| 0.0 : Hello and a warm welcome to the second Day of the 2nd Test match. We are starting from scratch and there is a lot of anticipation building up. For now, the weather is overcast but the good thing is that there is no rain around. After a scintillating first Test, we are in for another cracking contest. The two skippers, Joe Root and Virat Kohli, are in rich vein of form and that augers well for the respective sides. Both the teams are well balanced and have some game-changers in the ranks. There i |
| PITCH REPORT - Sanjay Manjrekar finally gets to see the pitch today. Observes that it a green top, so green that we can barely see the deck! Well, he says he is JOKING now. Comes to the real track and notices that there are no real bare patches on the surface. There might be something for the spinners, though he predicts that it will be a one-spinner track. Win the toss and bat first, he reckons. |
| TOSS - England win the toss and opt to field. |
| England skipper, Joe Root, mentions it is a fresh surface and with the conditions being overcast, they have a chance to take wickets. States that they are going in with a 4-1 combination. Informs that Chris Woakes comes in and Moeen Ali is unfortunate to miss out. On being asked about the thought to play two spinners in this Test, Root admits that he has been thinking that over the last two days but looking at the green tinge on the surface, took the call to omit Moeen this morning. Reckons that |
| India skipper, Virat Kohli, says that they would have bowled first as well, with the weather around. Mentions that it is a hard and dry surface, a good cricketing one overall. Feels that every kind of player will be in with a shot on this track. States that the guys are confident and they have to just get their mindset right. Informs there are two changes - Cheteshwar Pujara comes in for Shikhar Dhawan and Umesh Yadav makes way for Kuldeep Yadav. Adds that KL Rahul will move up the order. Ends b |
| We all are in readiness. The concerned men walk out to the middle. Murali Vijay and KL Rahul to open the batting for India. Good opportunity for the latter to cement his place for the opening slot. James Anderson to steam in with the first new cherry. Three slips and a gully in place. Here we go... |
| 0.1 : J Anderson to Vijay, Starts off with a harmless delivery, fuller in length and well outside off. Vijay plants his front foot across to allow it through. |
| 0.2 : J Anderson to Vijay, Better from Anderson! He bowls this one in the corridor of uncertainty and gets the ball to move away after landing. Vijay shuffles a touch, keeps his bat inside the line and lets it go. |
| 0.3 : J Anderson to Vijay, If the previous one moved way, Anderson shows his skills by bringing this one in. Murali knows where his off stump is and makes an assured leave. |
| 0.4 : J Anderson to Vijay, This one lands on a length around off and then seams away after hitting the deck. Vijay points his bat skywards to leave four balls in a row. |
| 0.5 : Anderson to M Vijay, OUT! A peach would be an understatement! It was literally a dream delivery, one which even the best of batsmen would have been found wanting against. Vijay departs for a duck in his 100th Test innings. Coming back to the ball, it is a full length ball on middle and it swerves away like a banana. The only mistake that he does is that he tries to flick it across the line. The ball whizzes past the outside edge of his bat and crashes into the off stump. Jimmy is up and ru |
| Cheteshwar Pujara comes out to bat. He has got a chance and he needs to make the most of it. England on the attack, five slips in place for him. |
| 0.6 : J Anderson to C Pujara, Ooh.. well bowled! Fuller in length, swinging away late. Pujara fiddles with it and gets an outside edge that falls short of the third and fourth slip fielder. A wicket maiden to begin with for Anderson. |
| Stuart Broad to share the new ball from the other end. |
| 1.1 : S Broad to Rahul, Starts off with a fuller length ball well outside off, Rahul doesn't flirt with it. |
| 1.2 : S Broad to Rahul, In a similar channel, swinging away a touch. KL comes forward and allows it through. |
| 1.3 : S Broad to Rahul, Back of a length ball around off, swerving in. Rahul is cramped a touch but does well to answer it with a straight bat. |
| 1.4 : S Broad to Rahul, Broad needs to keep the batsman playing. This one is well outside off and swings further away. Rahul has no problem in letting it go. |
| 1.5 : S Broad to Rahul, Good skills from Broad! He brings this one in by landing it in the avenue of apprehension. Rahul leans ahead a touch gingerly and eventually, makes a tentative leave. |
| 1.6 : S Broad to Rahul, Peach! Almost got the better of KL Rahul. Angling in substantially to go past the forward defense of Rahul and bamboozling him completely. Broad also starts off with a maiden. |
| 2.1 : J Anderson to Pujara, Wide outside off, shaping away. Pujara lets it go. |
| 2.2 : J Anderson to Pujara, The batsman shoulders arms to let that one through. |
| 2.3 : J Anderson to Pujara, Well played! Fullish on middle, swinging away late. Pujara eases it towards extra cover. |
| 2.4 : J Anderson to Pujara, This one is wide outside off again, on a fullish length. Cheteshwar ignores it. |
| 2.5 : J Anderson to Pujara, A play and a miss! That was a beauty. Pitches on a good length outside off and straightens enough to go past the tentative poke of Pujara. |
| 2.6 : J Anderson to Pujara, Well outside off, left alone. Third maiden in a row. |
| 3.1 : S Broad to Rahul, You will get beaten on numerous occasions in such conducive conditions but you have to remain calm. On a length outside off, comes in with the natural angle as Rahul feels for it and is beaten. |
| 3.2 : S Broad to Rahul, On the fifth stump channel this time, Rahul is calm and lets it go. |
| 3.3 : S Broad to Rahul, Fuller in length, swinging in. Rahul takes a confident stride forward and blocks it with authority. |
| 3.4 : S Broad to Rahul, FOUR! The first runs of the day! A brilliant shot from Rahul to get going. Fractionally overpitched outside off, Rahul leans ahead, opens his bat face a touch and caresses it through cover-point to find the fence. That will do his confidence a world of good. |
| 3.5 : S Broad to Rahul, Good length ball outside off, shaping in a touch. Rahul knows where he his standing, has his off stump covered and allows it to sail into the gloves of the keeper. |
| 3.6 : S Broad to Rahul, Straighter on the occasion, perhaps the only delivery that is on middle and leg. Rahul comes forward and presents a water-tight defense towards short mid-wicket. |
| 4.1 : J Anderson to Pujara, Beaten! Poor from Pujara. Fullish ball outside off, swinging away. Pujara pokes at it late and gets foxed. Needs to be careful. |
| 4.2 : J Anderson to Pujara, Anderson is bowling like a dream. Bowls a pitched up ball around the tight off stump corridor and gets it to swing away very late. CP fails to account for it and is beaten all ends up. |
| 4.3 : J Anderson to Pujara, In the channel outside off, Pujara leaves it alone. |
| 4.4 : J Anderson to Pujara, Similar ball outside off, Cheteshwar remains circumspect and makes another leave. |
| 4.5 : J Anderson to Pujara, Full length ball on middle and leg, turned around the corner for an easy single. Pujara is off the mark as well. |
| 4.6 : J Anderson to Rahul, FOUR! Easy pickings! The first bad ball of the innings and it has been put away. Full ball straying on the pads, all Rahul has to get is a tickle on it and he does just that. Gets it through fine leg to find the ropes for the second time in the innings. |
| 5.1 : S Broad to Pujara, Nice channels these! On a length around off and the ball straightens a touch. CP fiddles with it and gets beaten again. |
| 5.2 : S Broad to Pujara, The batsman flicks it away with a wristy shot. |
| 5.3 : S Broad to Pujara, No ball! Broad continues to bowl full and gets it to move in. Pujara dead-bats it. Broad has overstepped and he has to reload it again. |
| S Broad to Pujara, On the fifth stump channel, Cheteshwar points his bat skywards to allow it through. |
| 5.4 : S Broad to Pujara, Smart bowling this! Pitches this on a length and the ball seams in after landing. Pujara comes ahead gingerly and gets an inside edge onto his pads. |
| Oh dear... it has gone very dark and has started to sprinkle too. The crowd is busy getting its raincoats and jackets on. Ahem... |
| 5.5 : S Broad to Pujara, Fractionally overpitched in line of the stumps, defended solidly off the front foot. |
| 5.6 : S Broad to C Pujara, An appeal for an LBW is turned down! Broad goes wider of the crease and angles in a fullish ball substantially. Pujara tries to keep it out but seems to have got an inside edge onto his pads. The English players appeal in unison but the umpire shakes his head. Broad indicates to the slip cordon that there was some wood involved. Had Pujara missed it, he was a clear candidate for LBW. |
| 6.1 : Anderson to Rahul, OUT! The move to promote KL Rahul to the opening slot hasn't worked for India! The wily old fox, James Anderson, has made some early inroads. This time he bowls a fuller length ball around off. Rahul is unsure whether the ball will move in or go away. This time, it shapes away late to catch the batsman off guard. He ends up poking at it and the ball flies off the outside edge behind. Bairstow moves to his right and accepts a regulation catch. Both the openers are back in |
| 0.0 : The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli strides out to bat. He was the lone man standing tall for India in the first Test at Edgbaston. With his side in some early trouble, can he rise to the occasion? |
| 6.2 : J Anderson to Kohli, A jaffa to welcome the Indian skipper! Back of a length in the avenue of apprehension and the ball seams away late. Kohli has a feel for it but the ball whizzes past his outside edge. Anderson has a wry smile on his face. |
| 6.3 : J Anderson to Kohli, Kohli is off the mark! Fuller length ball around off, tapped in front of point for a run. |
| Pretty much expected. The players are going off. The drizzle is a bit heavy for play to carry on. This could be the norm for most of the day, so the players need to be prepared accordingly - especially batsmen. That is why India will be very disappointed - more so Rahul. The play has been stopped just 2 balls after he got out. |
| Excellent bowling from the master of swing. He is back. Talk about the slope at Lord's - Jimmy's reaction would be - 'Oh c'mon. I don't have 94 wickets here just like that.' Make that 96 now. Will he get the remaining 4 in this innings itself? |
| Cannot blame the Indian batsmen much. They have been put to a stern test of patience and skill but the master is the master. He found out ways to go past the defense of Vijay early and then nipped out Rahul. Broad has not been that incisive from the other end. As great seers usually would say - Even the best of batsmen would have been found wanting in this period. You will get beaten on numerous occasions in such conducive conditions but you have to remain calm. |
| It has gone from really dark to really really dark in a matter of minutes. More covers are in place now as the rain droplets get bigger. Hopefully, we get action resuming soon. Stay tuned... |
| Update 1205 local time - Good news, folks! The rain has stopped as of now and the weather has cleared up somewhat. The covers are coming off. We will keep you updated... |
| Update 1220 local time - Even better news! The match is set to resume at 1245 local, provided there is no more rain. Lunch has been extended by 45 minutes, which means it will be taken at 1345 local. Be with us as the action is not far away... |
| Update 1240 local time - Scratch the previous update. We were all ready for play to begin, the covers were removed and just when we thought cricket will resume, the rain gods have their say again. It's pouring now. In all likelihood, Lunch will be taken soon. Just one of those days... |
| Not totally unexpected as the umpires have called for an early Lunch. Hopefully, play resumes after the break. Though, one of our friends at the ground observes a huge black cloud approaching. Yikes. Stay tuned... |
| Update 1310 local time - The rain seems to have stopped. But there is plenty of water on the covers. Add to it, more of the drizzle is forecast for the coming hours... |
| Update 1320 local time - This is England. The conditions have become brighter now. We are expecting a start at 1340 local time. That 9-letter word - EXPECTING - is a very crucial one in this Test. All the covers have been removed. Fingers crossed. Stay tuned... |
| Wow. Tell me I am not dreaming. Pinch me. Slap me. It is bright and sunny. Correction. It is bright, sunny and overcast at the same time. Nature never ceases to amaze. The players are back out in the middle and the King Of Swing is ready... |
| 6.4 : J Anderson to Pujara, On a length around off, watchfully defended back to the bowler. |
| 6.5 : J Anderson to Pujara, Gets across his sticks and works it towards mid-wicket. |
| 6.6 : J Anderson to Pujara, That is a jaffa. On a length around off, Pujara looks to defend but the ball cuts back in a long way and goes right through bat and pad, just over the stumps. There is a noise heard, might be the ball hitting the trousers. |
| 7.1 : S Broad to Kohli, Back of a length on the hips, Kohli looks to tickle it fine down the leg side. Does so, but off the thigh pad. A couple of leg byes result. |
| 7.2 : S Broad to Kohli, Yikes! Talk about too close for comfort. Inches away. Broad lands it outside off, Kohli shoulders arms as the ball comes back in. Whizzes past the off stick, barely. That was close. |
| 7.3 : S Broad to Kohli, Was that a leg spinner from Broad? Because the way the ball moved, it certainly did seem that way. Length ball just outside off, Kohli hangs his bat out and the ball jags off the deck and goes way past the outside edge. |
| 7.4 : S Broad to Kohli, Nicely played. Full and on middle and leg, Virat Kohli flicks it away with the wrists through backward square leg and takes two. |
| 7.5 : S Broad to Kohli, Outside off on a good length, Kohli looks to play but misses. |
| Uh-oh! A big black cloud is seen hovering over the stadium now. Some sunlight still available, but the rain has started. Coming down swiftly. Doesn't look like the players will be staying out for long now... |
| 7.6 : S Broad to Kohli, Well left! Landed on a good length in the channel outside off, shapes back in a touch but VK has no trouble leaving it alone. |
| 8.1 : J Anderson to Pujara, Good length delivery outside the line of off stump, Pujara lets it be. |
| 0.0 : Eh? What's happening here? The players were taken off the field, and as soon as the two Indian batsmen were entering the dressing room, they were called back. Don't think they will be out there for too long though. Let's see how much time we're afforded by the rain gods. |
| 8.2 : J Anderson to Pujara, The batsman shoulders arms to let that one through. |
| 8.3 : J Anderson to Pujara, OUT! PUJARA IS RUN OUT! England get what they wanted and Cheteshwar Pujara is dismissed. A huge mix-up has left him stranded in no man's land. Unbelievable. Pujara taps this length ball down in front of point. He looks at his captain and then takes off. Suddenly in between, Virat Kohli decides to bail out seeing the debutant Ollie Pope rush to the ball. Kohli gets back inside the crease, leaving Che hanging and Pope has all the time in the world to take the bails off. |
| So the rain gods offered one more chance before they came down hard but that's all England needed. They have another wicket under their belt, and even though Anderson didn't pick it himself, it did come in his over. Pujara, coming back into the side, a man who likes to occupy the crease for significant periods of time, got run out by his skipper and India have lost their third. It is raining down quite heavily, got pretty dark too. But there is some hope that once this cloud passes, things shoul |
| Update 1445 local - There's good news! The sun is shining, the skies are blue and it all looks perfect. There will be an inspection in 15 minutes to assess the conditions. Let's see how that goes. |
| Update 1515 local - PLAY WILL RESUME 1530 LOCAL TIME, provided there is no more rain of course. Tea will be taken at 1720 local time. There are, however, dark clouds moving towards the stadium. So, you know what to do... |
| Update 1530 local - Well, here's something new! Play was about to begin, after all the clearing and maintenance work was done, the heaves opened up again and IT'S POURING DOWN ONCE MORE. We're as disappointed as you are, if not more. |
| Update 1525 local - EARLY TEA HAS BEEN TAKEN. It's absolute pelting down at the moment with the outfield taking a lot of beating. Good decision to call it early, as if just in case the rain decides to let up, play can be started ASAP. We'll keep you updated as and when we hear more. |
| Update 1625 local - The word is that there will be an inspection at 1700 local time. Now, everything will come down to that. If any play is to be had, then it has to decided then itself. Otherwise, it's safe to assume play will be called off. |
| EARLIER INSPECTION? Interesting... really interesting. It was supposed to happen at 5 pm local but the umpires have turned up 10 minutes before. Hang on to that hope of more play today... |
| There we go again! We are being promised of a 1710 local resumption. My colleague Gawdy being really gaudy, predicts rain at 1720 local. Don't see that happening in my opinion... |
| Right then, the players and the umpires walk out to the middle. The sun is basking in all its glory at the Lord's, the brightest period it has been this day so far. There are still 29 overs left in the day, 29.3 to be precise. Play can be extended up to 1930 Local. James Anderson steams in to complete his over. Five slips waiting for the outside edge!!! Here we go... |
| 8.4 : J Anderson to Rahane, That's a jaffa to begin with! Back of a length ball around off, seams away after hitting the deck. Rahane has a feel for it and almost edges it behind. |
| 8.5 : J Anderson to Rahane, Similar length ball, defended off the back foot solidly. |
| 8.6 : J Anderson to Rahane, Short of a length around off stump, Ajinkya plays it with soft hands towards the slip cordon. |
| 9.1 : S Broad to Kohli, Good length delivery in the channel outside off, Kohli lets it be with a lunge forward. Broad came steaming in there, England will want a better spell from him. |
| 9.2 : S Broad to Kohli, Good one. Cutting back in from a length, around off, raps Kohli high on the thigh pad as he looks to put bat on it. |
| 9.3 : S Broad to Kohli, Touch fuller on this occasion, in line of the stumps this time, worked away straight to square leg. |
| 9.4 : S Broad to Kohli, Moves inside the line with a step across his stumps and wrists it to the man in front of square leg. |
| 9.5 : S Broad to Kohli, Too far outside off, Virat is never going to bother himself with it. Needs to be more probing here, Broad. Should be backing up Jimmy better than that. |
| 9.6 : S Broad to Kohli, Back of a length on middle and leg, a single to end the over as Virat Kohli nudges it down to fine leg for a single. |
| 10.1 : J Anderson to V Kohli, FOUR! Shot. Overpitched but you'd rather be full than short. Maybe should just drag it back ever so slightly. Kohli on this occasion leans into the drive and caresses it past the cover fielder, leaving him no chance to stop it with the chase. |
| 10.2 : J Anderson to Kohli, Well adjusted. Jimmy bangs it in shorter, so Virat hangs back this time and defends it down in front of point. Does well to open the face and play that away. |
| 10.3 : J Anderson to Kohli, Shaping away after being served on a length outside off, left alone for the keeper to collect. |
| 10.4 : J Anderson to Kohli, Positions himself perfectly behind the line of the ball and defends it down on the leg side gently. |
| 10.5 : J Anderson to Kohli, Some extra bounce for Anderson. Bowls it outside off, VK covers the line and leaves it alone as the ball shoots off the surface a bit. |
| 10.6 : J Anderson to Kohli, Some good fortune for Virat Kohli. That was close. Fuller in length, with a hint of movement inwards. The Indian skipper strides ahead to block but the ball takes the inside edge and whiskers past the leg pole. Rolls down to fine leg and two runs are taken. |
| 11.1 : S Broad to Rahane, Seaming back into the batsman, on middle and leg, Rahane works it down with soft hands on the leg side. |
| 11.2 : S Broad to Rahane, FOUR! Too full from Broad. Wide outside off. Rahane has no problem to lean into this and drive it sweetly through the cover region for a boundary. Good timing on that one. |
| 11.3 : S Broad to Rahane, Rahane works it off the inner half on the leg side and completes the run. |
| 11.4 : S Broad to Kohli, Good running between the wickets. Kohli taps it down on the leg side and calls his partner through immediately. Rahane responds and both complete the run with ease. |
| 11.5 : S Broad to Rahane, Ajinkya Rahane chooses to let the ball through outside the off stump. |
| 11.6 : S Broad to A Rahane, Dropped! Should have been taken. Joe Root, the skipper, the culprit here. Slight movement away from a full length outside off, Rahane is forward to drive but the ball takes a thick edge. It flies towards Root at fourth slip who sticks his right hand out to take it but instead spills it. This one to prove costly? |
| 12.1 : J Anderson to Kohli, In the corridor of uncertainty, on a length, no shot offered. |
| 12.2 : J Anderson to Kohli, Closes the bat face to this length ball and flicks it to mid-wicket. |
| 12.3 : J Anderson to Kohli, Not much swing available for Anderson here. Could fall in trouble if he doesn't get it soon. Fuller on middle and leg, flicked down towards fine leg for a single. |
| 12.4 : J Anderson to Rahane, Jagging back in from a length on off, Ajinkya Rahane leans across a touch before defending it down with his bat. |
| 12.5 : J Anderson to Rahane, Coming in again, goes off the pads on the leg side as Rahane fails to make connection. Leg bye taken. |
| 12.6 : J Anderson to Kohli, Good leave. Good length ball outside off, shaping back, Kohli covers the line and leaves it alone. |
| 13.1 : S Broad to Rahane, Again, minimal movement here as Broad pitches it on a length outside off, Rahane punches it to the covers and gets to the other end. |
| 13.2 : S Broad to Kohli, Bit of extra bounce for the pacer here. Length ball on off, goes off the higher part of the bat as Virat tries defending it. On the off side and a quick run is collected. |
| 13.3 : S Broad to Rahane, Off the pads, so the muted appeal has no value here. Rahane, much like his captain, isn't showing the bowlers much of the stumps. Walks across again as the ball is seaming down, tries flicking it but it brushes his pads. Bairstow does well behind to dive low to his left and stop it from going past him. |
| 13.4 : S Broad to Rahane, Pushed away into the covers and the batsman calls his partner through. Comfortable single collected. |
| 13.5 : S Broad to Kohli, Full in line of the stumps, defended off the inner half towards square leg. Another run taken. |
| 13.6 : S Broad to Rahane, The batsman chooses to leave the ball outside his off stump. |
| 14.1 : J Anderson to Kohli, Hurls it on the sixth stump line, left alone. |
| 14.2 : J Anderson to Kohli, Brings it in closer to off, full in length, Kohli is well forward before pushing it to mid off. Anderson was getting immense swing earlier in the day. No clouds hovering above, different story now. |
| 14.3 : J Anderson to Kohli, A bit of swing now and he almost gets Kohli. Full and angling in before shaping away on a fuller length, Virat Kohli goes for the expansive drive through the covers but misses it. Could have been gone. |
| 14.4 : J Anderson to Kohli, And there's a Jimmy Anderson beauty! Superb. Doesn't matter how good you are, a ball of that quality can get anybody. Angling in on off, lands and then shapes away. Kohli is squared up as he hangs his bat out to defend. The ball whiskers past the edge and goes into the keeper's gloves. |
| 14.5 : J Anderson to Kohli, Better. Has his head steady this time. Watches the ball closely, keeps his patience and lets the ball go. |
| 14.6 : J Anderson to Kohli, Too far outside off, another leave. A maiden from Anderson. Good, probing over comes to an end. |
| 15.1 : S Broad to Rahane, Darts it in quicker on a length on middle, kept out safely off the back foot. |
| 15.2 : S Broad to Rahane, Shouts for a leg before, correctly turned down by the umpire. Height always the issue and Jonny Bairstow makes sure Stuart Broad doesn't even think about taking the review. Indicates it's going above the stumps. Length ball on middle and off, coming back in with some extra bounce. Rahane is half-forward to defend as he's rapped on the pads. |
| 15.3 : S Broad to Rahane, Outside off on a good length, Rahane has nothing to do with it. |
| 15.4 : S Broad to Rahane, Just ahead of a length, close to off, met with the full face of the blade. |
| 15.5 : S Broad to Rahane, Watches the ball closely on this occasion, it's outside off and Jinx makes a safe leave. |
| 15.6 : S Broad to Rahane, Arms are shouldered to this one. End of the over. |
| 16.1 : J Anderson to Kohli, Some away swing for Anderson, well played by Kohli too as he comes forward and opens the face slightly to drive this square on the off side. A couple of runs taken. |
| 16.2 : J Anderson to Kohli, Beaten! Length delivery just outside off, the ball holds its shape as Kohli hangs his bat out to dry. Just past the outside edge and into the keeper's gloves. |
