misses the next one, also slow, but then whips a would-be yorker for four to long leg. Pandya stands deep in the crease, whereas Kohli stands outside it, so for the bowlers, it’s like when Hayden and Langer were opening for Australia. Testing.
Updated
42nd over: India 261-2 (Kohli 47, Pandya 10) Kohli has such exceptional antennae that he is now tuning into these words from the middle. Spotting a fuller ball from Wahab, he lofts him into the deep for four. That’s his most imperious moment so far today.
41st over: India 254-2 (Kohli 41, Pandya 9) Six off the over from Hassan, not bad at this stage. Kohli has accelerated as expected, taking 25 off his last 24 balls; now he needs to go even faster.
40th over: India 245-2 (Kohli 37, Pandya 4) Kohli, sniffing the match situation, belts the first ball of Shadab’s over for four.
“Is anyone,” wonders Peter Williams, “going to produce a highlight video of Sarfaraz’s facial expressions from the World Cup so far? Could go down well on YouTube.” Very true. If he was an actor, he would get plenty of work as the downtrodden servant in Shakespeare.
Updated
39th over: India 238-2 (Kohli 30, Pandya 4) Sharma departed berating himself. He had seen the field change – Kohli pointed it out – so his irritation was to do with failing to clear the man. Any minute now, he will calm down again and realise that he has played one of the all-time great World Cup innings – 140 off only 113 balls, setting the stage superbly for Kohli and Pandya.
Updated
Wicket!! Sharma c Wahab b Hassan 140 (India 234-2)
He’s given it away! After being so good for so long, Sharma switches off, doesn’t spot the man at short fine leg, and sends a lap-ramp hybrid straight to him. “Too funky,” says Michael Clarke, sounding, possibly for the first time, like Prince.
38th over: India 230-1 (Sharma 136, Kohli 30) Wahab’s over goes for ten as Sharma flick-pulls him for four. The measure of Sharma’s mastery is that he has outscored Kohli by two to one, 61 to 30.
37th over: India 220-1 (Sharma 128, Kohli 29) If you can hear anything above the hubbub, it’s the slam of a bolt across a stable door: Imad does have a slip now, so the batsmen content themselves with milking him. It’s all one big agricultural metaphor.
Here’s Krishnamoorthy, back for a second spell. “Rohit Sharma has singlehandedly converted the ‘important toss to win’ to harakiri,” he observes. “And Uma Nair [26th over] is spot on. I nowadays prefer OBO and MBM over the actual telecast. Rob Barnay Barry Paul Will Tim .... you guys are a great panel.” Thanks, but there are more of us than that.
36th over: India 215-1 (Sharma 126, Kohli 26) Sharma plays that upper cut of his again, slapping Wahab for four. And that’s drinks, with the Indians even more on top than they were when they last took a swig of Lucozade.
35th over: India 206-1 (Sharma 119, Kohli 24) Imad bowls the perfect slow-left-arm ball to Sharma, turning, taking the edge, and presenting an easy catch to first slip – except that there isn’t one. In the dressing-room, Hardik Pandya is padded up and practising his big hits.
Updated
34th over: India 199-1 (Sharma 113, Kohli 23) Shadab gets one to lift and turn, which reminds you that Shane Warne loved Old Trafford. But it’s also ominous for Pakistan, as they have to face two wrist-spinners later. Next ball, quite unruffled, Sharma sweeps for four, bringing the blade down like an executioner.
“Amongst all the ‘Let’s at least make this a contest’ talk,” says Gary Naylor, “we should note that Pakistan crossed 340 three times out of four in the recent ODI series vs England. No score is unchaseable these days for the circular reason that no score is considered unchaseable.” In general, agreed; but in this World Cup, no score of 250 has been chaseable so far. And Pakistan’s World Cup record against India is, unfortunately, dire.
33rd over: India 191-1 (Sharma 106, Kohli 22) Sarfaraz wants to keep four overs of Amir up his sleeve, umps permitting, so he goes back to Imad, who keeps the batsmen down to four singles.
32nd over: India 187-1 (Sharma 104, Kohli 20) Shadab continues and so does the milking. The fifty partnership comes up at a run a ball. It’s been serene. If you don’t take two wickets in quick succession, you’ve got hardly any chance – but Pakistan, when they take two, are apt to grab six, so it’s too early to write them off.
