Player of the Match
Player of the Match
  • BATSMEN
    R
    B
    M
    4s
    6s
    SR
    179
    348
    466
    25
    1
    51.43
    109.5 he comes down the pitch, Swann fires one in wide of off stump, Gambhir miscues an attempted drive and the ball loops off an outside edge to Cook who holds a comfortable catch at backward point 320/2
    1.6 well, there you go...this game is a great leveller, gets a thin outside edge on this drive and Prior takes an easy catch by his ankles. Broad makes a major mark early on his return and what a confidence booster that is for England 6/1
    136
    328
    471
    19
    0
    41.46
    113.3 one brings two ... Dravid looks to hit the ball over long-on, but his feet aren't in the right place and he only manages to loft the ball to Panesar at deep mid-off 329/3
    119.4 gone! And Graeme Swann has his third, Tendulkar goes down for the sweep-turned-paddle and is struck on the front pad...a huge appeal from Swann and eventually Daryl Harper puts his finger up. He was struck in line with off stump and that was heading for middle 337/4
    120.6 and another goes, Flintoff has reward for all his efforts as he traps Laxman with one that nips back off the seam and takes him in front of middle. The ball would have gone on to take the top of middle and leg. He was set up by all the short stuff, then Flintoff pitched this one further up...well bowled 339/5
    140.3 the softest of dismissals sets Panesar whooping and hollering ... Yuvraj tries to work to leg but the bat twists to much as the ball pops and it loops oh-so-gently to Prior as he skips from behind the stumps 379/6
    146.5 he uses his feet and slams it right to midwicket where substitute fielder Shah makes a sharp catch - two-handed above his head - look very easy 418/7
    147.2 and another goes, Harbhajan tries to go over the top but finds mid-off who was about half way back to the boundary. Another wicket for Panesar, but India clearly just trying to have a crack 418/8
    7
    21
    37
    1
    0
    33.33
    154.3 and he strikes, Zaheer going for a wild drive through the off side and gets a thick inside edge into leg stump. Nothing less than Flintoff deserved. 446/9
    23
    31
    47
    1
    1
    74.19
    158.2 and that's that, Flintoff bursts through Mishra's defences and wraps up the innings with his third wicket 453/10
    not out
    1
    15
    15
    0
    0
    6.66
    Extras
    16 (b 5, lb 5, nb 6)
    TOTAL
    453 all out (158.2 Overs, RR: 2.86, 680 minutes)
    Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Virender Sehwag, 1.6 ov), 2-320 (Gautam Gambhir, 109.5 ov), 3-329 (Rahul Dravid, 113.3 ov), 4-337 (Sachin Tendulkar, 119.4 ov), 5-339 (VVS Laxman, 120.6 ov), 6-379 (Yuvraj Singh, 140.3 ov), 7-418 (MS Dhoni, 146.5 ov), 8-418 (Harbhajan Singh, 147.2 ov), 9-446 (Zaheer Khan, 154.3 ov), 10-453 (Amit Mishra, 158.2 ov)
    BowlingOMRWEconWDNB
    JM Anderson3258412.6202
    SCJ Broad2698413.2300
    A Flintoff30.2105431.7804
    MS Panesar2328923.8600
    GP Swann451112232.7100
    PD Collingwood201005.0000
  • BATSMEN
    R
    B
    M
    4s
    6s
    SR
    0.3 gone! An early strike for India as Zaheer sends down a very full delivery, Strauss comes across his crease and is struck in front of middle and leg stumps. A long appeal from Zaheer and Harper eventually raises his finger. There's a thought it might have missed leg stump, but it looks pretty good and a great early blow for the home side 0/1
    50
    67
    99
    8
    0
    74.62
    21.6 superb yorker, and that is stone-dead! Round the wicket, angling into the pads and Cook has no chance of digging that one out 104/3
    1.1 gone! And another one goes, Sharma strikes first ball with a full ball that shapes back. Bell goes for a drive and gets a little inside edge which takes the ball straight into middle stump 1/2
    71.1 what a time to strike, Harbhajan traps Pietersen from around the wicket, the ball pitched in line and straightened and umpire Rauf thought that was fine. It looked good first up and it was hitting leg stump on the replays 280/5
    30.3 what wonderful bowling, Mishra strikes with his third ball as he flights one on middle, plenty of loop, it grips and spins to take Collingwood's outside edge and it's another breakthrough for India 131/4
    72.6 and another one falls, what a strike, Mishra has Flintoff caught low at short leg. A superb catch from Gambhir under the helmet as Flintoff gets an inside edge onto his pad. Anderson took a single to expose Flintoff again and he hasn't survived. Should Anderson have taken the whole over? That's what he was sent out to do. 282/6
    not out
    8
    30
    52
    0
    0
    26.66
    75.1 gone! early strike for India, Prior is caught down the leg side off one than spins...he tries to glance it around the corner, but gets a thin edge to Dhoni. Batsmen often think that it's a strangle, but the bowler will happily take it 285/7
    77.4 gone! round the wicket, and Broad leaves it alone only to see his off stump get knocked back, poor judgement and he pays the price. That was well bowled, it was almost a straight ball that Broad decided not to play 290/8
    3
    9
    12
    0
    0
    33.33
    80.3 and another goes, well bowled, shapes back in late to Swann and crashes into middle stump. That was too good for the No.10, superb show of swing bowling and England collapsing in style 293/9
    83.5 prods forward, inside edge into his front pad and a fairly simple catch to short leg moving swiftly to his left. A sense of inevitability about that 302/10
    Extras
    15 (b 1, lb 7, nb 6, w 1)
    TOTAL
    302 all out (83.5 Overs, RR: 3.6, 368 minutes)
    Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Andrew Strauss, 0.3 ov), 2-1 (Ian Bell, 1.1 ov), 3-104 (Alastair Cook, 21.6 ov), 4-131 (Paul Collingwood, 30.3 ov), 5-280 (Kevin Pietersen, 71.1 ov), 6-282 (Andrew Flintoff, 72.6 ov), 7-285 (Matt Prior, 75.1 ov), 8-290 (Stuart Broad, 77.4 ov), 9-293 (Graeme Swann, 80.3 ov), 10-302 (Monty Panesar, 83.5 ov)
    BowlingOMRWEconWDNB
    Z Khan2137633.6110
    I Sharma1205514.5804
    Yuvraj Singh612003.3300
    Harbhajan Singh20.526843.2600
    A Mishra2407523.1201
  • BATSMEN
    R
    B
    M
    4s
    6s
    SR
    72.6 short, he steps back to cut but gets too much top edge on it and Bell takes an excellent catch diving wide to his left at backward point 251/7
    5.5 hit hard back to Broad who half stops, Sehwag sets off for a really sharp single, taking on Bell who races in from short extra cover, picks up and in the same move dives with the ball in his hand and demolishes the stumps, sending all three sprawling, and Sehwag just continues running, he's not waiting for the third umpire 30/1
    0
    19
    28
    0
    0
    0.00
    11.6 gone! Broad strikes, this one bursts through Dravid's defences as it nips back off the seam and takes out middle stump. A long duck for Dravid, who was stuck in the crease and didn't get forward...follows a century with a nought. It's a funny old game 36/2
    19.4 gone, and another one goes, almost silence around the ground apart from the England fans as Tendulkar steers one outside to Swann at gully. Tendulkar hasn't been able to break free and that was a rather loose shot, not a great match for Sachin 44/3
    38.1 too short, he steps back and cuts to extra cover, there's a mix-up, Laxman's slow to set off, Flintoff bends to his right, picks up and throws and even though Prior still had some work still to do, Laxman's well short 80/4
    67.5 a conventional sweep this time, he sets off for the single and has to hurry to get back as Bell at short fine-leg makes an excellent pick-up and scores a direct hit. Pietersen standing no more than two yards from umpire Harper yells the appeal and we go to the third umpire. And he's gone, had it not hit then he would have been OK, it was that close, but Pietersen clearly delighted as Yuvraj troops off. 233/5
    69.1 a very tame dismissal,, Dhoni goes back and spoons the softest of catches back to the bowler. The ball stopped on him a little and he tried to check the shot but only managed to loop it straight to Panesar 241/6
    not out
    5
    10
    11
    1
    0
    50.00
    Extras
    26 (b 10, lb 8, nb 3, w 5)
    TOTAL
    251/7d (73 Overs, RR: 3.43, 330 minutes)
    Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Virender Sehwag, 5.5 ov), 2-36 (Rahul Dravid, 11.6 ov), 3-44 (Sachin Tendulkar, 19.4 ov), 4-80 (VVS Laxman, 38.1 ov), 5-233 (Yuvraj Singh, 67.5 ov), 6-241 (MS Dhoni, 69.1 ov), 7-251 (Gautam Gambhir, 72.6 ov)
    BowlingOMRWEconWDNB
    JM Anderson1985112.6800
    SCJ Broad1425013.5730
    A Flintoff1313903.0013
    GP Swann1734912.8800
    MS Panesar1004414.4000

