Wednesday 5 December 2012

Mini-session Analysis, 3rd test, India vs England, Kolkata, 2012-13

Here is the final mini-session analysis for the third test between India and England at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India

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
1-1aIndia 54/1 off 14India
1-1bIndia 36/1 off 15England
1-2aIndia 30/1 off 15England
1-2bIndia 52/1 off 14India
1-3aIndia 58/1 off 16India
1-3bIndia 43/2 off 16England
2-1aIndia 43/3 off 15draw
2-1bEngland 22/0 off 11England
2-2aEngland 40/0 off 14England
2-2bEngland 59/0 off 17England
2-3aEngland 66/1 off 14England
2-3bEngland 29/0 off 17draw
3-1aEngland 50/0 off 18England
3-1bEngland 30/0 off 14draw
3-2aEngland 43/1 off 17India
3-2bEngland 42/1 off 13England
3-3aEngland 52/2 off 12England
3-3bEngland 76/1 off 16England
4-1aEngland 14/4 off 4.3India
India 32/0 off 10
4-1bIndia 54/0 off 11India
4-2aIndia 33/4 off 13England
4-2bIndia 26/2 off 17England
4-3aIndia 39/2 off 14England
4-3bIndia 55/1 off 18India
5-1aIndia 8/1 off 1.4India
England 41/3 off 12.1

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England win the mini-session count 14 - 8

First drinks, Day 1: India lead the mini-session count 1-0

It was going so well for India before Virender Sehwag had the honour of becoming the 50th batsman to be run out in a test at Eden Gardens. Gambhir will need to score big to make up for running out Sehwag while he was looking hungry for runs.

Lunch, Day 1: The mini-session count is tied up, 1-1

Monty Panesar managed to trick Che Pujara with a cunningly straight delivery. England will be very happy with 90/2 after losing the toss and being put in.

Tea, Day 1: The mini-session count is tied up, 2-2

Tendulkar is in. All across India people will be turning on TV's and radios, waiting to see what their hero can do. He's on 46, and batting very cautiously. He my be gearing up for another big score.

Final drinks, Day 1: India lead the mini-session count 3-2

More Tendulkar magic, but Yuvraj has found a way to get out after a great partnership. India need a good partnership here. After winning the toss they would not want the bowlers to be batting before the end of the first day.

Stumps, Day 1: The mini-session count is tied up, 3-3

What a great day's play. England are probably on top, but not by much. If Zaheer and Ojha can survive, and Dhoni can score some runs, then India can put together an imposing total on this pitch. However, If England knock over the tail quickly with the new ball tomorrow, then they have every chance of taking a significant lead.

First drinks, Day 2: The mini-session count is tied up, 3-3

316 is an awkward total to know how to assess. It's enough to be challenging if the pitch continues to misbehave. But it's not enough to really set the match up for India. Basically the match is balanced fairly well.

Lunch, Day 2: England lead the mini-session count 4-3

A solid start, nothing spectacular, but most of the shine has been taken off the ball without incident for England. India will have to bowl in more challenging areas if they want some breakthroughs.

Middle drinks, Day 2: England lead the mini-session count 5-3

Compton and Cook continue to bat. A couple of scares for Compton, and a missed run out opportunity against Cook, but other than that it's starting to look like it could be a long day for India.

Tea, Day 2: England lead the mini-session count 6-3

Compton is starting to score some runs. He has been so defensive this series, he looks a completely different player to the one who I saw hit 20 off 10 vs Kolkata Knight Riders for Somerset at last years CLT20. However he has started taking to the spinners, particularly Ojha. Not allowing Ojha to settle is a good move, as the pitch is taking some turn, and the English batsmen's traditional weakness against spin is likely to be shown up if the Indian spinners are allowed to find their rhythm.

Final drinks, Day 2: England lead the mini-session count 7-3

Cook is looking imperious. Compton was straight out, somehow, possibly caught, possibly lbw, possibly handled the ball, possibly obstructing the field. It was hard to say really. Either way, the real story of the hour was Cook breaking Wally Hammond's record for the number of hundreds for an Englishman.

Stumps, Day 2: England lead the mini-session count 7-3

Incredibly slow progress by the English batsmen. They are in the lead, but not by as much as you would expect after only losing one wicket in 73 overs. A good session with the new ball for India tomorrow could cause this game to take a sudden turn.

First drinks, Day 3: England lead the mini-session count 8-3

Now England are starting to bat India out of the match. They are still only one collapse away from the game being reasonably even, but every hour takes more and more out of the legs of the Indian bowlers.

Trott gave up one chance, but Sharma managed to make a complete hash of it. India can't afford to throw away opportunities.

Lunch, Day 3: England lead the mini-session count 8-3

England have again scored so slowly in that hour that they haven't advanced the game enough to really be in a better position than they were at the start of the hour.

Final drinks, Day 3: England lead the mini-session count 10-4

England are now building a sizable lead. However they have not scored fast enough that they are able to think about declaring any time soon. India have done well to restrict the English batsmen to less than 3 an over. England will be looking for at least another 150 or so runs before lunch tomorrow. If they manage that then they will be able to create some real scoreboard pressure on the Indian batsmen tomorrow.

Stumps, Day 3: England lead the mini-session count 11-4

England are close to eliminating the chance of India winning this match. The pitch seems to be still behaving itself reasonably well, but it will start to break up as the game goes on. England will probably be looking at a declaration just past lunch tomorrow.

First drinks, Day 4: England lead the mini-session count 11-5

India storm back into the game. They are still well behind, but they have made significant progress towards getting back into the game. England will be rueing dropping Sehwag. Some dropped catches can be very costly, dropping Virender Sehwag is very rarely a good idea.

Lunch, Day 4: England lead the mini-session count 11-6

England need a breakthrough soon. Sehwag and Gambhir are hitting the ball to all parts. The confidence that this will bring in the rest of the batsmen is dangerous to England, even more dangerous than the runs these two are scoring.

Middle drinks, Day 4: England lead the mini-session count 12-6

And just like that the game turns back England's way. Swann played a horrible shot this morning, but has redeemed himself by taking a couple of vital wickets.

Tea, Day 4: England lead the mini-session count 13-6

A double strike from Anderson got England another step closer to victory. We are now getting to the point where the question now is more how much will England win by, rather than what the result will be.

Final drinks, Day 4: England lead the mini-session count 14-6

Surely England will finish this off tonight now. 2 wickets left and the new ball probably available tonight. The Indian management need to make some tough decisions. Some of their stars have failed again, but more than that the horrible fielding lapses, and generally poor outcricket have contributed to what is likely to be an innings defeat by a team that is supposed to be bad in the sub-continent.

Stumps, Day 4: England lead the mini-session count 14-7

R Ashwin needs to talk to his top order batsmen. he has shown the sort of application that the batsmen needed to show earlier in the day. There is nothing wrong with batsmen getting out to a great delivery. That happens in cricket. However all of the Indian batsmen except for Yuvraj Singh got out playing either lazy shots or mindlessly attacking balls that they shouldn't have. Ashwin hasn't been without some luck, but he has generally applied himself diligently to batting sensibly.

End of match, Day 5: England in the match and the mini-session count 14-8

After a couple of scary moments for England, they cruised home comfortably to win by 7 wickets. After the first test this has been quite a turn-around. England retain the Pataudi trophy, which certainly seemed unlikely two weeks ago.

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