31st over: India 181-1 (Sharma 102, Kohli 16) After letting Sharma have his moment, Kohli looks to dominate for the first time – a full ball from Amir, a glorious off-drive, on the up. His 16 has come off 21 balls; the next 16 won’t take so long.
30th over: India 172-1 (Sharma 100, Kohli 9) Just when Wahab was offering a threat, he is taken off, as Shadab returns. The noise on 99 is massive, never mind the hundred, which comes up as Sharma rocks back to cut for an easy single. He gets a hug from Kohli and a din and a half from the crowd, which he fully deserves (a) for making 100 off only 85 balls, and (b) for keeping his head where many a strong person might turn to jelly.
“Greetings from Sale,” says Guy Hornsby, “where I can report the sun is peeking out. Alongside a dry afternoon, the one thing this match needs is a contest, and you feel without wickets this could get sticky for Pakistan. Predictable posturing aside, this is what cricket is all about.”
Updated
29th over: India 165-1 (Sharma 95, Kohli 7) Amir returns, with a slip and gully – better strategy from Sarfaraz – and beats Kohli by scrambling the seam and pushing the ball across him. Amir has 0-9 from five overs: it’s as if he’s playing in a different match.
28th over: India 164-1 (Sharma 94, Kohli 7) Wahab, going round the wicket now, keeps Kohli honest by angling it in, and raps him on the gloves with a well-aimed lifter. The predictor is saying 351 now.
Here’s Brian Withington again, striking a personal note. “Venkat’s heartfelt plea [19th over] made an exiled East Ender who used to live nervously in the Rotherhithe DMZ really appreciate that there’s a decent river as well as the unlikely prospect of promotion/relegation between Millwall and West Ham football clubs – and that neither set of supporters has yet acquired nuclear missile launch codes.”
27th over: India 160-1 (Sharma 92, Kohli 6) Sharma plays the shot of the day so far, an upper cut for six off Hassan. If he put any effort into that, he certainly wasn’t going to show it. Kohli, meanwhile, gets a thick inside edge and scrambles two. If you didn’t know his name, you’d think he was very much the junior partner here.
26th over: India 151-1 (Sharma 85, Kohli 4) Wahab’s over goes for a regulation five.
And here’s an email from Uma Nair, pulsating like the match itself. “Pakistan and India have these full-throttled accelerating two-to-tango duels. While our histories overlap and overwhelm, what stands out is an unwritten admiration and respect for great players and worthy records that will create their own pages of history on both sides of the board. Here am I, an art critic and curator, watching the adrenalin-pumped stands full of visitors who belong to either nation or even well-heeled Brits who love watching the alchemy pour out from fields to stands. But I must say I watch the game and read your notes with great relish. It gives me something to savour because somehow the commentators don’t have your pizazz!!” Ah thanks. That’s the OBO, serving pizazz since, when was it, 2003?
25th over: India 146-1 (Sharma 81, Kohli 3) Now it’s pace at both ends as Hafeez too is ostracised for a bad first over. Hassan Ali draws an inside edge from Sharma, but it’s another Harrow squirt for four. And Kohli, of course, is instantly at home, with a cut for one and a pull for two. At the half-way stage, India are well on top but not absolutely lording it.
“Just catching up with the coverage,” says Brian Withington, “I see that in over 14 Sarfaraz ‘shoes some faith’ in Shadab. Just wondering whether that was a petite size eight belief or the size 14 Derek Pringle specials with the cut-out toes?” Nice one: putting the stiletto in, not the boot.
Updated
24th over: India 136-1 (Sharma 75, Kohli 0) Senior or not, Shoaib found himself ditched after one over. Wahab returned for the first taste of pace since the 10th over, got a warning for running on the middle of the pitch, but made that vital incision. For Pakistan, blessed relief. For India, better to lose Rahul than Sharma.
Wicket!! Rahul c Babar b Wahab 57 (India 136-1)
At last! An apparently innocuous delivery, but Rahul chips it straight to Babar at extra cover. Friends, Indians, cricket-lovers, cover your ears – it’s time for Kohli.
Updated
23rd over: India 134-0 (Rahul 57, Sharma 74) You wait an hour and a half for an elderly part-time off-spinner, then two come along at once. And each of them goes for 11 off his first over. Mohammad Hafeez tosses it up and Rahul helps himself to six, inside-out over wide long-off. The carnage has resumed.
