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Match facts

Thursday, May 15 to Monday, May 19, 2008
Start time 11.00 (local), 10.00 (GMT)

The Big Picture

It’s the start of a new English summer, but the resumption of a familiar and unexpectedly intriguing tussle. This is the 11th consecutive international fixture between England and New Zealand, and there will have been 19 in a row by the end of the one-day international series in June. Nevertheless, familiarity has not yet bred contempt, and both sides enter this Test with plenty to prove after the hits and misses of their previous three-Test encounter in March. England emerged triumphant on that occasion after losing embarrassingly in the first match at Hamilton, and start once again as favourites, but nothing suits the Kiwis better than being written off as no-hopers. And no venue inspires touring sides more effectively than Lord’s.

Test form guide

England – WWLDDL
New Zealand – LLWWWL

Watch out for …

Ryan Sidebottom The Man of the Series in New Zealand, where he took hat-tricks, career-bests and every plaudit available. He’s just been named as England’s Player of the Year for 2007, after picking up 53 wickets in 12 Tests, and will be looking to make 2008 even more special.Brendon McCullum Arguably the most explosive attacking batsman in the world today. He made 96 on his last visit to Lord’s in 2004, but has yet to make a century against senior Test opposition. Last month’s incredible unbeaten 158 in the IPL, however, showed just what he can do when the mood takes him.Aaron Redmond New Zealand’s top order was the weak link during the home series defeat, and the loss of Stephen Fleming has exacerbated the problem. Nevertheless, Redmond, who is set to make his debut, has a watertight technique and a burning desire to occupy the crease come what may. His six-and-a-half hour 146 against the England Lions demonstrated his abilities.

Team news

As expected, England named an unchanged eleven for the third match running, with Matthew Hoggard missing out. Andrew Flintoff might have been back in the fold had his side strain not postponed his comeback, but the coach, Peter Moores, is keen to reward the players who turned the team around in New Zealand.England 1 Andrew Strauss, 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Paul Collingwood, 7 Tim Ambrose (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Ryan Sidebottom, 10 James Anderson, 11 Monty Panesar.New Zealand, on the other hand, are expected to make sweeping changes, both personnel and positional. There are three changes in the top order from the Napier defeat, with Stephen Fleming retired, and Matthew Bell and Mathew Sinclair omitted. Redmond comes in for his debut, along with the Northern Districts rookie, Daniel Flynn, while James Marshall is recalled at No. 3. Oram returns in place of Grant Elliott, but with McCullum moving up to No. 5, he slips into the conventional allrounder’s slot of No. 7. Vettori plays despite requiring stitches in his spinning finger last week.New Zealand (probable) 1 Jamie How, 2 Aaron Redmond, 3 James Marshall, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Brendon McCullum, 6 Daniel Flynn, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Chris Martin.

Stats and trivia

New Zealand have won just eight of their 91 Tests against England, but four of those have come away from home including at Lord’s in 1999 en route to a memorable series win.Tim Southee, who made his debut at Napier in March, scored more runs in a single innings (77) than his probable new-ball partner, Chris Martin, has managed in 40 Tests (74 runs at 2.55).

Quotes

“I do expect to win, but we’re not going to underestimate them. They’re a good bowling unit and they scrap very hard.”
England’s coach, Peter Moores, talks up his side’s prospects
“They are just a steady side and on their day they can be a very good side.”
New Zealand’s Chris Martin hits back.

Prasanna Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan Test wicketkeeper, is in a Wellington hospital after undergoing an emergency appendix operation. Jayawardene was admitted on Tuesday night after complaining of acute stomach pain and had surgery yesterday.The illness is the latest setback for Jayawardene after he was struck on the wrist by Shane Bond, while batting in the second innings of Sri Lanka’s series-leveling win at Wellington. Kumar Sangakkara took over the wicketkeeping duties in New Zealand’s second innings. Jayawardene, a Test specialist, was not chosen in Sri Lanka’s one-day or Twenty20 squads.Meanwhile, Malinga Bandara and Ruchira Perera, who toured with the Sri Lanka A squad in the West Indies, are expected to join the team on Friday. Both are likely to be considered for the second Twenty20 international at Eden Park, Auckland on December 26. The first Twenty20 international begins tomorrow at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium.