| 16.3 : J Anderson to Kohli, Good connection on this but it's straight to the fielder. Full and too straight in line, Kohli wrists it to mid-wicket. He'll feel he's missed out. |
| 16.4 : J Anderson to Kohli, Well played and well fielded. Shortish outside off, VK rises on his toes as he taps this down in front of fourth slip. Ollie Pope there dives to his right and makes a good stop. |
| 16.5 : J Anderson to Kohli, Short and outside off, left alone. |
| 16.6 : J Anderson to Kohli, Well done, Jimmy. Good bowling. Keeps it marginally behind a length outside off, it moves away late as Kohli is forced to poke at it. Beaten this time around as well. |
| First change for England. Chris Woakes is brought into the bowling attack. Three slips and a gully for him. |
| 17.1 : C Woakes to Rahane, Fuller in length on off. It moves away but angles in first. Rahane stays right behind the line and brings down a straight blade in defense. |
| 17.2 : C Woakes to Rahane, Well played, Ajinkya Rahane. But good bowling Chris Woakes too. He's already opening the batsman up in his stance. Bangs it in hard, on middle, comes in first and then moves away. It's played down square on the off side, but he's going to have to be wary here. |
| 17.3 : C Woakes to Rahane, Just outside off, on a length, pushed on the off side for nothing. |
| 17.4 : C Woakes to Rahane, He's getting appreciable movement straightaway. Plus, the way he gets extra bounce is going to be a nightmare for the batsmen. Length delivery outside off, Rahane has a feel for it but misses. |
| 17.5 : C Woakes to Rahane, Keeps it quite close to off, makes the batsman play at it, which is important. Rahane taps it away in front of cover. |
| 17.6 : C Woakes to Rahane, Fraction too short but it's still a maiden over. Shortish outside off, Jinx opens his body up and dabs it away to the man at gully. |
| 18.1 : J Anderson to Kohli, Pitched on a length outside off, it moves away, no reason for Kohli to have anything to do with it. |
| 18.2 : J Anderson to Kohli, The captain of India shoulders his arms to let that one through. |
| 18.3 : J Anderson to Kohli, Nicely done. In good control as he plays that. Opens the face of the bat and runs it past the diving gully fielder well. Earns a couple of runs for himself. |
| 18.4 : J Anderson to Kohli, Good length ball in the off stump channel, left alone. |
| 18.5 : J Anderson to Kohli, Kohli watches the ball throughout. Knows it's full and well outside off, another leave. |
| 18.6 : J Anderson to Kohli, Quick running. Decisive this time and no run out results. Kohli drops this in front of gully and sets off. Pope collects the ball, fires a throw at the bowler's end but misses. Had he hit too, don't think it would have mattered. |
| 19.1 : C Woakes to Kohli, Too far outside off, too easy for the batter to let it be. |
| 19.2 : C Woakes to V Kohli, Just short. Just. Moving away from a good length outside off, Kohli with a slightly opened face dabs this behind off the outer half. Not in full control, it flies towards Pope at fifth slip who dives low to his left but the ball falls short. |
| 19.3 : C Woakes to Kohli, No, no, no, Virat! Got to stay disciplined. Let them be. Full and outside off, Kohli goes for the expansive cover drive, only to be beaten barely past the outside edge. |
| 19.4 : C Woakes to V Kohli, Edged behind but he's played that with soft hands. Well played. Some extra bounce on off, going away, Kohli dabs it behind in front of second slip. |
| 19.5 : C Woakes to Kohli, Leaves it alone. Going away from outside off, no shot offered. |
| 19.6 : C Woakes to Kohli, Once again. Oh, dear! He knows better than most he shouldn't be doing that. The dots possibly getting to him. A calm head required. Deep breaths, big man. |
| Sam Curran on to bowl. |
| 20.1 : Sam Curran to Rahane, Tad straight in line on middle and leg, worked straight to short mid-wicket. |
| 20.2 : Sam Curran to Rahane, Full and swinging in on off stump, Rahane with a big stride forward meets the ball with the full face of the bat and drives it through mid off. Three good runs result. |
| 20.3 : Sam Curran to Kohli, Swinging down after pitching on leg, goes off the thigh and rolls on the leg side as the batsmen take a leg bye. |
| 20.4 : Sam Curran to Rahane, Rahane comes on the front foot and pushes it to mid off. Root tries to cut it off from short extra cover but lets it through. Single taken. |
| 20.5 : Sam Curran to Kohli, Stays well behind the line and keeps it out from within the crease. |
| 20.6 : Sam Curran to Kohli, Did not pick that up! Close. But well done on Kohli's part. The good thing is he doesn't reach too far forward to get to the ball, which is partly the reason why he didn't edge this one. Holding its line as it's going across, Kohli looks to block but is beaten. |
| 21.1 : C Woakes to Rahane, Defended off the back foot by the batsman. The batsmen have run through for a single. |
| 21.2 : C Woakes to Kohli, Outside off on a good length, run down towards gully. |
| 21.3 : C Woakes to Kohli, FOUR! Living the risky life here. This has somehow gone through everyone. Kohli a bit undecided on this one? Length delivery outside off, the skipper tries leaving this late as the ball goes off the outer part. Through first and second slip and away to the boundary line. |
| 21.4 : C Woakes to V Kohli, OUT! His luck finally runs out! This is a big wicket for Woakes and England. Woakes comes from wide of the crease and angles in a full ball on off, it swings away late as Kohli looks to flick it away on the leg side. That becomes his undoing as the ball goes off the edge and flies behind towards Jos Buttler at second slip who makes no mistake when moving to his right. Kohli will be feeling that, more especially since he got Pujara run out earlier. Not good for India. N |
| Hardik Pandya is the next batsman in. |
| 21.5 : C Woakes to Pandya, Length ball on off, kept out by Hardik from inside the crease. |
| 21.6 : C Woakes to Pandya, Well outside off, left alone. A successful over from Woakes comes to an end. |
| 22.1 : Sam Curran to Rahane, The 50 up for India. Rahane works this length ball on his pads square on the leg side for a single. |
| 22.2 : Sam Curran to Pandya, Short of a good length outside off, kept out off the back foot. |
| 22.3 : Sam Curran to Pandya, FOUR! Oh good lord! Almost went through the gate. Deary me. Full and swinging in from Curran, Hardik doesn't pick this up at all as comes forward for the elegant drive through the covers. It takes the inside edge and goes past the leg stump for a boundary. |
| 22.4 : Sam Curran to Pandya, Angling across, on a good length, Pandya stays back and taps it away on the off side. |
| 22.5 : Sam Curran to Pandya, Pandya isn't able to read Sam at all. He's coming forward even before the ball has left Curran's hand. Full and swinging in again, goes off the inner half of the bat through backward square leg. Two to the total. |
| 22.6 : Sam Curran to Pandya, Driven just wide of mid on for a single. |
| 23.1 : C Woakes to Pandya, Fuller in length and outside off, blocked off the front foot. |
| 23.2 : C Woakes to H Pandya, Dropped! Woakes clearly and rightfully agitated at that. He makes it known. Full and swinging away heavily outside off, Pandya plays away from his body and gets a thick edge. Flies to Buttler at second slip who moves to his right and completely makes a mess of it. Right through his palms and that's a boundary to third man. |
| 23.3 : C Woakes to Pandya, OUT! Gone this time! That dropped chance hasn't cost England anything. Buttler first dropped Kohli and caught Kohli on the next ball, same here with Hardik. Length ball on middle and off, straightening up after angling in, Pandya hangs his bat to defend and it goes off the edge. Straight to Jos at second slip who gets low and takes it this time. India in deep trouble here. |
| Dinesh Karthik is the next batsman in. He's known to have a calm head on his shoulders, India desperately need that in heated situation right now. 5 slips and a gully in position for him. |
| 23.4 : C Woakes to Karthik, Edged and it's just short. This is getting intense now. Length ball outside off, seaming away as Karthik feels for it and gets an edge. It goes towards fourth slip where the fielder gets low and stops it. |
| 23.5 : C Woakes to Rahane, Does well on this occasion. Opens the face of the bat and dabs it to backward point. |
| 23.6 : C Woakes to Rahane, Stays behind and keeps it out with the full face of the bat. |
| 24.1 : Sam Curran to Karthik, Fraction straight in line, worked away on the leg side. |
| 0.0 : Just an FYI, a silly mid off is in place. |
| 24.2 : Sam Curran to Karthik, OUT! BOWLED 'EM! From no movement to so much in the space of a few minutes. First Woakes, now Curran. Perfect left-armer's delivery to a right-hander. Fires it full and swings it back in. Karthik loosely drives away from his body and gets an inside edge. Back onto the stumps and they are shattered. He walks back and takes that calm head of his back to the pavilion with him. Curran jumps and celebrates with a fist pump. |
| Ravichandran Ashwin makes his way out to the middle. |
| 24.3 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Off the mark. Already scored more than Karthik here. Ashwin nicely leans into the drive and times it sweetly through the covers for three runs. The fielder chases it down and keeps it inside the rope. |
| 24.4 : Sam Curran to Rahane, FOUR! Full and swinging down, easy peasy for Rahane to flick it fine down the leg side. No chance for fine leg to stop that one. |
| 24.5 : Sam Curran to Rahane, The batsman has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 24.6 : Sam Curran to Rahane, On the fuller side of the length, around off, kept out off the front foot easily. |
| 25.1 : C Woakes to Ashwin, Length ball outside off, moves away after pitching. Ashwin has nothing to do with it and lets it go. |
| 25.2 : C Woakes to Ashwin, Appreciable movement, still. Ashwin shoulders arms again. |
| 25.3 : C Woakes to Ashwin, Beaten! Much better this time from Woakes. Fuller delivery angling in, makes Ashwin play. Moves away after pitching. Luckily for Ashwin it beats his bat. |
| 25.4 : C Woakes to Ashwin, FOUR! Uppish through the covers as Ashwin gets attacking. Goes for the expansive drive through covers against this moving ball. Gets enough bat to beat the chasing covers fielder and runs across the boundary. |
| 25.5 : C Woakes to R Ashwin, Length ball moving away, squares up Ashwin, the away movement takes the edge. However, the soft hands of Ashwin means the ball drops short of the second slip fielder. |
| 25.6 : C Woakes to R Ashwin, Second edge in a row. He's living on the edge of the knife here. Similar ball to the earlier one as it's angled in, pitches and moves away. Ashwin tries a defensive block, the ball takes the edge again. Falls short of the fielder, again. Some wonderful swing bowling by Woakes here. |
| 26.1 : Sam Curran to Rahane, Through the gap and it's well played by Ajinkya Rahane. Full and swinging in, he leans ahead and flicks this through the gap in the mid-wicket region for a single. Should have been two, but Ashwin was slow off his blocks. |
| 26.2 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Too far outside off, full in length. The line ruins it and nullifies the inswing there itself. Ashwin leaves it alone. |
| 26.3 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Tap and run stuff from the batsman. Sensibly and decisively done. It's dropped in front of point and a brisk single is stolen. |
| 26.4 : Sam Curran to Rahane, Solid in defense, is Rahane. Didn't look comfortable at all in the first Test, but has been assured since he's come out to bat. Fuller in length on off, coming back in, it's patted to mid off from the front foot. |
| 26.5 : Sam Curran to Rahane, On a driving length, outside the line of off stump, Rahane looks to drive it wide of mid off but can't beat the fielder there. |
| 26.6 : Sam Curran to Rahane, Curran keeps it around that off stump channel, makes the batsman play. Jinx plants his front foot forward and blocks it out. |
| 27.1 : C Woakes to R Ashwin, Touch short and going away from the batsman, Ashwin gets an edge but he plays it with soft hands. It falls in front of third slip. |
| 27.2 : C Woakes to Ashwin, In the air... and it's safe! Bit comical really what's happened, even Chris Woakes has a chuckle at it. Shortish and going down, Ashwin tries to work it away but gets a top edge which lobs in the air towards mid on. Adil Rashid at short mid-wicket somehow loses the ball midway and has no clue where it's going to fall. Would have been a catch otherwise. A brace taken. |
| 27.3 : C Woakes to R Ashwin, Full and outside off, pushed firmly through mid off for a couple more. |
| 27.4 : C Woakes to Ashwin, Close! Good stuff from Chris Woakes. Length ball around off, moves away ever so slightly and Ashwin has no choice but to play at it. Past the outside edge and into Jonny Bairstow's mitts. |
| 27.5 : C Woakes to Ashwin, A bit of a loose shot from Ashwin. Outside off on a back of a length, the batsman tries to punch it on the up through the off side but can't connect. |
| 27.6 : C Woakes to Ashwin, Flicks this through the gap on the leg side and keeps strike with a run. |
| 28.1 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Starts with a length ball on off stump. Ashwin blocks from the crease with a straight bat. |
| 28.2 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, FOUR! All important runs here for India. Ashwin gets the rare bit of width and is also a bit on the shorter side. He rocks back and punches it through to the cover point boundary. |
| 28.3 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Beaten! Straight ball, holds it line and beats Ashwin's bat. |
| 28.4 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Full and swinging in, Ashwin tries to flick this on the on side. Misses the ball and it raps him low on the back pad. |
| 28.5 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Fuller and attacking the stumps. Ashwin defends it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| 28.6 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Length ball on off stump. Ashwin gets a good stride forward and defends it with relative ease. |
| James Anderson returns. One final burst before the close of play. Can he provide another breakthrough? |
| 29.1 : J Anderson to Rahane, Full and swinging away from outside off, left alone by Ajinkya. |
| 29.2 : J Anderson to Rahane, Doesn't even go near it. Full and wide outside off, left alone. |
| 29.3 : J Anderson to Rahane, Well played, Jinx. Showing superb technique to play that. Full and swinging away on middle after angling in, Rahane stays behind the line and pushes it to short mid-wicket. |
| 29.4 : J Anderson to A Rahane, OUT! Jimmy does what Jimmy does best. Was brought on to get a wicket and a wicket he does get. Superb. Conditions are somewhat overcast, so he gets swing. Enough of it at least. Lands it fuller outside off, Rahane prods forward to defend but gets an edge due to the slight away movement. Behind to Alastair Cook at first slip who collects it in his palms. Needless to say, India in serious peril in London. |
| Kuldeep Yadav is the next batsman in. |
| 29.5 : J Anderson to Yadav, Good length delivery in line of the stumps, Kuldeep pushes it back down the track. |
| 29.6 : J Anderson to Yadav, Moving away from outside off, left alone for the keeper to collect. |
| 30.1 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Landing and then seaming away outside off, on a length, Ravi Ashwin has nothing to do with it. |
| 30.2 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Nudges this in front of square leg and gets to the other end. |
| 30.3 : Sam Curran to Yadav, Full and swinging away on off, Kuldeep plants his front foot forward and defends it well. |
| 30.4 : Sam Curran to Yadav, Well left. Sam attacks that off stump channel, pitches it on a length and gets it to move away. The southpaw raises his bat skywards and lets it go. |
| 30.5 : Sam Curran to Yadav, Too far outside off, moving further away, another simple leave. |
| 30.6 : Sam Curran to Yadav, Shaping in first before going away, Yadav hangs on the back foot and pushes it out. |
| 31.1 : J Anderson to Ashwin, Length delivery just around off, going away from the batsman. Ashwin tries to put bat on ball but misses. |
| 31.2 : J Anderson to Ashwin, The batsman has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| 31.3 : J Anderson to Ashwin, The ball is way outside the off stump, easy leave for Ravi Ash. |
| 31.4 : J Anderson to Ashwin, Using the depth of the crease here as Ashwin goes back and blocks it down on the off side. |
| 31.5 : J Anderson to Ashwin, That squares him up. Angles in first and then shapes away. Ashwin opens his body up a bit before defending it away on the off side. A quick single is stolen. |
| 31.6 : J Anderson to Yadav, Full and outside off, tamely pushed off the front foot to the cover area. |
| 32.1 : S Broad to Ashwin, FOUR! Some width offered and Ashwin puts this away. He's no amateur, make no mistake. Man has four Test hundreds. Length delivery outside off, he rocks back and firmly punches it through the covers for a boundary. Also, he becomes the highest boundary getter for the Indian side in this innings. |
| 32.2 : S Broad to Ashwin, Short and outside off, he looks to play the ramp shot but misses. |
| 32.3 : S Broad to R Ashwin, FOUR! A shot executed with complete control. Terrific. Short ball on off, Ashwin stands tall and pulls it right off the meat. Doesn't bother to keep it down, there's nobody there. Gets it through the gap in the mid-wicket region and earns another boundary. With this, Ashwin becomes the highest scorer in this innings. |
| 32.4 : S Broad to Ashwin, Straightening up a shade around off, a play and a miss from the batsman. |
| 32.5 : S Broad to Ashwin, Good length ball outside off, Ashwin once again uses the depth of the crease, it provides him a few extra seconds to play the shot. Punches it on the off side. |
| 32.6 : S Broad to Ashwin, Some bat involved there, otherwise he was going to be plumb. Full and swinging in, Broad doesn't go the other way. Raps Ashwin on the front pad, but not before it takes the inside edge. Rolls away on the leg side and a single is collected. |
| 33.1 : J Anderson to Ashwin, Hurls it too far outside off, an easy leave for the batsman. |
| 33.2 : J Anderson to Ashwin, Bit too straight in line, flicked through mid-wicket for one. |
| 33.3 : J Anderson to Yadav, Fired full, it doesn't swing back in. Holds its line and beats the outside edge of the bat as Kuldeep goes for the drive. |
| 33.4 : J Anderson to Yadav, Risky leave. That wasn't far away at all. Landed full around off, shapes in slightly as Kuldeep leaves. Whiskers past the off stick and goes into the keeper's gloves. |
| 33.5 : J Anderson to Yadav, Wide outside off stump, the batsman leaves it alone. |
| Review time. Kuldeep Yadav is caught leg before and given out. He's taken the DRS, but he looks dead plumb. Seems he'll be gone. |
| 33.6 : J Anderson to Yadav, OUT! Never in doubt. Anderson was trying this in this over. Just brings it back in straighter and swings it in. Kuldeep Yadav looks to flick but is rapped flush on the pad in the front of the stumps. Big appeal and the finger goes up. Kuldeep, for the sake of it, since there are two anyway, takes a review. It's taken upstairs and replays show all three reds ticked. |
| Mohammed Shami to take the bat next. |
| 34.1 : S Broad to Ashwin, Short and wide, Ashwin cuts this square through point. Doesn't take a run even when he can get it, wants to keep strike. |
| 0.0 : Another review. Ashwin the man in question with regards to an lbw decision. Inside edge the only thing that could save him. Seems to be the case since he took the review almost immediately. Let's see what happens here... |
| 34.2 : S Broad to Ashwin, OUT! There was bat involved, but it came after it went off the pad. Ashwin is a dead duck. Full, fast and swinging back in from around off, Ashwin looks to drive this away but is caught on the front pad. Loud appeal, the finger goes up and instantly the batsman takes the review, probably as he thinks the inside edge will save him. The TV umpire comes into play and replays show that the ball goes off the pad first, and then the bat. So India's highest-scorer in this innin |
| Ishant Sharma is the last man in for India. |
| 34.3 : S Broad to Sharma, Length delivery swinging down, goes off Ishant's pads as he looks to work it away. There is a man at leg slip. He dives forward to catch but it falls just short. Through him and a leg bye is taken. |
| 34.4 : S Broad to Shami, A little fuller, outside off and Shami needs no second invitation to have a go at it. Lofts it over covers and manages to get two runs for it. |
| 34.5 : S Broad to Shami, Big edge and FOUR! Doesn't matter how the runs come, as long as they come. India have got to the 100-mark with this. Full and attacking the stumps, Shami swings by clearing his front leg and gets a bit of a top edge over the slip cordon. The fielder tries chasing it down, but it's just in vain. |
| 34.6 : S Broad to M Shami, FOUR! Shami with another wild swing and Shami with another vital boundary. Full on the stumps, Shami clears his front leg again and swings with all his might. A top edge and it goes over the slip cordon again for back-to-back boundaries. |
| 35.1 : J Anderson to Sharma, Fired full and outside off, Sharma looks to squeeze it out but can't connect. |
| Even if India get bowled out in the next two overs, it will be Stumps. |
| 35.2 : Anderson to Sharma, OUT! 26th Test 5-fer for James Anderson! He walks off the field with the ball in his hand. Takes his cap off, waves to the crowd and acknowledges their support. Beautiful bowling. Length ball on off, coming in and then going away. Ishant Sharma is squared up as he looks to defend but is caught on the back pad. Big shout and the finger goes up. INDIA ARE BOWLED OUT FOR 107! |
| So, after more stops than starts on this rain-marred Day 2 of the Lord's Test, we've had a lot of action towards the final leg of the day. India's batting frailties came to the fore once more and were exposed, rather embarrassingly, as they were bowled out for just a mere 107, in effectively just under a session. The ball was doing a lot, but you'd expect more from the no.1 ranked Test team in the world. If Ravichandran Ashwin is your highest-scorer with 29, there are some serious questions whic |
| With the rain intervening and playing a crucial role in the toss, England chose to bowl and James Anderson, like he so often does, took full advantage of the swinging conditions on offer. He got rid of both the openers and set it all up from there. Cheteshwar Pujara's unfortunate run out at the hands of his skipper didn't help either. It seemed like a mere procession from that point on. Chris Woakes, along with Sam Curran, joined in and induced further damage. Anderson came back towards the end |
| England are obviously on the front foot. A whole day tomorrow and they'll come out fresh in the morning and look to add to India's woes. The visitors will rely on the weather tomorrow, massively, to assist them as it did England today. It was evident that when the sun came up today, the ball wasn't moving much, so the clouds and the wind would be their best friends. Should be another exciting one on Day 3, weather permitting. So join us at 1100 local (1000 GMT) for all the action. See you folks |
| ... DAY 3, SESSION 1 ... |
| Two days, 10 wickets taken. What thought comes your mind? Ok... the team batting first might have batted long and hard and might not have felt comfortable enough to declare. Wrong. Very wrong. Someone did fight long and hard... long enough to frustrate the spectators and fans. RAIN. However, we did have some play and in that 'little' period, Jimmy Anderson's 5-fer skittled out India with terrific seam and swing bowling for 107. Paltry or enough? Only time will tell. Hello and a warm welcome to t |
| WEATHER REPORT - Wow. After the storm, comes the calm, goes the saying. We have been brooding for the last 2 days over the fickle weather but today, it is bright and sunny. What is more, there is only 12 percent forecast of rain, which we hope, is as good as 0. Beautiful conditions to play cricket. |
| PITCH REPORT - Sanjay Manjrekar doing the pitch report says that there are no devils on top of the surface. A few red marks are seen, a few indentations but nothing much. As far as the seamers are concerned, he reckons that keep it outside off on a nice length. For the spinners, he is ASSUMING the dryness of the pitch will help Ashwin and Kuldeep. But then, he also admits that it is too early to expect because it is just a Day 2 pitch - to be honest, not even a Day 2 one, with less than 40 overs |
| Interesting thoughts from Sourav Ganguly. He reckons that there might not be too much purchase for the spinners early on but all is not lost. What he does warn the Indian side though is - DO NOT TRY AND DEFEND 107. Look at the target to restrict England to as 200. He expects the pitch to have uneven bounce on Monday, so if India manage to defend 250 in the final innings, we could have a nice game on offer. |
| Right then. 96 overs. Will India get to bat today itself? Not that England cannot bat the whole day but you know... these days... batting 90 overs is a massive task for batsmen from any country whether the conditions be conducive or not. That temptation to set the tone early will be there and in that process, if India manage to snaffle a few early wickets, they can run through this not-so-strong England batting line-up. |
