On the days I ride my bike, like today, like yesterday, it is very hard to get my head clear again to write a blog post. You think it would be the opposite, that my thoughts would be crystallized after 90 minutes of pedaling, but it is not. So, like most days, bear with me, eh?
Yesterday, (click here for a tweet of a wonderful picture of the ground) England routed Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI by 10 wickets at Trent Bridge, leveling the series at two a piece, with the decider on Saturday. I was supposed to be on a bicycle pub crawl brewery tour…thing…on Saturday, but it was cancelled last minute. So instead, I will be at the computer with willow-dot-teevee, instant coffee, and my stats homework.
At Trent Bridge, Anderson showed why he is still England’s number one ODI bowler, despite his recent World Cup flop. I was able to watch a bit of Sri Lanka’s innings last night, and I was struck by how consistent his line and his length were – it really is like watching a metronome.
Dernback also took three wickets, Bresnan two, and, YES, Broady took two, as well. Both of the t20 captain’s were a bit on the lucky side, but sometimes that’s what a quality player needs to pull himself out of a slump. Remember what the football announcers always say: form is temporary, quality is permanent. (However, they do also say things like “2-nil is the most dangerous score in football” and “Wayne Rooney doesn’t dive” – so all with a grain of salt or two, then).
On the batting side, for England, Cook and Kieswetter went unbeaten for 171 (via D/L). The captain was a few short of his century, but I think the result was what mattered to him.
You have to feel a little badly for Sri Lanka – the pitch was perfectly rolled for the England bowlers to take early wickets, so they really never got going. Chandimal and Dilshan both went for ducks, and Jayawardene only scored 9 off of 12 before being caught by Trott at slip.
The always classy Sangakkara hit for 75, but it just wasn’t enough to get them to the 230 or 240 that they were going to need.
I am still not sure why Dilshan chose to bat after winning the toss, though.
Either way, on to Old Trafford for the deciding ODI. Once that is over, we can all start getting excited for India’s visit. And then international cricket really kicks off, and goes all the way through the spring. Of course, most of the matches will be in Australia and in the middle of the night, Minneapolis time, but such is the life of an American cricket writer.
In Dominica: it is raining.
Now back to work, I am going to try and follow a bit of county cricket today, so look for some of my inane, cliched, and thoroughly borrowed commentary over on twitter.
Until tomorrow.
Update: the ICC just tweeted that the England v India ODI in Kolkata has been moved from 26 October to 25 October.
Which begs the question: England is in India this fall? It is not on Cricinfo’s unofficial FTP, but it is on the the ICC’s official version. Huh, I guess I know which one to trust now.
Limited Overs 