Pakistan now has two players in the top five of the Test batting rankings following the drawn first Test against England at Lord’s. Inzamam-ul-Haq has climbed one place to third in the list after twin half-centuries and he has been joined in the top five by Mohammad Yousuf, who made 202, his second successive Test double hundred against England.Yousuf is up two spots to fifth place and now has his best-ever ranking and his highest tally of points. Completing a trio of Pakistan batsmen in the top 10 is Younis Khan, who missed the Lord’s Test through injury. He lies seventh in the table.The only players Inzamam now trails in the rankings are his opposite numbers Ricky Ponting of Australia and India’s Rahul Dravid. England, by contrast, has just one batsman in that top 10, Kevin Pietersen in 10th position, but below him, several of his team mates are making positive moves.Andrew Strauss’s ninth Test hundred has seen him rise two places to 12th (overtaking team-mate Marcus Trescothick in the process) while Paul Collingwood’s Test-best 186 has boosted him up to joint 34th position, a climb of 16 places.Ian Bell and Alastair Cook, two more century-makers from the Lord’s Test are up to joint 42nd and 51st place respectively, and the duo – along with Collingwood – have career-best ratings.The bowling ranks have seen no changes in the top 20 with England’s Matthew Hoggard still the highest-placed player from either side. He remains in fifth spot, ahead of injured team-mate Andrew Flintoff in sixth and another injured player, Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, in seventh position.Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan remains top rankings, clear of South African fast bowler Makhaya Ntini.

Scorecard

Clinton Perren and Chris Simpson upset New South Wales’ victory plans by avoiding the follow-on as Queensland posted 8 for 464 at Sydney. The Bulls, who need a win to stay alive in the competition, immediately declared and the Blues were 0 for 25 at the close.The home side’s first-innings 613 looked adequate when the Bulls fell to 7 for 309, still 155 runs short of making New South Wales bat in order. Lacklustre fielding cost the Blues, as Simon Katich dropped Ashley Noffke on 0 before he and Simpson compiled a 99-run stand to edge Queensland within reach.Simpson and Daniel Doran (30 not out) passed the required mark despite some great bowling from Grant Lambert. He took 3 for 0 from eight balls – it would have been 4 for 0 had Noffke been caught – with the second new ball and finished with 4 for 77.Lambert had little assistance as Simpson (85 not out) recorded his best first-class score and Perren continued his late-season form spike. Perren’s 110 was his first Pura Cup century in 2006-07 and featured 17 fours before he became Lambert’s initial victim.Katich, the New South Wales captain, left the field with an injured hand after his missed chance. He will now have to decide whether to set the Bulls a chase – the Blues lead by 174 runs – or accept first-innings points and focus on beating Tasmania in a top-of-the-table clash next week.

In their first two trips to the World T20 Qualifier, Papua New Guinea experienced more than their fair share of heartache.In 2012, it was the Americas representatives who tormented them. Canada held off a late charge from Geraint Jones and Mahuru Dai in defense of 167 to win by six runs. Five days later against Bermuda, captain Rarua Dikana had the ball in his hand tasked with protecting 15 runs off the final over with Bermuda five down but he gave up three straight sixes to Janeiro Tucker. It meant PNG finished in fourth place in Group A, one spot out of the playoff positions.In 2013, PNG made it to the playoffs and defeated Namibia in their first knockout game to come within one more win of a berth at the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh. In their way stood Hong Kong, a team they had defeated in the previous year’s qualifier by six wickets chasing down a total of 131 with a ball to spare. Hong Kong was pinned down in the rematch at 19 for 4 and only managed 139, but with a ticket to Bangladesh in their grasp, PNG stumbled to 108.The memories of those heartaches are now serving as fuel for inspiration at the qualifier for the pacific island nation. PNG captain Jack Vare says that this time around he’s hoping the team’s fortunes will change to get them over the hump and into next year’s World Twenty20 in India.”We have missed out in the last two tournaments in Dubai,” Vare told ESPNcricinfo ahead of PNG’s first match of the tournament on Sunday against Jersey. “Everyone is growing arms and legs. There’s a lot of experience in this time. Third time lucky I guess but everyone is confident that we will do well in this competition.”PNG’s build-up to this tournament included a magnificent four-day win over the Netherlands on their Intercontinental Cup debut, with Assad Vala and Dai spearheading the pursuit of a fourth innings target of 305. Though they lost the subsequent WCL Championship fixtures against the Dutch, PNG eased into T20 mode with four games against a pair of County second XIs. In one match, PNG racked up 268 for 3 versus Gloucestershire’s 2nds, a reminder of their potent top order featuring Lega Siaka and Tony Ura.”I think the biggest challenge we go through is from playing longer forms to shorter formats,” Vare said. “Most people know we play a lot of shorter formats but we are trying our best to develop all forms of the game. Playing in our first four-day game and to win that was a big experience for us and a special day.”PNG leaves no stone unturned in preparation as Coach Dipak Patel observes sliding practice during training at Bready CC•Peter Della Penna

