World Cup: On designer Lucknow pitch, India’s 229 could be winning score against England | Cricket-world-cup News
The final overs of the Indian innings witnessed a Test-match like incident that is rarely seen in white ball cricket. It also gave a hint about what is in store for the second half of the game. After Surya completed a run, he was warned the umpire for running in the danger area of the pitch. The umpire was mindful of Surya’s spikes damaging the top layer of the pitch.
The big brown roughed up patches on the good length area would play a role in deciding the result of this game. Interestingly on both ends, there were visible spots that the two left-armers – orthodox Ravindra Jadeja and wr spinner Kuldeep Yadav – would be aiming to pitch their heavily tweaked balls.
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The start of the game has seen the commentators speculating the nature of the pitch. The English commentators joked that this seemed like a 3-day Test match track. To which Ravi Shastri would reply that if it was a Test, England would be opted to bat after winning the toss.Most Read
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In the first two overs, it was clear that the pitch didn’t have much pace or carry. There was no sign of real pace from David Willey’s over. Chris Woakes’s first ball kept really low and was collected the keeper close to his shoe laces. There was also speculation among the TV pundits: Did India miss a trick keeping Ashwin out?
Rohit Sharma was circumspect about the behaviour of the pitch at the start of the innings. Unlike in earlier games, he didn’t go for his shots early. To everyone’s surprise, the first over, with Rohit on strike, was a maiden. Eventually, when he was out, it was after he had mishit a Adil Rashid googly that took ages to reach him.
Is this the designer pitch that India has a habit of rolling out for home Test matches? India might have struggled to put up a big score but this game isn’t over.