| The players are out in the middle. Two southpaws - Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings, will open as usual for the home side. Ishant Sharma will bowl first up to Cook. Here we go! |
| 0.1 : I Sharma to Cook, England are away. A half volley outside leg, Cook flicks it through square leg where Kuldeep Yadav dives to his left from short mid-wicket but is unable to stop it cleanly. Concedes a single. |
| 0.2 : I Sharma to Jennings, Defended off the back foot by the batsman. |
| 0.3 : I Sharma to Jennings, On a length around middle, angling away, left alone. |
| 0.4 : I Sharma to Jennings, Inconsistent over so far. This is way down the leg side, Jennings lets it go. |
| 0.5 : I Sharma to Jennings, On middle and leg, tucked towards mid-wicket. |
| GoaRocks - 'Uhhh.... Ishuuu! What are you doing? You need to hit the correct length straightaway! Yesterday I did not see a single loose ball from England. Why can't you be on the money from the first ball?' @GoaRocks - Now, now, take it easy, pal. This is just the first over of the day. Pretty sure the bowlers will get tuned up soon... |
| 0.6 : I Sharma to Jennings, Both the openers are away now. To loose balls, if I might add. Another length ball down the leg side, Keaton flicks it through mid-wicket and gets it in the gap. Murali Vijay gives it a good chase, gets to the ball, puts in a desperate slide and saves a run for his side. |
| Mohammed Shami to share the new ball with Ishant Sharma. |
| 1.1 : M Shami to Jennings, Wild delivery. A length ball, miles outside off, comfortably left alone. |
| 1.2 : M Shami to Jennings, A bouncer now, Jennings ducks. |
| 1.3 : M Shami to Jennings, Around middle, swinging in, flicked towards fine leg for a single. |
| 1.4 : M Shami to Cook, Full and around off, watchfully defended. |
| 1.5 : M Shami to Cook, Comes in from around the wicket, Alastair looks to flick but misses and is hit on the pads. |
| 1.6 : M Shami to Cook, FOUR! Poor line, comfortably put away and not the greatest bit of fielding either. The around the wicket angle is used to cause problems to the left-hander but the line needs to be outside off. What Shami does instead is bowl it short in the first place, then angles it further down the leg side. Cook easily tucks it through square leg for what should have been two at best. But Ishant Sharma, perhaps tired after that opening over, barely puts in any hard yards. Just jogs acr |
| 2.1 : I Sharma to Jennings, Well bowled. Full and around off, Keaton looks to defend but the ball seams away past the outside edge. |
| 2.2 : I Sharma to Jennings, Full and in line of the stumps, watchfully defended. |
| 2.3 : I Sharma to Jennings, The ball is way outside the off stump, easy leave for the batsman. |
| 2.4 : I Sharma to Jennings, A bouncer now, Jennings ducks. |
| Michael Holding on air observes that the Indian slip fielders are standing way too close to each other. 'Almost trodding onto each other', chides Nasser Hussain. There seems to be some continuous hustle between the players with no one being sure where exactly to stand. |
| 2.5 : I Sharma to Jennings, Full and outside off, Keaton comes forward and eases this through the covers for a single. The stand moves to 10 from 17 balls. |
| 2.6 : I Sharma to Cook, FOUR! Another gift on the pads. A half volley at that. Cook flicks it past the valiant dive from Kuldeep Yadav at short mid-wicket and finds the fence for the second time today. |
| 3.1 : M Shami to Jennings, A short ball around middle and leg, Jennings looks to tuck it away but gets into a tangle. The ball hits his gloves and then lobs towards square leg. A single taken. |
| 3.2 : M Shami to Cook, Full and straight, much tighter line, watchfully defended. |
| 3.3 : M Shami to Cook, Outside off, not exactly a half volley, but full enough. Not much swing and Cook just pushes it through the line and gets it past Murali Vijay at cover. Maybe the rain over the last two days has made the outfield a bit soggy. The ball stops near the ropes and Vijay retrieves it. Three runs taken. The deficit is now 89. Cook moves to 12 from what??? 7 balls!!! |
| 3.4 : M Shami to Jennings, Again through the same region. Different batsman this time. This is a genuine half volley outside off and Keaton drives it through the covers. Murali Vijay dives to his right from mid off but is not able to cut it off cleanly. A single taken. Might have been two had Cook run a bit hard on the first. |
| 3.5 : M Shami to Cook, Too easy. A gentle tap towards cover for a simple run. |
| 3.6 : M Shami to Jennings, Outside off, swinging away, left alone. |
| 4.1 : I Sharma to Cook, Full and miles outside off, left alone. |
| 4.2 : I Sharma to Cook, The batsman shoulders arms to let that one through. |
| 4.3 : I Sharma to Cook, One more leave outside off. |
| 4.4 : I Sharma to Cook, Action replay of the previous delivery. |
| 4.5 : I Sharma to Cook, The batsman shows the full face of the bat and defends the ball off the back foot. |
| 4.6 : I Sharma to Cook, On a length around middle, defended watchfully. First maiden for India eventually. They seem to be slowly adjusting to the necessary lengths to be bowled on this surface. England had conceded their first run only in the 4th over. How conditions dictate... |
| 5.1 : M Shami to Jennings, On a length around off, angling in, defended towards mid on. |
| 5.2 : M Shami to Jennings, Outside off, pushed towards point for a single. |
| 5.3 : M Shami to Cook, The batsman defends it from within the crease. |
| 5.4 : M Shami to Cook, On a good length around off, defended from the crease. |
| 5.5 : M Shami to Cook, Defended off the front foot by the batsman presenting the full face of the bat. |
| 5.6 : M Shami to Cook, Now he goes back to defend. |
| 6.1 : I Sharma to Jennings, Full and outside off, not a bad ball at all, Jennings comes forward and just opens the face of his bat a little bit. Gets it behind point and earns three runs for his cheekiness as Hardik Pandya pulls it off with a slide near the ropes. Keaton moves to 11 from 19 balls. Michael Holding feels if Ishant Sharma can get his line and length right, he can move that man at backward point to gully. |
| 6.2 : I Sharma to Cook, FOUR! CLASSY! There comes the erratic line on a sunny afternoon. With the ball not doing much, perhaps it is not advisable to bowl too full. Cook comes forward and gently places this down the ground. Usually Test matches do not have mid offs so early in the game and hence, Cook earns his third boundary. The deficit is now 79. |
| 6.3 : I Sharma to Cook, Outside off, left alone. |
| 6.4 : I Sharma to Cook, The batsman has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 6.5 : I Sharma to Cook, Full and straight, watchfully defended back to the bowler. |
| 6.6 : I Sharma to Cook, NEARLY! Ishant almost gets the first wicket. He lands it on a length outside off and it is almost in the corridor of uncertainty. Cook is not sure whether to play at that or let it be and is tentative. Has a poke and luckily for him, the ball misses the outside edge. |
| 7.1 : M Shami to K Jennings, Full and outside off, driven straight to mid off. |
| 7.2 : M Shami to Jennings, On a length around middle and leg, Jennings looks to tuck but misses and is hit on the pads. The ball drops down beside him. In the first innings of the opening Test, he was dismissed in a similar fashion, with the ball going onto the stumps off the deflection from the pad. |
| Jennings is adjudged LBW! He has a long chat with Cook and signals for the review. Seems plumb to the naked eye. |
| 7.3 : M Shami to Jennings, OUT! Stone dead and England have lost a review. Did not particularly seem any need to get a second opinion on that, unless Cook thought it might be umpire's call, just to keep the reviews intact. Anyways, he is not that successful. Full and straight, angled in from around the wicket, Jennings plays all over it, getting beaten by the length and misses. Is hit flush on the pads and up goes umpire Aleem Dar's finger on the appeal. Keaton walks over towards Cook and after a |
| Captain Joe Root walks in at number 3, replacing Jennings. |
| 7.4 : M Shami to Root, The batsman has played it to the point region. |
| 7.5 : M Shami to Root, On a length around off, watchfully defended. |
| 7.6 : M Shami to Root, The batsman has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. A WICKET MAIDEN FOR SHAMI. |
| 8.1 : I Sharma to Cook, FOUR! CRISP! 'It is the best I have seen Cook play in a while', says Sourav Ganguly on air. Half volley outside off, Cook leans into the shot and drives it through covers for a boundary. |
| 8.2 : I Sharma to Cook, OUT! That is another beauty, this time from the bowler and Cook is out of here! Massive, massive wicket for India. The former English captain might not be in the greatest of form but once he digs in, he can cause lot of problems to the opposition. And he was just beginning to dig in. But from nowhere, Ishant hits that perfect length in the corridor of uncertainty. Alastair looks to defend but the ball moves away a wee bit and takes the outside edge. Karthik makes no mistak |
| Time for the debutant. Ollie Pope. Receives a huge round of applause from the crowd. Make no mistake, he will be under huge pressure. |
| 8.3 : I Sharma to Pope, A half volley on middle, flicked straight to square leg. |
| 8.4 : I Sharma to Pope, FOUR! Excellent cricket all around. First, a lovely delivery from Ishant. He seems to have settled in nicely now. Comes in from over the wicket, with a bit of a wider angle and then gets it to nip back in sharply. But Mr. Pope, as cool as a cucumber, comes forward a touch, then hangs back and flicks it uppishly, well wide of the man at square leg towards the boundary. Shot of a man in supreme confidence. |
| 8.5 : I Sharma to Pope, Down the leg side, Pope misses his flick this time. |
| 8.6 : I Sharma to Pope, Comes well forward to this one and defends. Double break for India. They have got two new batsmen in the middle now. |
| 9.1 : M Shami to Root, Peach! Well, yesterday England bowled well in helpful conditions. But Ishant and Shami are bowling well in conditions which are good for batting. What a jaffa. Shami lands it on a length around off and Root looks to defend. But at the last moment, the ball nips away and goes off something to the keeper. There is a noise and Karthik looks to appeal but on seeing Shami's reaction, which is pretty disappointed, he holds himself back. Perhaps the ball hit his pad. |
| 9.2 : M Shami to Root, The batsman has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| 9.3 : M Shami to Root, There we go again... fuller and on off, Root looks to flick but gets a leading edge which lands short of gully. Ajinkya Rahane puts in a good diving stop to his right. |
| 9.4 : M Shami to Root, Around back foot defense. |
| 9.5 : M Shami to Root, The batsman has attempted to put bat on ball - but fails. |
| 9.6 : M Shami to Root, Wayward delivery outside off, comfortably let through. Consecutive maidens for Shami. |
| 10.1 : I Sharma to O Pope, Full and outside off, Pope drives it wide of mid off for a single. |
| 10.2 : I Sharma to Root, Another good delivery from Ishant Sharma. He lands it on a length outside off and Root hangs back to defend. But the ball shoots low and goes past the outside edge. |
| 10.3 : I Sharma to Root, On a length outside off, left alone. |
| 10.4 : I Sharma to Root, Nice, consistent line,Joe shoulders arms to a ball which is not that far from off stump. |
| 10.5 : I Sharma to Root, A length ball a bit wider outside off, not flirted with. |
| 10.6 : I Sharma to Root, Nice fielding from Kuldeep. He has been diving a few times today but this was a very good effort. Full and outside off, Root leans into this one and drives this through point. But Kuldeep Yadav puts in a full length dive to his right from backward point and makes a half-stop. A bit of a hesitation between the batsmen but eventually they take the single. The deficit is now 69. |
| 11.1 : M Shami to Root, Full and outside off, hint of swing, Root is late on the drive and gets a thick inside edge onto his pads. The ball rolls towards mid off. |
| 0.0 : Sanjay Manjrekar on air observes that Kuldeep Yadav is warming up. Interesting... |
| OUT! BOWLED! The middle stump is out of the ground! But Root continues to bat. How come? Because it is a dead ball. Shami comes charging in and at the last possible moment, Root backs away. Probably because of some disturbance over the sightscreen. Shami is at a point of no return and delivers the ball. It is a pinpoint yorker on middle which uproots the middle stump and nearly causes some damage to the stump mic. All ready now. |
| 11.2 : M Shami to Root, Outside off, on a length, left alone. |
| 11.3 : M Shami to Root, Full on middle, flicked straight to mid on. |
| 11.4 : M Shami to Root, Good line, just outside off, but Root knows where his off stump is and shoulders arms. |
| 11.5 : M Shami to Root, Around off, on a length, worked straight to mid on. |
| 11.6 : M Shami to Root, Outside off, played straight to point. |
| DRINKS are on the field. What a wonderful hour of cricket. Who says Test cricket is boring? Definitely not in England. Perhaps for the first 4-5 overs, things might have been a bit boring but ever since Ishant and Sham have found their lengths, it has been a different story. Consider this comparison - First 4 overs - 20/0. Last 8 overs - 18/2. Brilliant. It will now be interesting to see how the other bowlers support Ishant and Shami after all their hard work. |
| Kuldeep Yadav into the attack. |
| 12.1 : K Yadav to Pope, Bit of a false start from Kuldeep. Bowls it down the leg side and it spins further down, Pope tries to flick but misses and so does the keeper. A couple of byes are taken. |
| 12.2 : K Yadav to Pope, Served around off and it's spinning in, Pope comes half-forward before blocking it out with a straight blade. |
| 12.3 : K Yadav to Pope, Good use of the sweep. Brings the broom out to this tossed up ball and places it through square leg for a single. |
| 12.4 : K Yadav to Joe Root, FOUR! Shot. Loopy and full outside off, Root leans into the shot and sweetly drives it through the covers for a boundary. |
| 12.5 : K Yadav to Root, FOUR BYES! Once more, a delivery which is down the leg side, the spin further takes it away from DK who can't catch it. It races away to the boundary line in no time. |
| 12.6 : K Yadav to Root, Stays back and keeps it out. An expensive opening over for the chinaman. 11 off it. |
| Hardik Pandya on as well. Change at both ends for India. |
| 13.1 : H Pandya to Pope, Length delivery aiming the top of off stump, Pope stays inside the crease and pushes it to the left of the bowler. |
| 13.2 : H Pandya to Pope, Good, tight line from Hardik. Attacks that off stump again, doesn't give much room to Pope who can only hang back and block it towards mid on. |
| 13.3 : H Pandya to Pope, Punches this length ball outside off softly towards covers and brings the 50 up for England with a single. |
| 13.4 : H Pandya to Root, Length ball outside the line of off stump, dabbed to point with an open face. |
| 13.5 : H Pandya to Root, Touch fuller on off as Hardik brings it in closer, Root closes the face early as he wants to flick this away but ends up getting a leading edge through the covers. A couple result. |
| 13.6 : H Pandya to Root, Solid in defense, is Root. He watches the ball carefully and defends it on the off side. |
| 14.1 : K Yadav to Pope, Looped up extremely full outside off, Pope completely misses the ball as he tries to drive it through the covers. Luckily for him, it wasn't in line of the stumps. Yikes. |
| 14.2 : K Yadav to Pope, Floated on off this time, draws Pope forward and blocks it out with the full face of the bat. |
| 14.3 : K Yadav to Pope, Landed on a driving length, attacking the stumps, guarded out safely. |
| 14.4 : K Yadav to Pope, FOUR! That's an excellent shot. Ollie Pope is showing some excellent technique here. Quite decisive too. Sees the ball landing short outside off, he quickly rocks onto the back foot and cuts it through point for a boundary. |
| 14.5 : K Yadav to Pope, Plants his front foot forward and pushes it away gently. |
| 14.6 : K Yadav to Pope, Short and flat outside off, this time Ollie punches it through the gap in the covers for a run. |
| 15.1 : H Pandya to Pope, Length delivery on the fifth stump line, makes it go away, the batsman comes forward, covers the line and lets it be. |
| 15.2 : H Pandya to Pope, Much better from Pandya. Bowls it on off and makes Pope play. He stays back and blocks it back down the track. |
| 15.3 : H Pandya to Pope, Angling in on middle and off, straightening up a shade, driven down the ground, towards mid on. No run taken. |
| 15.4 : H Pandya to Pope, Angling in at first before shaping away, on a good length, Ollie opens his body up a bit as he works to backward point. |
| 15.5 : H Pandya to Pope, First sign of Pope not remaining disciplined. Hmm... Hardik does well to bowl a seam-up delivery, full and outside off, the right-hander reaches well away to drive it from his body but gets beaten. |
| 15.6 : H Pandya to Pope, Touch straight in line, flicked through the mid-wicket region for a double. |
| 16.1 : K Yadav to Root, Before the ball is even released Root is alredy deep inside the crease, covering his stumps. He waits for it as it's spinning in from around off and blocks it out. |
| 16.2 : K Yadav to Root, A bit too full, allows Root to come forward and drive it to mid on before the ball can even turn. |
| 16.3 : K Yadav to Root, Turns it away with the spin but finds the fielder on the leg side. |
| 16.4 : K Yadav to Root, Beaten! The googly is out and Root is almost done it. Spinning away from off, Joe has a tentative poke at it and is lucky not to nick it behind. |
| 16.5 : K Yadav to Root, Tossed right up there, in line of the stumps, met with a defensive blade in response. |
| 16.6 : K Yadav to Root, Uses the depth of the crease again. It's a touch shorter in length, so he goes back and wrists it away on the leg side. |
| 17.1 : H Pandya to Pope, With a scrambled seam this time Hardik angles it in on leg, Ollie Pope moves inside the line and clips this down to fine leg for a single. |
| 17.2 : H Pandya to Root, On the pads again, it's tucked behind square leg for one more. |
| 17.3 : H Pandya to Pope, That's the channel where he should be staying more. Full and swinging away from outside off, Pope with a slightly opened face drives this square to point. |
| 17.4 : H Pandya to Pope, Good balance from Pope. Full and angling in on middle and leg, he leans across with a perfectly still head and flicks it through mid-wicket for two runs. |
| 17.5 : H Pandya to Pope, Hits the deck hard, a short of a length delivery outside off, Ollie taps it down in front of covers. |
| 17.6 : H Pandya to Pope, Full ball darted on off, driven to mid off. Can't steal a run as it's right at the fielder. |
| 18.1 : K Yadav to Root, A lot of air on this as it's pitched on middle and leg, Joe gets low and sweeps it along the turf through the square leg area. A single is taken as the fielder in the deep mops it up. |
| 18.2 : K Yadav to Pope, Good running between the wickets. Pope comes forward to this fuller ball and taps it wide of first slip. Runs the first one hard and so, is able to comfortably come back for the second. |
| 18.3 : K Yadav to Pope, Minimal turn on this occasion, Ollie meets it with a straight bat in defense. |
| 18.4 : K Yadav to Pope, A little too full, quite slow through the air, Pope sweeps it through backward square leg for one. |
| 18.5 : K Yadav to Root, The batsman has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| 18.6 : K Yadav to Root, Plays this away square through point and retains strike by changing ends. |
| 19.1 : H Pandya to Root, Angling in on middle and off, slightly fullish in length. Root attempts to flick it away but gets a safe leading edge which rolls back in the bowler's direction. |
| 19.2 : H Pandya to Root, Root sees the angle into him, so he takes a step across, leans the same way too and keeps it out. |
| 19.3 : H Pandya to Root, Good line so far from Pandya. Keeps attacking the stumps, not giving any room to Root to work with. All the English skipper can do is defend it. |
| 19.4 : H Pandya to Root, Length delivery in the channel outside off, Root covers the line and leaves it alone. |
| 19.5 : H Pandya to Root, Length delivery on off stump, Root leans across to get behind the line and wrists it just wide of mid on. The batsmen complete the run with ease. |
| 19.6 : H Pandya to Pope, Short of a good length outside off, Ollie Pope gets on top of the bounce and punches it down in front cover-point. Picks up a single for doing so. |
| Mohammed Shami is back into the bowling attack. |
| 20.1 : M Shami to Pope, FOUR! Nicely played by Ollie Pope. The youngster is looking right at home here. So much confidence. Length ball outside off, width on offer so he goes back and cuts this behind point fiercely. No chance of stopping that once it went past the fielder. Boundary. |
| 20.2 : M Shami to Pope, Beauty! Pope is beaten all ends up. Length delivery around off with the slightest of movement away, that too late movement. Pope hangs his bat out to block but is beaten. |
| 20.3 : M Shami to Pope, Fuller and wider outside off, Pope reaches out to it to drive it through the covers. The away swing takes it just past the outside edge. |
| 20.4 : M Shami to O Pope, Good effort, Jinx. Saves a certain boundary. Pope drives it well to the covers, where Rahane dives and makes a half-stop. Keeps the batsmen to just one. |
| 20.5 : M Shami to Root, Angling down leg, Joe misses the flick and the keeper collects it. |
| 20.6 : M Shami to Root, The batsman has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 21.1 : H Pandya to Pope, Pandya searching for that magic delivery as he pitches this full and angles it in. Wants the away swing but it doesn't happen. Pope flicks it through mid-wicket and comes back for the second. |
| 0.0 : Review time. Pandya has caught Pope leg before. Height might be the only issue, otherwise he's gone. Remember, England already have lost a review. Over to the TV umpire now... |
| 21.2 : H Pandya to Pope, OUT! Hardik Pandya strikes! He finally has a wicket in Test cricket after 351 balls. His last wicket came in Cape Town back in January. Superb delivery, this. He generates some good pace on this as he lands it on a length around off. Angles it in and it skids off the surface a bit as well. Ollie Pope is caught flush in front of the stumps as he tries to play across the line and a loud appeal goes up. The finger follows soon and Pope reviews after a chat with his skipper. |
| Jonny Bairstow will make his way out in the middle. England in a bit of trouble here. He joins his skipper out there and it's now on this pair to last long out there. |
| 21.3 : H Pandya to Bairstow, Down the leg side, Bairstow leaves it alone. |
| 21.4 : H Pandya to Bairstow, Big shout from the Indian players for a leg before but umpire Aleem Dar remains unmoved. He notices the edge on that, much before Pandya, but the remaining players don't. Virat Kohli wants the review but then is told not to go for it. Another superb delivery. Full and angling in before straightening up, Jonny Bairstow looks to flick with a slightly closed face but is hit low on the pads. Fortunately for him, it took a slight outside edge first. That's saved him. |
| 21.5 : H Pandya to Bairstow, Good length ball just outside off, blocked with the full face of the bat. |
| 21.6 : H Pandya to Bairstow, Loose from Bairstow. Full and wide outside off, Bairstow plants his front foot forward and looks to play the cover drive, only to get beaten by the away movement. |
| 22.1 : M Shami to Root, Full and wide outside off, Root plays away from the body and gets beaten. |
| 22.2 : M Shami to Root, FOUR! Full and on the pads, Root flicks it past the square leg fielder and even the man in the deep. Good placement, excellent timing. |
| 22.3 : M Shami to Root, Goes on the leg side again, through mid-wicket this time with the same shot. Single this time. |
| 22.4 : M Shami to Bairstow, Comes half-forward to this one and blocks. |
| 22.5 : M Shami to Bairstow, On a length, shaping away from around off, played to point. |
| 22.6 : M Shami to Bairstow, The batsman has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 23.1 : H Pandya to Root, Too far outside off, no shot offered to this one. |
| 23.2 : H Pandya to Root, Quite full and outside off, Root is forward as he opens the face and pushes it just wide of point for a run. |
| 23.3 : H Pandya to Bairstow, Coming back in on middle and off, on a back of a length, Bairstow leans across and works it wide of mid on. Single collected. |
| 23.4 : H Pandya to Root, Camps back and pushes it towards the covers. |
| 23.5 : H Pandya to Root, Could have been a run out! Good, early call from Bairstow to send his skipper back in time. Root taps it down in front of cover-point and takes off. Bairstow immediately tells him to go back seeing Rahane rush to the ball. The fielder has a wayward throw, but Root got back in anyway. |
| 23.6 : H Pandya to Root, Root looking a tentative here. Fullish outside off, Root goes back when he should be coming forward. The ball is, as a result, allowed to move away slightly and almost take the outside edge. |
| 24.1 : M Shami to Bairstow, Hurls this outside off, driven square through point. Bairstow is quick between the wickets, so he calls for the second and gets it too. |
| 24.2 : M Shami to Bairstow, Through point again, a single this time. |
| 24.3 : M Shami to Root, Played through mid-wicket by the batsman. The batsmen have picked up a couple of runs. |
