Showing posts with label StuartBroad8. Show all posts
Showing posts with label StuartBroad8. Show all posts

Friday, 2 August 2013

Aussies Declare as Clarke Bowled

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Stuart Broad bowled Michael Clarke for 187 to claim his 200th Test wicket before Australia declared their first innings on 527-7 shortly after tea on day two at Old Trafford.

Broad became the 15th Englishman, and second youngest after Sir Ian Botham, to reach the milestone but the runs kept coming for the tourists in the third Ashes Test, Brad Haddin (65no) and Mitchell Starc (66no) helping themselves to half-centuries.

Clarke and Haddin put on 62 in good time either side of lunch and it was something of a surprise when Clarke deflected a short ball onto his stumps. The Australia skipper's effort spanned 314 balls, included 23 fours and is the highest of his five Ashes hundreds.

England spinner Graeme Swann, who had removed Steve Smith (89) and David Warner (5) before lunch, completed his 17th five-wicket haul in Tests with the wicket of Peter Siddle (1), who was bowled aiming into the leg side.

But Starc joined Haddin in a boundary-filled, eighth-wicket stand of 97 in 19.3 overs as each of England's frontline bowlers - Swann (5-159), Broad (1-108), Tim Bresnan (1-114) and James Anderson (0-116) - ended the afternoon session with more than 100 in the runs conceded column.

Clarke called his batsmen in four overs after tea, giving Australia plenty of time to try and make some inroads into England's top order before the close.

Australia resumed on 303-3 at the start of day two and, in bright sunshine, Clarke and Smith batted throughout the first hour with few alarms to extend their fourth-wicket partnership to 214 - before Smith suffered a rush of blood to deny himself a maiden Test hundred.

He came down the pitch to Swann and miscued a big heave into the leg side. Jonny Bairstow, at midwicket, made a steepling catch look easy.

Warner, recalled for his first appearance of the series after serving a ban for punching England's Joe Root in a Birmingham bar earlier in the summer, was given a hostile welcome by the Manchester crowd.

He lasted only 10 balls. Swann found the left-hander's outside edge and Jonathan Trott at slip took the catch after it looped up via wicketkeeper Matt Prior's thigh.

Warner, who hit his pad with the bat at the same moment the ball made contact with his outside edge, was convinced he had not hit it and - after a discussion with Clarke - wasted Australia's last DRS review in a futile attempt to overturn umpire Tony Hill's decision.

Australia are 2-0 down in the series and need victory in Manchester to keep alive their hopes of regaining the Ashes.


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Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Broad Admits Delight With Win



Twenty20 captain Stuart Broad admitted he thought England had let the series slip from their grasp in the deciding game against Pakistan.

Kevin Pietersen made an unbeaten 62 to help the tourists, who had won the second match in Dubai on Saturday to level the three-match series at 1-1, post a competitive total of 129-6 in Abu Dhabi.

Pakistan's reply suffered a disastrous start when they lost Mohammad Hafeez for a golden duck, but solid contributions from Awais Zia (23) and Asad Shafiq (34) put them firmly on course for victory.

However, bowlers Broad and Jade Dernbach held their nerve in the two overs of a low-scoring contest, meaning England triumphed by five runs.
Slipping away

"We obviously had a bit of inexperience in that first game, and today they had a lot of experience," said Broad, who conceded just four runs from his final over, the penultimate of the match, as well as dismissing Umar Akmal.

"It proves they're quite difficult wickets to score on, and that's what kept us going.

"After 10 overs, if we're all honest, it looked like the game was slipping away from us.

"But the 11 guys on the field were very clear that, if we could get a couple of tight overs in, you can change Twenty20 games just like that.

"I think the communication between the fellas was brilliant, and that probably led to us winning the game."

Broad singled out the in-form Pietersen, who crucially hit the final ball of England's innings for six, and seamer Dernbach for special praise.

"It was a tense game," the skipper admitted.

"KP showed his experience, to know it wasn't going to be a 150-160 wicket.

"Once we got up to 130, I always thought that was going to be competitive.

On Dernbach, who was left with the task of bowling the final over with 13 needed, Broad added: "Jade was fantastic with his final two overs, very high-pressure overs to bowl - and he showed his Twenty20 class there."

Pietersen, whose crucial knock saw him named man of the match, admitted the slow nature of the surface had not made it easy to score runs.

"It was a difficult wicket," he said. "I found it quite hard to score really quickly, and they were quite big boundaries as well.