PNG’s players have also accumulated experience playing in the Australian Country Cricket Championships as well as the South Australia Premier League. Getting access to better facilities and opponents within the Australasia region has helped lift up their skills and their confidence levels.”Playing in the competition in the South Australian Premier League gives us more experience and more exposed to the outside cricket world what’s happening,” Vare said. “Everyone has been doing well. We’ve been on the road for 18 months in preparation for this tournament. I’m more confident. I’ve got a good side, more mature side coming into this tournament.”PNG is the final team to play their first match of the tournament and on tap for them on Sunday at Bready is Jersey. Coach Dipak Patel and other members of the PNG squad were in attendance to see Jersey’s triumph by nine-wickets over Hong Kong on Saturday, a fresh reminder not to underestimate any opposition. Vare says the team is well-prepared and not about to be caught off guard whoever stands in front of them.”There’s no doubt teams will come and compete hard but we’ll focus on the job at hand,” Vare said. “We won’t look ahead too much. We’ll take every game as it comes and concentrate on our roles as individuals and as a group. That’s our major important thing to do playing top teams. We won’t take any team lightly.”

Shaun Tait will get a chance to push for World Cup selection after he was added to the CB Series squad for the next two matches. Tait has never played a one-day international but the Australia selectors are desperate to see him operate ahead of the tournament in the Caribbean starting in March.Despite performing well until Sunday night’s eight-run win over New Zealand, the bowling attack of McGrath, Bracken, Lee and Johnson barely managed to defend the 5 for 343 in Perth. Tait will add some extra firepower and keep the pressure on the fast men as they battle for five World Cup spots.Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said the panel was pleased with the results during the series, but the next two matches, against England on Friday and New Zealand on Sunday, were the last chances to experiment. “We are taking the opportunity to add Shaun with a view to looking at him ahead of World Cup squad selection,” he said.The decision appears to have ended the short-term hopes of Ben Hilfenhaus, who made his ODI debut at Hobart when Tait was suffering a hamstring problem. “Shaun has made an impressive return from injury,” Hilditch said, “and we want to take a further look at him in the international environment.”Tait was part of Australia’s squad for the opening two Tests of the Ashes series before being released when Mitchell Johnson was preferred as 12th man. Tait, who played two Tests on the 2005 Ashes tour, has 26 Pura Cup wickets at 21.00 this summer and eight at 27.62 in the one-day competition, where his economy rate is 5.11 an over.