| 24.4 : Shami to Root, OUT! Mohammed Shami strikes gold right at the stroke of Lunch. Virat Kohli brought him back for one final burst before the break and he's provided just what was needed. The all-important wicket of Joe Root. Though, he was struggling quite a bit out there. Some luck here too as Shami bowls it on a back of a length around off, it cuts back in and stays low too. Root can't bring his bat down in time and a loud appeal goes up. Umpire Marais Erasmus wastes no time in raising his |
| With that last wicket of the big fish, India will be the happier side heading in to grab some grub. It's been a good session for them overall too. On a day where the sun is out and the conditions have been ripe for batting, you have to hand over credit to how Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami started things off. They each got an opener and put their side in front. Debutant Ollie Pope was doing well when he came in and joined hands with his skipper for a solid stand, but Hardik Pandya dismissed hi |
| England would have still been somewhat content, had it not been for Joe Root's wicket. Shami came back and got rid of him too, thereby, more than anything else, giving his side the belief and the psychological edge after the first phase on this excitement-filled Day 3. Don't go anywhere, the afternoon session is going to be as fun, if not more. The action resumes at 1340 local (1240 GMT). |
| ... DAY 3, SESSION 2 ... |
| We are back for the second session of play. Conditions are somewhat overcast now, magic time for India? Mohammed Shami will continue his pending over and he'll be bowling to Jos Buttler, who'll be joining Bairstow out in the middle. Let's roll... |
| 24.5 : M Shami to Buttler, No ball! Shami oversteps. Length ball on middle and off, Buttler walks down the track and works it towards mid-wicket for a single. |
| M Shami to Bairstow, Just outside off, a length ball, Bairstow dabs it to point for one. |
| 24.6 : M Shami to Buttler, Touch fuller on off, Buttler gets a leading edge towards mid off as he closes the face a bit too early to flick. |
| Hardik Pandya to bowl from the other end. He will continue. |
| 25.1 : H Pandya to Bairstow, Good length delivery just outside off, Bairstow defends it from within his crease. |
| 25.2 : H Pandya to Bairstow, Angling in, too straight in line, easy enough for the batsman to work it through square leg. One run taken. |
| 25.3 : H Pandya to Jos Buttler, Edged but it's short. Good from Buttler he played with soft hands, equally good line and length from Pandya. Length delivery in the channel outside off, Buttler edges it short of Rahane at third slip. |
| 25.4 : H Pandya to Buttler, Too far outside off, left alone. |
| 25.5 : H Pandya to Buttler, FOUR! Nicely done. Some width offered outside off, Buttler stands his ground, opens the face of the bat and runs it down to third man. Nobody out there, so that will be a boundary. |
| 25.6 : H Pandya to Buttler, Punched a bit square through the off side from the back foot. A couple of runs result. |
| Ishant Sharma is back. |
| 26.1 : I Sharma to J Bairstow, Angling back in on a length, on middle, Bairstow gets a big inside edge onto his thigh pad and the ball rolls over towards point. Single collected. |
| 26.2 : I Sharma to Buttler, Hurled too far from off, no trouble for the batsman to let that one be. |
| 26.3 : I Sharma to Buttler, Good inward movement for Ishant Sharma. Buttler takes a step out of his crease, plants his front foot across and tries to pad it away. It does graze his pad, goes behind but no appeal made. Imact was too far outside off, despite no shot being offered. |
| 26.4 : I Sharma to Buttler, Cutting in from a length, just around off, met with a straight blade in defense. |
| 26.5 : I Sharma to Buttler, FOUR! Clipped away and it's gone away for a boundary. Full on middle and leg, Buttler takes a step across and places it elegantly through square leg. Nobody out there, no problem for the batsman. |
| A square leg has been brought in place. Kohli following the ball... |
| 26.6 : I Sharma to Buttler, The batsman shows the full face of the bat and defends the ball off the back foot. |
| 27.1 : M Shami to Bairstow, Length delivery skidding off the deck, just outside off, Bairstow somehow brings his bat down in time and gets an under edge behind to the slip cordon on a few bounces. |
| 27.2 : M Shami to Bairstow, Moving away from outside off, a good length ball, cut hard but straight to the man at point. |
| 27.3 : M Shami to Bairstow, FOUR! Too full, too straight and Jonny Bairstow has played that well. Shows the full face of the bat and drives it past mid on for a boundary. England are in the lead with that. By 1 run to be exact. |
| 27.4 : M Shami to Bairstow, Buttler walks down the track a long way and looks to flicks it away on the leg side. It goes off his pads and falls on the leg side. Big appeal from the slip cordon, but no way that's going to be given. A leg bye taken. |
| 27.5 : M Shami to Buttler, Full just outside off, driven to covers for a single. |
| 27.6 : M Shami to Bairstow, Stays back and offers a solid punch into the off side. |
| 28.1 : I Sharma to Jos Buttler, Edged and FOUR! But Jos Buttler could have almost dragged that on. Just behind a length, close to off, the batsman tries to put bat on ball. Slight inward movement and that takes the inside edge. The ball barely misses the stumps on its way to the fine leg fence. |
| 28.2 : I Sharma to Buttler, Pushes this one towards mid on and takes a brisk single. |
| 28.3 : I Sharma to Bairstow, On a length and just outside off, pushed to the off side. |
| 28.4 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Back of a length delivery, coming in on middle and off, played back to the bowler. |
| 28.5 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Another inside edge! This time Bairstow survives. Ishant Sharma is a bit unlucky. Shortish around off, Bairstow plays that with hard hands, looking to force it on the off side. Gets an inside edge past the leg stump and the batsmen take a single. |
| 28.6 : I Sharma to Buttler, Wide outside off, no chance the batsman fiddles with it. |
| 29.1 : M Shami to Bairstow, Bairstow is looking a bit nervy out there. Already has a couple of inside edges. He's feeling it. Length ball outside off, he loosely plays the cut shot and almost edges it. |
| 29.2 : M Shami to Bairstow, FOUR! That should settle the nerves. Surely. Probably the shot of the day? Full and attacking the stumps, Bairstow drives it straight back down the track with the full face of the bat. No chance for anyone to stop it. |
| 29.3 : M Shami to Bairstow, FOUR! Two in two for Bairstow! Shami overpitches it again outside off, the batsman leans into the shot and drives it neatly through extra cover for another boundary. |
| 29.4 : M Shami to Bairstow, Back of a length outside off, punched away into the off side. Dot ball. |
| 29.5 : M Shami to Bairstow, YJB has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| 29.6 : M Shami to J Bairstow, Full delivery fired just outside off, a mistimed drive to mid off to end the over. 8 runs came from it. |
| 30.1 : I Sharma to Buttler, FOUR! The placement is immaculate from Jos Buttler. Full and outside off, Buttler steps out of the crease, reaches out and places this through gully. Ashwin from deep backward point tries to stop it with a dive, but the ball was already away from him. |
| 30.2 : I Sharma to Buttler, That should give Jos something to think about. Ishant brings out the short one and bangs it in hard. The batsman ducks. |
| 30.3 : I Sharma to Buttler, Excellent stop from Ajinkya Rahane. That's what needed in the field, always. Superb. Buttler drives this full ball towards mid off and the ball is destined for the rope. But Rahane from short extra cover moves to his right and puts in a good dive to get a hand to it. Keeps the batsmen to just two as the ball rolls towards long off. |
| 30.4 : I Sharma to Jos Buttler, Length delivery close to off, the batsman gets an inside edge back onto his pads. |
| 30.5 : I Sharma to Buttler, The ball is way outside the off stump, easy leave for the batsman. |
| 30.6 : I Sharma to Jos Buttler, Shaping back in on a back of a length, Buttler walks down the track and clips this down towards fine leg for a single. |
| 31.1 : Shami to Buttler, OUT! Buttler's little shimmy has done him in. Ishant and Shami both were looking for that line, the latter has got the job done. He picks up his third of the innings. Full and swinging back in, Jos walks across to flick it again but this time maybe does it a little too much. Gets caught low on the pads and a big appeal is made. The finger goes up and rightly so too, because that looks plumb. England have half their side back in the pavilion. |
| 0.0 : Chris Woakes strides out to the middle. |
| 31.2 : M Shami to Woakes, Full ball aiming the base of off stump, a hint of movement away, Woakes drives it to mid off. |
| 31.3 : M Shami to Woakes, On the sixth stump line, going further away, arms are shouldered to this one. |
| 31.4 : M Shami to Woakes, Full and straight from Shami, that's where he should be to Woakes at this stage. The batsman with another drive to mid off. |
| 31.5 : M Shami to Woakes, Almost! Keeps firing it up there, on middle and off this time, Woakes plays this off the inner half in front of square leg. |
| 31.6 : M Shami to C Woakes, FOUR! Woakes gets off the mark in a streaky manner. Full in length, outside off, Woakes drives away from his body and gets a thick edge past the diving third slip fielder for a boundary to third man. |
| 32.1 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Fraction straight in line, on a length, worked away through square on the leg side. One run to the total. |
| 32.2 : I Sharma to Woakes, On the fuller side of the length, outside the line of off stump, pushed to the covers. No run taken. |
| 32.3 : I Sharma to Woakes, Sharp bumper out of nowhere. Takes Chris Woakes by surprise. Has no clue about it and just awkwardly somehow fends it down in front of him. That will keep him on his toes now. |
| Here are some interesting bytes from our number-freak mate, Copper. He observes that the current batting average in this Test is 14.93 - LOWEST IN ENGLAND SINCE 1958!!! |
| 32.4 : I Sharma to Woakes, Waits for the length ball to come to him before running it down to third man for a single. |
| 32.5 : I Sharma to Bairstow, In the channel outside off, Bairstow plays away from his body and gets beaten past the outside edge. |
| 32.6 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Full and straight, driven to mid on. |
| 33.1 : M Shami to C Woakes, Short ball angling into the body, with a little swivel Woakes pulls it down to fine leg. Ishant out in the deep fumbles a bit, but fortunately for him he doesn't concede an extra run. |
| 33.2 : M Shami to Bairstow, Some reverse for Shami? The ball is moving quite a lot now. Holds its line at first as it lands on a length outside off, then it goes away late and beats the outside edge of Bairstow's bat. |
| 33.3 : M Shami to Bairstow, Goes after this one, it's well outside off, a play and a miss from the batsman. |
| 33.4 : M Shami to Bairstow, Quite full on middle stump, driven back down the ground. The man from mid on moves to his left and cuts it off. |
| 33.5 : M Shami to Bairstow, Punched off the back foot by the batsman. The batsmen have picked up a couple of runs. |
| 33.6 : M Shami to Bairstow, Skidding off the deck after being served on off. Bairstow just about manages to bring his bat down in time and keep it out off the inner half on the leg side. Single taken. |
| 34.1 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Fullish in length on middle and off, driven right back at Ishant, who collects the ball and gives him a little stare. |
| 34.2 : Sharma to Bairstow, Beautiful. Ishant swings it back in on the stumps, Bairstow just about manages to jam it out. |
| 34.3 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Play and a miss! Full and coming back in from outside off, Bairstow plays a flashy drive and leaves a big gap between bat and pad. The ball whiskers past the off pole. Close. |
| Review! India have taken it for a caught and bowled decision against Jonny Bairstow. |
| 34.4 : Sharma to Bairstow, Not out! No bat involved and since the DRS has been taken, they check for the lbw too and Bairstow is fine on that front as well. Shaping back in on leg, going further down as Jonny looks to flick. It goes off the pad and Ishant takes the catch. All the Indians on the field appeal but the umpire remains unmoved. So, they review it and take it upstairs. Replays show all is well for the batsman. No harm done. India lose a review. |
| 34.5 : I Sharma to Bairstow, The batsman flicks it away with a wristy shot. The batsmen have run through for a single. |
| 34.6 : I Sharma to Woakes, Outside off on a good length, some inward movement on it, punched firmly to the man at cover. |
| 35.1 : M Shami to Bairstow, Shami is reversing it again, on middle and off, Bairstow gets another inside edge as he puts bat on ball. Through backward square leg and seeing Ishant get to the ball, Bairstow calls for the second. Good running. |
| 35.2 : M Shami to Bairstow, Oh, boy! That couldn't have been more than 3 centimeters away. So, so close. Length ball around off, Bairstow doesn't account for the movement into him and shoulders arms. It just about kisses the off bail. |
| With the ball now reversing, Kohli has now moved a slip fielder to a catching mid-wicket position. |
| 35.3 : M Shami to Bairstow, Punches this square through point off the back foot and takes two more. |
| 35.4 : M Shami to Bairstow, Reversing again, coming in, flicked to deep mid-wicket for a single. We finally now have our new highest-scorer of the match as Bairstow gets to 30, going past Ashwin's 29. Jonny becomes the first batsman to reach 30 in this game. |
| 35.5 : M Shami to Woakes, Full and outside off, solidly pushed to cover. |
| 35.6 : M Shami to Woakes, FOUR! Ends the over with a boundary! Quite full on the pads, Woakes flicks it between mid on and mid-wicket. Perfectly through the gap and that will race away to the boundary line. The 150 comes up for England. They lead by 44. |
| 36.1 : I Sharma to Bairstow, In the channel outside off, arms are shouldered to this one. |
| 36.2 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Marginally behind a length, outside off, pushed away towards cover-point. |
| 36.3 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Well left. Bairstow sees the line well, covers the stumps and allows the ball to go past him. |
| 36.4 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Works it off his pads and places it down on the leg side. |
| 36.5 : I Sharma to Bairstow, The batsman shoulders arms to let that one through. |
| 36.6 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Just behind a driving length, outside the line of off stump, Bairstow mistimes the drive to mid off. |
| Hardik Pandya is handed the ball. |
| 37.1 : H Pandya to Woakes, FOUR! And he's welcomed with a boundary. All these are vital runs for England. Length ball outside off, Woakes just waits for it and plays this late. Quite deft as he runs this across the third man fence for a boundary. |
| 37.2 : H Pandya to Woakes, Darts this well down leg, Chris misses his flick as DK moves to his left and collects it. |
| 37.3 : H Pandya to Woakes, He's found the gap there. Woakes takes a step outside and drives it past the diving cover fielder. He makes a half-stop which allows his teammate to chase after it and keeps the batsmen down to two. |
| 37.4 : H Pandya to Woakes, Beauty! Length delivery around off, holding its line, Woakes hangs his bat out to dry and almost nicks it. |
| 37.5 : H Pandya to C Woakes, Good save, Rahane. Another solid effort in the field. It's driven hard towards cover-point where he moves to his right and dives to stop it. |
| 37.6 : H Pandya to Woakes, On the fuller side of things, patted square to point to end the over. |
| Drinks are on the field. India somewhat still on the front foot, as they picked up Buttler's wicket. But since then, Bairstow and Woakes have added some vital runs to England's tally. A steady partnership of 26 is brewing between them, with quite a lot of batting still left to come. The tourists need wickets and they need them fast. Could very well happen to with the reverse now coming into play. |
| Finally, Ravichandran Ashwin comes into the attack. Let's see what he has got up his sleeve. |
| 38.1 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Tossed up ball, Bairstow clips it away towards square leg and takes a single. |
| 38.2 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Loopy full ball around off, defended solidly off the front foot. |
| 38.3 : R Ashwin to Woakes, The batsman has driven that ball straight back. |
| 38.4 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Slower through the air, more revs on that one. Woakes leans ahead and defends it calmly. |
| 38.5 : R Ashwin to Woakes, A bit wider outside off, played with an open bat face towards backward point for a run. |
| 38.6 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Fuller in length and straighter in line, kept out watchfully. Decent start from Ash. |
| India need wickets quickly or the game might just run away from them. A lead of 150 might be too hot to handle on this track. |
| 39.1 : H Pandya to Woakes, That keeps a bit low! On a length outside off, Woakes is taken aback by the lack of bounce and the ball goes under his bat. |
| 39.2 : H Pandya to Woakes, Probing stuff from Pandya. Pitches this one up outside off, Chris goes for a booming drive but only connects with thin air. |
| 39.3 : H Pandya to Woakes, Defended off the back foot by the batsman. |
| 39.4 : H Pandya to Woakes, In the channel outside off, left alone. |
| 39.5 : H Pandya to Woakes, Full length ball, straying on the pads. Woakes flicks it with good timing towards deep square leg for a single. |
| 39.6 : H Pandya to J Bairstow, Fuller in length outside off, tapped towards covers for an easy run. |
| 40.1 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Well bowled! Ashwin is varying it nicely. Bowls this one on a flatter trajectory and at a quicker pace, Bairstow does well to block it. |
| 40.2 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, FOUR! Bairstow has made his intent clear, he is not going to let Ashwin settle. Clears his front leg to the full ball in line of the stumps and lifts it cleanly over mid on for a boundary. |
| 40.3 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Was there an edge? Probably not. After pitching around off, this one stays low and skids through. Bairstow is beaten by pace and Karthik does well to get low and stop it. |
| 40.4 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Spinning in sharply, Jonny tries to flick it but is hit on the pads. A casual appeal follows but it rightly turned down. Was going down leg. |
| 40.5 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Stays back to the flatter ball to keep it out. |
| 40.6 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Tossed up ball outside off, eased to covers. |
| 41.1 : H Pandya to C Woakes, Wide! Pandya attempts the bouncer but it is wayward. Too high and down the leg side as well as Woakes fails to hook it away. Umpire Aleem Dar signals a wide and also one for the over. |
| H Pandya to Woakes, Close shave! Good length delivery around off, angling in appreciably. Woakes perhaps tries to chop it away towards point but doesn't have space to work with. Gets an inside edge which just goes past the stumps towards fine leg. A run taken. |
| 41.2 : H Pandya to Bairstow, Full delivery attacking the stumps, answered with a straight bat. |
| 41.3 : H Pandya to J Bairstow, Driven through the covers by the batsman. |
| 41.4 : H Pandya to Bairstow, On a length, angling in, tucked through mid-wicket. A misfield from Ashwin allows the batsmen to take a couple, not good from the spinner. |
| 41.5 : H Pandya to Bairstow, FOUR! Cracking shot! Square of the wicket on the off side is Jonny's favoured area and he uses it to good effect. Length delivery outside off, Bairstow drives it on the up past point to find the fence. |
| 41.6 : H Pandya to Bairstow, Pandya drags his length back a touch, defended solidly off the back foot. |
| 42.1 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Loopy ball around off, Chris comes ahead to dead-bat it. |
| 42.2 : R Ashwin to Woakes, A bit fuller and more flight on this, Woakes lunges and blocks it solidly. |
| 42.3 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Straying on the pads, helped around the corner for a run. |
| 42.4 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Spinning in from well outside off, Bairstow shuffles a touch and goes for the big sweep but misses to get pinged on the pads. The Indian start appealing but realize soon that it is an optimistic one. The impact was well outside off. |
| 42.5 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Comes ahead to the floated ball to block it right under his eyes. |
| 42.6 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, On middle and leg, turned defensively to the leg side. |
| Kuldeep Yadav is back. |
| 43.1 : K Yadav to Woakes, Floated delivery around off, Chris leans ahead a touch and blocks it right under his eyes. |
| 43.2 : K Yadav to Woakes, Waits for this one to turn into him and works it through square leg to rotate strike. |
| 43.3 : K Yadav to Bairstow, Half-volley on middle and off, belted down to long on for a run. |
| 43.4 : K Yadav to Woakes, Much slower in pace, in line of the stumps, Chris waits for the ball to do its bit off the pitch and then turns it with the spin to deep mid-wicket. A run results. The partnership between these two is 46 now, which is also the highest for this innings. |
| 43.5 : K Yadav to Bairstow, The wrong one at 76 kph from Kuldeep, Bairstow works it around the corner to change strike. |
| 43.6 : K Yadav to Woakes, Tossed up on middle and leg, another easy single on offer on the leg side. 5 singles from the over. |
| 44.1 : R Ashwin to Woakes, On a flatter trajectory, around off, Woakes presents a water-tight defense. |
| 44.2 : R Ashwin to Woakes, The batsman defends it from within the crease. |
| 44.3 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Gets right forward to the flighted ball and defends it stoutly. |
| 44.4 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Ashwin is bowling in the tight off stump corridor, Woakes has no trouble in dealing with it as he blocks it. |
| 44.5 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Covers the spin to this one and blocks it down the pitch. |
| 44.6 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Fuller ball and loopy as well, eased down towards mid on. |
| 45.1 : K Yadav to Bairstow, Floated right up under the eye-line of the batsman as he defends it solidly off the front foot. |
| 45.2 : K Yadav to Bairstow, Good channel from Kuldeep! Floats this one on a fullish length just outside off, Bairstow is not quite sure whether it is the conventional leg spinner or the wrong one. Ends up getting an inside edge onto his pads. |
| 45.3 : K Yadav to Bairstow, FOUR! Bread and butter stuff for Bairstow! Half-volley well outside off, Jonny comes ahead and nails the drive through extra cover to find the ropes. That brings up the 50-run stand between the duo, the first of the game in fact. Goes onto show that run-scoring has been a battle on this track. |
| 45.4 : K Yadav to Bairstow, Kuldeep drags his length back and Jonny goes deep in his crease to account for it. |
| 45.5 : K Yadav to Bairstow, Almost a replica of the previous ball as Bairstow is solid in his defense. |
| 45.6 : K Yadav to J Bairstow, FOUR! The second bad ball of the over and it has been dealt with. Loopy ball on a driving length outside off, Bairstow strokes it again through extra cover for another boundary. 8 from the over. |
| 46.1 : R Ashwin to Woakes, On a shorter length around off, kept out watchfully. |
| 46.2 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Similar length but the line is straighter, Woakes is calm in his approach as he defends it. |
| 46.3 : R Ashwin to Woakes, The off stump channel again, dealt with solidly off the front foot. |
| 46.4 : R Ashwin to Woakes, FOUR! There have been quite some boundary balls and it is not helping India's cause. Ashwin perhaps tries the carrom ball but gets it awry. Sits up nicely for Woakes who whacks it through cover-point for a rocketing boundary. |
| 46.5 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Defended off the front foot by the batsman presenting the full face of the bat. |
| 46.6 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Waits for the ball to spin in and places it against the spin past backward point for a run. |
| Ishant Sharma is back on. |
| 47.1 : I Sharma to Woakes, Back of a length delivery around off, played with soft hands towards the cover region to rotate strike. |
| 47.2 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Good batting! These two are keeping the scoreboard ticking. Good length ball, angling in on middle and leg, Bairstow tucks it towards deep mid-wicket for a brace. |
| Ok... so Goa Rocks is back again with another fine observation. Says - 'I am disappointed with Kuldeep. Not because he is not taking wickets. But because he is not varying his pace at all. He is bowling slowly through the air and on this slow pitch, batsmen are getting all the time in the world to play him off the back foot. Look at Ashwin. Bowling in the high 90s. Kuldeep should learn from him.' @GoaRocks - Yeah, fair point, mate. Hopefully he will learn with more exposure and experience. Just |
