England vs Saffers | 1st T20 | Chester-le-Street | 8th Sep 2012

[velu]

England 118/7 in 20 overs..

Saffers 34/3 in 5 overs.

 

[leatherface58]

Horrible pitch for t20 cricket it seems. Ideally should be 150+ which can be chased as well

 

[khanz141]

its such a boring match, no good atmosphere at all. Or maybe i am getting used to Dubai

 

[MRSN]

Why did he bowl Bopara ) expensive over might cost them the game.

 

[velu]

50/3 in 7 overs

 

[James]

The only thing worse than England's batting in this game has been the atmosphere. Absolutely atrocious backdrop on which to lose by five wickets.

 

[Saurav]

Kallis wicket will make it interesting

 

[Mohsin]

The only thing worse than England's batting in this game has been the atmosphere. Absolutely atrocious backdrop on which to lose by five wickets.

Ill be honest, international T20/ODI cricket doesnt suit England for some reason.
Tests are AWESOME here, it suits us it seems, but the shorter versions (especially day-nighers) really seem out of place!

 

[Poison]

Good to see class like Kallis putting joker Bopara back in his place.

 

[James]

We're actually bowling pretty well, and in the game. Trouble is that no one cares.

 

[velu]

back to back 4s for duminy..
usually saffers ll choke from here

 

[leatherface58]

Saffers dont choke in JamT20. They are big match players

 

[dirk diggler]

ive been to funerals with more atmosphere

 

[Saurav]

ive been to funerals with more atmosphere

interesting theres decent crowd.looks like they banned them from doing anything other than clapping

 

[James]

I think I just heard a bit of dust slide off Jade Dernbach's shoe.

 

[golimar]

Kallis and Duminy win the match for SA.

 

[Green Leopard]

Tried to watch the first few overs, and thought this was cricket's equivalent of a funeral, and left it at there. What an anti-climax from yesterday's T20i game.

 

[James]

Terrible. A real embarrassment for the format.

 

[MattyB]

Ill be honest, international T20/ODI cricket doesnt suit England for some reason.
Tests are AWESOME here, it suits us it seems, but the shorter versions (especially day-nighers) really seem out of place!

Usually more families turn up for T20's than they do for Test matches and families don't usually add much atmosphere.

I don't think England's performance helped the atmosphere. There was a bit of atmosphere when Swann and Broad were hitting boundaries towards the end however after going ~9 overs without a boundary with regular fall of wickets there was never going to be much atmosphere. However in my opinion I prefer a fairly quiet crowd over the excessively loud crowds you see in Asia who scream every time an Indian scores a run..

Overall, England got dominated. Hales looked good 'til he got ran out, Kieswetter didn't look settled and all of our big hitting middle order in Morgan, Bairstow & Butler got out cheaply to poor shots. I hope they take out Bopara, move Morgan and Bairstow up to 3 & 4 and then put Luke Wright(who can also bowl a few overs like Bopara) in at number 5.

 

[truthseer]

What a loss for England. How'd they win the last WC? Must have been a huge blip!

 

[James]

England are usually good in this format, home and away. They hold the World Cup, win most of their home meets, drew in Australia, and even beat India in India. This was a very poor game for them though.

 

[leatherface58]

Dernbach is good for t20. Crap in odi. Woakes is much better option .

 

[velu]

saw second half of the game in parts, its certain that english crowd is not much interested in T20

 

[cricketworm]

saw second half of the game in parts, its certain that english crowd is not much interested in T20

Crowd was decent I reckon, but there were bunch of young guys with 'Kevin Who' sticker on their t-shirts. Ironically, they badly needed KP here.

 

[James]

This is how good we are without KP on tricky, turning tracks. See also 5th ODI. See also test series' against Sri Lanka and South Africa where we would have been whitewashed without his match-winning and match-saving innings respectively.

Wahhhhh.

 

[truthseer]

This is how good we are without KP on tricky, turning tracks. See also 5th ODI. See also test series' against Sri Lanka and South Africa where we would have been whitewashed without his match-winning and match-saving innings respectively.

Wahhhhh.

Too bad he doesn't want to play with 4 off his countryman in the team at the same time

 

[withlovefrom vizag]

bopara

 

[MattyB]

What a loss for England. How'd they win the last WC? Must have been a huge blip!

7 of the players who played in the WC final(KP, Lumb, Collingwood, Wright, Bresnan, Yardy & Sidebottom) did not play today, it's amazing how in only three years we have managed to completely dismantle the only English side to have won a World Cup.

However I wouldn't write off this England side, they have played very well over the last year or so and have certainly shown potential. Ofcourse we will miss KP but life will go on and the combined firepower of Butler, Bairstow, Kieswetter, Morgan and hopefully Luke Wright should easily make up for it.

bopara

One key thing for batsmen is the intimidation factor they put in the opposition. Even the newer players such as Bairstow, Butler and Hales put more fear in the opposition than Bopara does. The Saffers hardly celebrated when they got him out because they knew he was rubbish and them getting him out would bring a far better batsman to the crease.

Bopara is abit similar to Ramprakash, both are too good for county cricket but not good enough to compete at the international stage. Bopara always plays badly and goes back to Essex, there he scores runs and makes his way back into the England team only to fail again and go back to his county.. Hopefully soon enough the selectors will see the error and give up with him.

 

[Gone]

I watched the last 10 overs of SA innings... and the match was just dragging on the commentators kept speaking about things going outside the stadium, in the end they were speaking about the people getting on the bus outside the ground for like 15minutes.... Match was damn boring! After watching Pak Aus t20 this match is completely contrasting :S

 

[James]

KP, Lumb, Collingwood, Wright, Bresnan, Yardy & Sidebottom

KP is the only major loss from this septet. Until his disappearance we were winning most of our T20 games.

The rest are past it or village. Except Bresnan, perhaps.

 

[Saurav]

KP is the only major loss from this septet. Until his disappearance we were winning most of our T20 games.

The rest are past it or village. Except Bresnan, perhaps.

Luke Wright?

 

[James]

Okay, there's maybe a case for the otherwise pointless Luke Wright to replace the disgrace that is Ravi Bopara.

We sacked KP and gave Bopara an incremental contract. Lol at us.

 

[Savak]

Okay, there's maybe a case for the otherwise pointless Luke Wright to replace the disgrace that is Ravi Bopara.

We sacked KP and gave Bopara an incremental contract. Lol at us.

You should be blaming KP for his antics, it is because of his ego he is not playing for England today when they so badly needed him.

 

[leatherface58]

one must feel for carberry. the dude got dumped after a bangladesh series where he didnt do too badly. but ttfs like bopara keep getting picked over him.

in odi and t20, luke wright is mediocre but the guy biffs a couple from time to time. bopara's sr is embarassing in t20 . ironically even has a superior sr and average.

i got nothing against ravi. the man is hardworking, seems like a decent, well-behaved chap. but clearly he isnt justifying the trust management is putting in him.

in odis, woakes should replace bits and pieces cricketers like patel, bopara or atleast crap bowler like dernbach(keep him for t20s).

 

[Maximas]

This English Tour of South Africa turned out to be like a horrible tornado leveled everything (KP, Most successful captain, Fanbase). Its very high loss for ECB due to IPL side-effect.