Tour Match: Indian Board President's XI v England XI at Hyderabad, 22-24 Nov 2001 CricInfo Live Report

Tour Match: Indian Board President's XI v England XI at Hyderabad, 22-24 Nov 2001
Anand Vasu

England XI 1st innings: End of England innings,
Indian Board President's XI 1st innings: Lunch - Day 2, Tea - Day 2, Stumps - Day 2,
Live Reports from previous days

SRIRAM, MARTIN MAKE ENGLAND TOIL IN THE SUN

To say that the final session of the day bore no joy for the visitors would be an understatement worthy of the English, the supposed original masters of the art. Two cricketers who are more than used to setting up stalls and batting out over after over did exactly that, with Sridharan Sriram accumulating 120 and Jacob Martin helping himself to 83 as the Indian Board President's XI replied to the England total of 320 with 256/2 at the end of the second day's play.

The bowling charts make very poor reading if you are an England fan. The most experienced specialist fast bowler, Matthew Hoggard, returned figures of 17-3-34-1. The others were not far behind, with only Martyn Ball picking up a wicket. James Ormond, Craig White and Richard Dawson toiled hard without reward, giving away 139 runs between them off 43 overs.

With just one day left to play in this match, there is almost no chance of a result. England, however, will look forward to ending this three-day game on a positive note.

BOARD PRESIDENT'S XI BATSMEN GRIND ENGLAND ATTACK

The post-lunch session saw the Indian Board President's XI batsmen pick some easy runs at the behest of some uninspired England bowling. Taking an extremely laid-back approach, the home side did not even attempt to aggressively respond to the England total of 320. Instead, the players used the opportunity to catch the eye of the selectors and took the total on to 163/2 at tea. The 163 runs came off 54 overs.

Dinesh Mongia, stroking the ball well into the gaps, looked like he had set his stalls out for one of his characteristic long innings. A rush of blood however, saw the southpaw hit a delivery from ball straight to Graham Thorpe in mid-on. Mongia made 44.

Sridharan Sriram, patient as ever, compiled runs at his end at his own sweet pace. Playing the spinners especially well of his pads, the left-hander was unbeaten on 69 when the players left the field for tea.

The English bowlers, spinners and mediumpacers alike, toiled but could not threaten the batsmen. If the batsmen played a few strokes and looked to push the scoring rate, the bowlers would certainly have had a better chance.

Skipper Jacob Martin had an eye on the five national selectors gathered at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium and made sure he did not put a foot wrong. Never a terribly attractive batsman, Martin was painstakingly efficient and at times bordering on boring. He had 42 to his name at tea.

BOARD PRESIDENT'S XI MAKE SEDATE START

After England were bowled out for 320, the Indian Board President's XI side treated the gathered spectators to 21 overs of slow cricket. After Matthew Hoggard removed opener Wasim Jaffer in just the third ball of the innings, Sridharan Sriram and Dinesh Mongia settled down to steady yet unspectacular batting. Tickling the first ball he faced through to 'keeper James Foster, Jaffer disappointed. However, there were no further hiccups for the home side, who went into lunch at 47/1.

Mongia, considered by many as a classy batsman with a bright future, went after Martyn Ball, coming down the wicket and striking the ball for two boundaries in one over. James Ormond (6-1-10-0) bowled tidily, while Craig White managed to keep the batsmen very quiet, returning figures of 4-2-5-0. This perhaps had more than a bit to do with the fact that Mongia (30 not out) and Sriram (14 not out) were playing for lunch.

ENGLAND BOWLED OUT EARLY ON DAY TWO

Resuming on 297/7, the final pair of English batsmen managed to stay at the wicket for 6.4 overs, adding a valuable 23 runs to the total. Sanjay Bangar picked up his second wicket of the match when Richard Dawson (24) poked at one outside the off-stump to be caught in the slips by Dinesh Mongia. With 320 on the board, England can afford to attack the home side early, and that is exactly what the seamers will look to do. If they make early inroads, this game could go anywhere.