Darkness after noon

A one-day game at a venue that has floodlights is decided on Duckworth-Lewis because the batsmen can't sight the ball clearly. And cricket aspires to be an Olympic sport. At this rate, we might as well head back to the village green. Apparently, the two captains decided on the playing conditions before the start of a series, and playing under lights if required during a day game wasn't part of the agenda. What of the paying spectators? Sod them. Sod the game as well while you're at it.

Anyone with the brain of a pea-fowl could have told you that the light wouldn't hold beyond half past four at this time of year in northern India. Why then was there a half-hour delay between the toss and the start of play? Why not reduce the lunch break to 15 minutes? If "tradition" matters more than getting a full game in, I'll be the first to sign a petition in favour of rugby and golf getting preference over cricket at the Olympics. Such happenings are a joke and they diminish everyone connected with the sport.

Farcical ending aside, India were once again worthy winners. Despite a magnificent spell from Andrew Flintoff and sterling support from the impressive Stuart Broad, the Indian batting didn't fall apart under pressure as England's had in the previous two games. It helped that they only needed to chase 241, and also that Virender Sehwag eschewed some of his usual pyrotechnics to construct a mature innings that got India back on track after the early dismissals of Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina.

There were three pivotal moments in the game, and India won each one. For a change, England had made the most of the opening Power Play. Ravi Bopara suffered no vertigo after his promotion from No.8, and with Ian Bell striding down the pitch to stroke some lovely fours, the run-rate was pushing towards six an over when Munaf Patel's nagging off-stump line gave Mahendra Singh Dhoni some respite. From there, the innings unravelled quickly. Harbhajan Singh bowled cleverly and accurately for his three wickets [he now has 200 in ODIs, to go with 300 in Tests], and the early loss of Kevin Pietersen meant that the mid-innings charge never came.

Even Flintoff was quite subdued, and India's spinners went through 22 overs for just 92 runs. More importantly, they took five wickets, on a day when the returning Ishant Sharma was very much off the pace. Ishant bowled five no-balls and a woeful delivery down the leg side that went for four byes, redeeming himself only late in his spell with two wickets. As the fans fretted quietly, it was easy to forget that it was his first one-day game on Indian soil, after 17 overseas.

Sehwag's consolidation was the third phase where India edged ahead. England were right on top at that stage, with Flinfoff and Broad beating the bat consistently. There was quite a bit of chat too, but Sehwag remained stoic, replying only in the manner that he knows best. One astonishing slug off Broad went into straight field, and was followed by a more orthodox and pristine on-drive. No better way to say: Quiet, please!

He did enjoy good fortune too, with Samit Patel missing a sharp return catch when Sehwag had 47, and India 81 for 2. But if you want to know the real difference between the two sides, look no further than the batting Power Plays. England took theirs after 39 overs and managed just 21 runs. India took theirs after 34, with Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni at the crease, and thumped 38. The eventual margin of victory? 16 runs.

Graeme Swann performed creditably on his Indian debut, but the batsmen played the percentages cleverly after Sehwag's cameo, always keeping one eye on the light and the D-L charts. Pietersen was understandably frustrated at the end, but it's he and the other batsmen that need to take long hard looks at their shortcomings if the series isn't to slip out of reach at Bangalore on Sunday night.

Comments

[Dileep]

Starting play 10 minutes after the toss was impractical? Do the captains need rest and recuperation after calling Heads or Tails?

[bonaku]

To be honest, it is very easy to talk about the light and D/L method. If any one with odi or test experience would obviously say that 30min lunch break is minimum. What dilip saying is completely impractical. How is it possible to comeback to ground without proper break after playing in the sun for 3 and half hours.In addition the indian bowling rate is slow and they did not get even half an hour break.

[Dileep]

Spot on, Neil. Dylan was quite perceptive in his day.
Will write more about the Dhoni mess in a while. It could happen only in India!

[neilsrini]

Dileep it took me 3 days to get it, but it the title "Darkness after noon" a play on Dylans It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding):

Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying. etc....

Also already MS Dhoni is waking up to the real world of being captain of India.

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/indveng/content/story/379217.html

to be honest I think he is wrong and Pathan should be given a go given his form. But it is not a very good thing to be in public and despite what he says Pathan will feel the insult of not actually being wanted by the skipper. Once again politics bears its ugly head. It was childish of him to threaten to quit, the question is can he play politics on all three fronts and survive without exhaustion.

Once again the poison chalice is stirring its ugly head. Dhoni's best chance of silencing politics if to keep on winning.

