Young Northampton pacer Dave Burton was over the moon after scalping dashing Indian opener Virender Sehwag in the two-day practice match here and hoped it would help England’s game plan in the Edgbaston Test next week.
“It does help (to keep Sehwag down). There is now footage for England to see, watch the whole spell, and see if swinging deliveries are going to get him,” said the 25-year-old Burton yesterday.
Sehwag (8), back in the Indian fold, was thrice beaten by away swinging deliveries bowled by Burton before the fourth struck trapped him plumb in front of wickets and earned the young bowler a dream scalp.
“I’ve watched him many times. (Sachin) Tendulkar, (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni, Sehwag, I’ve grown up watching them. For those three lifting outswingers, I went wider of the crease to cut down the angle. He is known to relish width outside his offstump and I wanted to cut the angles so that he ends up playing straighter deliveries,” he said.
“The one with which I got his wicket kept straight and was still going straight and his front foot was stuck in the crease when it hit him.”
Burton, a coloured cricketer, has been around for five seasons but has played only five first class games. He shared the new ball with the tall Luke Evans who himself had enough reasons to celebrate after scalping Dhoni (2) and Suresh Raina (33) off short, lifting deliveries.
Evans, who hasn’t been picked for any first eleven by Northamptonshire this season, remembers the two dismissals vividly.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet. These guys play Test cricket and suddenly they are just 22 yards away. It can be overwhelming. I wanted to be in control and concentrate on what I was doing. Good ball is a good ball for anybody as the cliche goes,” Evans said.
“The one which claimed Dhoni bounced and moved sideways. Its’ the type of ball you practice and hope to come up with. We discussed it at tea and when Suresh came out, we knew if the ball is over certain height it can cause an opening having watched how (Stuart) broad has bowled in the Test series.”
“Actually, Mukund who is believed to be susceptible played quite well. He obviously took his chance in cutting over the slips.”
Evans, all of 24, still believes India could be a good opponent for England in the remaining two Tests.
“As a team, India looks very organised and very determined. Our lads have been preparing for this fixture for quite a while. We wanted to test ourselves against such an opposition; we wanted to have as much experience as we could. It feels good to measure yourself against a team such as India. Hopefully, it’s been a good test for Indian batsmen too for the rest of the matches.”
