Pakistan v England, 3rd ODI, Dubai, 18 February, 2012

Oi! That sort of smiley is reserved for minnows! Oh....

st least one of the teams is not a minnow

St. Least? Is that some austere Saint that I've been fortunate not to hear about?

Brass Monkey wrote:St. Least? Is that some austere Saint that I've been fortunate not to hear about?

Patron saint of Direby?

Could be the Archbishop of Qent!

Where's Frommie? It's the 18th, no?

Sandstorm permitting.

Cook's lost the toss. That is big news. Only the 4th time in 21 attempts. Mentalism.

I'm glad, though. There's no point in just defending totals. Got to see how they go chasing. In a perverse way I'm hoping the bowlers get tonked, I'd like to see a big chase.

Win the toss win the game so far.

Not sure conditions were drastically different under lights, though, to be fair. It may just be that Pakistan's batting's a bit erratic.

They'll score 300 today or less than 100. That's my tip. There's no middle ground.

England won't chase it down either way.

Jimmy's getting the ball to move a bit and this is in the dry heat. Later on will be a moth.

gotta love a sulky broad

It was a good start by the Paks but England came back well. Insane first over by Broad but since then it's been a masterclass.

Really good bowling from Finn, Broad and Swann is making this pitch look worse than it is. Unsurprised that Cook hasn't put the foot on the throat yet. Suppose Akmal and Afridi are dangerous, though. What a talent Umar Akmal is. He's wasted down at 6. Should be coming in first wicket down. A brilliant talent.

What be this? Not a great time for an afternoon nap, which turned into a deep slumber, apparently.

Drop catch now.

Bops decides that long-hops are the way to go against Afridi

tricycle wrote:What be this? Not a great time for an afternoon nap, which turned into a deep slumber, apparently.

Drop catch now.

You probably haven't missed much, it's a much better pitch than the score suggests. Afridi just smashed Swann for 6, so it's probably a good time to wake up.

Afridi seems to be in a decent mood now.

Brass Monkey wrote:Really good bowling from Finn, Broad and Swann is making this pitch look worse than it is. Unsurprised that Cook hasn't put the foot on the throat yet. Suppose Akmal and Afridi are dangerous, though. What a talent Umar Akmal is. He's wasted down at 6. Should be coming in first wicket down. A brilliant talent.

He's never batted at three according to the stat just shown on Sky - seems to be most effective at six. Lets himself down when he puts the keeper's gloves on though.

Fark's sake get Broad or Finn on - Sammy boy looks innocuous.

Basil wrote:
He's never batted at three according to the stat just shown on Sky - seems to be most effective at six. Lets himself down when he puts the keeper's gloves on though.

Sohail reckons he should be at 4, I'd be happy with that. Just think it's best to give him time to get hs eye in.

Ravi looked hittable, not sure about his bowling on decent decks. This powerplay should decide whether they get a decent total, Finn and Broad on and two big hitters with their eye in.

Did anyone else notice that the region under Akmal's arse was fully black on hotspot. I know Finn is fast but you'd expect an international player to be braver than that.

No ball referral for that? Dar a bit overcautious.

Boom Boom gone now - 180/7

They shouldn't get too much more than 200 now.