22nd over: India 123-0 (Rahul 51, Sharma 69) Now we do have a change of bowling, and it is an elderly part-timer coming on – Shoaib Malik, playing his 287th ODI. He shows none of that experience by dropping short to Rahul, who pulls him for six to reach fifty off 69 balls. It’s been old-school.
“Couldn’t agree more with Venkat,” says Aditya Anchuri, picking up on the 19th over. “It’s made worse in this day and age of social media. People using an innocent cricket match to further their petty political agendas.”
21st over: India 112-0 (Rahul 43, Sharma 66) Rahul gets out of his rut by milking Imad.
A tweet from Gary Naylor. “Effigy manufacturing companies share prices rising on the Lahore Stock Exchange,” he chortles. “The deluxe Sarfaraz edition and the ever popular Shoaib model look the best investments as it stands now. Though you might not want to throw out the Hardik Pandya ones just yet.”
20th over: India 105-0 (Rahul 39, Sharma 63) KL Rahul has been playing second fiddle, and now he’s in danger of falling silent altogether – his 39 has come off 64 balls, and when Shadab dishes up a full toss, he can only reverse-sweep it to the man at backward point. The last eight overs have gone for just 26, yet India are still in charge.
Updated
19th over: India 103-0 (Rahul 38, Sharma 62) Sarfaraz decides to stick rather than twist, and it goes well: only two off Imad’s over. The run-rate has slowed, but that won’t worry the Indians, who tend to start slowly anyway. Pakistan need three wickets in the next 20 minutes.
“Afternoon Tim.” Afternoon Venkat. “I’m writing from Bangalore, India, to tell you that I dread India-Pakistan matches. It’s all very well to talk about the noise and the atmosphere and the excitement. But it’s all backed by 70 plus years of religious tension, violence, bloodshed, jingoism, posturing, nuclear threats, mass migrations, war and the cynical political capital made out of all the above. I wish those watching – live or on TV – would make every effort to downplay the tension and use this match as a symbol of normalcy rather than rivalry. A forlorn hope. But despite my dread, I think I’ll try and follow the match :)” That is a great email.
Updated
18th over: India 100-0 (Rahul 37, Sharma 60) Rahul pushes Shadab comfortably into the covers to bring up the hundred partnership, something no Indian openers have managed before in six World Cup games against Pakistan. And India won all those matches. That’s drinks, and you don’t need me to tell you who’s on top.
17th over: India 99-0 (Rahul 36, Sharma 60) Five singles off Imad this time, plus a wide. Sarfaraz needs to do something fast, even if it means bringing on an elderly part-timer.
“I was in India in 2003,” says Philip Mallett, “when India beat Pakistan thanks largely to 98 from Tendulkar. For the next fortnight, every hotel I stayed in showed the whole game again on huge television screens, surrounded by jubilant Indians cheering every ball. Mind you, on the day of the match there were no waiters to be seen in the restaurants. It would have been a good day to carry out a bank robbery.”
16th over: India 93-0 (Rahul 33, Sharma 58) Sharma, after catching his breath, gets going again with a late cut for four off Shadab. That was so delicate as to be almost sadistic.
15th over: India 87-0 (Rahul 32, Sharma 53) Four singles off Imad.
“Warning,” says Abhijato Sensarma. “Put on a ‘Hit-Man’ bandana... I have been keeping a close eye on my personal favourite from the very start, Rohit ‘Double Ton Specialist’ Sharma... You should too!”
14th over: India 83-0 (Rahul 30, Sharma 51) Sarfaraz shoes some faith in Shadab, who repays it by restricting the batsmen to three singles. But still the best hope of a breakthrough seems to lie with a run-out. The batsmen are in more danger from themselves than from the bowlers.
13th over: India 80-0 (Rahul 28, Sharma 50) Imad restores order, conceding just a single. And the sun comes out! Manchester, you’ve surpassed yourself.
12th over: India 79-0 (Rahul 27, Sharma 50) Sarfaraz sees that turn and plumps for spin at both ends, but instantly regrets it. Shadab comes on and it all goes horribly wrong – a long-hop cut for four, a full-toss clipped for six. That’s 17 off the over and an excellent fifty for Sharma, from only 35 balls: the stuff of match-winners.
11th over: India 62-0 (Rahul 22, Sharma 38) Rahul attacks Imad, first delicately, with the finest of sweeps, then clumsily but effectively, with a mistimed chip over midwicket. There’s another sniff of a run-out as Shadab’s flying throw goes wide of the stumps with the batsman stranded. And in between, Imad gets one to straighten, sharply. It’s all happening, and we haven’t even seen Kohli yet.