[Dan Patel]

I noticed that Ponting has now returned home and is complaining about the 'conditions' in India viz a viz screens,people walking behind or in front of the screens etc.Can this loser not accept defeat graciously ever. Now Pietersen is bitching about light conditions,delays,Duckworth Lewis and the works.

[S C SETHI]

Woke up KP. u hv 4 more matches to prove ur competetiveness. Lights or no lights, this match would hv been easily won even by India `B'.

[Punit]

Re-reading my original post, I can see why some may think that I was suggesting England stood some chance of winning. I don't think they did, and I apologise for giving that impression. The likelihood of the score being 2-1 after 50 overs each was not really on, so I sorry for not being clear on that.

My issue was, and remains, that the spectators did not get a full game when it was possible to provide one.

[Punit]

DSingh - weather is not as predictable as sunrise and sunfall. The high chance of late running was acknowledged and the ground had lights. It should have been possible to conclude the game if the people responsible had shown some foresight and planning. This is not a case of "chale ga" mentality prevailing - ODIs are serious, top level games and should be treated as such.

If there is an abandoned game in England in a ground with a retractable roof due to poor weather, then we can cry foul. I don't believe that's been the case, though.

Dileep also mentions the paying spectators. Add to that those who paid to watch on TV. The only way to see the series in the UK is to subscribe to Sky Sports. The fans deserve to see a full game.

Bottom line - it was avoidable. There were lights there.

[GSubbarao]

Mr. Punit It was the agreement between two teams that not to use floodlights in the bad light conditions. i dont think england has good chance as perterson said i think there is only 10 % chance of england winning with 9 overs to go and only 43 runs needed with currently World No 1 ranked batsmen(dhoni) at crease with another recognised batsmen (Yusaf pathan).

[si]

Dilip, care to comment on the excessive/aggresive appealing that seems to be England policy? Does anyone seriously believe a player from the subcontinent would get away with the sort of thing Flintoff and Broad got away with? LBW claims where the ball clearly hit the bat and was nowhere near the pad. Claiming caught behinds that were inches from the blade. Constant chirping. The only reason the Indians haven't reacted is because they are winning. I predict trouble and no doubt once again the provocators will go unpunished.

[dsingh]

This is an overkill of an excuse to extricate England out of the mess. Am I surprised to see KP just about managed to deflect the blame. Imagine the reverse scenario. How many cricket pundits would have lamented so fiercely?

Another Scenario. 26 wickets falling in Aus-Nz Series first test match. Lets see how many goes to ICC complaining of a bad pitch. Remember Mumbai (Aus) and Kanpur (SA).

What I am getting to is that there is a bit of hypocrisy now especially with matches played by non-asian teams whenever they get the short end of stick.

Don't we know matches never complete in parts of England because of shower. Still we play there. Don't we? Are people going to setup retractable roofs in those scenarios. I am positive it is not going to happen in our lifetime.

Punit. For once this is not a BCCI issue. The playing conditions were agreed upon by the two teams. Why blame BCCI for the Farce.

We must be good hosts. But we also expect our guests to be gracious.

[Punit]

I couldn't agree with you more, Dileep. Yet another example of the powers that be failing to think things through. If it's true that KP was commenting on the slim chance to get a full day's play in two days before the match, then why weren't the floodlights tested then? I admit that the team batting second could be at a disadvantage, but that could and should have been tested before it came to match day. It's not unreasonable for the captains to refuse the use of the lights if they were untested - that responsibility fell to the Umpires, grounds staff and BCCI.

Why install the floodlights and not test them before an ODI? Is a bigger game coming to town any time soon?

The result will stand, and is probably fair, but it's still an unsatisfactory end to a game, whether you support the winners or losers.

It seemed that England are increasingly competitive and a 2-1 would have made the series a little more interesting. Flintoff seems fired up, and he usually plays well when in that frame of mind. Bopara was elevated to better effect, although putting him in as an opener seemed a bit much. He did well, though and Bell got a reasonable score from what sounded like a scratchy innings. I'm only playing up the positives for England because I'd like to see a more competitive series. India seem to have this one truly sewn up, though.

[Pritam Sinha]

Well, even if all overs were to be played, I guess, India would have won in any case. So, while it is farcical of the officials, I think it is the right result and England are to make a comeback akin to Tennis's down on match point and the serve with the opponent. Mr Tendulkar won't make life any easier for them. India are playing well in their home conditions. Enjoying.