The enigmatic skipper faces his toughest Test as a leader against a team which is coming back to the golden era when Australians literally muscled their way past any opposition. The world champions Australia are looking solid on paper and if there is one apparent weakness it could be the middle order’s inexperience against quality spin.

The Men in Blue would not risk Yuvraj Singh for the opening game. His value to this side is too high and in that interest it’s better he be rested. Dhoni, however, declared himself fit. He was hit on the back of the left knee by a Munaf Patel delivery during practice on Friday.
Ricky Ponting’s men might not have it that easy this time but have a definite edge. The conditions here might suit India better. The outfield looks fast and there will be full value for shots, that’s if the ball comes on well and the batsmen can play through the line.

Australia’s strength is their swiftness and their ability to find the stumps when it matters. Given their strength on the field and India’s lack in that department, Ponting and Co. start with a 30-run advantage even before the toss.
A strong individual performance at the start of the series is crucial to propel the hosts. The confidence of the side is not sky high and if Australia run away with early success, it would become extremely difficult to play catch up.
The Indian top-order has all the potential to match up and Sachin Tendulkar will have another reason to concentrate hard. The world record holder is 97 runs shy of reaching the 17, 000-run mark.

It should be a tooth and nail encounter at the Reliance Stadium and will be interesting to see who draws first blood in the lung opener.

Squads

India: M.S. Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, S. Raina, Virat Kohli, R. Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Sudeep Tyagi.
Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Hussey (VC), Cameron White, Shane Watson, Tim Paine, Shaun Marsh, James Hopes, Adam Voges, Brett Lee, Peter Siddle, Doug Bollinger, Nathan Hauritz, Mitchell Johnson, Ben Hilfenhaus, Jon Holland.

Earlier, New Zealand struggling to 200/9 in their 50 overs. Daniel Vettori’s pulled out ahead of the toss virtually sealed his team’s fate. In his absence Brendon McCullum led the side though and the decision to bat first backfired badly with the top order unable to come to grips with Australia’s fast bowlers Brett Lee, Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson. McCullum did not even trouble the scorers, feathering an edge to Tim Paine behind the sticks off a bouncy Siddle delivery.
 
Aaron Redmond and Martin Guptill struggled to score 66 in the next 15 overs before Redmond was dismissed by Nathan Hauritz.
 
With McCullum, Guptill and Redmond out of the way, it was left to Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott to pull the Black Caps out of the fire. Both however, failed on the day, Taylor brilliantly snapped up at point by a leaping Mike Hussey off Johnson and Elliott, the hero of the semifinal win over Pakistan trapped by the pacy Lee.
 
Neither was able to even reach double figures, and credit goes to the lower order for at least making sure that the total did reach the 200 mark with Neil Broom (37, 62b, 5×4) and James Franklin (33, 43b, 4×4) keeping the middle overs ticking along.
 
A measure of Australia’s control with the ball comes from the fact that through the 50 overs, just 18 boundaries were conceded. Not one ball went over it.

Overall a supeb victory for the deserving champions Australia who will be happy to be back in the groove and how! Cheers Australia!

Lee took five wickets for 49 runs in nine overs of hostile fast bowling as England were dismissed for a meagre 220 with 21 balls of their innings left. World champions Australia then made 221 for three, reaching their victory target with more than six overs remaining. Australia captain Ricky Ponting, in his first match since his post-Ashes break, made 48 before holing out off Tim Bresnan.

But it was Ponting’s heir apparent, Michael Clarke, who saw Australia home with 62 not out after opener Tim Paine made 51.

Earlier, Lee produced a trio of 93mph-plus yorkers to clean bowl Matt Prior, Luke Wright and Stuart Broad, having previously dismissed Joe Denly.

He completed his five-wicket haul by uprooting Adil Rashid’s stumps.

It was the ninth time the 32-year-old quick, out with a side injury at the start of the Ashes and unable to get back in during the remainder of England’s 2-1 triumph, had taken five wickets in an innings in 179 ODIs.

It was the second time Lee had taken five wickets in an ODI at ‘the home of cricket’ and afterwards he told reporters: “Taking ‘five for’ at Lord’s, it doesn’t get much better than that.”

Lee, who before the Ashes was sidelined with foot and heel injuries, added: “I’ve worked very hard on my fitness. I was disappointed not to play in the Ashes to say the least, but today I felt good.To roll them over for 220 on a wicket like this was a great effort by us.”

Lee was well-supported by off-spinner Nathan Hauritz, who took two wickets for 23 runs in 10.

England captain Andrew Strauss made 63 for the second time in as many matches but, yet again this series, saw his top order fail, with no other home batsman making more Saturday than Owais Shah’s 39.

“Our batting hasn’t fired for four games, a few of our guys are low on confidence and one-day cricket is not a game when you can scratch around,” Strauss said.

“But fair play to Brett Lee, he bowled exceptionally well. When he bowls those 95mph yorkers, it’s always a challenge. It was a sensational spell.”

England, who rested all-rounder Paul Collingwood and paceman James Anderson, were on course for a 7-0 whitewash in India late last year before the Mumbai terror attacks led to the suspension of their tour when they were 5-0 down.

But barely a fortnight after their Ashes success, losing this series 7-0 is now a real possibility.

Strauss, who won a fourth straight toss, struck three boundaries in four balls off left-arm quick Nathan Bracken thanks to two cuts and a leg-glance.

But Denly, playing his first ODI against Test opposition after he’d sustained a knee injury during a football warm-up before this series got underway, fell for 11 after edging Lee to first slip Cameron White.

Ashes-winning captain Strauss completed a 48-ball fifth with eight fours.

