India vs England 3rd ODI 2008: Live on Sky Sports 1 Channel

Sky Sports 1 television channel is telecasting the ongoing ODI series between India and England. The third match of the seven-match ODI series will be held on 20 November 2008 in Kanpur. England is trialing 2-0 in the series after suffering two heavy defeats in the first two matches in the series. In fact, Indian team outclassed the English side in both the matches.

In the first match, England was defeated by 158runs, a margin of defeat which was reduced to 54 in the second match. England mainly has two problems. First of all, their batsmen could not show enough maturity while facing Indian spinners. Even they threw their wicket to occasional spinners like Yuvraj Singh in the second match. The second problem England is badly affected by is lack of a quality spinner. England does not have a quality spinner. Since the retirement of Ashley Giles, England has not found a quality spinner for ODI format. Samit Patel failed to shine in the second match. Now, off spinner Graeme Swann has been included in the first eleven for the third ODI of the series.

England fans will look for a revamp in the form of England players in the third ODI. So, England fans are eagerly waiting for the match. If you are currently in England and want to enjoy the live action of the match, then stick to Sky Sports 1 television channel. Here, you can find the television program of Sky Sports: (http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12943,00.html)

England all out for 240 in 3rd ODI

Harbhajan Singh's spell of 3/31 spelled doom for the English XI as the visitors were all out for a mere 240 runs.

Ravi Bopara top scored for the hosts with a neat knock of 60. Earlier, England made a solid start in the Kanpur ODI but India has struck crucial blows to bring England to 102/2 in 19 overs.

Ian Bell fell to a Munaf Patel delivery that jagged away while Harbhajan Singh got the all important wicket of skipper Kevin Pietersen.

Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara forged 79 run partnership for the opening wicket to give England its best start for the series. After Bell's fall Bopara (41 batting) soldiered on and now he is joined by Paul Collingwood in the middle.

England skipper Kevin Pietersen won the toss and chose to bat first against India in the third one-day international on Thursday.

The start was delayed by 45 minutes due to hazy conditions, reducing play to 49-overs per side. The forecast is for showers during the day.

England dropped pace spearhead Steve Harmison and picked off spinner Graeme Swann as the second spinner, for his first game of the series in the only change from the previous game.

Harmison took just three wickets at over 41 runs apiece in the first two games, the hosts having won both easily to lead the seven-match series.

India recalled fast bowler Ishant Sharma after his recovery from an ankle injury, replacing left-arm R.P. Singh in the only change from the previous game.

Teams: England:Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen (captain), Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Owais Shah, Samit Patel, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.

India:Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma.

England could not make the most of their best start of the series so far as India's phalanx of disciplined bowlers shot them out for 240 in 48.4 overs in the third cricket ODI here today.

Dhoni hopes Yuvraj gets a hat-trick of centuries

Kanpur, Nov 19 (IANS) India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hopes in-form Yuvraj Singh gets a third consecutive century in the third One-Day International against England here Thursday.

'I hope he (Yuvraj) scores his third consecutive century here and that would suit the team as well,' Dhoni told reporters after a practice session at the Green Park Stadium here Wednesday.

Yuvraj has been in rampaging form with an unbeaten 138 in Rajkot and 118 in Indore, where he also picked up four wickets.

'Yuvraj, when on song, is simply one of the best, even the top bowlers struggle against him. As a captain, I have noticed that all big players who slog down the order are left-handers, probably because the bowlers have sorted out the right-handers. They can bowl yorker or low fulltoss to a right-hander, but struggle to find the right line for the left-handers,' Dhoni said.

The India captain also said that as Yuvraj was making a come-back he motivated the left-handed batsman to play his natural game.

'I told him see the ball and hit it. At times when a player goes through a bad patch, you have to keep him motivated. But all the players in the team are very talented and you cannot really change their basics. All you can do is to motivate them,' he said.

Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag skipped the practice session and Dhoni said that since it was an optional session the players decided to take some rest. But Ishant Sharma, who was rested for the first two matches, has been declared fit and is expected to play.

'In the Test series against Australia, he (Ishant) bowled long spells and was tired. But even then, bowling his third spell of the day, he gave it his best and bowled his heart out, putting in the same amount of effort. You have to take care of kids like him,' Dhoni said.

'He is just 19 or 20, you have to make sure that he does not sustain injuries and remains in the right frame of mind.'

Rudra Pratap Singh, who has been unimpressive so far, is expected to make way for Ishant.

'Look, he (Rudra Pratap) has not played for a while and its always difficult to make a comeback. It is at times like this that you need to completely back him. He has been one of the best bowlers against England and even though he is looking bit rusty, the team will back him and we hope he comes back strong,' Dhoni said.

Players Should Be given Rest - Dhoni

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has warned that players will increasingly be forced to skip matches because of burnout caused by an overloaded cricket calendar.

Dhoni, who sat out India's three-test series in Sri Lanka in July and August, said Wednesday that excessive cricket both international and provincial was exhausting the players.

"It's getting increasingly tough. It's important for a player to decide when he cannot take it anymore," Dhoni said ahead of Thursday's one-day international between India and England here.

"I opted out of the test series in Sri Lanka because I needed a break," Dhoni said.

"Players know their body best and in future more and more players will come out and say that they are going to skip events," he said.

The one-day series against England will be followed by two tests. The one-week gap between the one-dayers and the tests will be used to stage the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League.

Dhoni is captain of Chennai Super Kings, one of two Indian teams in the Champions League which also features provincial teams from Australia, South Africa, England and Pakistan.

If the Super Kings reach the final, on Dec. 10 in the southern city of Chennai, Dhoni may miss the match because the first test against England begins the following morning in the western city of Ahmadabad.

The Indian board asked England if the first test could start a day later, but the itinerary was not changed because that would leave just two days' gap between the tests.

"For me, the country comes first," Dhoni said. "I'd like to play the test match if I have to make a choice."

India-England Test will not be postponed

The first Test between India and England is going to be held as per the schedule said the BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi on Tuesday. The BCCI had earlier asked England if it would agree to postpone the Ahmedabad Test by a day.

Reportedly, India's cricket board wanted the opening Test match against England to start a day later than scheduled so that its’ skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni could play in the Champions League Twenty20 final if his domestic team qualifies.

The Champions League will begin from December 3 and Dhoni is the captain of the Chennai Super Kings’ team.

Lalit Modi stated that the first cricket Test between England and India will be held as per the schedule and Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the Indian team against England as it is not a "rational" proposition to postpone the match in view of the Champions League final.


Dhoni said it is not certain if Chennai Super Kings will reach the final and even if they do, Dhoni will represent India in the December 11 to 15 matches instead of playing in the December 10 day-night Twenty Champions League final.


The Twenty20 Champions League is an international Twenty20 cricket competition between clubs from Australia, England, India, Pakistan and South Africa and will be played in India.