Scorecard

Bengal’s opening pair made the most of winning the toss to pile the agony on Baroda at the Moti Bagh ground in Vadodara. Anustup Majumdar, in only his third first-class match, recorded his maiden hundred while the relatively experienced Arindam Das matched him in a fine 221-run stand. The duo made the most of Baroda’s greenhorn new-ball attack and struck 33 fours between them in a sensible partnership. Majumdar was run-out shortly after reaching his century but Das was undefeated at the end of the day.
Scorecard
Daniel Manohar cracked his eighth first-class hundred to give Hyderabad a solid start in Mohali but Punjab’s spinners fought back by grabbing five wickets between them. Having been inserted on a surface that usually assists the seamers first up, Hyderabad were propped up by a 128-run opening stand between Manohar and Ravi Teja. Hyderabad, though, somewhat lost their way from there. VVS Laxman fell for 38, an innings that included eight fours, and the middle order struggled against the left-arm spin of Ankur Kakkar and the offspin of Karan Goel. Both were economical, conceding less than three runs an over, and brought Punjab back into the contest towards the end of the day.
ScorecardRajasthan unravelled for the second time in as many games, collapsing for 105 against Maharashtra in Jaipur. Having been shot out for 85 against Delhi, Rajasthan’s batsmen continued the trend with only three managing double figures. Munaf Patel’s four-wicket burst rattled the top order before Harshad Khadiwale, the medium-pacer, and Sairaj Bahutule, the veteran legspinner, ran through the tail. Bahutule, who claimed three wickets in just 2.4 overs, reached an important milestone: he now has 550 wickets in first-class cricket. Khadiwale, a centurion in the first round, carried on his good form to allow Maharashtra to lead by 50 runs at the end of the day.
ScorecardUttar Pradesh rode on handy contributions from most batsmen but Andhra stayed in the hunt on a see-saw first day in Anantpur. Electing to field first, Andhra dismissed the UP openers early but a string of partnerships kept thwarting them through the day. Ravikant Shukla held the lower order together with a doughty 56 but neither Mohammad Kaif (34) nor Suresh Raina (13) could make much of an impact. P Vijay Kumar, the medium-pacer from Andhra, kept them in the match with an impressive four-wicket haul.
ScorecardMithun Manhas led a shaky Delhi batting effort, one which never found much momentum against an attack led by medium-pacer Sandeep Jobanputra. Saurashtra had a satisfying day on the field, considering that they chose to bowl first in an away game. Jobanputra, in his third first-class season, pocketed his fourth five-wicket haul and was well backed up by medium-pacer Kanaiya Vaghela (2 for 27). Entering at 47 for 2, Manhas produced a patient knock, consuming 130 balls for a gritty 62. Shikhar Dhawan and Rajat Bhatia couldn’t convert their 30s into big ones and Delhi limped to 244 at the end of the day.
ScorecardRahul Dravid scored a century in the second successive game, pushing Karnataka to a dominant 270 for 4 against Himachal Pradesh in Bangalore. Dravid’s 121, an innings that included 14 fours and four sixes, formed the backbone of a solid Karnataka batting performance. He was backed up by KB Pawan and C Raghu, both of whom posted half-centuries on a batsman-dominated day.
Scorecard
Fifties from Dinesh Karthik and Rajhamany Srinivasan, the latter playing his third first-class match, rescued Tamil Nadu in Chennai but it was Mumbai’s bowlers who claimed most of the honours. Aavishkar Salvi, playing his first Ranji game of the season, set the tone with a couple of early wickets before Ramesh Powar, omitted from India’s Test squad against Pakistan, got stuck into the tail with a four-wicket haul. Karthik’s energetic half-century, with 12 fours and a six, was in contrast to Srinivasan’s stodgy effort, one that used up 229 minutes. Mumbai’s openers got through 11 overs without losing a wicket.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Complementing Suresh Raina’s composed 92 with an impressive performance in the field, India Blue sneaked home to a 12-run win in the opening match of the Challenger Trophy at Motera. Raina helped his side overcome a poor start, when they had stumbled to 41 for 4 in swinging conditions, and the fighting target proved enough eventually, with their bowlers overcoming the problems posed by the evening dew.The Reds were guilty of losing wickets at crucial junctures, just when solid partnerships were beginning to take shape. Legspinner Amit Mishra slipped in the googlies and foxed Virat Kohli and S Badrinath, the well-set batsmen, to wrest the initiative. A late-charge from Praveen Kumar and Mahesh Rawat, adding 62 in just under 10 overs, provided Reds with hope but their dismissals in quick succession effectively put an end to the contest.It was a revival of sorts from Blues after struggling early on. Not much went their way early on after Virender Sehwag won the toss and surprisingly, with all the talk of evening dew, chose to bat The top-order slide, which began with the first ball of the match, was orchestrated by seamer Kumar, whose alarming inswing caught the Blues off guard on a pitch which required the batsmen to gauge the bounce and movement before launching a boundary assault.Ajinkya Rahane, riding on a crest after his dream debut season for Mumbai, was literally brought down to his knees as the ball darted in off the air, clipped the pads and flattened the off stump. Both Kumar and Ishant Sharma applied the pressure early on by bowling to their strengths. Sehwag’s short stint was scratchy at best and Dinesh Karthik, under pressure to keep his place in the Indian one-day squad, was back in the hutch for a first-ball duck, playing across the line to a ball that shaped in.At 41 for 4, Blues turned to Raina to lend some stability to the innings. Effortless cover drives combined with deft cuts square of the wicket, shots manufactured even without the luxury of width. Using supple wrists, Raina turned several deliveries from outside the off stump and picked the gaps on the leg side. Along with local boy Niraj Patel, Raina staged a quick recovery and Reds, who held the upper hand for a sizeable passage of play before the halfway stage, gradually felt the heat. Raina’s knock was largely risk-free, and even his chip shots over the infield landed safely.