| 47.3 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Short of a length well outside off, glided towards backward point for an easy single. |
| 47.4 : I Sharma to Woakes, On the fifth stump channel, fuller in length, asking Woakes to do something fancy. He is in no mood for it through as he lets it through. |
| 47.5 : I Sharma to Woakes, Pitched up delivery around off, some nibble in the air. Chris strides forward to ease it towards extra cover. |
| 47.6 : I Sharma to Woakes, Back to Test match length in the off stump corridor, Woakes goes deep in the crease to answer it with a straight bat. |
| 48.1 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Spinning in from a shorter length, turned to the man at leg slip. |
| 48.2 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Nothing happening at the moment for the Indians. They perhaps need a moment of spark in the field or a magical piece of bowling. Full ball on off, knocked down to long on for a run. England's lead moves to 90. |
| 48.3 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Slower through the air, defended solidly off the front foot. |
| 48.4 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Spinning in from a shorter length as Chris works it to deep mid-wicket for an easy brace. |
| 48.5 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Ashwin goes wider of the crease, trying to do something different. However, Chris is not fazed as he blocks it solidly. |
| 48.6 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Turning in from outside off, helped to the leg side for a single. The 200 comes up for England and it is met with a huge cheer from the Lord's crowd. They are going strong. |
| 49.1 : I Sharma to Woakes, FOUR! Controlled supremely well! Short ball on middle and leg, sits up nicely for Woakes. He stands tall and pulls it with aplomb through backward square leg. The fine leg fielder has no chance to cut it off. |
| 49.2 : Sharma to Woakes, Brilliant surprise ball from Sharma. Bowls a pinpoint yorker and it reverses in substantially. Woakes is almost foxed but does well to jam it out in the end. |
| 49.3 : I Sharma to Woakes, In the zone outside off, left alone. |
| 49.4 : I Sharma to Woakes, The batsman has flicked the ball off his pads. They pick up a single. |
| 49.5 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Good length ball in the corridor of uncertainty, Bairstow plants his front foot across and lets it go safely. |
| 49.6 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Pitched up delivery again, defended solidly off the front foot. |
| 50.1 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Ashwin changes things up as he comes from around the wicket now. Tosses it up in line of the stumps, Chris comes forward to block it. |
| 50.2 : R Ashwin to Woakes, FOUR! Innovative and quite effective! Slow through the air on a fullish length on middle, Woakes has ample time to line it up. He kneels and paddle scoops it over the keeper for a boundary. Runs coming at a good click for the hosts as the lead goes past 100. Ominous signs for India. |
| Leg slip comes in place now after the boundary. |
| 50.3 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Straighter one from Ash outside off, dabbed away square of the wicket on the off side for a single. |
| 50.4 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Bairstow leans ahead and across to flick this one with the spin through square leg. A run taken. |
| 50.5 : R Ashwin to C Woakes, Walks towards the fullish ball and drives it nonchalantly to long on to rotate strike. |
| 50.6 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Played through mid-wicket by the batsman. |
| 51.1 : I Sharma to Woakes, On a length outside off, doesn't take off as expected. Woakes lifts his arms to allow it into the mitts of the keeper. |
| 51.2 : I Sharma to Woakes, Back of a length outside off, Chris places it through the point region for a single. |
| 51.3 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Sharma continues to hurl length deliveries around the off stump channel. Jonny rocks back and punches it towards the extra cover fielder. |
| 51.4 : I Sharma to J Bairstow, Fuller in length, angling into Bairstow as he leans ahead and drives it crisply towards mid on. |
| 51.5 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Confidence personified! Length delivery around off, Bairstow leans ahead confidently and defends it solid as a rock. |
| 51.6 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Good length ball, straighter on this occasion. Jonny rises on his toes and tucks it towards the square leg fielder. |
| Mohammed Shami returns. He has been the most impressive bowler on display for India till now. Can he break this stand? |
| 52.1 : M Shami to Woakes, Starts off his new spell with a length ball on middle, Woakes turns it towards mid-wicket. |
| 52.2 : M Shami to C Woakes, Back of a length ball and some room on offer, glided by using the pace of the ball towards third man. A run results. |
| Here is a comment from another friend of ours. What's his name? Ahh.... nice one. The one who rocks the world - 'Is it only me or have I not seen a single slower ball bowled today? Change of pace can be effective in Tests too. Not just necessarily in limited-overs cricket.' @Theonewhorockstheworld - Yup sir. Totally agreed. Batsmen might just get used to a similar pace from the bowlers. Variation is a must. |
| 52.3 : M Shami to Bairstow, Stump-to-stump line from Shami as he hits the deck hard. Jonny hangs back to punch it towards covers. |
| 52.4 : M Shami to Bairstow, Back of a length this time on off, punched nicely again but straight to the mid off fielder. |
| 52.5 : M Shami to Bairstow, FOUR! As smooth as butter! Everything right about that shot - the head position, the front foot to the pitch of the ball and a high elbow. Length ball around off, Bairstow strides ahead to cream it through covers for a delightful boundary. |
| 52.6 : M Shami to Bairstow, On the sixth stump channel, no problem for Bairstow as he ignores it. |
| 53.1 : I Sharma to Woakes, A pacey back of a length ball in the off stump corridor, Woakes goes at it with hard hands in order to force it through the line but gets it off the outer half towards third man. A brace results. Every run must be pinching the Indians. |
| 53.2 : I Sharma to Woakes, Similar length ball in the same channel, answered with a straight bat towards covers. |
| 53.3 : I Sharma to Woakes, Sharma bowls this on a fuller length but there is no swing on offer. Woakes counters it with ease. |
| 53.4 : I Sharma to C Woakes, FOUR! How lucky? Time and again, we have seen inside edges running past the stumps. This is the fifth occasion at least, in my opinion. All said, Woakes has reached his 5th Test match fifty. He has dug in quite nicely and is taking the game away from the visitors along with Bairstow. Coming back to the ball, it is in the corridor of uncertainty, Woakes tries to glide it late but gets an inside edge that runs past the stumps to the fine leg fence. He raises his bat an |
| 53.5 : I Sharma to Woakes, Shortish delivery, kept out off the back foot. |
| 53.6 : I Sharma to Woakes, FOUR! Crisp! Fractionally overpitched outside off, Woakes drives it elegantly through covers to pick up another boundary. 10 from the over. |
| 54.1 : M Shami to Bairstow, An appeal for an LBW falls on deaf ears! Good length ball, swerving in from around off. Bairstow tries to play it across but is hit above the knee roll on his back leg. Up go the Indians but umpire Marais Erasmus stays put. No review taken as height might be the factor. The replay confirms that it was going over the stumps. |
| 54.2 : M Shami to Bairstow, No need to go for such strokes with Tea approaching. Careless stuff! Full ball around off, Jonny goes for a booming drive but gets it off the bottom half towards the keeper. Wasn't far from the off pole. |
| 54.3 : M Shami to Bairstow, Full ball outside off, driven with an open bat face through point for a couple. |
| 54.4 : M Shami to Bairstow, The batsman has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| 54.5 : M Shami to Bairstow, Short ball from Shami but doesn't have much fizz on it to trouble Bairstow as he ducks under it. |
| 54.6 : M Shami to Bairstow, Length ball shaping in, Bairstow stands tall and blocks it nicely. THAT'S TEA ON DAY 3! |
| Session highlights - 30.2 overs, 141 runs, 1 wicket. England's period by a country mile. 20 boundaries have been scored which reveals a lot about the way the hosts approached the game. Chris Woakes and Jonny Bairstow have mixed caution with aggression to perfection to lead the home side into a position of strength. It seemed that India would open up the English lower order after Shami foxed Buttler but that wasn't to be. From being slightly on the front foot, the visitors have been pegged back. |
| Bairstow and Woakes, both have gone past their fifties, scoring at a very brisk pace. They are threatening to accumulate more runs. The game is running away from India as the lead is now of 123 and they have to do something about it sooner rather than later. Their bowlers have to hit consistent lines and lengths to create chances. Do the tourists have it in them to surge back? Or will the Englishmen continue to dominate? Join us on the other side of the break. |
| ... Day 3, Session 3 ... |
| We are back for the final passage of play. There are some more clouds building overhead and India will hope that the ball starts to do more. Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes to resume their innings. Ravichandran Ashwin will bowl first up after Tea. A slip and a leg slip in place. Here we go... |
| 55.1 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Tossed up ball on a fullish ball on middle and leg, Woakes comes ahead and dead-bats it. |
| 55.2 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Similar delivery but around off this time, Chris is solid in his front foot defense. |
| 55.3 : R Ashwin to C Woakes, Drifting in towards the leg stump, Woakes tries to clip it away but is hit on the pads as the ball lobs to the vacant short leg region. |
| 55.4 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Straighter one from Ashwin, the batsman hangs back to answer it with a straight bat. |
| 55.5 : R Ashwin to C Woakes, Floated delivery on middle and leg, milked down to long on for a run. That brings up the 100-run stand between Bairstow and Woakes. The whole England dressing room is up on its feet and is clapping for the duo. |
| 55.6 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, This one pitches on off and then skids through, Jonny rocks back and blocks it. |
| Mohammed Shami to bowl from the other end. |
| 56.1 : M Shami to Woakes, Back of a length ball, swerving in from around off, Chris covers the line and pushes it towards covers. |
| 56.2 : M Shami to Woakes, Identical ball to the previous one, tapped to the off side with soft hands. |
| 56.3 : M Shami to Woakes, Shami pitches this one up, attacking the stumps. Woakes clears his front leg and drives it back to the bowler. |
| 56.4 : M Shami to Woakes, Back to the short of the length stuff, Woakes remains untroubled as he defends it from the comfort of his crease. |
| 56.5 : M Shami to Woakes, Pitched up delivery on middle, eased off the front foot to mid on. |
| 56.6 : M Shami to Woakes, On a length this time on off, Woakes hangs back and defends it stoutly. Another maiden for Shami. |
| 57.1 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Brilliantly bowled! This one is tossed up around off as Bairstow comes ahead to block it but the ball drifts away at the last moment to go past the outside edge of his bat. |
| 57.2 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Too close for comfort! Ashwin is displaying his tricks. He undercut the previous ball but this time he provides a lot of revs to the ball. It pitches on a similar area as Jonny is unsure. Pushes at it tentatively as the ball spins in to go past the big gap between his bat and pad and almost takes the off bail out. |
| 57.3 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Very full ball on leg stump, jammed off the inner half down the track. |
| 57.4 : R Ashwin to J Bairstow, The batsman has driven it through mid on. They pick up a single. |
| 57.5 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Strides forward to a tossed up ball to block it right under his eyes. |
| 57.6 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Fullish ball around off, kept out watchfully. |
| 58.1 : M Shami to Bairstow, Good stuff from Shami! He surprises Bairstow with a nippy bouncer. Bairstow who is shaping to pull it away has to bail out quickly. |
| 58.2 : M Shami to Bairstow, Was there an edge? There was certainly a noise which got us interested. Not sure though. Good length ball in the corridor of uncertainty, cutting in. Bairstow tries to force it through the line but the ball seems to have gone past his inside edge into the mitts of the keeper. Karthik appeals but Shami is not that excited. The replay shows that there was some daylight between bat and ball. |
| 58.3 : M Shami to J Bairstow, FOUR! Beautiful! Half volley outside off, Bairstow leans into it and strokes it through covers for a boundary. |
| 58.4 : M Shami to Bairstow, Dug in short, Jonny ducks under it. |
| 58.5 : M Shami to Bairstow, Full ball at 141 clicks attacking the stumps, patted gently towards the bowler. |
| 58.6 : M Shami to Bairstow, Pitched up again, eased off the front foot beside the track. |
| 59.1 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Too full and down the leg side, worked through mid-wicket for a run. |
| 59.2 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, FOUR! Nothing is working for India at the moment. Ashwin tries a seam up ball outside off but it is shorter in length. Allows ample time to Bairstow to rock back and slap it through point to find the ropes. |
| 59.3 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, The batsman flicks it away with a wristy shot. The batsmen have run through for a single. |
| 59.4 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Tossed up full ball on off, driven crisply to the man at mid on. |
| 59.5 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Spinning in from outside off, smothered by coming on the front foot. |
| 59.6 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Waits for the ball to turn into him and places it towards the mid-wicket region. |
| 60.1 : M Shami to Bairstow, Beaten! Once again some excitement was building up but there was nothing there. Full ball on a driveable length outside off, shapes away late to go past the flourish of the bat from Bairstow. |
| 60.2 : M Shami to Bairstow, Short ball on middle, takes off and then moves away late again as Bairstow sits under it. Karthik fails to gather it cleanly but doesn't concede a run. |
| 60.3 : M Shami to Bairstow, Full length ball, angling in, tucked with a close bat face towards mid-wicket. |
| 60.4 : M Shami to Bairstow, Full but too straight, Jonny turns it around the corner to rotate strike. |
| 60.5 : M Shami to C Woakes, No pressure being applied as the scoreboard keeps moving. Pitched up ball, knocked down to long on for another run. |
| 60.6 : M Shami to J Bairstow, A tight run but well done eventually! Bairstow drives this one towards Kuldeep at mid off and takes off. He has a shy at the bowler's end but misses. Rahul fumbles a touch at mid-wicket but Jonny has run a long way through. |
| 61.1 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Drifting towards the pads, helped towards mid-wicket. |
| 61.2 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Short ball, spinning in, turned to the same region for a single. |
| 61.3 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Woakes comes forward to the tossed up ball and blocks it nicely. |
| 61.4 : R Ashwin to Woakes, FOUR! The wheels are coming off for India now! Slower through the air around off, Woakes crouches and slogs it over mid-wicket. One bounce and over the ropes. |
| 61.5 : R Ashwin to Woakes, FOUR! Back-to-back boundaries! Nasser Hussain on air says that's the problem with Ashwin. Once someone goes after him, he messes up his length. Tries to overcompensate this time by bowling a short ball outside off. Woakes rocks back and cracks it through cover-point for a rocketing boundary. |
| 61.6 : R Ashwin to Woakes, The batsman shows the full face of the bat and defends the ball off the back foot. |
| Ishant Sharma is back. |
| 62.1 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Tentative! Fuller length ball, swinging in appreciably. Bairstow tries to drive it with minimal foot movement and gets an inside edge onto his pads. |
| 62.2 : I Sharma to Bairstow, FOUR! England's lead goes past 150! A customary boundary coming in almost every over. The Indians are on the firing line and they are not responding well to it. Short and room on offer, asking for trouble. Bairstow cuts it through point and there is no chance for the man in the deep to cut it off. |
| 62.3 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Full length ball around off, defended solidly off the back foot. |
| 62.4 : I Sharma to Bairstow, A play and a miss! Shortish ball well outside off, angling in. Bairstow goes for a cut but is beaten by perhaps a bit of lack of bounce. |
| 62.5 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Better from Ishant! Bowls this one in the avenue of apprehension and gets it to seam away after landing. Bairstow is circumspect in approach as he allows it through. |
| 62.6 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Short ball but it is down the leg side, ducked under easily by Jonny. |
| Sarcasm at its best. The substitutes are itching to give Bairstow a replacement bat - 4 with them. Mike Atherton on air takes this opportunity to have a go at Nasser Hussain, saying, 'Nass - you needed just one for the whole season, didn't you?' |
| 63.1 : R Ashwin to Woakes, A seam up ball around off, answered with a straight bat. |
| 63.2 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Slower ball around off, driven off the front foot to mid on. |
| 63.3 : R Ashwin to Woakes, This one drifts away from around off, Woakes comes forward and deals with it nicely. |
| 63.4 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Good running! Full ball on middle and leg, driven down towards long on. The batsmen run aggressively and complete the couple with ease. That brings up Woakes' highest score in Test cricket. His previous best was 66 vs Sri Lanka, also at Lord's. Seems like he fancies the Mecca of Cricket. |
| 63.5 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Defended off the front foot by the batsman presenting the full face of the bat. |
| 63.6 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Flighted ball on middle and off, knocked down to long on for a single. |
| 64.1 : I Sharma to Woakes, FOUR! Good placement! Back of a length and some space to work with. Woakes uses that to good effect as he glides it with an open bat-face behind backward point. Kuldeep Yadav in the deep runs to his left and puts in a desperate dive but fails to stop it. |
| 64.2 : I Sharma to Woakes, Short of a length ball in line of the stumps, defended stoutly off the back foot down the track. |
| 64.3 : I Sharma to Woakes, Perhaps, the morale of the Indian side has gone down with this counter-attack. No intensity from the visiting players. Shortish ball outside off, eased towards sweeper cover as the fielder jogs to his right to stop it. A couple taken. |
| 64.4 : I Sharma to Woakes, FOUR! Straight as an arrow! Fuller length ball, angling in, Woakes leans ahead and drives it down the ground. It is not off the meat of the bat but has enough on it to roll to the ropes. Both the batsmen are on parity, scoring 79 each. |
| 64.5 : I Sharma to Woakes, Short ball on middle, pulled all along the ground to deep backward square leg for a run. |
| 64.6 : I Sharma to Bairstow, Hangs back to the length ball and stonewalls it. |
| 65.1 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Tossed up delivery, kept out watchfully. |
| 65.2 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Straighter in line but not enough spin on this, flicked towards mid-wicket. |
| 65.3 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Slower through the air, Chris lunges in defense. |
| 65.4 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Straying on the pads once again, helped beside the pitch on the leg side. |
| 65.5 : R Ashwin to C Woakes, FOUR! Streaky runs! Seems like someone has cast a magic spell at Lord's. The batsmen are flourishing while the bowlers are not getting anything their way. Tossed up outside off, drifting away. Woakes pushes at it but gets an outside edge well past Rahane at first slip. He chases it but only comes second best. |
| 65.6 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Slower through the air around off, smothered by coming on the front foot. |
| Hardik Pandya to have another burst. |
| 66.1 : H Pandya to Bairstow, On a length around off, defended solidly off the back foot. |
| 66.2 : H Pandya to Bairstow, Back of a length outside off, tapped past point for a single. |
| 66.3 : H Pandya to Woakes, Good length ball on off, skids after pitching. Woakes does well to adjust in his crease and block it out. |
| 66.4 : H Pandya to Woakes, Some width on offer outside off, placed through point for another run. |
| 66.5 : H Pandya to Bairstow, Lady luck is shining bright on Bairstow! He has played and missed on occasions and has also edged a few but he has got away with them. Back of a length ball outside off, Jonny tries to punch it on the up but the ball whizzes past his outside edge. |
| 66.6 : H Pandya to Bairstow, Fuller length ball outside off, the batsman goes for a drive but gets it off the inner half through mid-wicket. A run taken. |
| 67.1 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Spinning down the leg side, tickled towards fine leg for a run. |
| 67.2 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Tossed up ball, defended solidly off the front foot. |
| 67.3 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Leans ahead again to the floated ball and blocks it with authority. |
| 67.4 : R Ashwin to Woakes, FOUR! Poor delivery and gets the treatment! Full ball down the leg side, Woakes whips it through fine leg to pick up another boundary. The 150-run stand is up between the two. Ashwin's half century also comes up by conceding that boundary. |
| 67.5 : R Ashwin to Woakes, On a flatter trajectory, kept out watchfully. |
| 67.6 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Turned with the spin to the leg side for a single. |
| 68.1 : H Pandya to C Woakes, FOUR! An outside edge is induced but doesn't carry to first slip. Full ball outside off, Woakes goes at it with hard hands but gets an edge behind. Pujara gets low to his right but the ball goes past him in a flash. |
| 68.2 : H Pandya to Woakes, Another play and a miss! Pitched up ball outside off, Woakes goes for a full-blooded drive but is beaten. |
| 68.3 : H Pandya to Woakes, Brilliant fielding from the substitute, Ravindra Jadeja. The rest of the fielders need to emulate him. Back of a length ball outside off, forced off the outer half past backward point. Jadeja in the deep hares like a cheetah to his left, slides and attacks the ball. Only a run is taken. Shows the difference a good fielder can make. |
| 68.4 : H Pandya to Bairstow, The batsman appears to have been struck on the thigh pad. |
| 68.5 : H Pandya to J Bairstow, England go ahead on their merry way! On a good length outside off, Bairstow tries to punch it through the line but gets an outside edge. The ball falls short of the wide slip fielder and goes past him. A run is taken. |
| 68.6 : H Pandya to C Woakes, Pitched up ball outside off, driven towards covers. |
| 69.1 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Floated ball around off, Bairstow lunges in defense. |
| 69.2 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Short ball outside off, placed easily off the back foot towards sweeper cover for a couple. |
| 69.3 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, FOUR! This is going from bad to worse for the visitors! Drifting down the leg side, Bairstow paddle sweeps it away to the fine leg fence. |
| 69.4 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Punched off the back foot by the batsman. The batsmen have run through for a single. |
| 69.5 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Full delivery on middle and off, pushed back towards Ashwin who doesn't stop it cleanly but recovers to deny the run. |
| 69.6 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Pitched up ball in line of the stumps, knocked down to long on for a single. Woakes also moves into the nineties. |
| 70.1 : H Pandya to Woakes, Fractionally overpitched outside off, patted gently towards covers. |
| 70.2 : H Pandya to Woakes, Woakes hangs back to the length ball and stonewalls it. |
| 70.3 : H Pandya to Woakes, Overpitched outside off, creamed to sweeper cover for a single. |
| 70.4 : H Pandya to Bairstow, Foxed again to add to his tallies of a series of those! Length ball outside off, Bairstow goes for a drive on the up but misses. |
| 70.5 : H Pandya to Bairstow, Driven through the covers by the batsman. One run added to the total. |
| 70.6 : H Pandya to Woakes, Maiden Test hundred for Chris Woakes! His return to the side has been a fruitful one. An innings of real substance from him. His side was in a precarious situation but he has stood tall to push all the doubts aside. Coming back to the ball, it is short around off. Woakes pulls it over mid-wicket. Ashwin chases it down and slips near the fence but manages to keep it in play. Three runs taken. He pumps his fist in the air and beams with a big smile. The Lord's crowd is up |
