Latest updates as England look for first winEmail simon.burnton@theguardian.com | Tweet: @Simon_BurntonDhawan inspires India after Facebook decision 11.05pm GMT 15th over: England 89-0 (Ali 58, Bell 23)Richie Berrington does his first bit o’bowling, and with just one run scored from the first five deliveries it’s all going rather swimmingly, until Ali hoists the last over long off for six (it’s dropped, a couple of yards beyond the rope, by a chap in an orange T-shirt, to widespread groans). 11.01pm GMT 14th over: England 82-0 (Ali 52, Bell 22)Bell takes five balls to get a single and regrettably keeps the strike. “Regarding famous/worthwhile Joshuas, there was also the very scary Mr Joshua from Lethal Weapon,” recalls James Procter-Blain. “Not only could he hold a cigarette lighter to his arm without flinching, but – as he was played by Gary Busey – he could probably also open beer bottles with his teeth. Impressive stuff.” I think if Mr Joshua from Lethal Weapon is the best you can do, my point is fairly emphatically proved.50 for Mo from 39balls , with 6 fours and 2 sixes. eng 75-0Bell meanwhile in no nick at all would have trouble timing a boiled egg 10.58pm GMT 13th over: England 83-0 (Ali 51, Bell 21)Ali cracks the ball over mid-on for a single-bounce four to bring up his 50, and he at least is looking in good touch. And this has got to hurt:@Simon_Burnton thought I would share a shortened version of my trip to Wellington and thus my decision to stick with OBO today@Simon_Burnton Queenstown Picton. 11 hours, sleep in car. Picton Wellington. 3 hour ferry. 4 hours cricket. Sleep in a train station.@Simon_Burnton repeat in reverse. Take away $400. 10.53pm GMT 12th over: England 72-0 (Ali 46, Bell 18)Majid Haq comes on to do a little ball-twirling, and when he pitches one short Ali thwacks him over long on for six. A very ordinary delivery, appropriately dealt with. As for Joshuas, James Kettle suggests that “the one who conquered Jericho must have had a bit about him”, while there’s also this:@Simon_Burnton there's Joshua Reynolds. And if course Jesus is Greek for Joshua. He's pretty famous. 10.49pm GMT 11th over: England 62-0 (Ali 37, Bell 17)Ooooh! Davey beats Bell with successive deliveries that straighten, zip past the bat and fly a whisker from the stumps! Bell’s rattling along at precisely a run every other ball at the moment, and not looking very comfortable about it. “Regarding achievements by those named Joshua, I was just watching the 80s Classic movie ‘Wargames’ tonight, and a Joshua plays an important role in that,” writes Chris Goater. “Who knows, perhaps your Joshua could almost start global thermonuclear war before offering to play a nice game of chess instead.” Well, here’s hoping. 10.45pm GMT 10th over: England 58-0 (Ali 34, Bell 16)Evans bowls, Ali nicks and the ball flies past a diving gully and scoots off for four. Moments later, a pretty dreary shortish delivery is walloped through midwicket. Scotland’s bowling is … well … there’s no Tim Southee there, is there?@simon_burnton England playing touchy-feely cricket against a side they should wallop. After 7 overs, NZ had double the runs. Poor. 10.40pm GMT 9th over: England 49-0 (Ali 26, Bell 16)Josh Davey returns, from the other end. When my wife suggested that we name our son Joshua, my argument against it was that, even though it has been one of the most popular boy’s names in pretty much every English-speaking country for pretty much all eternity, how many Joshuas can you name who ever amounted to anything? She was unimpressed with that line of thinking, and my son is indeed called Joshua. Still, there are some very decent Joshuas, even some good ones, but can you think of a truly outstanding Joshua? 10.36pm GMT 8th over: England 45-0 (Ali 25, Bell 13)England’s nerves have presumably been settled. It’s been a decent, unruffled start from the openers, even if it’s been a little low on the pyrotechnics. There’s time for that, of course (he said optimistically). 10.32pm GMT 7th over: England 42-0 (Ali 24, Bell 12)Wardlaw bowls a bit short and Bell pulls it, though not with enough power to make the boundary. Moments later Ali shows him how it’s done with a similar but considerably more emphatic stroke.@Simon_Burnton Like Euro 96, a win over Scotland will kick start our tournament, as the nation is gripped by cricket fever. I've gone mad! 10.27pm GMT 6th over: England 32-0 (Ali 18, Bell 8)The first bowling change seed Alastair Evans arrive to, after Bell thumped a first-ball loosener to the rope, provoke a loud lbw appeal with one that kept low, which the umpire isn’t impressed by. Hawkeye suggests he should have been, though the decision wouldn’t have been overturned had the Scots reviewed it (I thought the ball looked to be sliding well wide).Good decision from @CricketScotland not to review one that kept low but was going down leg: http://t.co/3yn6KJvD2P pic.twitter.com/Qb0v1XubNl 10.23pm GMT 5th over: England 25-0 (Ali 17, Bell 3)Wardlaw continues to restrict the flow of runs, though the two that come off his third over includes another wide. Time, now, to improve the flow of comedy-Scotland-fan photographs. 10.18pm GMT 4th over: England 23-0 (Ali 17, Bell 2)Davey continues, and Ali is kind-of-dropped driving to cover, the ball landing pretty much at the fielder’s toes, and he can’t get his fingers beneath it. That’s off ball two, with the first and the third both driven to the rope and the last bonked over long off for six. Still, no wides. 10.15pm GMT 3rd over: England 9-0 (Ali 3, Bell 2)And that’s a maiden! “Geoff Boycott on the radio, on hearing the Scotland line-up: ‘Majid Haq - there’s a real Scottish name for you! (chuckle).’ What is the statutory retirement age, and is he not well past it?” wonders Charles Antaki. Oh dear. 10.11pm GMT 2nd over: England 9-0 (Ali 3, Bell 2)Josh Davey does the honours with over two and contributes four runs to England’s total with wides, a couple sliding down leg side and two more way off to the other side. His 10th delivery, though, is pretty much bang on, sliding across Ali, tempting him into a shot and just missing the edge. I notice Sky Movies, preparing as they are for tonight’s Oscars, are showing Titanic. Insert your own inevitable England comparison here. 10.05pm GMT 1st over: England 3-0 (Ali 1, Bell 2)Iain Wardlaw, former accountant, takes the ball for over one. Ali grabs a single off the first ball, and Bell leaves the next few well alone as they shape away before prodding the last through the covers for a couple. 9.56pm GMT The players are out and enjoying their anthems. Deep breath now. 9.55pm GMT Here (hopefully) or here (failing that) is Nasser’s notebook-inspired analysis. 9.54pm GMT “I’m lying back and thinking of England, as I donate blood (platelets) at the NZ Blood Service about two hundred metres away from Hagley Oval,” writes Ian Johnson. “Platelets help with blood clotting, apparently. I’m sure England won’t require any today. Surely?” Not unless you can transfuse talent and calm and surefootedness. 9.50pm GMT Sky’s resident experts – Nasser Hussain and Andrew Strauss, specifically – lay into England’s team selection, both basically suggesting that Hales should be in the team.@Simon_Burnton Love that Sky have eschewed tech like ipads, and instead Nasser is reading from what appears to be his school notebook. 9.46pm GMT “Nice of Mr Naylor to include a preview of England’s score at the end of the powerplay at the top of his video,” notes Tom Hopkins. 9.40pm GMT Always happy to have well-thought-through rants land in my inbox, so long as they don’t include any personal threats of course. Talking of which …“As a resident of England, and an Indian passport holder, I reserve a soft corner for both the teams. But the way England play in ODIs, I feel terrified about the direction cricket is going in this part of the world,” sobs Ganesh Ram. “Everyone says India’s batting is one of the strongest in the competition. But numbers say otherwise. Man for man, India are an inferior team to South Africa today. If we compare the stats, Proteas fare better than the Indians. But it’s their approach to the game that sets them apart. ‘India’s batting strength is not the personnel, it’s their strategy.’ 9.36pm GMT The Guardian’s man on the scene has this to report on the conditions in Christchurch:Scotland put Eng in. Overcast and a bit damp in the air. 9.32pm GMT “Just overhead conditions. It should be a good one-day wicket but we should hopefully get a bit of swing early on,” says Preston Mommsen. England would also have bowled first. “The wicket looks really good but we don’t mind batting first,” says Eoin Morgan. His team is indeed unchanged. 9.30pm GMT Sky suggest that teams aren’t allowed to confirm teams before the toss, so this may simply be just another howling foul-up from England. Anyway, the coin toss is now imminent. England team to play Scotland: Ali, Bell, Ballance, Root, Morgan (C), Taylor, Buttler, Woakes, Broad, Finn, Anderson #CWC15 #EngvScot 9.29pm GMT This just in – rumours of considerable team changes seem to have been unfounded, England having read the first page of the Big Book of Big Tournament Tactics, which presumably contains the two words “Don’t panic”.England name unchanged team for today's match #EngvScot #CWC15 9.26pm GMT “I reckon that the England team have thrown the first two games in order to drive their odds down, before storming to glory for the remainder of the tournament,” writes Tom. “I reckon today will be an unconvincing and close win, so to add further verisimilitude to their ineptitude. I’m going to put a tenner on them to lift the World Cup …” Get your money on now, safe as houses. 9.20pm GMT This is what Scotland’s dressing-room looks like: a lot of drinks (really, a lot) on a table with some kind of wheel. Can anyone explain the wheel?A view from inside the dressing room. #followscotland pic.twitter.com/gzzYEaYqY7 9.14pm GMT Thanks to Gary Naylor for this link to some classic footage from a classic England v Scotland encounter: 9.01pm GMT This just in from Christchurch, where it’s cloudy but with a positive prognosis: Overcast conditions here as our batsmen hit in the nets at back of ground #CWC15 #EngvScot pic.twitter.com/qJFbulIeG4 9.00pm GMT Hello world!So, finally, a must-win game for England, who were widely expected to lose to Australia and New Zealand in their first two matches, even if few believed they would accomplish it quite so stylishly. Their performance in Wellington, in particular, was an absolute nonpareil of losership, a display that scaled the very heights of haplessness to leave the squad jointly anointed Lords of Failsham Manor, landslide-elected government of the People’s Republic of Flopsicle, Lord Mayors of Whoopstown, driver and conductors of the last bus to Calamityville. 9.00pm GMT Simon will be here soon. In the meantime, here’s Vic Marks on England’s woes.The match in Wellington was just the sort of encounter the organisers dreaded once the tournament was expanded to include 14 teams. It was all over in 45.4 overs – that’s about two dollars per over for those who turned up on time.There was no need to turn the lights on. The game was an almighty embarrassment to the losing side and a dire disappointment for the spectators, even the most partisan. Only the New Zealand team could be quietly jubilant – calmness is their current mantra. Such an outcome was always on the cards in this World Cup with all those associate sides around to be bullied by the big boys. Except that there were no associates in Wellington. Just England. Continue reading...
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