Bopara shows how it is done

Top scores with 73 to help England post 219 against Hyderabad XI.

The Anwar Ahmed delivery pitched just short of length and held up on him. Having swung through the line and connected quite handsomely on a couple of occasions already,Kevin Pietersen,however,didn8217;t hold back. Curling his wrists with the most audacious flourish,the right-hander tried to send the ball over mid-wicket fence but managed only an ugly thwack that resonated off the empty stands at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Uppal as the ball rolled inoffensively towards mid-on. The ball had missed the middle of Pietersen8217;s bat by a few inches.

The batsman looked at the bottom of his bat with a bemused expression. It wasn8217;t as if Ahmed had rolled his fingers over,or attempted any other variety of a slower delivery. The next ball from the left-arm medium-pacer landed exactly on the same spot,and Pietersen outlandishly enacted a replay of his previous shot. Only this time,the ball hit his bat a little higher and flew straight into the hands of Hyderabad XI8217;s Ashish Reddy at mid-on. And as Ahmed celebrated his big wicket on what was soon turning into a dream day,Pietersen stood with his hands on his hips offering a steely gaze at the Uppal pitch.

He wasn8217;t the only English batsman to be dismissed while trying to force the issue on Saturday. The visitors ended up with a lot to ponder over after getting a taste of what lies in store for them on the tour after their first competitive outing on a sluggish pitch. It eventually took the unlikely pair of Ravi Bopara and all-rounder Chris Woakes to show the way for their teammates on how best to deal with the prevelant conditions.

With scores of 73 and 46 not out respectively,Bopara and Woakes also helped their team avoid a humiliating start to their limited-overs tour by dragging them to a total of 219,which anyways proved too steep a chase for Hyderabad XI. More importantly,the pair also exemplified the fact that patience rather than overt aggression could be the key to their team8217;s success once the ODI series kicks off at the very same venue next Friday.

England had sunk to 82/5 by the 20thover of their innings after Ahmed,a 24-year-old seamer yet to make his first-class debut,landed a couple of telling blows. Cook was the first to go,trying to cut a delivery too close to him,as the delivery slowed down considerably after pitching while Jonathan Trott,Ian Bell,Jonathan Bairstow and Samit Patel were dismissed trying to play a few shots.

Bopara,in many ways,is un-English in his batting style. He does push and prod at times like his compatriots,but is also adept at playing the waiting game and rarely looks to impose himself on the bowling. And his style of play paid rich dividends at Uppal. He hit only three boundaries in his innings and a solitary six off off-spinner Amol Shinde over long-on saw him cross the 50-run mark.

Bopara,in tandem with Woakes,placed the roadmap for England,by regularly guiding the ball into gaps to rotate the strike and also conserving energy by prodding when there was only a single up for grabs. The pitch continued to deteriorate with every passing delivery and there were many deliveries that scooted off the floor. And once Bopara fell,Woakes followed the precedent set by his senior batsmen to the hilt.

Finn takes hat-trick

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The Warwickshire all-rounder also impressed with the ball,picking up a couple of middle-order wickets 8212; both bowled through the gate. The English pacers,overall,were impressive. Not only did they seem to relish the two new balls on either end,Woakes amp; Co bowled with fever-pitch intensity. They got the Hyderabad batsmen to hop on occasions,especially Steven Finn,who finished with a hat-trick and figures of 4/28.

The match might have been won but with most of his batsmen floundering in their first competitive outing of the tour,head coach Andy Flower was left fretting and frantically taking down notes. Though most disappointed,Bopara had at least provided him with a template to work with.

Brief scores: England Lions 219 in 47.2 overs Ravi Bopara 73,Chris Woakes not out 46; Anwar Ahmed 3/35,Mohammed Khader 3/25 vs Hyderabad Cricket Association XI 163 in 36.5 overs Arjun Yadav 47,Neeraj Bisht 29,Steve Finn 4/28,Chris Woakes 2/30