Pietersen and Collingwood Steady England

Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal in Tennis, India vs Pakistan in Cricket, Venus Williams vs Serena Williams, some of the contests makes reading interesting. Sports throws several keenly fought contests along the way. When you feel that no one can challenge Roger Federer, a Nadal appears and dethrones him. Roger Federer is no more invincible. The victory of Roger Federer in Wimbledon 2009 is celebrated with a "what if Rafael had played?" thought in mind. Such contests make the victories more sweet.

The Ashes

Ashes is one such keenly fought series in cricket. The Ashes, the test match series played between England and Australia, has a history of more than a century. While Australia had complete domination of England in the nineties and early part of this century, England came back to surprise Australia in 2005, but Australia proved hard to handle in 2006 with a solid 5-0 victory.

Fight for upper hand

Australia is no more a great team with the likes of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Mathew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist gone into retirement. They have been beaten recently by teams like India and South Africa. England too had its share of problems with the controversy around Kevin Pietersen losing his captaincy. So, both teams would like to have a comfortable victory to boost their confidence levels. With this backdrop, the first test match assumes much significance as you want to put the first step in the right direction.

England Cricket Team

The English cricket team for the first test match includes:

1. Andrew Strauss
2. Alastair Cook
3. Ravi Bopara
4. Kevin Pietersen
5. Paul Collingwood
6. Matt Prior
7. Andrew Flintoff
8. Stuart Broad
9. Graeme Swann
10. James Anderson and
11. Monty Panesar

Australia Cricket Team

The Australian cricket team is as follows:

1. Philip Hughes
2. Simon Katich
3. Ricky Ponting
4. Michael Hussey
5. Michael Clarke
6. Marcu North
7. Brad Haddin
8. Mitchell Johnson
9. Nathan Hauritz
10. Ben Hilfenhaus
11. Peter Siddle

England makes a shaky start

England captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat first. His opening partnership with Cook lasted only 8 overs and fetched a mere 21 runs. By the end of 25 overs, England had managed 90 runs but lost three top order batsmen, Strauss, Cook and Bopara. Australia could have sniffed a opening and Ponting would have loved to exploit it for full advantage. But, Kevin Pietersen and Collingwood did not let England down.

At the time of this update, Pietersen and Collingwood have put together an useful and face-saving partnership of 95 runs in 30.3 overs, which is yet to be broken. England have managed to recover to 185/3 at the end of 55 overs. I would say, the teams are evenly matched at this juncture. The post-tea session could decide who would take the upper hand in the match.

Scorecard

1. Strauss c Clarke b Johnson - 30
2. Cook c Hussey b Hilfenhaus - 10
3. Bopara c Hughes b Johnson - 35
4. Pietersen (not out) - 47
5. Collingwood (not out) - 47

Johnson took two wickets and Hilfenhaus accounted for one. Australia had to get their act together quickly if they do not want the match to slip away from their hands.