Updated
10th over: India 53-0 (Rahul 14, Sharma 37) Wahab keeps it tight until the last ball, which is spanked wide of third man by Sharma, to celebrate his reprieve. And that’s a fine fifty partnership, nice and composed apart from the one rush of blood.
Updated
Chance!
Of a run-out – Sharma went for a second, Rahul sent him back, all the man at midwicket had to do was throw to the keeper’s end, and he threw to the bowler’s end. That’s a shocker.
9th over: India 46-0 (Rahul 12, Sharma 32) Sarfaraz removes Amir, before Oxenford does, and decides it’s time for some spin. Imad Wasim starts with a wide but keps it tight thereafter. The score predictor is giving India 342, which could make for a very dull afternoon: in this World Cup, every team making 250 batting first has won.
“Morning Tim.” Morning Simon McMahon. “The atmosphere at Old Trafford looks and sounds electric, even on the telly. Reminds me a bit of the Cowdenbeath v Cove Rangers play off final second leg at Central Park a couple of seasons ago. The tension that day was off the scale.”
8th over: India 42-0 (Rahul 10, Sharma 31) Hassan had to go, so Sarfaraz sends for Wahab Riaz and it’s left-arm quicks at both ends. Sharma’s bonanza continues when Wahab tries a bouncer that just needs helping round the corner for four.
“Fantastic atmosphere at this game,” says Jonathan, “together with some top-level WHAT ARE YOU DOING with Amir running onto the pitch so often. But do you know why there are so many empty seats visible in some parts of the ground?” I don’t. At a guess, it could be the queues for security checks.
7th over: India 35-0 (Rahul 8, Sharma 26) Just a couple of quick singles and a bye off Amir. The day belongs to Rohit Sharma so far, just ahead of umpire Oxenford.
Updated
6th over: India 32-0 (Rahul 7, Sharma 25) Hassan drops too short and wide and Sharma tucks in, cutting with abandon, in the air but safely. And then he goes one better with a front-foot pull for the first six of the day. Hassan has gone for 26 already.
Meanwhile Bob O’Hara is picking up on the chat from the 1st over. “I think what Krishnamoorthy was trying to say is that #INDvPAK is almost as big as a Roses match.”
Updated
5th over: India 20-0 (Rahul 6, Sharma 14) Rahul takes on Amir’s bouncer and pulls it, handsomely, for four. Wasim Akram, on commentary, reckons that Amir’s front foot is landing too wide, reducing his ability to swing it back in. And now Amir gets a second warning from umpire Oxenford for running on the pink zone. One more and he’s off. But Amir still produces a slower ball, a cutter, that beats Rahul. His figures are impeccable: 3-1-6-0.
“Great that the game has at least started on time,” says Anand. “Nervous about India batting first in cloudy conditions. I do hope that Kohli’s decision to bat first in the warm-up against NZ was in preparation of a situation like this...”
Updated
4th over: India 16-0 (Rahul 2, Sharma 14) Hassan overpitches and Sharma plays the shot of the day, an effortless push for four to mid-off’s right. Hassan bounces back with a shorter ball that seams away and beats the bat.
3rd over: India 11-0 (Rahul 1, Sharma 10) Facing Amir, Sharma almost plays on as he tries a late leave. He’s standing outside his crease, Kohli-style, so Amir fires in a bouncer, too high to be dangerous. Amir is then warned for running on the middle of the pitch, although he only encroaches when he’s a long way down. “Bit harsh,” says Nasser Hussain.
“This is the Cavaliers vs the Roundheads,” reckons Risha Mohyeddin. “Bring it on!! Although we all know how that ended...”
2nd over: India 9-0 (Rahul 0, Sharma 9) Runs! Off the inside edge. Hassan Ali’s nip-backer defeats Rohit Sharma, but he manages a Harrow prod. When Hassan strays onto the pads, Sharma scores the first runs off the middle with an easy flick for two, followed by the same again for three. Hassan’s first over, like Amir’s, went from good to poor.
1st over: India 0-0 (Rahul 0, Sharma 0) Mohammad Amir takes centre stage and he’s learnt his lines, and lengths – first two balls in the channel, third one fuller and swinging back in. KL Rahul, watchful, blocks them all. The next three he can watch all the way into Sarfaraz’s gloves. Amir glanced up and thanked the gods of swing after the third ball, but went rather flat after that. Still, a maiden. The noise is unceasing – imagine what it’ll be liked when we have a run.
