England v Zimbabwe - Test Series

[Donny]

Stewart only added 1 to his overnight score before being adjudged l.b.w. to Streak.

McGrath has gone on to 80 as England push on to 6/318.

[Donny]

England are 8/385 at lunch with Ashley Giles on 33. McGrath made 81.

[Donny]

England all out for 416. Giles made 50.

Streak finished off the innings to finish with 4/64 and Blignaut took 2/95.

[HAL]

What's your favorite part of England?

[Donny]

England's debutant, Richard Johnson is certainly having a good day !!

He scored 24 from 14 balls, hit a six and then, when he took the new ball for the second over of the Zimbabwe innings, took a wicket with his 3rd. ball in Test cricket. He took another with his 4th. as well.

His opening partner, Jimmy Anderson, joined in the fun with the next two wickets so Johnson took another two !!

6/31 from 14.1 overs. Amazing. Johnson has 4/14 and Anderson, 2/12.

Oops, spoke too soon. Johnson just took his 5th. wicket (4 lbws) and now has 5/18 from 8 overs.

[HAL]

Yes it amazes me too.

[Donny]

At tea, Zimbabwe are 7/35. The 7 batsmen returned scores of 6, 0, 0, 8, 0, 0, 4. Taibu is 16 n.o.

[Donny]

Zimbabwe reached 94 due to some late order hitting and a patient 31 from their keeper, Tatenda Taibu. At one stage, they were 8/48.

Richard Johnson took 6/33 from 12 overs on debut. Anderson (2/30) and Harmison (2/22) did the rest.

Zimbabwe followed on and lost Mark Vermeulen in the first over. He faced three balls in the first innings for his duck and went for a 'golden' in the second. Welcome to the big time, Mark. This is his third Test.

They held on for 1/41 at stumps and are treating Johnson with much respect. He has 4 maidens from his 5 overs. Anderson took the wicket.

[Donny]

Johnson takes six as Zimbabwe face heavy defeat
Freddie Auld - June 6, 2003

Before this Test, Nasser Hussain warned his team-mates not to expect a repeat of their easy win in the first match at Lord's. He was right – so far this Test has been even easier. Zimbabwe gave more ammunition (if any were needed) to those who argue that they are the worst side to tour England on another humiliating day for them in the second npower Test at Chester-le-Street. In under two sessions they lost 11 wickets, and were again forced to follow on.

But Zimbabwe's ineptness must not take anything away from a dream debut by Richard Johnson, who took 6 for 33 in a magnificent display of swing bowling. Johnson overshadowed James Anderson, the previous new sensation, and Steve Harmison, the local hero, as he took two wickets - Mark Vermeulen and Stuart Carlisle both lbw - with his third and fourth balls in Test cricket. Grant Flower denied him what would have been an extraordinary hat-trick.

Johnson had to wait until his fifth over for his third scalp, Sean Ervine (0) nicking him to the wicketkeeper Alec Stewart (23 for 5). And when Travis Friend played around a straight one to give Johnson his third lbw (31 for 6), he was on the verge of becoming the latest England bowler to take five wickets on debut since … James Anderson a fortnight ago. And with a bit of help from Darrell Hair, Johnson claimed that fateful fifth when Heath Streak offered no stroke to a lavish inswinger (35 for 7). It was a dubious decision from Hair, but Johnson wasn't too bothered about the technicalities.

Tatenda Taibu, the only batsman to roll his sleeves up against the swinging ball, demonstrated the same technique and fight he showed in the first Test. But when he too became an lbw victim to Johnson, another milestone was in his sight: Dominic Cork's 7 for 43 against West Indies at Lord's in 1995. With one wicket left in the innings, it was a toss-up between himself and Harmison on who would get it, but it went Harmison's way when he trapped Ray Price for another lbw as Zimbabwe crumbled to a dismal 94 all out in just over 32 overs.

Johnson had earlier made his mark with the bat as well. He joined an exclusive list, including the likes of David Gower, when he hit Andy Blignaut for four first ball, and that set the tone for a cameo 24 off 14 balls. His innings included four fours and a steepling six off Price, but more importantly, along with Ashley Giles, he spoiled Zimbabwe's good early work after they had removed Alec Stewart and Anthony McGrath in a controlled display of bowling.

Stewart added only one run to his overnight score before he fell leg-before to Streak. That wicket ended a sixth-wicket partnership of 149 between Stewart and McGrath - the joint-highest for any wicket against Zimbabwe - and also put the brakes on England's progress. McGrath continued to play the tight bowling with control, but his patience began to wear thin, and he fell 20 short of a maiden Test century when he edged Blignaut to Taibu trying to force the pace.

Giles continued to frustrate Zimbabe with some bracing boundaries as he clubbed his way to 50, his second consecutive Test half-century, and he guided England to a dominating total of 416.

Zimbabwe made a better fist of things second time round, only losing the one wicket of Vermeulen for a pair, as they closed on 41 for 1. But the day belonged to Johnson.

[Donny]

A pitiful procession
The Wisden Verdict by Steven Lynch - June 6, 2003

England v Zimbabwe, 2nd Test, Chester-le-Street, Day 2
After writing Zimbabwe off yesterday, when they'd had quite a decent day in the field, I felt a bit of a heel. They had bowled reasonably tightly, after all, the ground fielding was excellent, and only the catching let them down a bit. Surely not really worst-ever material?

But today they had to bat. Hard-wicket technique, pushing the hands boldly at the ball and playing around the front pad, isn't ideal for early-season England, and the Zimbabwean batsmen were found out. Again. They weren't helped by a couple of dodgy lbw decisions - Dion Ebrahim got a big inside edge, and Heath Streak's leave-alone leg-before looked less out than to a confident shout a few balls before - but none of the batsmen exuded any confidence during a pitiful procession on a pretty good pitch.

It's not surprising, when you look at the figures. Stuart Carlisle is playing in his 29th Test, and has a highest score of 77 and average of 25. Grant Flower may be the only tourist with a Test century under his belt, but his 8 today matched his overall average in England. And Tatenda Taibu at No. 5? He has the potential to be a handy Test No. 7 or 8, but he's overplaced any higher.

Richard Johnson had a field day, starting with two wickets in his first over and finishing with 6 for 33, the best debut performance for England since Dominic Cork swung his way to 7 for 43 at Lord's in 1995. Johnson did the simple things right, pitching the ball up and darting it about at a waspish pace.

So is Johnson the new Cork, or just another Ed Giddins (5 for 15 against the Zimbos in 2000, hardly seen since)? It's too early to tell, but after the injuries he's suffered since first being called up for England nearly seven years ago he deserved a good start, and he did the basics well. The South Africans will show his true worth. It's tough on Zimbabwe, but their current side is taking the test out of Test cricket.

[couragous cloke]

nothing surprising, zimbarbwe are shit trucks!

[HAL]

Really nothing?

[Donny]

Zimbabwe are on 5/152. Ebrahim made 55 and Anderson has 3/35.

[Donny]

All over. England won by an innings and 69 runs.

Friend was 65 n.o. Harmison and Anderson both took 4 wickets.

[HAL]

Noplace in particular?