| 71.1 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Tossed up ball, helped through mid-wicket for a single. |
| 71.2 : R Ashwin to Bairstow, Fullish ball in line of the stumps, knocked down to long on for a single. |
| 71.3 : R Ashwin to Woakes, The batsman has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| 71.4 : R Ashwin to Woakes, On a flatter trajectory and shorter in length, blocked off the back foot. |
| 71.5 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Tossed up delivery, defended solidly off the front foot. |
| 71.6 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Fuller in length, milked down to long on for a single. The lead now touches 200 for England. Things are looking gloomy for India. |
| 72.1 : H Pandya to Woakes, Back of a length ball around off, Woakes makes use of the depth of the crease and pushes it to the off side. |
| 72.2 : H Pandya to Woakes, Angling in from a length, Chris covers the line to defend it nicely. |
| 72.3 : H Pandya to Woakes, Almost a replica of the previous ball as Woakes stonewalls it. |
| 72.4 : H Pandya to Woakes, The batsman has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| 72.5 : H Pandya to Woakes, Well bowled! On a length just outside off stump, angling in. It is in an area where the batsman is unsure what to do. Woakes comes ahead gingerly and gets an inside edge that dribbles on to the leg side. |
| It has gone darker now and the artificial lights are taking effect. |
| 72.6 : H Pandya to Woakes, Overpitched outside off, creamed to sweeper cover for a single. |
| Kuldeep Yadav returns. |
| 73.1 : K Yadav to Woakes, Slower through the air, Woakes comes forward to defend it. |
| 73.2 : K Yadav to Bairstow, The batsman has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| 73.3 : K Yadav to Bairstow, Floated ball around off, kept out watchfully. |
| Review time! It is regarding an LBW decision against Jonny Bairstow. Kuldeep has a chat with Karthik while Kohli signals for the 'T' from the third man ropes. Seems like the impact is outside off. |
| 73.4 : K Yadav to Bairstow, Safe! A comical moment on the field here. Tossed up outside off, spinning in. Bairstow comes forward to defend it but misses to get hit on the pads. The ball rolls past the keeper as the players are busy appealing. Umpire Aleem Dar shakes his head. Kohli goes after the ball but it goes past the ropes. Kuldeep has a discussion with the keeper as the time keeps ticking. Kohli from the ropes decides to take the review. Dar signals him to come up with his hand and has a sm |
| 73.5 : K Yadav to Bairstow, Played with soft hands for an easy single. |
| 73.6 : K Yadav to Woakes, Fullish ball, eased through mid on for a single. |
| 74.1 : H Pandya to Woakes, Four Leg Byes! On a length down the leg side, Woakes tries to flick it but the ball brushes his thigh pad and flies behind. Karthik dives but the ball goes past him to the fence. |
| 74.2 : H Pandya to Woakes, The batsman defends it from within the crease. |
| 74.3 : H Pandya to C Woakes, Full ball outside off, driven to sweeper cover for a single. |
| 74.4 : H Pandya to Bairstow, OUT! The end of a drought for India in overcast conditions! Look at the irony. What a brilliant catch from Dinesh Karthik! Fuller length ball outside off, Bairstow goes at it with hard hands with minimal foot movement and gets a fat outside edge. Karthik like a goalkeeper lines it up and flies to take a stunner with his right hand. A sad end to a good knock from Jonny as he misses out on his ton. End of the 189-run stand from 261 balls. A stand which has firmly put E |
| Sam Curran comes out to bat. |
| 74.5 : H Pandya to Curran, Down the leg side, Curran misses his flick shot. |
| 74.6 : H Pandya to Curran, On a length outside off, Curran runs it down to third man for a run and gets off the mark. |
| 75.1 : K Yadav to Curran, The batsman rocks onto the back foot and punches the ball. |
| 75.2 : K Yadav to Curran, FOUR! A full toss on leg stump, Curran whips it through mid-wicket for a boundary. |
| 75.3 : K Yadav to Curran, The batsman defends it from within the crease. |
| 75.4 : K Yadav to Sam Curran, FOUR! Oh dear... 'Cheteshwar Pujara is in danger...' says Sourav Ganguly on air. This is a hip high full toss, outside leg, Curran lines it up nicely and heaves it over short leg, through mid-wicket for a boundary. |
| 75.5 : K Yadav to Curran, Better from Kuldeep, tosses it, lands it as well, closer to the off stump, the batsman defends. |
| 75.6 : K Yadav to Curran, Full and outside off, driven straight to cover. |
| 76.1 : H Pandya to Woakes, On middle and leg, worked through mid-wicket for a single. The stand is worth 10 from 9 balls. |
| 76.2 : H Pandya to Curran, Outside off, on a length outside off, Curran looks to punch it through the off side but gets a bottom edge back to the bowler. Seems like Sam has come out there just to enjoy himself - not quite focussed on gritting it out there. Has looked flashy so far. |
| 76.3 : H Pandya to Curran, Much better, gets in line of the ball and defends. |
| 76.4 : H Pandya to Curran, Poor from the bowler. Sc pushes this back to Hardik who is lazy in getting down and allows it to go through to mid off. An easy single. |
| 76.5 : H Pandya to Woakes, The batsman shows the full face of the bat and defends the ball off the back foot. |
| 76.6 : H Pandya to Woakes, FOUR! A short ball, around off, Woakes swivels and hooks it over square leg for a boundary! |
| 77.1 : K Yadav to Curran, Full and around middle, pushed back to the bowler. |
| 77.2 : K Yadav to Curran, FOUR! Another freebie. One more full toss, on middle, whipped through mid-wicket for a boundary. The lead is now 232. |
| 77.3 : K Yadav to Curran, Better. Much better. Kuldeep gives this a lot of air, lands it outside off and then gets it to spin away. Curran looks to defend but misses. |
| 77.4 : K Yadav to Curran, Full and around middle, pushed back to the bowler. |
| 77.5 : K Yadav to Curran, A bit of loop, on middle, flicked through mid-wicket for a single. |
| 77.6 : K Yadav to Woakes, Full and around leg, watchfully defended. |
| 78.1 : H Pandya to Curran, FOUR! Brilliant batting. Fractionally short outside off, Curran goes back and cuts it through point for a boundary. Talk about rivers and lakes flowing yesterday, it is boundaries today. 45 already! |
| 78.2 : H Pandya to Sam Curran, Full and straight, pushed towards mid on. |
| 78.3 : H Pandya to Curran, On a length, very straight defended from the crease. |
| 78.4 : H Pandya to Curran, Outstanding keeping from Karthik. Full and miles down the leg side, Curran lets it go and the ball keeps swinging further down the leg side. But Karthik flings himself to his right and manages to get a glove to it. Keeps the batsmen to a bye. |
| 78.5 : H Pandya to Woakes, The batsman flicks it away with a wristy shot for a single. |
| 78.6 : H Pandya to Curran, The batsman has punched that ball through the off side. |
| Here's Ashwin. Not surprising. Kuldeep's last spell read 3-0-20-0. |
| 79.1 : R Ashwin to Woakes, FOUR! As mentioned earlier, the contract seems to be of giving at least one boundary an over. Short and outside off, Woakes punches this through the covers and gets a boundary! |
| 79.2 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Defended off the front foot by the batsman presenting the full face of the bat. |
| 79.3 : R Ashwin to Woakes, The batsman has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 79.4 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Gets right behind this one and blocks. |
| 79.5 : R Ashwin to Woakes, The batsman has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 79.6 : R Ashwin to Woakes, Full and around off, watchfully defended back to the bowler. |
| The second new ball has been taken. India will look to wrap things up quickly now. If they don't, they might concede in excess of 400 today itself. Ishant Sharma will make the first use of it. |
| 80.1 : I Sharma to Curran, Outside off, eased through point for a couple. Moves to 21 from 22 balls. |
| 80.2 : I Sharma to Sam Curran, Full and outside off, driven straight to mid off. |
| 80.3 : I Sharma to Curran, The batsman defends it from within the crease. One run added to the total. |
| 80.4 : I Sharma to C Woakes, Full and outside off, Woakes looks to drive but does not counter for the swing available with the new cherry. There is no feet movement and the ball nearly goes through the gap between bat and pad. Luckily for him, it takes the inner half of the bat and goes towards mid on. |
| 80.5 : I Sharma to Woakes, FOUR! Flashed and flashed hard. Short and outside off, Woakes backs away a touch and slashes it over point for a boundary. THE LEAD IS NOW 250. Woakes moves to 120 from 158 balls, with his 18th boundary. |
| 80.6 : I Sharma to Woakes, Magnificent bowling. Luckless has been Ishant. Luckless have been India. On a length outside off, Woakes looks to defend but the ball comes back in a long way and cuts him into two. |
| 1802 local - Well, the light was fading and the umpires have taken the players off. Looks pretty dark and don't think light will improve. We might not be far from Stumps. |
| So there you go. That did not take long. STUMPS ON DAY 3. What a Saturday for England. Rocked early, struggling at 131/5, with just 24 ahead, they have now swelled that to 250 - for the loss of just 1 wicket. That is the depth of this team with the bat. |
| In spite of losing wickets, they have scored runs freely, amassing more than 350 runs in a little over 80 overs. At one stage during the second session, they were scoring at more than 6 an over - all thanks to the counter-attack from Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes. What a partnership - 189 from 261 balls - 104 of those runs coming in boundaries. Bairstow was unlucky to miss out on his century but boy, did Chris Woakes enjoy himself etching his name for the third time on the Lord's Honours Board |
| Many times, the saying comes to life - When you are down and out, hit your way out of trouble. Today was one of those times. Bairstow and Woakes started to counter-punch India, especially the latter and the visitors were pushed on the back foot. Ishant and Shami were brilliant first up but the other three bowlers - Hardik, Kuldeep and Ashwin - were nowhere close to being supportive. The chinaman was extremely disappointing, struggling with his lengths while for some reason, Kohli kept delaying t |
| Okay then! What is in store for Sunday? Rain, rain and more rain, says the forecast - 92 percent to be precise. India will certainly wish it to be a repeat of Day 1. England might declare overnight. Or they might bat till the lead reaches 300, if possible, so that the batsmen in the opposition are not fresh. The Indian batters can take heart from how their English counterparts did today - especially the lower middle order - and try and guts it out in the middle, whenever they get the chance to b |
| ... Day 4, Session 1 ... |
| Hello and a warm welcome to Day 4 of the Lord's Test. Let's start on a bright note as there is no rain at the moment. Though there is forecast of heavy rain throughout the course of the day, we are optimistic to seeing some exciting cricket in the middle. England are in a position of immense strength, courtesy Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes' monumental effort with the bat. |
| Graeme Swann has mentioned in the pre-match show that he saw Woakes walking out with a bat in his hand sometime back. Not sure it is the right tactic from the hosts though as there is plenty of rain on the radar. Might well have been a sensible decision to declare overnight and have a go at the shaky Indian batting order right in the morning. All said and done, what can India do? |
| Well, initially the visitors would be aiming to clean up the lower order as soon as possible. After that, they have to bat out of their skins to compete against the explosive English seam bowling. Can the tourists rise to the occasion? Or will the home side continue its juggernaut? All fingers crossed regarding the weather, though India will not mind if it rains for the next two days... |
| Sanjay Manjrekar is out on the ground and informs us that the pitch is covered. Adds that the conditions are overcast and some showers are expected. Mentions that if England have to win the game, they should declare straightaway. States that they need to remind India the horrors of Day 2 when it was overcast and they ran through the opposition. |
| Alright... now that we have some time to go for the game to begin, let us focus on India's second spinner - Kuldeep Yadav. He has bowled just 9 overs so far and apart from 1, he has primarily struggled for the remaining 8 overs. Why is it so? Harsha Bhogle and Graeme Swann try to dissect. The former starts off, saying that he had interviewed Afghan leggie Rashid Khan when his team were playing India in the one-off Test in Bengaluru. Rashid said that till Tea, he was simply not able to feel the g |
| Sanjay Manjrekar is interviewing the man of the moment, Chris Woakes. The English all-rounder says that it is an amazing feeling to contribute to the team. Says that it was surreal to raise his bat after scoring a ton and raising his bat to the Lord's crowd. On being asked about batting at the No 7 position for the first time, he mentions that he came out with a positive mindset and it worked well for him. Adds that they were big shoes to fill in place of Moeen Ali and he praises his mate of bei |
| We are all set to go. The men concerned come out to the middle. There are some dark clouds hovering around and India will want to use them to their advantage. Chris Woakes comes out to bat along with Sam Curran. The talk might be to stretch the lead to 300 to gain that psychological advantage. Mohammed Shami to run in with the second new ball which is only 1 over old. Three slips in place. Here we go... |
| 81.1 : M Shami to Curran, Four Byes! Bad start for Shami. Starts off with a fullish ball well outside off, it swings further away. Curran shoulders his arms though. Karthik moves to his left but gets beaten as the ball runs to the fence. |
| 81.2 : M Shami to Curran, Well bowled! Full length ball outside off, shaping in a touch. Curran drives it towards mid off. |
| Michael Atherton on air informs us that Virat Kohli has not taken the field. Says that he might be having a hamstring niggle and hence, he doesn't want to risk it. Strangely, he was suffering from a stiff back yesterday. |
| 81.3 : M Shami to Curran, Stump-to-stump line and on a length, Sam stays back and stonewalls it. |
| 81.4 : M Shami to Curran, Full length ball outside off, shaping away late. Curran goes at with minimal foot movement and gets foxed. |
| 81.5 : M Shami to Curran, Shami switches his angle to around the wicket and bowls a pitched up ball in line of the stumps, turned around the corner for a single. |
| 81.6 : M Shami to Woakes, Almost, almost! On a driveable length outside off, shaping away a touch, drawing Woakes into a stroke. He falls for the bait and goes for a booming drive but the ball whizzes past his outside edge. Good comeback from Shami after the first wayward ball. |
| Ishant Sharma to bowl from the other end. |
| 82.1 : I Sharma to Curran, Sharma is right on the money to begin with! Bowls a good length ball around leg stump from around the wicket and gets it to straighten a touch. Curran stays back to block it but misses to get hit on the back pad. The Indians appeal but bail out of it soon. The reason being it was pretty high. Replays also show that. |
| 82.2 : I Sharma to Sam Curran, Fractionally overpitched around off, Curran pushes at it nicely towards mid off. |
| 82.3 : I Sharma to Curran, Hangs back to the good length ball and blocks it with a straight bat. |
| 82.4 : I Sharma to Curran, The batsman defends it from within the crease. |
| 82.5 : I Sharma to Curran, Fuller in length outside off, Sam drives it crisply but finds the man at covers. |
| 82.6 : I Sharma to Curran, In the channel outside off, left alone. A maiden to begin the day from Sharma. |
| 83.1 : M Shami to Woakes, Good length ball in the corridor outside off, Woakes dabs it away towards backward point for an easy run. |
| 83.2 : M Shami to Curran, Shami has his tail up! He is bending his back and is keeping Curran on his toes. Bowls a back of a length ball in the corridor of uncertainty and gets it to curve in with the natural around the wicket angle. Sam tries to keep it out with a straight bat but is beaten all ends up. |
| 83.3 : M Shami to Curran, Shortish ball and some width on offer, punched away off the back foot through point for a single. |
| 83.4 : M Shami to Woakes, That's a peach! Bowls a fuller length ball around off and it takes off a touch. Chris tries to keep it out by staying inside the crease but the ball moves away at the last moment to leave him bemused. |
| 83.5 : M Shami to Woakes, This is testing stuff! Lands this one in the avenue of apprehension and gets it to seam away late. The all-rounder hangs his bat out but misses it. |
| 83.6 : M Shami to Woakes, Beaten third time in a row! A man who is batting on 121 has no answers about these. Shows that when the conditions are overcast and the ball is moving, batting is a battle here. Similar length ball in the same channel, Chris tries to defend it but gets foxed again. |
| 84.1 : I Sharma to Curran, On a length around off, Curran taps it to mid off and scurries across to the other end. |
| 84.2 : I Sharma to C Woakes, FOUR! Streaky runs but England won't mind it! The lead continues to swell. Pitched up ball outside off, Woakes goes for a full-blooded drive but gets a fat outside edge. Rahane at third slip dives to his right but the ball goes past him in a jiffy. |
| 84.3 : I Sharma to C Woakes, FOUR! Back-to-back boundaries! Length ball outside off, Woakes opens his bat-face at the last moment and glides it through backward point. Ashwin runs after it from covers while Kuldeep moves to his right in the deep from point. The latter reaches it and tries to stop it with a slide. Seems to have done well. The umpires check for it. Well, the replays show that his back leg was touching the ropes while he had the ball in his hand. That brings up the 50-run stand bet |
| Third slip has been taken out. |
| 84.4 : I Sharma to Woakes, Fractionally overpitched, defended solidly off the front foot. |
| 84.5 : I Sharma to Woakes, Ishant drags his length back a touch as Chris stays back to stonewall it. |
| 84.6 : I Sharma to Woakes, Runs coming at will! Back of a length outside off, tapped towards the point region for a single. 11 runs from the over. |
| 85.1 : M Shami to Woakes, Fuller in length outside off, tapped towards third man for a single. |
| 85.2 : M Shami to Curran, Played to mid-wicket region by the batsman. One run added to the total. |
| Nasser Hussain makes a good point on air. He says that he saw the Indians playing well on a minefield in South Africa and they responded quite well which shows that they are not flat-track bullies. However, they are under-prepared here and their technique hasn't been good. |
| 85.3 : M Shami to Woakes, Woakes must have had his heart in his mouth! Shami has gone past his outside edge on several occasions but has been unlucky. Full ball around off, shaping away appreciably. Chris goes for a drive but misses. The ball just goes past the off pole. How close! |
| 85.4 : M Shami to Woakes, Full outside off, pushed to covers. |
| 85.5 : M Shami to Woakes, Beaten again! Good length ball outside off, pitching and moving away. Woakes feels for it and the ball goes past his outside edge again. |
| 85.6 : M Shami to Woakes, Down the leg side, Chris misses his flick. Another good over from Shami. |
| 86.1 : I Sharma to Sam Curran, Short ball around off, Curran pulls it towards wide mid on. Vijay dives to his right but fails to stop it cleanly. A couple of runs are taken. |
| 86.2 : I Sharma to Curran, The batsman has attempted to put bat on ball but fails. |
| 86.3 : I Sharma to Curran, Good length ball in the off stump corridor, defended solidly off the back foot. |
| 86.4 : I Sharma to Curran, Fuller length ball down the leg side, Curran tries to glance it but misses. Someone appeals but there was no wood on it. |
| 86.5 : I Sharma to Curran, Sharma continues to bowl full as Sam places it through point to rotate strike. |
| 86.6 : I Sharma to Woakes, On a length in line of the stumps, answered with a straight bat. |
| 87.1 : M Shami to Curran, FOUR! Well placed! Length ball on off, angling in. Curran backs away and places it through point. It has been timed well and the ball whistles away to the fence. England's lead moves to 276. |
| 87.2 : M Shami to Curran, SIX! What a shot! Seemed like he had got beaten for pace but he still connected beautifully. Well-directed short ball on middle and off, Curran makes a bit of room and pulls it hard over mid-wicket. It is going, going and sails into the stands. The signal might have been to go for the runs. Declaration seems to be around the corner. |
| 87.3 : M Shami to Curran, Sprays this one down the leg side, Curran tries to flick it away but misses. |
| 87.4 : M Shami to Sam Curran, Full ball, driven crisply to mid on for a run. |
| 87.5 : M Shami to C Woakes, FOUR! Runs coming thick and fast for England! Fullish ball attacking the stumps, Chris throws the kitchen sink at it but gets an outside edge past the slip cordon. 15 from the over already. |
| 87.6 : M Shami to Woakes, Woakes moves away to loft this one towards sweeper cover and takes a couple. 17 from this one. |
| Hardik Pandya comes for a bowl. |
| 88.1 : H Pandya to Curran, OUT! Pandya strikes and there comes the declaration from Joe Root! Good length delivery around off, Curran backs away and goes after it but gets a top edge that flies towards third man. Shami stationed there pouches it safely. ENGLAND HAVE DECLARED ON 396/7! |
| So, the declaration has come from Joe Root as England finish in pole position. A brilliant show from the duo of Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes has given them a massive lead of 289. The latter along with Curran also added 39 quick runs this morning to help their cause. Yes, England were struggling in the initial phases. They had lost 2 wickets for only 32 on the board. A brief resistance from Root and Pope was also cut short but then the star pair got into the act. |
| When you are struggling, sometimes the best way to get out of it is to be positive and attack. Woakes and Bairstow did just that and came out with flying colours. From a tricky position, they managed to not only to break the morale of the visitors but actually dominated them. Their 189-run stand took the game away from the tourists. |
| 0.1 : J Anderson to Vijay, On the money. Full and outside off, Vijay comes forward and defends. Plenty of outswing available. |
| 0.2 : J Anderson to Vijay, The batsman has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| 0.3 : J Anderson to Vijay, Miles outside off, left alone. |
| 0.4 : J Anderson to Vijay, The batsman has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| 'It has started to drizzle', says Sourav Ganguly on air. Indian fans' hopes go up... In addition, Sanjay Manjrekar informs that Virat Kohli will not be able to bat till 37 minutes of play have passed as that was the time he spent in the dressing room last evening and this morning. |
| 0.5 : J Anderson to Vijay, Down the leg side, Vijay misses his flick. |
| 0.6 : J Anderson to Vijay, The batsman chooses to leave the ball outside his off stump. A maiden to start but nowhere near as tight as Jimmy was in the first over of the first innings. |
| Stuart Broad, surprisingly, will bowl from the other end. He was not at his best in the first innings. Perhaps Curran or Woakes would have been a better choice. |
| 1.1 : S Broad to Rahul, Bowls a fuller length ball on the fifth stump channel, moving away. Rahul watches it through. |
| 1.2 : S Broad to Rahul, Broad goes wider of the crease and angles in a full delivery. KL Rahul strides forward confidently and blocks it with authority. |
| 1.3 : S Broad to Rahul, Broad drags his length ball and bowls it in the corridor of uncertainty. The ball comes in appreciable. Rahul knows where his off stump is, shuffles across and makes an assured leave. |
| 1.4 : S Broad to Rahul, Camps deep in the crease to the length ball and blocks it right under his eyes. |
| Now, a few umbrellas are coming up in the stands. The drizzle has intensified a touch. |
| 1.5 : S Broad to Rahul, In the probing outside off stump channel, seaming away after landing. Lokesh points his bat skywards to leave it alone. |
| 1.6 : S Broad to Rahul, A harmless ball wide outside off, swinging away further. Rahul ignores it. It also keeps low and bounces once as Bairstow stops it partially. No run conceded though. |
| 2.1 : J Anderson to Vijay, Good length ball around off, kept out watchfully. |
| 2.2 : J Anderson to Vijay, OUT! It is that man, Anderson again who has once again come to haunt India! After taking a fifer in the first innings, he has come out firing on all cylinders this time too. Bowls a fuller length ball in the tight off stump corridor and gets it to cut back in appreciably. Vijay comes forward tentatively to defend it but there is a big gap between his bat and pad. The ball takes the inside edge of his bat and carries through to Jonny Bairstow. Vijay bags a pair which al |
| Cheteshwar Pujara comes out to bat. |
