TWENTY20 INTERNATIONAL, Old Trafford:
England v New Zealand 48-3 (8 overs)
LATEST ACTION (ALL TIMES BST)
By Ben Dirs
e-mail tms@bbc.co.uk (with 'For Ben Dirs' in the subject), text 81111 (with "CRICKET" as the first word) or use 606.
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NEW ZEALAND INNINGS
8th over Ambrose called into one-day squad ...
Taylor's vice president testifies ...
Siemens 2nd quarter profit fall 67 percent ...
Ferguson content with Barca draw ...
NZ man 'used hedgehog as weapon' ...
Anderson wants to annul marriage ... - WICKET - Taylor b Collingwood 25, NZ 45-3
Time for some of Collingwood's dobblies, and perhaps even some of his dibblies. McCullum works him off his pads for two, but he's in rancid nick this evening. He fails to get Colly's next ball away before squirting away a slog-sweep down to long-leg for three. And that's Taylor gone! Fine ball from Collingwood, the ball nibbling back off the seam and finding the gap between bat and pad. Styris, always a force in the shorter forms, is next up. He's off the mark with a nudge into the off-side before Collingwood has a furious lbw shout against McCullum turned down by the umpire.
7th over - 40-2 Luke Wright into the attack and McCullum scrambles one in the sun at Old Trafford. That's a rank half-volley from Wright outside off-stump and Taylor pings him over extra-cover for six. Not many cleaner hitters than Taylor in world cricket at the moment, although he's beaten by Wright's final ball. McCullum, remarkably, is still on one.
This kind of economy from English bowlers is truly bizarre. I feel almost dirty listening to this."
William, Leicester, in the TMS inbox
6th over - 33-2 Anderson strays onto Taylor's legs and is clipped through mid-wicket for four before Taylor gets seriously lairy, falling to one knee and hoicking Anderson over the backward square-leg fence for the first maximum of the evening. A half-bunger from Anderson and Taylor laces him through the covers for another four - nothing agricultural about that, proper cricket shot. New Zealand hitting their straps, 14 from the over. KC and the Sunshine Band! My nan liked them.
5th over - 19-2 Not sure what the Kiwis are up to - that's three more dot balls from Broad before Taylor does open his shoulders, crashing Broad through the covers for four. One more from Taylor, and this partnership is key - if England can rip one or both out in the next few overs, the Kiwis really are in a pickle.
"Will Sir Allen Stanford be sitting on a throne when the first game begins and will all players have to bow at him when they enter the field of play? Be careful here - when he gets bored he will be off with his money. And what state will the game be in then when he leaves the mess behind. Long live Test matches."
Al cummings via text
4th over - 14-2 McCullum, New Zealand's 'go-to' man in shorter forms of the game, is being pegged down here - he's only faced three balls before this over and is yet to score a run. Anderson starts off over four with four dot balls before McCullum strides down the track, attempts a hook and is cracked on the bonce. Remarkably, McCullum shoulders arms to the final delivery of the over... and that's a maiden! Bowling a maiden to McCullum in Twenty20 cricket must be as exciting as finding a quality broadsheet among a sea of Metros and London Lites on the underground.
3rd over - Marshall c Ambrose b Broad 13, NZ 14-2
McCullum and Marshall exchange singles before Marshall opens up a bit, mis-timing a hook for two before thrashing an over-pitched delivery from Broad through the covers for four. Marshall is beaten next up, attempting to guide Broad down to third man. And Marshall falls from the final ball of the over, chasing a wide one and feathering a catch to Ambrose behind the sticks.
2nd over - WICKET - How c Shah b Anderson 1, NZ 1-1
That's the first wicket of the evening, How driving and edging and Shah taking a comfortable catch at first slip. Marshall is the new man at the crease and his first ball from Anderson squares him up. Anderson, with a stiff breeze behind him, serves the next ball up at 88mph and Marshall just manages to fend it short of second slip. And that's the first boundary of the day, Marshall edging through the slips for four. Anderson hits back with a nasty bit of chin music that Marshall jerkes underneath, and the Kiwis have made a ropey old start here.