"The Pakistani bowlers are fantastic bowlers. Saeed Ajmal is world-class; the angle (Mohammad) Hafeez was bowling with was fantastic, and Umar Gul is very good with reverse-swing."

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who was unable to hit the final delivery of the match for six to get his side over the line, praised England's seamers for turning the situation around at the death.

"Through the last five overs, England bowled very well," he said.

"They have throughout the series, the slower ones, reverse-swing - it's been remarkable - and we just couldn't make the runs.

"That second-last over, from Broad, just pushed the game away from us."


Friday, 17 February 2012

KP Frustrated by One Day Form


Kevin Pietersen has admitted he is frustrated by his one-day form for England but vowed to build on his opening partnership with Alastair Cook.

England face Pakistan in Dubai in the third game of the four-match one-day international series on Saturday.

While Cook has notched successive hundreds, Pietersen has scored just 14 and 26 in the two victories so far.

"I haven't scored the runs I wanted to. It's been very, very challenging," he told Test Match Special.

"The frustrating part is that I've always got myself in and then you get out.

"I've been lucky enough over the last 18 months that I've gone on and got some big Test hundreds and scored a lot of of runs.

"You can't have it your way all the time," added the 31-year-old, who made scores of 2, 0, 14, 1, 32 and 18 in England's 3-0 Test series defeat by Pakistan.

In the one-day games, England have rebounded from that whitewash in style so far and victory at the weekend will seal the series.

Sandstorms could yet threaten the fixture, however.

Speaking on Twitter, bowler Stuart Broad warned : "Training was highly unpleasant in the sandstorm, struggled to open the eyes! Conditions will have to change for tomorrow's game to be OK."

But, weather permitting, Pietersen said he was hoping for a repeat of the opening stands of 57 and 67 already recorded in the series.

He said: "To get ourselves to 60 or 70 is something we haven't done in a long time. We had done it one in five games and now we've done it two in two."

Pietersen, whose run of dismissals to spinners continued in the first two one-day games in Abu Dhab, said the Umpire Decision Review System (DRS) was making life even more difficult for batsmen on sub-continent and Middle East wickets.

"It's not a case of bad form at the moment, it's generally something all batters have to look at now, the way they play spinners with the DRS, especially in the sub-continent," he said. "The ball is not going over the stumps."

Asked whether batsmen had to change the way they played because of it, he replied: "One hundred per cent - or you're going to lose."


Friday, 3 February 2012

Broad Battles for England


Stuart Broad was in scintillating form as England dismissed Pakistan for 99 on the first day of the third and final test on Friday before the visitors lost two early wickets in their reply.

Broad ripped through Pakistan's top order as the hosts collapsed to 53 for seven at lunch after winning the toss and electing to bat.

The paceman took four for 21 in a devastating spell as England looked to restore some pride after heavy defeats in the opening two matches.

New ball partner James Anderson got England off to a perfect start when he struck with the last ball of the first over, removing Taufeeq Umar with a regulation leg before decision.

Broad was soon among the wickets when he trapped Azhar Ali in his third over, the batsman sent back to the pavilion when a TV review showed he had feathered a catch through to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.

It was also a poor morning for umpire Simon Taufel, who had a second not out decision overturned by an England review when Muhammad Hafeez was given out lbw to a Broad delivery that was clipping leg stump to leave Pakistan four down.

His counterpart Steve Davis was having a better time of it and was vindicated after two Pakistan reviews - the first ordered by captain Misbah-ul-Haq and the second by Adnan Akmal - both backed up his decision to give them out lbw.

In between the two Taufel reviews, Younis Khan played a loose shot outside off stump to a Broad lifter and when Abdul Rehman gifted spinner Graeme Swann his wicket 20 minutes before lunch, Pakistan were reeling on 44-7 and in danger of not reaching their lowest test score of 53, scored against Australia at Sharjah in 2002.

Asad Shafiq, in tandem with Saeed Ajmal, provided the only real resistance with a fluid innings of 45 which ended shortly after the afternoon drinks break when he attempted to cut a straight one from Monty Panesar which hit him on the back pad.

After Shafiq's exit, Umar Gul entertained the small contingent of Pakistan fans with a brief cameo - including one huge six off Panesar - before Anderson rearranged his stumps to bring the innings to a close with his third wicket.

England followed Pakistan's example and lost two wickets before tea.