The fall of Niraj’s wicket, caught at midwicket while trying to loft over the infield, didn’t deter Raina, who carried on the charge by carting the spin duo of Pragyan Ojha and S Badrinath for huge sixes. Joginder Sharma played the supporting act in a stand of 49, a period when the ball stopped doing much in the air. With Raina still around, the Blues looked good to post a score of over 250. However, a pull off Trivedi, probably timed too well for his own good, signalled an end to his innings as Kohli pulled off a sharp catch just inches off the ground at the deep midwicket boundary.Amit Mishra and Ramesh Powar- who scored a breezy 21 off 13 balls – pushed the scoring towards the end, and the sloppy fielding in the outfield by the Reds turned to be an added bonus. The Blues didn’t let up with the ball. It didn’t take too long for them to strike with Gautam Gambhir paying the price for attempting a cheeky single in the first over. Gambhir was quick on his feet as he pushed the ball to mid-on, but Sehwag was a notch quicker as he gathered the ball and threw down the middle stump at the non-striker’s end.The chase stalled in the early overs with Ranadeb Bose and Joginder maintaining a immaculate line outside off. Kaif broke the shackles in the fifth over when he dispatched two half-volleys off Bose through the off side. He then settled into Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh’s lively pace with sweetly-timed strokes down leg and past mid-off. Kohli, the promising Delhi batsman, settled in quickly and the pair kept the chase on track.However, their dismissals – Kaif caught brilliantly by Swapnil Asnodkar at midwicket – revived the Blues. Badrinath carried on the fight, showing plenty of urgency in rotating the strike with 21 singles in his 41 but his departure, unable to read a Mishra googly, disturbed the momentum of the innings.As the asking-rate increased, Rawat and Praveen Kumar revived Red’s hopes with a brisk half-century stand. But it was a case of too little too late. Kumar perished for 37, holing out to long-on, and Rawat, three short of his fifty, flicked the ball onto his stumps while attempting an adventurous scoop over fine leg. Joginder rounded off an impressive evening with three wickets, and the Blues vindicated Sehwag’s decision to bat first.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

With England already 2-0 up in the series, the final Test today at Chester-le-Street was all but meaningless, but West Indies’ dogged display in the third Test at Old Trafford at last injected some life into a mismatch of a series. Michael Vaughan spoke of his desire to grind West Indies into the dirt and, after his side’s impressive performance last week, there is no reason to doubt the captain’s vision.Unfortunately for all, the dirt at Chester-le-Street this morning was more a quagmire. The heavy and prolonged overnight rain didn’t ease and, with reports of Yorkshire’s Championship match at Headingley being called off as early as 11.00am, there was little hope of The Riverside escaping the deluge some 90 miles to the north. At 12.30pm, under gloomily granite skies, play was abandoned for the day. Scant consolation, but at least the hardy spectators will receive a full refund on their tickets.Though a fifth of the Test has now been lost to rain, and though England have already taken the series, West Indies have much to play for. In what has been a mismatch of a series, West Indies fought commendably hard at Old Trafford, led by Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s remarkably dogged 116.The scorecard might suggest his knock merely delayed the inevitable for England – and given the threat Monty Panesar posed on such a dusty and bouncy track, it is a fair statement. But nevertheless, West Indies came within 60 runs of creating history, showing the sort of determination and passion that was so lacking in the first two Tests.The weather is expected to improve over the next couple of days, though the rain will never be too far away. But in such green and pleasant conditions, England may only need three days to wrap up the series 3-0.

All-round efforts from R Vinay Kumar and J Suchith ensured that Karnataka overcame a middling batting effort to register a 38-run win over Haryana in Bangalore. The defending champions lost Mayank Agarwal in the first over after being put in to bat but looked to recover through partnerships between KL Rahul, debutant Sadiq Kirmani and Manish Pandey. They collapsed from 99 for 2 to 104 for 6 in the space of three overs, with Yuzvendra Chahal accounting for Rahul and Karun Nair off consecutive deliveries in the 28th over. Two partnerships of 58 and 54, between Stuart Binny and Suchith and later Vinay Kumar and and Suchith lifted the score past 200. Suchith scored 46 off 63 deliveries while Vinay Kumar struck a 30-ball 41. Harshal Patel was Haryana’s most expensive bowler but also picked up four wickets for 62 runs.By the fourth over, Haryana’s chase had been reduced to 10 for 3. Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dagar tried to stabilize the innings with an 86-run partnership for the fourth wicket, but Karnataka kept chipping at the wickets. Dagar finished unbeaten on 96 and watched from the other end as Haryana were bowled out for 204 in the 47th over.VA Jagadeesh’s fourth List A century helped set up Kerala‘s 60-run win over Railways in Alur. The opening batsman struck 121 off 137 balls to lead Kerala to 256, although the side suffered due to a cluster of late wickets. Anureet Singh had the best returns for Railways, claiming 4 for 40 off his 10 overs. The Kerala bowlers then combined to bowl out Railways for 196. Saurabh Wakaskar and Arindam Ghosh scored 77 and 53 respectively but the rest of the batsmen could not match their efforts as the side was bowled out in the 44th over.