Zimbabwe tonk Australia

A stunning Zimbabwe performance last night turned the cricketing world on its head when they beat Australia by five wickets in the Twenty20 world cup.

Australia won the toss and chose to bat, but began the innings with a display that Ricky Ponting later admitted was ‘diabolical’ as three wickets fell in the first four overs. Ponting and Gilchrist both tried to attack the Zimbabwean bowling but ended up top-edging balls, leaving Oz in trouble on 19-3.

Symonds and Hussey steadied the ship briefly before Mr Cricket himself was run out by some superb fielding, and with half the overs gone Australia had only registered 51 runs. When Symonds was stumped by Brendan Taylor – one of three of the keeper’s scalps in the Oz innings – Australia must have realised that they were in a proper pickle. Brad Hodge managed to salvage something from the afternoon, scoring 35 not out and shepherding the tail to help the side reach an almost respectable 138-9.

Zimbabwe were consistently tight with their bolwing and fielding and whatever happened in their innings could be proud to have restricted Australia to a modest total and come within a whisker of bowling them out.

Zimbabwe made a good start in reply, reaching 31 before the first wicket fell, and despite some fine bowling from Australia never quite lost sight of their target. A break for rain looked like it spelled doom for Zimbabwe as Lewis-Duckworth calculations put them several runs behind the required rate, the Oz bowlers having put some needed pressure on the batsmen.

However, when they came out after the break at 74-4 Zimbabwe’s batsmen looked more settled and determined, and Brendan Taylor’s batting held the side together. Entering the final over with 12 runs to win, Zimbabwe were handed victory on the penultimate ball as Bracken clipped Taylor’s pad for 4 leg byes.

Zimbabwe were ecstatic, and Brendan Taylor – the Man of the Match – gave as emotional an interview as I have ever seen after a match. The charmingly named Prosper Utseya must take credit for captaining an efficient side to a historic victory.

After the match Ponting ruefully admitted that perhaps Australia had not taken the Twenty20 format seriously, but his teams attitude and lack of preparation should not take away from the professional and accomplished performance of Zimbabwe.

England vs India, 7th and last ODI, Lord’s

11.25am England strike early
After Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to bat, Jimmy Anderson put England in the driving seat with two early wickets. Dravid might have been regretting his decision as he walked back to the pavilion for a duck to give England their third scalp of the morning.

Beer consumption so far: 1 can. 

11.50am Cleverest bit of cricket all summer
Ian Bell, as well as the mainstay of England’s batting, has shown himself to be as cunning as a fox with a sneaky fake bit of fielding to prevent a second run being taken. Chasing the ball in tandem with Dimitri Mascaraenhas, he executed a slide before he had caught up with the ball, fooling Yuvraj Singh into not stealing a second run.

Meanwhile, Tendulkar was dismissed by Flintoff for 30, although TV replays suggest strongly that his bat did not touch the ball. A bitterly disappointing end to what is almost certainly his last innings at Lord’s.

India are in deep trouble, and need a big partnership from Yuvraj and Uthappa to have any chance of winning.

1.55pm England mop up
India’s dismal innings came to an end when MS Dhoni chipped a Flintoff ball to Jimmy Anderson. Dhoni was the only batsman to reach 50, leaving India with an almost impossible task in front of them. England’s batting is strong and they should cruise to victory.

India 187 all out in 47.3 overs, Dhoni 50, Mascarenhas 3-23, Anderson 2-22.

Beer consumption so far: 3 cans (awaiting fresh supplies)
Cornish pasty consumption so far: 1 pasty

3.40pm England wobble
India kept hopes of victory alive after dismissing both England openers in the first two overs. Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell steadied the ship with a partnership of 63 before Belly was run out in a mix up between the batsmen. England will still be confident of victory but India will not have lost hope yet.

5.15pm England wrap up victory
Kevin Pietersen (71 not out) and Paul Collingwood (64 not out) saw England safely home in the 37th over. After the fireworks at The Oval the match was something of an anticlimax, and India looked like a beaten team long before the final runs were hit.