| 2.3 : J Anderson to Pujara, In the channel outside off, left alone. |
| 2.4 : J Anderson to Pujara, Fuller length ball, defended nicely off the front foot. |
| 2.5 : J Anderson to Pujara, On a good length around off, Pujara hangs back and answers it with a straight bat. |
| 2.6 : J Anderson to Pujara, Beaten neck and crop! Fullish ball outside off, swinging away sharply. Pujara pokes at it and gets foxed. A brilliant over from Anderson, a wicket maiden for him. India are again 0/1 in 3 overs as they were in their first innings. |
| 3.1 : S Broad to Rahul, Fullish length ball, angling in, Rahul strides ahead to block it solidly. |
| 3.2 : S Broad to Rahul, Length ball around off, shaping in sharply. Lokesh hangs back to cover the line but is hit on the thigh pad. An appeal ensues but not that convincing and the umpire stays put. Height was the factor. |
| 3.3 : S Broad to L Rahul, FOUR! Crisp! Runs have finally come on the 21st ball of the innings. Full ball outside off, Rahul leans ahead and caresses it through covers to pick up his first boundary. |
| 3.4 : S Broad to Rahul, The batsman shows the full face of the bat and defends the ball off the back foot. |
| 3.5 : S Broad to Rahul, Full ball attacking the stumps, kept out watchfully. |
| 3.6 : S Broad to Rahul, On a length, cutting in, Rahul shuffles a touch and stonewalls it. |
| 4.1 : J Anderson to C Pujara, Close shave! Full ball around off, some nibble in the air. Pujara pushes ar it tentatively and gets a thick inside edge past his stumps towards fine leg. A run taken. |
| 4.2 : J Anderson to Rahul, FOUR! Easy pickings! First real bad ball from Anderson and it has been put away. Full and down the leg side, Rahul flicks it towards fine leg. The man from deep backward square leg tries to cut it off but only comes second best. |
| 4.3 : J Anderson to Rahul, Full ball and straight again, flicked to the leg side for a single. |
| 4.4 : J Anderson to Pujara, Pitched up ball around off and shaping in from there, CP comes forward and presents a water-tight defense. |
| 4.5 : J Anderson to Pujara, On a fuller length on the fifth stump channel, Pujara keeps his bat inside the line to allow it through. |
| 4.6 : J Anderson to Pujara, Beaten! Well bowled! Shaping in sharply from a fullish length outside off, Cheteshwar feels for it but the ball whizzes past his outside edge. |
| 5.1 : S Broad to Rahul, Sensible! Fuller in length, eased off the front foot through covers for an easy run. |
| 5.2 : S Broad to Pujara, Broad is probing in that off stump channel, Pujara plants his front foot across to make an assured leave. |
| 5.3 : S Broad to Pujara, Stump-to-stump, full in length, CP puts his head down and defends it calmly. |
| 5.4 : S Broad to Pujara, Well played! Good length ball, angling in on middle and leg, Pujara waits for it and tucks it through mid-wicket. Pope hares after it and cuts it off to keep the batsmen down to a couple. |
| 5.5 : S Broad to Pujara, Solid as a rock! Needs to continue in the same vein. Comes forward to the inswinging full ball and dead-bats it. |
| 5.6 : S Broad to Pujara, Broad drags his length back, Cheteshwar is quick to adjust as he camps back and answers it with a straight bat. |
| 6.1 : Anderson to Rahul, OUT! Rahul's poor tour continues! It is all looking gloomy for India while England are reigning supreme under dark clouds. Fuller length ball around off, hits the deck and angles in sharply. Rahul shuffles a touch but falls over a touch in an attempt to flick it across. Misses and is hit flush in front of the stumps. Jimmy rises up in a vociferous appeal and umpire Aleem Dar obliges. KL shakes his head and keeps on walking as he goes past Pujara. Seems dead on this occas |
| 0.0 : Ajinkya Rahane strides out to bat. Virat Kohli was out of the field when India were bowling this morning and hence, he can't come to bat before 37 minutes pass away in this innings. |
| 6.2 : J Anderson to Rahane, Fullish ball outside off, Rahane eases it through cover-point and takes a run. Thinks about the second but it is not on offer. Gets off the mark with that. |
| 6.3 : J Anderson to Pujara, Dug in short, CP ducks under it. |
| 6.4 : J Anderson to Pujara, Well bowled! This one takes off from a length around off. Pujara is hurried a bit as he plays it off the outer half towards gully. |
| 6.5 : J Anderson to Pujara, Fullish ball but it is straight in line, flicked around the corner for a single. |
| 6.6 : J Anderson to Rahane, In the zone outside off, coming in sharply with some extra bounce. Rahane lifts his bat and makes a good leave. A wicket and 2 runs from the over. |
| Chris Woakes comes into the attack. His confidence will be sky high after his brilliant ton. |
| 7.1 : C Woakes to Pujara, Woakes is on the money with immediate effect! Runs in hard and bowls a heavy length ball in the avenue of apprehension. Gets it to jag away late as Pujara pokes at it but misses. |
| 7.2 : C Woakes to Pujara, Back of a length outside off, Che camps back and plays it with an angled bat towards the point region. |
| 7.3 : C Woakes to Pujara, The batsman works it down the leg side. |
| 7.4 : C Woakes to Pujara, Full length ball attacking the stumps, Pujara leans ahead to block it with authority. |
| 7.5 : C Woakes to Pujara, A harmless delivery on the sixth stump channel, moving away as Cheteshwar lets it go. Bairstow dives to his right and takes it on the bounce. |
| 7.6 : C Woakes to Pujara, Good length ball angling in from around off, Pujara plays it off the inner half towards square leg for an easy single. Decent start from Woakes. |
| 8.1 : J Anderson to Pujara, Pitched up ball around off, Pujara has it covered and blocks it right under his eyes. |
| 8.2 : J Anderson to Pujara, A huge appeal for an LBW falls on deaf ears! Fullish delivery just outside off, cutting in appreciably. Pujara tries to keep it out but is hit on the pads as the ball rolls to the leg side. The batsmen set off as Anderson rises up confidently along with the slip cordon but Aleem Dar shakes his head. Root has a chat with Jimmy but decides against the review. The replay shows that it would have missed leg. |
| 8.3 : J Anderson to Rahane, Nicely controlled actually! On a length, some nibble in the air. Rahane opens his bat-face and plays it off the outer half with soft hands in front of third slip. |
| 8.4 : J Anderson to Rahane, Back of a length ball outside off, punched nicely off the back foot towards cover-point. |
| 8.5 : J Anderson to Rahane, Pitched up ball around off, Rahane leans ahead and blocks it confidently. |
| 8.6 : J Anderson to Rahane, On a length, Ajinkya hangs back and stonewalls it. |
| Update 1230 local - Unfortunately, the drizzle has got heavier and the big cover is being roped in to protect the pitch. It always seemed to be on the cards and the umpires have decided that they can't risk it any further. More covers come in to be put on the square. They have also called for an early Lunch which is a wise decision. |
| The woes continue for India at the top in seaming conditions. After being insipid with the ball and conceding a big lead of 289 runs, their openers, Murali Vijay and Lokesh Rahul, once again failed to counter a belligerent James Anderson and fell cheaply to him. It just shows that they have to tighten their technique in order to succeed overseas. |
| The only thing in favour of India is that the forecast is not that good for the remainder of the day. However, their batsmen need to be prepared for the worst. Perhaps, two solid knocks from Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, might do their confidence a lot of good. England, on the other hand, are ahead by 272 runs. Chris Woakes is also in good rhythm, bowling some really good deliveries. A tough period awaits India if the rain relents. Stay tuned as we bring you updates... |
| 1315 local update - Good news for Indian fans. The drizzle has turned slightly heavier and it would not harm you too much if you decide to go over to the Lankan match and see how they are progressing in the 5th ODI against South Africa... |
| 1330 local update - Wow. That was quick. The umpires have asked for the groundstaff to get into action seeing that the rain has stopped. We are being told that play should resume by 1400 local (1300 GMT)... |
| We are back. It is still overcast at the moment but hopefully, the rain will stay away. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane to resume their innings. Chris Woakes to continue his spell. However, the drizzle has again started. The last thing that we want. Four slips in place waiting for the outside edge. Here we go... |
| 9.1 : C Woakes to Pujara, On a length outside off, Pujara points his bat skywards to allow it through. |
| 9.2 : C Woakes to Pujara, Woakes bowls this one full around off, CP comes ahead and taps it towards the mid off fielder. |
| 9.3 : C Woakes to Pujara, Leg bye! On a good length and cutting in sharply, Cheteshwar tries to flick it away but the ball brushes his thigh pad and rolls towards square leg. The batsmen pinch a single. |
| 9.4 : C Woakes to Rahane, Well played! Fuller length ball around off, swings away late. Rahane shuffles a touch and blocks it solidly down the track. |
| 9.5 : C Woakes to Rahane, An appeal for an LBW is turned down! Fullish ball around off, jagging in off the deck. Rahane shuffles a touch in order to flick it away but seems to have got an inside edge onto his pads. An appeal ensues but it is turned down. Root doesn't take the review. Replays show that there was a clear deviation off the inside edge. |
| 9.6 : C Woakes to Rahane, In the channel outside off, Ajinkya plants his front foot across to allow it through. Good start from Woakes after Lunch. |
| James Anderson to bowl from the other end. |
| 10.1 : J Anderson to Pujara, On the fifth stump line, Che lets it go. |
| 10.2 : J Anderson to Pujara, Identical to the previous ball and Cheteshwar is happy to leave it. |
| 10.3 : J Anderson to Pujara, Anderson continues to probe in around the off stump channel and gets the ball to move away. Pujara shuffles and points his bat skywards to allow it through. |
| 10.4 : J Anderson to Pujara, Fourth leave in a row! Proper Test match cricket this. Swinging away from a length around off, Pujara plants his front foot across and sees it sailing into the gloves of the keeper. |
| 10.5 : J Anderson to Pujara, Brilliant from Jimmy! He brings this one in after taking it away in the previous ball. It is on a back of a length and keeps on shaping in sharply. Pujara makes an assured leave. |
| 10.6 : J Anderson to Pujara, Waits for the length ball to arrive and taps it with soft hands towards cover-point. A bit of a yes and no situation as the batsmen set off and the fielder goes towards it but sanity prevails. A run taken. |
| 11.1 : C Woakes to Pujara, Nicely done! Knows where his off stump is, leans ahead and dead-bats the fullish ball. |
| 11.2 : C Woakes to Pujara, Defended off the back foot by the batsman. |
| 11.3 : C Woakes to Pujara, Fuller length ball outside off, eased to covers for an easy run. |
| 11.4 : C Woakes to Rahane, Tight line and length! In the corridor of uncertainty, straightening a touch after landing. Rahane plants his front foot across and sees it through. |
| 11.5 : C Woakes to Rahane, Good use of the crease from Woakes as he goes wider and bowls a length ball outside off. This time it holds its line as Ajinkya makes another confident leave. |
| 11.6 : C Woakes to Rahane, Stump-to-stump line, kept out watchfully. |
| 12.1 : J Anderson to Pujara, Pitches on a back of a length outside off and keeps coming in. Pujara keeps his bat inside the line and lets it go. |
| 12.2 : J Anderson to Pujara, Anderson again hits the deck hard around off. It also takes off as CP rises on his toes and blocks it down the track. |
| 12.3 : J Anderson to Pujara, Nicely bowled! Continues to hit the deck hard as he gets good assistance from the pitch. The ball seams away too. Pujara looks to play at it initially but the shorten length allows him to bail out at the last moment. |
| 12.4 : J Anderson to Pujara, Allows the full ball on middle to come to him and taps it with soft hands towards short mid-wicket. |
| 12.5 : J Anderson to Pujara, Ouch! That will sting. Cuts in from a back of a length to open Pujara up. Goes past his defense and hits him in the stomach region. It is a battle out there for the batsmen. |
| 12.6 : J Anderson to Pujara, This one is well outside off, Cheteshwar ignores it. |
| 13.1 : C Woakes to Rahane, FOUR! Crisp! A half volley outside off and shaping away. Rahane comes forward and plays it with a horizontal bat driving it through covers to find the fence. A good point made by Nasser Hussain on air. He mentions that this morning, Kumar Sangakkara, said that you need to play these kind of deliveries with a horizontal bat. |
| 13.2 : C Woakes to Rahane, Beautiful comeback from Woakes! He drags his length back a wee bit but it is still full. Rahane makes the mistake of playing it with a vertical bat this time and the ball swings past his outside edge. Need to play at those with a horizontal bat Rahane in swinging conditions. |
| 13.3 : C Woakes to Rahane, Back of a length ball around off, defended solidly off the back foot. |
| 13.4 : C Woakes to A Rahane, Did that carry? Maybe not. Back of a length ball on middle and off, straightens a touch after landing. Rahane tries to get behind it but gets an outside edge as the ball flies towards first slip. Cook there gets low but the ball seems to have fallen just short of him. The replay confirms that. Could the keeper or the second slip have gone for it? Maybe yes but got to keep the benefit to them as it was pretty far away from them. |
| 13.5 : C Woakes to Rahane, Defended off the back foot by the batsman. |
| 13.6 : C Woakes to Rahane, On a good length around off, defended with a straight bat. |
| 14.1 : J Anderson to Pujara, Fullish delivery, swinging in from around off. Che strides ahead and blocks it calmly. |
| 14.2 : J Anderson to Pujara, In the probing channel outside off, Cheteshwar drops his wrists to allow it through. |
| 14.3 : J Anderson to Pujara, On a length around off, seaming in off the deck. Pujara gets behind it and is solid as a rock. |
| 14.4 : J Anderson to Pujara, Well played eventually! However, he was unsure initially. Back of a length, cutting in from outside off. Pujara waits for it and at the very last moment glides it in a controlled manner towards second slip. |
| 14.5 : J Anderson to Pujara, Quite a bit of nibble in the air on a fullish length around off, Pujara puts his head down and defends it. |
| 14.6 : J Anderson to Pujara, Seaming away from a length on the fifth stump channel, no need to go at those and Che doesn't go. |
| 15.1 : C Woakes to Rahane, Fractionally overpitched around off, tapped with soft hands to the off side for a single. |
| 15.2 : C Woakes to Pujara, On a length and shaping in, turned around the corner for a single. |
| 15.3 : C Woakes to Rahane, This one stayed low! Back of a length outside off, doesn't take off as expected. Rahane hops to adjust for it but gets a bottom edge that rolls towards the keeper. Nasser Hussain on air mentions that yesterday as well, a few deliveries from Pandya from the Nursery End kept lot. |
| 15.4 : C Woakes to Rahane, FOUR! Easy pickings! That is what these two need to do. See out the good deliveries and have the presence of mind to put away the bad ones. This one starts swinging down from middle and leg, Rahane helps it on its way to the fine leg fence. |
| 15.5 : C Woakes to Rahane, Nervy moment for Ajinkya! Good length ball around off, coming in with the natural angle initially but then deviates at the last moment to go past the hanging bat of the batsman. It's a stern test of patience. |
| 15.6 : C Woakes to Rahane, Harmless delivery well outside off, Rahane doesn't fiddle with it. |
| Stuart Broad is back for a bowl, replacing James Anderson. Can he pick up a few wickets just as his opening partner did? |
| 16.1 : S Broad to Pujara, Poor from Pujara! He has looked in good shape throughout but has to keep his patience going. Does the mistake of trying to squeeze a very full ball outside off and misses. |
| 16.2 : S Broad to Pujara, Pujara allows the fuller length ball to come to him and taps it with an angled bat towards point for an easy run. |
| 16.3 : S Broad to Rahane, We saw inside edges flying past the stumps numerous occasions when England were batting and there have been a few instances in the Indian innings as well. Broad lands this one in the corridor of uncertainty, Rahane unsure whether it will come in or move away pushes at it tentatively. Gets a thick inside edge that evades the stumps and rolls towards fine leg. A run taken. |
| 16.4 : S Broad to Pujara, The batsman has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. |
| 16.5 : S Broad to Pujara, Full length ball, kept out watchfully. |
| 16.6 : S Broad to Pujara, Well played! This one swings in the air around off, Pujara with a steady head and a high elbow blocks it down the track. Looked solid as a rock there. |
| 17.1 : C Woakes to Rahane, Full length ball, straying on the pads. Rahane tucks it with a closed bat face towards mid-wicket. |
| 17.2 : C Woakes to Rahane, Good running! Ajinkya goes deep in the crease and dabs it towards cover-point for a brisk run. |
| 17.3 : C Woakes to Pujara, Woakes is bowling intelligently! After full deliveries, he bangs in a short one outside off, Che keeps his bat inside the line to leave it. |
| 17.4 : C Woakes to Pujara, Fullish ball swinging in, played with soft hands towards wide mid on for a run. |
| 17.5 : C Woakes to Rahane, Ooh, Rahane was a bit late on that! Swinging in substantially on a fullish length from around off, Ajinkya comes ahead tentatively and gets it off the inner half through square leg. If he missed that, he was a candidate for LBW. A run results. |
| 17.6 : C Woakes to Pujara, Back of a length in line of the stumps, CP hangs back and stonewalls it. |
| 18.1 : S Broad to Rahane, The batsman shows the full face of the bat and defends the ball off the back foot. |
| 0.0 : It has gone a bit darker and the jacket is out for Aleem Dar. Perhaps, the weather has gone colder. |
| 18.2 : S Broad to Rahane, Broad loses his radar and slips this one down the leg side, Rahane misses out on his flick shot. |
| 18.3 : S Broad to Rahane, On a length on the fifth stump channel, seaming away. Ajinkya doesn't fiddle with it. |
| 18.4 : S Broad to Rahane, We have seen these on certain times. Broad bowls this one with a scrambled seam and gets it to go away like a leg cutter. Rahane feels for it but doesn't have any clue. |
| 18.5 : S Broad to Rahane, A jaffa! Back of a length around off and the ball straightens after coming in. Goes past the hanging bat of Rahane. |
| 18.6 : S Broad to A Rahane, OUT! Broad strikes! After playing pretty well, Rahane has gifted his wicket away. This was not needed at all, he will be kicking himself. Full length ball well outside off, swinging away. Rahane plays away from the body and pushes at it. Ends up getting a thick outside edge towards third slip. Jennings remains cools and takes a good catch. Buttler at second slip had got low to his right in case Keaton dropped it. |
| The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli walks out to the middle. He needs to play a standout knock if India are to save this Test match. |
| 19.1 : C Woakes to Pujara, Well outside off, left alone. |
| 19.2 : C Woakes to Pujara, Full length ball around off, Cheteshwar comes forward to block it. |
| 19.3 : C Woakes to Pujara, Full ball on middle, flicked around the corner for a brace. |
| 19.4 : C Woakes to Pujara, Bye! Outside off, swinging away as Pujara lets it go. Bairstow fails to stop it cleanly and the batsmen steal a run. |
| 19.5 : C Woakes to Kohli, In the channel outside off, Virat leaves it alone. |
| 19.6 : C Woakes to Kohli, Fuller length ball, angling in, Kohli puts his head down and defends it calmly. The replay shows that he had a bit of grimace on his face after he played that. Indicating that he has an hamstring issue. He is fighting for the cause of his side. |
| 20.1 : S Broad to Pujara, The batsman chooses to leave the ball outside his off stump. |
| 20.2 : S Broad to Pujara, Pitched up ball around off, Pujara leans ahead to keep it out. |
| Ollie Pope comes under the lid at short leg position. He is standing a bit behind, suggesting that he is more for the flick. |
| 20.3 : S Broad to Pujara, This one is wide outside off, Pujara is circumspect in approach as he allows it through. |
| 20.4 : S Broad to Pujara, A peach! Angling in initially on a fuller length and then straightening. Pujara has no choice but to play at it and gets beaten. |
| 20.5 : S Broad to Pujara, In the corridor of uncertainty, CP lets it through. |
| 20.6 : S Broad to Pujara, Full ball angling in, played away with soft hands towards square leg. |
| Sam Curran comes for a bowl. |
| 21.1 : Sam Curran to Kohli, Full ball attacking the stumps, Kohli comes forward and pushes it towards mid on. |
| 21.2 : Sam Curran to Kohli, The batsman shows the full face of the bat and defends the ball off the back foot. |
| 21.3 : Sam Curran to Kohli, Tentative! Back of a length ball on off, swinging in. Kohli tries to block it but gets an inside edge which rolls towards mid-wicket. As Virat goes for the run, we can see him struggling. There are only very few occasions when is not hundred percent. Needs to be careful now. |
| 21.4 : Sam Curran to Pujara, Leans ahead to the inswinging ball and keeps it out watchfully. |
| 21.5 : Sam Curran to Pujara, FOUR! Delightful! Fullish ball around off, a bit of nibble in the air. Pujara comes ahead and with a straight bat strokes it down the ground. A boundary results. |
| 21.6 : Sam Curran to Pujara, Harmless ball outside off, Pujara leaves it alone. |
| 22.1 : S Broad to Kohli, On a length outside off, shaping in. Kohli comes forward gingerly and tries to block it but gets hit on the forearm. Not the Kohli we are used to watching. |
| 22.2 : S Broad to Kohli, Hangs back to the good length ball and defends it solidly. He again has a look of anguish on his face. The on-air commentators say that this is only the second Test of the series and it is a not good sign for the Indian skipper. Agreed that he has come out for the cause of his side but he is also the most vital member of the team. If he gets injured going ahead in the series, it will be tough work for India. |
| 22.3 : S Broad to Kohli, FOUR! That will put all his tentativeness into the bin! Kohli at his absolute best. Good length ball outside off, Kohli gets to the pitch of the ball and drives it beautifully through covers to pick up his first boundary. That will make him feel good. |
| 22.4 : S Broad to Kohli, The batsman defends it from within the crease. |
| 22.5 : S Broad to Kohli, Well-directed short ball around off, Kohli drops his wrists, sways away and makes a good leave. |
| 22.6 : S Broad to Kohli, That was unplayable! Fullish ball outside off, angling in and then moving away. Kohli tries to cover the line but is beaten all ends up. Broad has a wry smile on his pace. |
| 23.1 : Sam Curran to Pujara, Outside off, Pujara pushes at it but misses. |
| 23.2 : Sam Curran to Pujara, Wide outside off, left alone. |
| 23.3 : Sam Curran to Pujara, Stayed low! On a length outside off, CP tries to play at it the last moment and is again foxed. |
| 23.4 : Sam Curran to Pujara, A jaffa! Pitches on a length around off and then seams away substantially. Pujara hangs his bat out to see the ball whiz past it. |
| 23.5 : Sam Curran to Pujara, The batsman flicks it away with a wristy shot. They pick up a single. |
| 23.6 : Sam Curran to Kohli, Full length ball attacking the stumps, Virat comes ahead to dead-bat it. |
| 24.1 : S Broad to Pujara, Full ball outside off, Pujara tries to squeeze it out but gets it off the outer half towards the slip cordon. |
| 24.2 : S Broad to Pujara, Back of a length ball, defended solidly off the back foot. |
| 24.3 : S Broad to Pujara, Was there an edge? Broad certainly feels so as he has his hands on his head. Fuller length ball in the probing corridor and coming in sharply. Pujara leans ahead to block it but seems to have got an inside edge onto his pads. The ball lobs towards the fourth slip fielder who runs in but it falls well short of him. The replay confirms there was wood involved. |
| 24.4 : S Broad to Pujara, That one took off! Back of a length, rising on Pujara with extra bounce. He rises to defend it but is hit on the glove. |
| 24.5 : S Broad to Pujara, An appeal for a caught behind? Not given. Good length ball, cutting in, goes past Pujara's defense and seems to have brushed the thigh pad on its way to the keeper. Bairstow asks the question but is denied. The replay shows no bat there. |
| 24.6 : S Broad to Pujara, The batsman has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery. A top, top over from Broad. A maiden. |
| 25.1 : Sam Curran to Kohli, Well outside off, left alone. |
| 25.2 : Sam Curran to Kohli, Similar delivery and Kohli doesn't fiddle with it. |
| 25.3 : Sam Curran to Kohli, Comes forward to the fullish ball and answers it with a straight bat. |
| 25.4 : Sam Curran to Kohli, On the fourth stump channel, angling away. Kohli thinks of running it down but at the last moment keeps his bat inside the line. |
| 25.5 : Sam Curran to V Kohli, A brilliant save from Joe Root! On a driveable length outside off, Kohli creams it towards wide mid off. His opposite number dives full length to his left and stops it with a single hand. Gets up and has a shy at the non-striker's end but misses. That allows an overthrow to be taken. Saved a boundary there though. |