After also making 63 in Wednesday’s six-wicket loss at the Rose Bowl, Strauss exited for the same score on England’s unlucky number of 111.

Trying to slog-sweep Hauritz, the left-handed opener got a gentle top-edge to Bracken at short third man on a day when England needed a hundred from him.

The series continues on Tuesday with the first of two day/night clashes at Trent Bridge.

On the other hand, Australia will want to clinch the series 2-1 or at best secure a draw to retain their Ashes and carry home the urn. The defending champions will want to retain the side that won at Leeds and that will mean leaving out the now-fit Brett Lee, a prospect which could backfire if England gets off to a flyer on the first day morning. Also, dismantling a winning unit could have serious implications on the morale of the performers such as Stuart Clarke, Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus—the three standout performers in the last Test.

England will be pondering on leaving out Graham Onions and bring in Monty Panesar for this Test. This will mean leaving out Onions who too will be given a raw deal for one failur the whole summer.
One look at the pitch will make you believe that its a true wicket as it is dry and bare. The plenty carry and bounce will make the captains go in with an extra pacer but spinners too can get their purchase from this wicket.
For those who thrive on trivia, the last four Tests have seen England pacers Onions, Flintoff, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Harmison have given 37 runs to bag a wicket while Australian pacers —- Ben Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle, Johnson and Clark – have averaged 28.11 per wicket for their 53 wickets.

Sir dismissed for a DUCK!

It was the year 1948 and Sir Don Bradman was playing in his last Ashes, needing a mere 4 runs to sit on an average of 100. Out he walked into the middle, in pursuit for the magical three-figure average in his career. But The Almighty had other plans and the legend was bowled for a second-ball duck by leggie Eric Hollies.
Thus, that record remains vacant till date. Oops, no batsman before or since has come close to Bradman’s mark of 99.94 too.

Jim Laker’s 19 wickets (YES! In a single match)….read on..

The year was 1956 and England’s Jim Laker managed to pull out something that has never been witnessed yet and was equalled only by an Indian against Pakistan at the Feroz Shah Kotla (in 1999, Anil Kumble) — of bagging all the 10 wickets in an innings.
Laker bagged a match haul of 19 wickets (including a perfect ten) for 90 runs in the fourth Test of the Ashes, a record that has never been bettered by any mere mortal under the sun.
The Aussies blamed the pitch (as always) and pointed out that the pitch could have been tampered to the Pom’s advantage.
The pitches have been ‘doctored’ many times since, but the record remains till date! Any takers?

Many Australians who were there remain convinced for ever more that the pitch had been ‘doctored’ to assist Laker’s off-spin.

Massie — the maverick!!

In the 1972 Ashes, Bob Massie, the medium pacer from Western Australia got a debut match haul of 16 for 137 to have a dream debut.
Western Australia swing bowler Bob Massie’s haul of 16 for 137 would have been astounding at any time. That he took so many wickets on his Test debut, and at Lord’s, ‘the home of cricket’, to boot, made it almost the stuff of schoolboy dreams.

A succession of England’s best batsmen were left utterly bewildered by Massie’s late swing, whether from over or around the wicket.

Unsurprisingly the game was dubbed ‘Massie’s Match’ but sadly for the bowler himself he fell as fast as he rose and played just five more Tests.

Geoffrey’s 100th ton

Geoffrey returned back into action for the 1977 Ashes after a self-imposed exile and at his home ground in Headingley scored his 100th first class ton, when he on-drove off Greg Chappell for a boundary.

Ian’s  five for one
It was Botham all the way in 1981 Ashes. His innings of 149 not out at Headingley and 118 at Old Trafford were both, in their different ways, thrilling efforts.
But in between those two centuries, Botham produced a stunning bowling display in the fourth Test at Edgbaston. Australia, set just 151 for victory , were in command before swing bowler Botham took five wickets for just one run in 28 balls to seal an astounding 29-run win.

1993 – Warne’s ball of the century

Rarely can one delivery have resonated for so long as Shane Warne’s first ball in Ashes cricket.

Mike Gatting, one of England’s better players of spin, was at the crease when Warne produced a spitefully sharply dipping and turning leg-break which pitched outside leg-stump and clipped the off-bail.

2005 – Flintoff’s sportsmanship

While the rest of the England team euphorically celebrated a nailbiting two-run win at Edgbaston that saw them level an Ashes series they’d eventually win 2-1, Flintoff took time out to drop down to his haunches and offer some consoling words to not out batsman Brett Lee, who’d so nearly won the match for the Aussies.

“It’s not just Sunny, John has taken quite a few names…I think, we Indians are used to it now. It’s unfortunate and we just got to deal with it,” the former captain said. Earlier, Buchanan in his recently released book “The Future of Cricket: The Rise of Twenty20′,had taken potshots at various Indian stars such as Gavaskar, Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Dravid, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh.

Ganguly added that he not read the book but felt that such comments were not in the right spirit and taste. “He should not have written such things. He has done well for Australia as a coach and people hold him in high esteem. He should not have done this. I don’t thing this should have happened,” Ganguly said.

When quizzed about the ongoing Ashes series, Ganguly said Australia were missing a spinner more than a pacer but still they can win the Tests. “Definitely, Australia can still win without Brett Lee. I think they are missing a spinner more than a pacer,” he said.

The former India captain has been invited by the ICC to deliver a lecture on cricket at the University of Oxford and Ganguly said, “I am going on July 14th. I will take the fellowship…watch a few days of the Ashes Test and go to Oxford.”

What is important to be followed here is the mellowness with which Ganguly answered Buchanan, much like the silken cover drive which used to beat most of the fielder’s cordon inside the circle in a cricket match. Beware Buchanan! The game has just begun.