Alastair Cook departed early as he played away from his body at a Gul delivery, inducing an edge which was finely pouched by wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal diving in front of first slip.

He was soon followed by Jonathan Trott, who was unfortunate to be given out leg before on two to a Gul delivery which TV replays showed was slipping down the leg side.

Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen steadied the England ship after the interval as England moved on to 54 for 2.



Friday, 27 January 2012

Broad and Monty Steer England


England are on course to level their three-match Test series against Pakistan thanks to Stuart Broad's runs and Monty Panesar's wickets on day three at the Zayed Stadium.

Broad's morning counter-attack brought him an unbeaten 58, and helped England from an overnight 207-5 to 327 all out and a precious lead of 70 on first innings in this second Test.

Then Panesar (three for 44) and Graeme Swann did the damage as Pakistan lost four wickets before they could reach parity, but recovered to 125 for four thanks to a stubborn, often strokeless, stand between Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq.

Broad and James Anderson's new-ball pace, as in the first innings, soon seemed unthreatening. But after Panesar entered the attack for just the sixth over, he began a run of three wickets for seven runs.

Mohammad Hafeez was lbw pushing forward to an arm ball from the left-arm spinner - and Swann struck in his first over with a straight-on delivery from round the wicket to Pakistan's other opener, the left-handed Taufeeq Umar, bowled between bat and pad.

Panesar then picked up the crucial wicket of Younis Khan as a perfectly-pitched delivery spun past the right-hander's outside edge to hit the off stump.

And things got even worse for Pakistan in the first over after tea when they lost their hard-to-shift captain Misbah-ul-Haq, and a review, via the 21st lbw decision of this series in the first over of the last session.

But Shafiq and Ali, billed together as the future powerhouse of Pakistan's middle order, demonstrated that potential in a determined unbroken stand of 71 which kept their team in the match.

The nearest England came to another breakthrough was Kevin Pietersen's rolled throw at the stumps which, if accurate, would have run Shafiq out for 26 after he was sent back attempting a crazy single.

For his trouble, Pietersen appeared to trip over the batsman as his momentum took him into the stumps and was soon off the field for medical attention.

In the morning session, Broad was the most successful with an evident brief to grab as many runs as possible before Saeed Ajmal (four for 108) et al bowled them out in conditions tailor-made for their skills.

Employing tactics near polar opposite to Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott's admirable crease occupation on the second day, Broad's invaluable ninth Test 50 contained six fours and a six over long-on off Abdur Rehman from just 52 balls.

He was unable to add to his lunchtime gains, though, because Hafeez (three for 54) hurried one through to bowl Anderson and then had number 11 Panesar lbw by similar method to leave Broad stranded. Ajmal managed to add only the dismissal of Matt Prior to the three quick wickets he took on the second evening.

On a pitch offering plenty of assistance to the slow bowlers, England will not want to expose themselves again to Ajmal's skills with anything more than a small target to chase down.


Thursday, 19 January 2012

Broad Keen to Wrap Up Series



Stuart Broad has challenged England to wrap up the Pakistan tail quickly on the third morning of the first Test in Dubai.

England were bowled out for 192 on day one, but late wickets on day two left Pakistan 288-7, a lead of 96.

"It's important we finish them off quickly in the morning," said Broad, who has figures of 2-72.

"If we can get 350-400 in our second innings it will be tough batting last on that wicket."

The Nottinghamshire seamer believes Andrew Strauss's men can draw on past experiences of rescuing draws and even wins after starting poorly.

England salvaged a draw from the opening Test of last winter's Ashes in Brisbane after conceding a first-innings deficit of 221, and last summer beat India at Trent Bridge after being reduced to 124-8 on the first day.

"Last night I think there were a few batters feeling a bit negative in their room, but it [was] important today that we came to the ground with a positive attitude, knowing that we've been in positions like this before," added Broad.

"We can look back to Brisbane and Trent Bridge, when we were behind the eight-ball a little bit but bowled really nicely in our first innings then scored big in our second innings batting.

"So that's what we've got to do here, but more importantly tomorrow morning we've got to come out and finish the tail off."

Mohammad Hafeez, who top-scored for Pakistan with 88, admitted his team had hoped to establish a bigger advantage but said they remain in command.

"We were expecting a bit more, but they bowled really well today," he said. "Their fast bowlers' lines were very good, and Graeme Swann bowled very well as well.

"But we're still in a good position to really dominate this game."