"Twenty20 cricket is wham bam thank you ma'am, Test cricket is long slow delicious..."
Chrissy, North Notts, in the TMS inbox
1st over - 1-0 Right, we're off, and Broad's first delivery is left by How. Broad's second ball is again ignored by How, while the third, a straighter delivery, is blocked. That's one rascal of an outfit the England team are wearing - Ferrari red round-necks and blue tracky bottoms. I'm not sure what they look like, but they don't look like cricketers. How is off the mark with an outside edge for one - and that's that, just one from the over, and that's the Twenty20 equivalent of taking a quadruple-wicket maiden in Test cricket.
1729: England win the toss and have decided to have a bowl...and here they come, not, as Aggers points out, to the strains of Jerusalem. To be honest, I've no idea what the ruddy heck that was - some R&B nonsense or other - but the Kiwi openers emerge to a spot of AC/DC, and I don't care what anyone says, that's just not cricket in any form of the game.
1720: Only two Twenty20 games between now and this Stanford nonsense in November, so I'd imagine there's a bit of an edge in the England dressing room this evening. Keep an eye on Anderson when Broad is getting some hammer, and vice versa, you might just be able to detect an almost imperceptible smile.
1715: Just seen an interview with Dimitri Mascarenhas in which he says "kids will always want to play Test cricket". I'm not so sure - why would any kid in their right mind aspire to a game that pays stacks less and is far less exciting? I must stress, that's not me talking, I think Test cricket is the absolute daddy.
"Surely you're not intimating that in 20 years' time universities will be the sole preserve of young people whose parents can afford to send them, and that no young person will take it upon themselves to apply for a student loan on the basis of a sound education leading to higher future earnings potential? I feel a stroppy letter to the Director General complaining bitterly of political bias in the cricket department coming on."
Paul, Lancs, in the TMS inbox
1707: New Zealand are without key all-rounder Jacob Oram, who pulled up with left hamstring trouble in the warm-up and was hastily replaced by Peter Fulton. That's a ruddy massive blow for the tourists.
Off-spinner Jeetan Patel also missed out, with the tourists preferring an attack comprising captain Daniel Vettori, seamers Michael Mason, Mark Gillespie and Kyle Mills and all-rounder Scott Styris.
New Zealand: McCullum, JM How, JAH Marshall, LRPL Taylor, SB Styris, DR Flynn, PG Fulton, DL Vettori, KD Mills, MR Gillespie, MJ Mason
1701: Seamer Ryan Sidebottom is rested for tonight's encounter at Old Trafford while opener Alastair Cook and quick Chris Tremlett have also been left out. Test keeper Tim Ambrose has been brought in for his limited-overs international debut in place of Phil Mustard.
Ian Bell takes over from Mustard at the top having hit 42 for Warwickshire as an opener against Glamorgan earlier this week while in-form Essex all-rounder Ravi Bopara also returns after missing out on the two Twenty20 victories over New Zealand in the winter. He's making his international debut in this form of cricket.
England: Luke Wright, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Ravi Bopara, Paul Collingwood (capt), Owais Shah, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Tim Ambrose (wkt), Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
1700: All right? All set for a spot of crash, bang, wallop this evening? If a certain American businessman gets his way, we'll be seeing a lot more of it in the future. And all of a sudden, with Allen Stanford's Ј10m game coming up in November, games like this have taken on a real significance, with players really desperate to impress rather than seeing it as a bit of a fanny about on a Friday evening.
Not sure all this cash coming into cricket is necessairly a good thing though. I've got visions of Monty Panesar bumping into Graeme Swann in 20 years' time and going, "how's your son, is he at university?" and Swanny turning round and going, "no, we couldn't afford to send him. We would have been able to if you'd taken that catch in Antigua in 2008. He's got himself a job in a factory instead."
(BBC)
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