Match Details

Toss

India , elected to bat first

Player Of The Match

Player Of The Series

Series result

India won the 2-match series 1-0

Match number

Season

Hours of play (local time)

09.00 start, Lunch 12.30-13.10, Tea 14.55-15.15, Close 17.00

Match days

19,20,21,22,23 December 2008 (5-day match)

TV Umpires

Reserve Umpire

Match Referee

Close of Play

  • Fri, 19 Dec - day 1 - India 1st innings 179/1 (G Gambhir 106*, R Dravid 65*, 72 ov)
  • Sat, 20 Dec - day 2 - India 1st innings 453
  • Sun, 21 Dec - day 3 - England 1st innings 282/6 (JM Anderson 1*, 73 ov)
  • Mon, 22 Dec - day 4 - India 2nd innings 134/4 (G Gambhir 44*, Yuvraj Singh 39*, 50 ov)
  • Tue, 23 Dec - day 5 - England 2nd innings 64/1 (28 ov) - end of match

Match Notes

  • 'We wanted them to score their centuries' - Dhoni

    Mahendra Singh Dhoni doesn't seek refuge behind words. On Tuesday, he offered up no excuses for the late declaration, which left India with a maximum of only 43 overs to try and bowl England out

  • Test cricket deserves better

    A match that could, and should, have been fought to a rousing finish was allowed to meander to a miserable stalemate

  • Centuries don't matter, victories do

    Given that there were still 68 overs to be bowled when the teams finally took to the field, you could scarcely blame India for batting on. After a week when seemingly insurmountable targets have been achieved with ludicrous ease, there was no point taking

  • India take series after dull draw

    India clinched the two-Test series against England 1-0 after the second Test ended in a draw here on Tuesday

  • Yuvraj spurred by banter

    The confidence with which Yuvraj Singh batted on the fourth evening went a long way towards eliminating the slim possibility of an Indian defeat