England not in a spin

[axel]

England not in a spin

Excellent batting from Strauss and Collingwood to give England a 300+ lead. Unfortunately India have got off to a flyer in their second innings and some typically wayward Harmy bowling. Could still be a draw, sounds a great atmosphere whilst India are throwing the bat around.

Sehwag just been dropped.

[G-Man]

England not in a spin

And he gets his 100. Next ball, Strauss goes.

[G-Man]

England not in a spin

What, exactly, is Paul Collingwood for?

He's about to answer your question, GO. Sitting on 99*

[Tubby Isaacs]

England not in a spin

Hugh Tayfield and John Traicos?

[Kusal Flyer]

England not in a spin

You may have the two best spinners in the series, unless the poker player waddles out of retirement?

Derek- can any REM song really be that obscure? I think it's still a live favorite.

[G-Man]

England not in a spin

Hmmm, England to draw the series with India, as SA did, sandwiching Australia's defeat. And with SA having beaten England away.... no. I must stop it. Stop dreaming. SA has no chance in Australia.

[diggedy derek]

England not in a spin

Impressively obscure user name there, Swann Swann Huh.

[Kusal Flyer]

England not in a spin

England 250 ahead, looking good and favorites, but even when they were 50 or 75 for 3 (so only 125-150 ahead), Fraser, Marks and co were worried about any lead less than 350. The best winning fourth innings score in Chennai is only 160, but Australia once chased 340 odd to tie.

I tip my hat to Strauss and Colly (after saying for a year they should both be dropped permanently).

England not in a spin

These two continuing to edge along nicely, 200 lead just come up.

Collingwood has had a few escapes with lofted shots, but i think he deserves them just for that LBW decision.

After 2 1/2 days it's a pretty impressive performance from England. Something that has been a problem in the past is a massive collapse undoing a couple of days of good work, but this is looking hopeful for this test... fingers crossed.

[The Purple Cow]

England not in a spin

159 is the highest score that any team has ever chased down in a fourth innings at Chennai. At tea England are effectively 143 - 3. So generally, they are in good shape. They'll sleep better tonight with a 250 lead though - he says, stating the obvious.

We need one of those old-school, flinty, "I'm a northern 'ard bastard, me" Collingwood innings, and a big shot cameo from Freddie. Should be enough.

England not in a spin

Go on Freddy twat Harbajhans stumps out the ground to round off a really good bowling display today.

[Kusal Flyer]

England not in a spin

Good cricket by England at the close. Flintoff softens up Yuvraj with some short stuff, then Harmy forces him to edge...straight to Flintoff.

Earlier Panesar took an excellent caught and bowled to dismiss Laxman.

Vic Marks will be doing his Xmas shopping in Chandigar.

[Gangster Octopus]

England not in a spin

It's fascinating just how quiet the crowd goes when England take a wicket. And they've just taken Laxman and Tendulkar, so it's gone very quiet...

[The Purple Cow]

England not in a spin

Brave umpiring.

[ursus arctos]

England not in a spin

Quite a Test debut for Mr. Swann.

This looks like it will be a much more interesting contest than most anticipated.

England not in a spin

A promising start from Jimmy, though Harmison has gone off with some sort of strain... oh dear.

We're going to end up with a 3 spin attack of Patel, Swann and Paensar at some point. Just bring back Durhams finest, Blackwell and we could have the least potent bowling attack in history.

ER... that's a bit of a random load of bollocks.

[The Purple Cow]

England not in a spin

Oh well, 316. Not enough. Though Swann must have been quite pleased with the ball that got him - the ball really jumped.

So initially a lot will depend on which Jimmy Anderson shows up - good Jimmy, or bad Jimmy. If the England seamers can get the reverse going and take a couple of wickets, that will allow Panesar and Swann some room to bowl properly.

[The Purple Cow]

England not in a spin

Collingwood was unlucky, but he looked to be in horrible nick before he got out. I think our kiwi friend took pity on him.

Flintoff has a fine balancing act tomorrow. He needs to be positive, without throwing his wicket away. This is an under-prepared pitch which is already showing signs of deterioration, Botham thinks 300 will be a winning total for England, but I think that's overly optimistic. They still need 350 to 400, I reckon. England have to bat till after lunch tomorrow to stand a chance of winning, if they are blown away in the first session they will lose the test.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

England not in a spin

Classic "Can the English tail wag?" scenario. Australia would probably go and make 330 from here; England, recent history predicts, will be bowling by lunch tomorrow defending a total of less than 250.

[kugelrund]

England not in a spin

Looks like he was unlucky.

On the other hand, Anderson was lucky; he got an edge and should've been out.

[Gangster Octopus]

England not in a spin

What, exactly, is Paul Collingwood for?

[E10 Rifle]

England not in a spin

Add Pietersen to the list of batsmen out playing Twenty20 shots.

Really good passage of play this, though. India had Harbhajan and Mishtra on for most of the afternoon session and they were dealt with comfortably but Zaheer and Yuvraj now look like taking wickets.

[The Purple Cow]

England not in a spin

Still plenty of time to screw up, but so far a good day for England. Cook got out playing a Twenty/20 shot for no good reason, and Bell caught an inswinger on his pads, but other than that, pretty solid.

If England could bat till tomorrow lunchtime they should win on this pitch. Big 'if' though.

England not in a spin

England's selectors should know that if they put Napier and Mascherenas in their squad more often they will be better in one-day cricket.

My eleven...

bopara
denly
bell
pietersen
napier
flintoff
mascerenas
foster
patel
broad
sidebotham

[ursus arctos]

England not in a spin

The best piece I've seen to date on the cricket aspects of the Mumbai attacks.