“Good morning Tim.” Good morning Krishnamoorthy. “You needed to have spent your formative years in the subcontinent to understand the nuances of an Ind-Pak match. A school-going kid in India will say Pakistan on being asked the opposite of India. That is how deep rooted the animosity is. The religious divide poisons it further as religion poisons everything it touches. It is bigger than El Clasico, North London Derby, Manchester Derby, Ashes, UCL final and London Marathon put together. There is no logic or rationale. To put it in context, my 80+ grandmom (who can’t tell a kookaburra from a baseball or a golf ball) says ”It does not matter if India loses all the matches but it must BEAT Pakistan (accompanied with a headmaster administering a spanking mime). The rest of the nation is not any better. By tonight V Kohli will be bigger than Imran and Tendulkar put together or his effigies will be burnt in front of his Delhi home.”
Never mind the weather, what about the climate? My colleague Tanya Aldred is at the game, with her campaigning hat on – do follow @TheNextText on Twitter. The word is there are no water jugs, just plastic bottles, plugging a sponsor. Come on ICC, you can do better than that.
And here’s an email from Aditi Prabhudesai. “Much hot air has been spewed forth over the perfidious English rain. With thousands of Indians and Pakistanis jetting in to watch today’s encounter, one would do well to consider other environmental issues. Climate change has the potential to disrupt cricket. I believe temperatures had touched 50C during the last Ashes. Then there’s air pollution which marred the Delhi Test played between India and Sri Lanka. There’s a good chance cricket would have to be moved indoors in the dystopian future. If and when a carbon tax is introduced, cricket audiences would be limited to locals and the well heeled. Rain, I think, would be the least of our concerns.”
Updated
Things to look out for early on
1 India’s opening pair. They’re usually immense, but Shikhar Dhawan is out with a broken thumb – can KL Rahul step up? And can VJ Shankar fill Rahul’s shoes at No.4, or will India rue the day they left Rishabh Pant at home?
2 Kohli against left-arm quicks. He only averages 50 against them, according to a Sky stat box, so he becomes just about mortal. Memo to Mohammad Amir: aim for his heel.
3 The spinners. We’re in England, in the north, on a grey day, in a dank summer, and both these teams have gone with two spinners – Chahal and Yadav for India, Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan for Pakistan. Three of the four are wrist-spinners (the exception being Imad). And both these batting line-ups can play slow bowling in their sleep, so something’s got to give.
Updated
Teams
India 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 VJ Shankar, 5 MS Dhoni (wkt), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Kedar Jadhav, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Jasprit Bumrah.
Pakistan 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt, wkt), 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Hassan Ali, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Mohammad Amir.
Toss: Pakistan win and bowl
Sarfaraz Ahmed calls tails, it is, and he opts to bowl first, because of the forecast rain. Virat Kohli says he would have done the same.
Preamble: this is huge
Morning everyone and welcome to the World Cup match with the most superlatives around its neck. It’s the noisiest, niggliest, most intense, most watched game there can be, unless India and Pakistan meet again in the final, as they did two years ago, also on English turf. The last match I covered, England v West Indies 48 hours ago, was under-hyped. That’s not a problem today.
This is England, so we have to start by talking about the weather. According to the Met Office, there’s rain around but it’s not expected to be serious until lunchtime. We should get a game, albeit a truncated one.
Both teams want to win in the same way Arsenal want to beat Spurs, or a six-year-old wants a bigger slice of cake than her eight-year-old sister. But only one of the teams needs to win. India have started authoritatively, beating Australia, dropping a point only to the rain. Pakistan have started characteristically, listless one day (against West Indies), lethal the next (against England). Currently ninth out of ten, caught between Bangladesh and Afghanistan, they really need a victory today. In fact, they need it so badly they’ve gone to the trouble of electing a World Cup-winning captain as their prime minister.
The form guide is interesting. In all their one-day international meetings, Pakistan are well ahead, by 73 wins to 54. But in the World Cup, where they have met six times, it’s 6-0 to India. And the Indians may still be smarting from the 2017 Champions Trophy, when they won the group match easily, only to be humbled in the final. Whichever way you look at it, it’s a game to savour. It begins, clouds permitting, at 10.30am BST, in about an hour.
Updated