England 188 for 3 in 36.2 overs, Pietersen 71*, Collingwood 64*, RP Singh 2-40.

Coming soon: a rambling discussion of the series and the England players’ performances.

Preview: 2nd ODI, Bristol, and The Perfect Fixture

The second ODI between India and England starts this afternoon. On paper England ought to walk it. India have been struck by flu and England will be full of confidence from the first game. However, both teams are so unpredictable, equally capable of collapsing in a heap or fighting to the last ball.

Meanwhile, Middlesex and Gloucestershire are in the third day of their match at Lord’s, having managed only 8.2 overs in the last two days. I’m looking forward to turning up tomorrow. Is there anything that more embodies the spirit of cricket than the final day of a Division 2 County Championship match with absolutely no prospect of any result but a draw? Perfect.

Durham victorious

Durham cruised to victory on the second half of the FP final at Lord’s today. Hampshire showed little sign of making a serious attempt to chase down the runs as Collingwood and Plunkett picked off the batsmen.

The decision to let the final run onto a second day – unpopular with Aggers over on the TMS blog and no doubt with many Durham fans too – allowed Plunkers to redeem himself from yesterday’s disappointing display and finish with respectable figures of 3 for 42 and an economy of 4.66. I like Plunkett, but both Durham and England fans have learnt never to be sure what to expect of him. He can be wayward at times, and a leg-side full toss this afternoon was a stark reminder of that, but his very next over was a wicket maiden, an outstanding piece of cricket so late in a one-day innings. Hopefully a stint for his county will help him acquire the consistency that would make him a formidable and long-term part of England’s bowling attack.

Plunkett is not the only Durham player who may be a part of England’s future. Graham Onions continues to impress and it is hard to imagine that he will not have a chance to play for the national side soon. Equally, Mustard’s record should make him a contender to replace Prior if his poor form continues. And who can deny that they would relish the headlines that those two would engender?

Anyway, congratulations to Durham for their first title, and to Ottis Gibson for his man of the match award.

Durham in charge at Lord’s

In their sixteenth year of First Class cricket Durham have victory in sight at the Friends Provident final at Lord’s.

Entering the final as underdogs, Durham were handed a surprise boon by Shane Warne when he won the toss and elected to field. Wicket-keeper Phil ‘Colonel’ Mustard got the innings off to a flying start with a quick-fire 49, featuring 6 fours and a six and was unlucky to be given out LBW before reaching his half-century.

Shiv Chanderpaul – one of two West Indians to star for Durham – put on 78, reaching his 50 with a six, before being run out after misreading the field. Having gained a reputation as a slow accumulator during this summer’s matches against England his 78 runs came off just 79 balls, and was complimented by Coetzer’s mature 61.

Much was made in this morning’s papers about the clash between Paul Collingwood and Shane Warne, who had such fun together in Australia last winter, but in the end it didn’t amount to much. Colly made a scrappy 22 before being caught, but he’ll be relieved at least not to have been undone by the Warnester.

Ottis Gibson came in with only 13 balls left in the innings and made his intentions clear by knocking his first delivery for six, and the second for four, finishing not out with 15 runs off 7 balls. Durham captain Dale Benkenstein finished the innings in style by hitting three boundaries in a row and ending on 61. He will have been confident that his team’s formidable 312 – a record for a Lord’s final – would prove a tough target for Hampshire.

Gibson, no doubt buoyed by his batting cameo, cemented his place in the Durham fans’ affection when he struck with the first ball of the Hampshire innings to have Lumb caught at second slip. If that weren’t enough, he repeated the feat with very next ball, leaving Hampshire floundering on 0-2. In came Kevin Pietersen who could only manage a boundary-free 12 before becoming Gibson’s third victim, leg before wicket in the 9th over.

John Crawley was the only batsman to offer hope to the Hampshire fans, scoring 68 before Collingwood slipped a cutter past his bat in the 30th over and sent his leg stump flying.

Hampshire were on 153-5 and looking down the barrel of a comprehensive defeat when the three of the most depressing words in cricket, ‘rain stopped play*’, brought the match to an abrupt halt.

*Second only to ‘England batting collapse’.