India vs England 2007: Detailed Preview of Third ODI

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India vs England 2^nd ODI Live Updates 2008

Now, you can say that India vs England 3^rd ODI will be more interesting. Actually the ODI series between India vs England is going to be much more exciting as the performance of both teams are going through some ups and downs frequently. After losing the test series against in home soil English players were determined to come back in the ODI series and they started the series in style with a crushing 104 run victory over the touring India. However, in the second ODI, you must have seen the other side of the coin as India won the close match by 9 runs. So, now it is 1-1 draw situation in the series.

Still five matches are left in the ODI series. Anything can happen in the forthcoming five matches. India and England will meet in the 3^rd ODI in Birmingham on 27 August. Ahead of the 3^rd match both team must be determined to take the lead in the series winning the upcoming 3^rd ODI match. India took some changes in the second ODI which worked well. So, India may not come up with any change in the 3^rd ODI whereas English batsmen though play well, their bowlers could not show any resistant against Indian batsmen.

Indian Batting Strength

India batsmen showed their natural talent in the second ODI and could culminate a huge total for the host England. Two openers Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar played a 100 run partnership which was a solid foundation for the later batsmen. Ganguly got out when he was 39 after putting on 113 runs in the first wicket partnership with Tendulkar. Tendulkar played another superb innings but again failed to reach 100 as he got out at 99. In the last few months Tendulkar got out at nervous nineties several times. Then Captain Rahul Dravid played a attacking 92 runs facing just 63 balls in which he hit 11 boundaries and one over boundaries. Yuvraj scored 49.

So, you can see that Indian top order was in good mode and they demolish the English bowlers in second ODI match. The interesting thing is that in the first ODI Indian played with 7 specialist batsmen but in the second match India played with six batsmen as Gautam Gambhir was not in the first 11 of second ODI. So, in the third ODI, I think India will not change any player in the batting line up.

England Batting Strength

Though England lost the second ODI, their batsmen played very well. Almost all of their batsmen could put on some runs in the scoreboard. Ian Bell was the highest scorer of England with 64 runs. However, England could cross 300 runs because almost all the batsmen played some small but useful innings. Specially, Dimitri Mascarenhas played a smashing 39 balls 52 at no.8 in the batting order. So, you can realize that how deep the England batting line up is. I think, having performed well in two back to back matches, England batsmen are now determined to do well in the third ODI as well. Even the no.9 batsmen Stuart Broad played a 29 run innings off just 24 balls.

So, England batsmen could repeat their first ODI performance in the second ODI as well. I think, there should not have any change in the England batting line up. This is the good side of a team that most of their batsmen are now in good form any of them can lead the team with a good batting performance.

Indian Bowling Strength

After the defeat in the first ODI, I wrote that India should play with 5 bowlers because the extra 10 overs sometimes create the difference. In the first ODI India played only 4 bowlers and the extra ten overs were done by the occasional bowlers which created a huge difference.

In the second ODI India included five specialist bowlers and thus Captain Rahul Dravid had lot of option at his hands. Well, you can not say that Indian bowlers played very well in the second match. However, what is important here is that India had some balance in bowling line up. India did not use any occasional bowler except Sourav Ganguly in the match.

Zaheer Khan could play because of his sickness but his replacement Munaf Patel played well. Though he was very expensive he took 3 important wickets for India. Leg spinner Piyush Chawla showed tremendous performance with 3 vital wickets of English middle order. Ramesh Power and RP Singh took 1 wicket each. Now, in the 3^rd match, India can bring a change if Zaheer Khan becomes fit. Ajit Agarkar can be replaced by Zaheer because in the first two matches, Ajit Agarkar’s performance was poor.

England Bowling Strength

English bowlers could not stand up in the second ODI because of excellent batting performance of Indian batsmen. Andrew Flintoff though took five wickets, he was expensive. The hero of the first ODI James Anderson could not repeat his excellent bowling performance in the second ODI match. English excluded left arm spinner in the second match and medium pacer Chris Tremlett played as the replacement. However, the idea was wrong and I think, England should think off Monty Panesar in for the upcoming 3^rd ODI match.

English bowlers were totally failed to resist the Indian batsmen in the 3^rd ODI and they could not put any pressure on the Indian batsmen. So, the coming 3^rd ODI match will be very vital for the English bowlers.

Online Live Scores, Updates and Commentary

I know that most of you are now exited to enjoy the third ODI match of India vs England ODI series. As the series is now 1-1 draw both the teams will try heart and soul to take the lead winning the third match. However, some of you will not be so lucky to sick to the TV sets to watch and enjoy the every ball of the match because of personal and professional work. Thinking of the passionate fans of Cricket, I am giving some website links that provide online live score of any the India vs England ODI series below: