Sunday 10 June 2012

Mini-session Analysis 3rd Test Eng WI Edgbaston 12



Here is the final mini-session analysis for the third test between England and the West Indies at Edgbaston, Birmingham, England.

A mini-session is (normally) half a session, either between the start of the session and the drinks break or the drinks break and the end of the session. Occasionally a long session will have 3 mini-sessions where it will be broken up with 2 drinks breaks.

Mini-SessionScoreWinner
3-1aWest Indies 31/0 off 14draw
3-1bWest Indies 54/1 off 15West Indies
3-2aWest Indies 25/2 off 18England
3-2bWest Indies 54/2 off 18England
3-3aWest Indies 51/1 off 17West Indies
3-3bWest Indies 65/2 off 16West Indies
4-1aWest Indies 75/1 off 15West Indies
4-1bWest Indies 71/1 off 16.3West Indies
4-2aEngland 49/2 off 14West Indies
4-2bEngland 62/1 off 16England
4-3aEngland 45/0 off 7.1England
4-3bEngland 65/2 off 20.5West Indies

End of match: West Indies win the mini-session count 7-4.

A test match that would be almost completely unmemorable was livened up by one 31 over partnership. Other than that it was a test that was completely ruined by rain.

Stumps Day 3: Finally we have had some cricket. And fortunately enough runs have been scored and enough wickets have fallen that we still have a couple of options for an outcome. At 280/8 West Indies could possibly get to 320, and then if Narine is able to get some turn, bowl England out for 170 and enforce the follow on. Alternatively, England could quickly take the last two wickets tomorrow morning, and then score at 4 an over and end the day on 380, putting them 110 ahead, and making West Indies bat to save the test.

Samuels was again the star of the day, with his attacking 76 taking his series average to an impressive 96.5.

While there wasn't prodigious swing on offer today, there was bounce. And variable bounce too. Hopefully it becomes a bit of a minefield, rather than settling down and we get a result. Unfortunately the groundsman has probably done too good a job for that to happen.

It will be interesting to see how the West Indian bowlers go, being that there is such a contrast between the line ups of the two teams. England's seam bowlers are tall, and bowl about 135km/h and are reasonably accurate. West Indies however have 3 bowlers who are all very different. Sammy is tall, and bowls mid 120's. Best is short, but can bowl 150km/h. Rampaul is reasonably tall, but has a lower arm action, so doesn't generate the bounce that the English bowlers do. He tends to bowl about 130km/h. The contrasts between these three are quite significant, and this could be to West Indies advantage, as a significant number of the great seam bowling partnerships historically have been different styles of bowlers. (some examples are Hadlee & Chatfield, Thompson & Lillie, Waqar & Wasim, Lee & McGrath, Pollock & Donald, Marshall & Holding) However I'm not confident that Best & Rampaul will fit into this list in the future.

Tomorrow will be a vital day if we are going to get a result in this test. We need lots of runs and lots of wickets. If it happens it could set up an intriguing final day, but it is more likely that match will fizzle out. Regardless, the highlight is likely to be getting to watch Sunil Narine bowling in white clothing. That in itself is likely to be worth the price of admission.

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