England XI share honours with MCA XI
Santhosh S - 19 November 2001
England XI had a good outing today at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
On the second and final day of the two-day match against Mumbai
Cricket Association President's XI, played on Monday, England XI
amassed 370/3 in 90 overs, in reply to MCA XI's 373/5. The match ended
in a predictable draw.
England got off to a solid start in the morning. Marcus Trescothick
was as always in an attacking mood, pulling the medium-pacer Aavishkar
Salvi for a six. Trescothick played some cracking shots to the fence
as the bowlers erred in line and length. In contrast, Mark Butcher
found the attack not to his liking. He made batting look a difficult
task and inched forward as if treading through a minefield.
Trescothick was the star of the morning's play, using his feet to
tackle the spinners and showing positive approach. He walked down the
track and smacked two huge sixes over long-on off the bowling of
Nilesh Kulkarni to move from 48 to 60. The Somerset opener lost his
wicket to aggression, going for a sweep of Ramesh Powar and top-edging
the ball to Kambli at square leg. Trescothick made 60 off 68 balls
with the help of three sixes and six boundaries.
Michael Vaughan didn't do any better than Butcher; he was very
tentative in his brief stay in the middle. Vaughan (2) pushed forward
at a delivery from Kulkarni and the faint edge was well taken by
wicketkeeper Abhijit Shetye.
Nasser Hussain walked in to join Butcher at the score of 91/2 and
immediately made his intentions clear by lofting Kulkarni for four.
Soon after the luncheon break Butcher (33 off 104 balls) put an end to
his misery by running himself out. Thorpe joined Hussain and the two
most experienced batsmen in the side went on about their task without
any fuss. There was nothing in the bowling to suggest that they were
threatening to take a wicket.
Hussain and Thorpe punished the bowling all around the park. Hussain
was the aggressive of the two, smashing his way to 70 retired hurt off
125 balls, which included seven boundaries and three huge sixes.
Thorpe was keen on gathering the runs, waiting for the ball till the
last moment to play it on both sides of the wicket. The amount of time
that is this stylish left-hander from Surrey has to play the strokes
is amazing to see.
Thorpe made 45 off 83 balls, striking four boundaries and took England
XI to 232/3 at the tea break. Thorpe too retired hurt to pave way for
Craig White and Mark Ramprakash to have a go after the tea break.
England XI scored 138 runs off the 28 overs, which was also the fourth
wicket partnership between the two batsmen. Ramprakash remained
unbeaten on 58 off 96 balls, striking five boundaries. The highlight
of the session's play was the explosive batting by Craig White.
The Yorkshire all-rounder struck five huge sixes and seven boundaries
in his whirlwind unbeaten knock of 79 runs off 73 balls. White was
simply superb against the spinners, using his feet to smack the ball
high and over the fielders. Ramprakash too played a fine hand, showing
good technique against the spin trio.
England can take heart from the performance of their batsmen, which
will be crucial in the Test series. Trescothick, Hussain, Thorpe,
Ramprakash and White are all in good form. Unlike many visiting teams
who struggle in the tour opener, England showed lot of resolve and
character on a hot Monday afternoon, giving away nothing to the home
side.
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