| 25.6 : Sam Curran to Pujara, Bye! It is tough keeping on a surface where so much is happening. Outside off, swings in late as Pujara lets it go. Bairstow fails to stop it cleanly and a single is taken. |
| 26.1 : S Broad to Pujara, Coming in from a full length, defended solidly off the front foot. |
| 26.2 : S Broad to Pujara, A sharp surprise short ball from Broad, Che ducks under it in a jiffy. |
| 26.3 : S Broad to C Pujara, Broad goes wider of the crease and angles it in sharply. Pujara is caught in the crease and gets an inside edge onto his pads. |
| 26.4 : S Broad to Pujara, Pujara shuffles a touch and flicks the fullish ball towards mid-wicket. |
| 26.5 : S Broad to Pujara, OUT! Bowled 'em! What a cracker from Stuart Broad to get rid of the solid Cheteshwar Pujara. He literally had no clue about it. Broad goes wide of the crease and bowls a full length ball around off. It swings in like a banana and Pujara is caught off guard. Tries to bring his bat down to defend the ball but is beaten by the massive movement and by the pace as well. It brushes his pads and crashes into the stumps. Cheteshwar walks back with a blank expression. A hard-fou |
| Hardik Pandya comes out to bat. |
| 26.6 : S Broad to H Pandya, Fullish ball, angling in, Pandya gets an inside edge onto his pads. A maiden wicket for Broad. |
| The keeper is standing up to the stumps to Curran. The reason is to make Kohli go inside his creases. He likes to stand out to counter the swing. |
| 27.1 : Sam Curran to Kohli, Defended off the back foot by the batsman. They pick up a single. |
| 27.2 : Sam Curran to Pandya, Fullish ball around off, kept out watchfully. |
| 27.3 : Sam Curran to Pandya, Brilliantly bowled! Outside off, shaping in late. Pandya pokes at it and misses. |
| 27.4 : Sam Curran to Pandya, Stays back to the length ball and defends it with authority. |
| The umbrellas are up in the crowd meaning that the drizzle is on. However it is not that much to force the umpires and players off. |
| 27.5 : Sam Curran to H Pandya, Full length ball attacking the stumps, eased off the front foot to mid on. |
| 27.6 : Sam Curran to Pandya, Another jaffa! Fuller length ball on off, seams away after pitching as Pandya tries to defend it but gets beaten. Top bowling from the Englishmen. |
| 28.1 : S Broad to Kohli, A shout for an LBW falls on deaf ears! Good length ball around off, nipping in. Kohli tries to block it by coming forward but misses to get hit above the kneel roll on the back leg. Broad appeals for it along with the slip cordon but the umpire stays unmoved. Root comes ahead towards Broad and thinks about the review but decides against it. Wise calls as the Hawk Eye shows that it would have gone over the stumps. |
| 28.2 : S Broad to Kohli, Back of a length outside off, played with soft hands towards point for a single. |
| 28.3 : S Broad to Pandya, The batsman defends it from within the crease. |
| 28.4 : S Broad to Pandya, Full length ball, swinging in, Hardik leans ahead to dead-bat it. |
| 28.5 : S Broad to Pandya, Jittery! In the corridor of uncertainty, Pandya is not sure which way the ball is moving. It comes in as Pandya gets an inside edge onto his pads. |
| 28.6 : S Broad to Pandya, Back of a length ball well outside off, shaping in. Pandya keeps his bat inside the line and makes a good leave. |
| 29.1 : Sam Curran to Kohli, Length ball on leg stump, swinging down a touch. Kohli tries to flick it away but is hit on the thigh pad. No appeal from the Englishmen as the height and the swing on it were both in question. |
| 29.2 : Sam Curran to Kohli, Fullish ball outside off, Kohli tries to drive it through the line but squirts it off the outer half past backward point. Anderson and Pope chase it down. The pacer reaches it first and slides to parry the ball to his mate. Good teamwork as they save a couple. |
| 29.3 : Sam Curran to Kohli, Full ball in line of the stumps, clipped away to short mid-wicket. |
| 29.4 : Sam Curran to V Kohli, Fractionally overpitched outside off, driven firmly but straight to the man at cover-point. |
| 29.5 : Sam Curran to Kohli, FOUR! All class written over that shot! Fullish ball around off, Kohli leans ahead confidently and nails the drive through covers. Root hares after it from mid off and slides near the fence but the ball wins the race. Joe gets a bit of stick as well as the ball defects onto his head off the ropes. Seems to be fine though. |
| 29.6 : Sam Curran to Kohli, Fullish ball on leg stump, turned in front of square leg for a single. |
| 30.1 : S Broad to Kohli, On a length outside off, extra bounce, Kohli rides it nicely and punches it behind point. Joe Root goes after it from gully, gets to the ball with a slide but misfields and allows the second run. Oh dear... as the Indian skipper rushes back for the second, he hobbles slightly... |
| 0.0 : Is that caught behind? Bairstow has taken a blinder behind and claims that he has Kohli caught. However, umpire Aleem Dar has shaken his head and captain Root has gone for the review... |
| 30.2 : S Broad to Kohli, NOT OUT! Superb decision from Aleem Dar! Classic umpiring. A short ball, down the leg side, Kohli looked to tuck it fine but could not connect entirely. The ball flew off something behind and Jonny Bairstow flew to his left to take it one-handed. He immediately went up in an appeal but umpire Dar was not interested. Root had a long chat with his keeper and then signalled for the review. Snickometer did not show any deviation after the ball went past the glove, but when it |
| Another review! This time by Kohli! He has been given out caught at deepish short leg by Aleem Dar. The Indian captain instantaneously takes the review and has a big smile on his face. Perhaps then he has not nicked it... |
| 30.3 : Broad to Kohli, OUT! There is deviation this time, off the glove and Kohli has to depart! Broad is smiling big time. A short ball again, around middle, Kohli looks to tuck but the ball goes off his thigh pads towards the deepish short leg fielder. Ollie Pope dives forward and claims the catch and umpire Aleem Dar immediately raises his finger. Kohli takes the review immediately with a big smile across his face. But boy, Snickometer detects a deviation when the ball goes off the glove. The |
| Dinesh Karthik comes in now at number 7, replacing his captain. |
| THIRD REVIEW IN THREE BALLS! This is for an LBW. Karthik has been adjudged out and he has taken the review. Where is the impact? |
| 30.4 : S Broad to Karthik, OUT! UMPIRE'S CALL! Well, who is on a roll? Not just Stuart Broad, but Aleem Dar as well. Third decision of his has been retained in a row, on successive balls. A golden duck for Karthik. Full and outside off, swinging in a long way, Dinesh gets a bit of a stride forward and looks to defend but is beaten by the massive inswing. He is hit on the pads and Dar raises his finger in a flash once more. Karthik has a bit of a chat with Pandya and then signals for the 'T'. Ummm |
| Ravichandran Ashwin walks in at number 8, replacing Karthik. Can he see off the hat-trick ball? |
| 30.5 : S Broad to Ashwin, FOUR BYES! Overtrying, was Broad. Bowled it way outside leg, trying to get it full and the ball kept swinging further down the leg side. Bairstow dived to his left but was unable to get anywhere near it. |
| 30.6 : S Broad to Ashwin, A length ball, around off, swinging in massively, Ashwin looks to defend but misses and is hit on the pads. Broad appeals again but umpire Dar is more interested in where the ball is going. It is not taken by Ollie Pope as he cannot get there. Seemed to be an inside edge. But what an over from Broad - 2 0 W W 4B 0. |
| 31.1 : Sam Curran to Pandya, On middle and leg, helped through square leg for a single. |
| 31.2 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Full on middle, swinging away, defended back to the bowler. |
| 31.3 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, On middle and off, angling away, pushed towards cover. |
| 31.4 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, The batsman has attempted to put bat on ball - but fails. |
| 31.5 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Another LBW appeal, but umpire Erasmus is not interested and England are not interested either. On a length, around middle, going away, Ashwin looks to defend but misses and is hit high on the thigh pads. Curran seemed to be wanting the review but Root had a chat with the senior men in the slip cordon and must have been informed that it is high. No review taken. |
| 31.6 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, The batsman has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 1550 local - Well, it has been drizzling for quite a while but umpire Marais Erasmus feels that it has got heavier. Off go the players. The commentators inform us that the rain is coming from the south-west, which is clearing up quickly. So hopefully, or not hopefully, whichever side you are supporting, the game resumes quickly... |
| 1600 local update - EARLY TEA HAS BEEN TAKEN. Sensible decision from the umpires, considering that the drizzle could be in for a bit longer. Another session going England's way then. |
| SESSION HIGHLIGHTS - 49/4 in 23 overs. Or shall we put it this way - 8-4-9-4 to Stuart Broad. His second spell has literally blown India away, as if they were anyways in a better position. All eyes were on Jimmy Anderson but this is what is called - hunting in pairs. If Jimmy doesn't get you, Stuey will. |
| India played decently today, trying to see off Anderson and Woakes and doing so nearly well. Ajinkya Rahane fought with some grit along with Cheteshwar Pujara but once Broad started to get on a roll, he was menacing. He hit the right lengths, got into a longggg spell and as a result - wreaked havoc on India. There was nothing much for the visitors to look forward to but they were trying to fight hard. |
| Got to feel for Virat Kohli. He was struggling with his back and tried to fight the battle out in the middle, as long as the heavens do not give in. What will hurt him even more is that his wicket has opened the floodgates. Can his side battle it out further in the final session? Try and take this to Day 5? Who knows, if the forecast turns bad and there is rain the whole day... stay tuned for updates... |
| ... Day 4, Session 3 ... |
| Welcome back for the final session of the day and quite possibly, the match. Stuart Broad will continue, as Hardik Pandya takes strike. Three slips in place along with two short legs. Interesting... |
| 32.1 : S Broad to Pandya, Good length delivery in the off stump channel, Pandya hangs his bat inside the line and gets beaten. |
| 32.2 : S Broad to Pandya, Hurled further outside off, it's going away, so Hardik doesn't do anything about it. |
| 32.3 : S Broad to Pandya, Brings it in closer this time, makes the batsman play. Pandya plants his front foot forward and blocks it down in front of covers. |
| 32.4 : S Broad to Pandya, Some extra bounce as Broad lands it on a length. It's well outside off, enough anyway, for Pandya to not play at it. He just hangs his bat inside the line and lets it pass. |
| 32.5 : S Broad to Pandya, Ouch! That has got to sting. For sure. Broad with a length delivery which kicks off the deck. Shapes back in and catches Hardik Pandya on the fingers on his right hand as he tries to block it out. He leaves his bat and takes his gloves off. Never good, those. |
| Pandya has called for some medical attention for the blow he received on his fingers. |
| 32.6 : S Broad to Pandya, Cutting back in, from a good length just around off, blocked with the full face of the bat under his nose. |
| Sam Curran to continue from the other end. |
| 33.1 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Fires a low full toss outside off, Ashwin drives it to the man at mid off. |
| 33.2 : Sam Curran to R Ashwin, Good effort from Pope. Ashwin drives this overpitched delivery outside off towards the covers. Ollie there dives low to his right and parries it towards his mate close by. Nicely done. Just a single taken by the batsmen. |
| 33.3 : Sam Curran to Pandya, Uses the angle into him and works it past the mid-wicket fielder for a single. |
| 33.4 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Going away from outside off, on a back of a length, Ashwin stays back, opens the face and steers it to backward point. |
| 33.5 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Good length ball rising with some extra bounce. Ashwin goes to push but it goes off his gloves towards mid off. He takes off, the fielder gets to the ball and scores a direct hit at the bowler's end but by then the batsman is well in. Though, Ashwin has taken his gloves off and looks in pain too. |
| The physio is back out again. This time it's Ashwin who needs some attention. |
| 33.6 : Sam Curran to Pandya, FOUR! All about the timing on that. Full on the pads, Pandya drives it through mid-wicket and sends the ball to the fence for a boundary. |
| 34.1 : S Broad to R Ashwin, Inside edge? Height? It's the former which has saved Ashwin there. Was a dead duck otherwise. Broad swings it back in from around off, massively and Ashwin is caught on the pads off the inside edge. The bowler, seeing this, instantly pulls out of the appeal at that sight. |
| 34.2 : S Broad to R Ashwin, FOUR! Superb. Full and in line of the stumps, Ashwin just presents the full face of the bat and drives this through mid on for a boundary. |
| 34.3 : S Broad to Ashwin, The batsman has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 34.4 : S Broad to Ashwin, Plays this very late. Ashwin waits for the length ball outside off and cuts it past gully. Two fielders chase after it and eventually manage to save a run. Three taken. |
| 34.5 : S Broad to Pandya, Short of a good length outside off, left alone. |
| 34.6 : S Broad to H Pandya, FOUR! As good a shot as you'll see from anybody. Too full on middle stump, Pandya drives it sweetly through mid on. No stopping that, the ball went to the fence in a jiffy. |
| 35.1 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Seaming down the leg side, Ashwin looks to flick but just misses. Bairstow moves to his left and collects. |
| 35.2 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Stays right behind the line and keeps it out safely. |
| 35.3 : Sam Curran to R Ashwin, Full length delivery swinging in, from around off, driven to mid off. |
| 35.4 : Sam Curran to R Ashwin, Similar ball, same shot offered by Ravi Ash. Driven to mid off for nothing. |
| 35.5 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, A bit of aggression from Sam Curran. Ashwin plays this back to the bowler, who collects the ball and throws it back, hitting the stumps at the striker's end. |
| 35.6 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Pushes this on the off side from inside the crease. |
| 36.1 : Sam Curran to Pandya, Hurled on a length, outside off, Hardik has nothing to do with it. |
| 36.2 : Sam Curran to Pandya, Pushed to the cover region by the batsman. |
| 36.3 : Sam Curran to H Pandya, Edgy FOUR! Curran angles it in full on middle and off, it shapes away late as Pandya tries flicking it away. Off the leading edge and past the gully fielder for a boundary. |
| 36.4 : Sam Curran to Pandya, Pandya positions himself perfectly behind the line and blocks. |
| 36.5 : Sam Curran to Pandya, Right in the box! Hardik Pandya in the line of fire here. Second blow he's copped since he's come on. Back of a length delivery coming in heavily, catches Pandya in the mid-section as he can't do anything about it. He's down in some pain, not much, as he's seen with a wry smile on his face. |
| CRICKET UPDATE - Ok... Indian fans... some good news as far as Asian cricket is concerned. Sri Lanka have registered their second successive win over South Africa in the 5th ODI, to end the series 2-3. Akila Dananjaya's 6-fer was the talk of the bowling while earlier, it was captain Angelo Mathews' unbeaten 97 which set the tone for the win. |
| 36.6 : Sam Curran to Pandya, A loosener from Curran. He fires it full and wide outside off, tempting Pandya to go for it. He takes the bait as well and goes for the big drive, but fails to connect. |
| 37.1 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Good effort from skipper Joe. Full outside off, Ashwin drives to the left of mid off. But Root there moves swiftly to make a tumbling stop. |
| 37.2 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Stays inside the crease and keeps it out. |
| 37.3 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, FOUR LEG BYES! Angling in on leg, moving further down, Ashwin gets it fine down the leg side, albeit off the thigh pad. The ball goes past Bairstow all the way to the fine leg boundary. |
| 37.4 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, FOUR! Controlled shot. Fuller outside off, Ashwin drives this behind square on the off side. Beats Anderson at gully and finds the fence. |
| 37.5 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Outside off, on a good length, no shot offered. |
| 37.6 : Sam Curran to Ashwin, Ravi Ashwin has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| 38.1 : S Broad to Pandya, Landed on a length, outside off, punched square through point and a couple of runs are had. |
| 38.2 : S Broad to Pandya, On the fifth stump line, quite harmless, Hardik knows this and shoulders arms to it. |
| 38.3 : S Broad to Pandya, Too far outside off, some inward movement but it's not nearly enough to trouble the batsman. Another leave. |
| 38.4 : S Broad to Pandya, FOUR! Now THAT is the shot of the match. Just beautiful. And this is how Hardik Pandya needs to play. Positive. No point just hanging around there. Fuller length ball on off, Pandya comes on the front foot and drives this on the up straight back down. Mid on doesn't even bother to chase it down as such. The 100 comes up. |
| 38.5 : S Broad to Pandya, Just ahead of a length, quite close to off, blocked. |
| 38.6 : S Broad to Pandya, Short ball banged in around off, Hardik rises and taps it down right beside him. Nicely done. |
| James Anderson returns to the attack. |
| 39.1 : J Anderson to Ashwin, Way wide outside off, left alone for the keeper to collect. |
| 39.2 : J Anderson to Ashwin, FOUR! Short and wide, Ashwin has the freedom to throw his arms at that and he does so. Off the outer half and it's through the now vacant gully position for a boundary. |
| 39.3 : J Anderson to Ashwin, Walks a step across, moves inside the line to this length ball and nudges it down to fine leg for one. |
| 39.4 : J Anderson to Pandya, Outside the line of off stump, Hardik shoulders arms to let that one through. |
| 39.5 : J Anderson to Pandya, Fullish in length and just outside off, straightening up a shade, kept out off the front foot from the outer half. |
| 39.6 : J Anderson to Pandya, Beaten! Anderson with some classic outswing as he serves it around off, Hardik comes half forward to defend but the ball goes past the outside edge. |
| 40.1 : S Broad to Ashwin, The inswinger from Broad. Coming in on a length, punched from the back foot through the covers for a run. |
| 40.2 : S Broad to Pandya, Rising off the deck, but it's well, well outside off. Pandya comes forward and shoulders his arms to it. |
| 40.3 : S Broad to Pandya, FOUR! Not a bad ball at all but that's superbly played. The 50-run stand is up as well. First one for India and it's the highest one for them in this match. Swinging in on off, Hardik flicks this away through the big gap in the mid-wicket region. Adil Rashid tries chasing it down from wide mid on, but loses the race. |
| 40.4 : S Broad to Pandya, Throws this outside off, at 131 clicks, a play and a miss from the batsman. |
| 40.5 : S Broad to Pandya, Quite comfortably done. Hardik taps this away towards covers and crosses over. |
| 40.6 : S Broad to Ashwin, On the fuller side of the length, still coming in, pushed through the covers with a slightly opened face. A single to end the over. |
| 41.1 : J Anderson to Ashwin, Anderson bangs it in short but it doesn't have much pace on it. Ashwin stays behind the line and defends it under his nose. |
| 41.2 : J Anderson to Ashwin, Moves inside the line with a little walk across his sticks and works it behind square leg. One run collected. |
| 41.3 : J Anderson to Pandya, Full and straight from Jimmy, Pandya brings down a straight blade in response and blocks it out. |
| 41.4 : J Anderson to Pandya, The bat slightly rotates in his hands but Pandya does well to get this away. Takes a big stride forward and drives it just wide of mid on off the inner half. Collects a single for doing so. |
| 41.5 : J Anderson to Ashwin, Just around off, pushed off the front foot. |
| 41.6 : J Anderson to Ashwin, Speared full, outside off, draws Ashwin forward for the drive and moves away late. There is a noise as the ball goes past the bat but the sound is off the bat hitting the ground and not the ball. |
| Chris Woakes also into the attack again. |
| Review taken by England. It's for an lbw decision against Hardik Pandya. Going down leg? Might be height too. Let's see... |
| 42.1 : C Woakes to Pandya, OUT! And Woakes strikes immediately on his return to the attack. Comes charging in and bowls an inswinger on middle. Keeps coming in and raps Hardik Pandya on the front pad as he misses his defense. Big shout, the umpire remains unmoved but the English camp doesn't agree with that. No time is wasted and the DRS is taken. The TV umpire is called into action and replays show that all three reds are ticked. No height, no missing leg... nothing. Pandya is gone and India are |
| 0.0 : Kuldeep Yadav is the next batsman in. Four slips in place for him. |
| 42.2 : C Woakes to Yadav, Almost. Woakes angles this across the left-hander, on a length around off. Kuldeep is forward to defend but gets beaten past the outside edge. |
| 42.3 : C Woakes to Yadav, Moving away again, around off on a bit of a fuller length, tapped along the turf towards fourth slip. |
| 42.4 : C Woakes to Yadav, Arrows it full, on off stump this time, kept out on the front foot. |
| 42.5 : C Woakes to Yadav, The ball is too wide on the off side for the batsman to make any contact. |
| 42.6 : C Woakes to Yadav, Too wide outside off, Kuldeep doesn't bother himself with that. |
| 43.1 : J Anderson to Ashwin, FOUR! Anderson errs in line and sprays this on the hips, Ashwin just tickles it fine past the keeper and the outcome after that is an obvious one. |
| 43.2 : J Anderson to Ashwin, Punches this to point with a slightly opened face and changes ends. |
| 43.3 : J Anderson to Yadav, Fullish in length, outside off and moving away. Kuldeep looks to tamely push it to covers and misses. |
| 43.4 : J Anderson to Yadav, OUT! Bowled 'em! The inswinger got him in the first innings too, where he was caught leg before, and now, his stumps are shattered. Full and coming back in, around off, Kuldeep goes for the cover drive but leaves quite a bit of gap between bat and pad. It takes the inside edge and crashes into the furniture behind. England just 2 wickets away from a victory now. |
| Mohammed Shami will be the new batsman in. |
| 43.5 : J Anderson to M Shami, Full in length outside off, driven to mid off. |
| Shami has taken the DRS. He's been given out for a caught behind but he's decided to challenge the decision. |
| 43.6 : Anderson to Shami, Safe! A successful review for India. Surprising. Anderson bangs it in short and angles it down, Shami takes the pull on but the bounce is a little too big on him. Bairstow collects and England appeal. The umpire raises his finger but Shami takes the review. It goes upstairs and replays show that there was no bat, or no glove involved. So he's safe, for the moment at least. |
| 44.1 : C Woakes to Ashwin, Yorker fired in on middle and leg, Ashwin manages to dig this out towards mid on. |
| 44.2 : C Woakes to Ashwin, The batsman shows the full face of the bat and defends the ball off the back foot. |
| 44.3 : C Woakes to Ashwin, Ahead of a length, just outside off, Ashwin leans ahead a bit and pushes it gently towards covers. |
| 44.4 : C Woakes to Ashwin, Hangs back inside his crease and safely guards it out. |
| 44.5 : C Woakes to Ashwin, Length delivery rising off the surface and cutting away, Ashwin rises on his toes and keeps it out. |
| 44.6 : C Woakes to Ashwin, FOUR! Played that with complete control. Short of a length outside off, moving away, Ashwin opens the face of the bat and runs it past the slip cordon for a boundary. |
| 45.1 : J Anderson to Shami, OUT! England inch closer to victory. Wouldn't have mattered in the grand scheme of things, but maybe India could have delayed the inevitable if Shami had taken the review. Seemed like the impact would be outside off. Anyway, Jimmy bowls it full and angles it in around off, Shami looks to clear London with a big swing, probably towards long on. He misses and is caught on the back pad. Loud appeal and umpire Erasmus raises his finger. |
| 0.0 : Ishant Sharma is the last batsman in for India. |
| 45.2 : J Anderson to Sharma, Good length ball outside off, Ishant covers the line and lets it be. |
| 45.3 : J Anderson to Sharma, Closer to off stump, a length ball, Ishant this time stays back to dab it past the slip cordon maybe but gets beaten. |
| 45.4 : J Anderson to Sharma, A couple of runs for Ishant Sharma. Full and swinging back in, it's flicked through the vacant square leg region. |
| 45.5 : J Anderson to Sharma, Holds its line on this occasion as it's on a length outside off, Ishant hangs his bat inside the line and gets beaten. |
| 45.6 : J Anderson to Sharma, Full ball attacking the stumps, A straight blade is brought down in defense. |
| 46.1 : C Woakes to Ashwin, Full delivery shaping back in, on the stumps, Ashwin flicks this in front of square leg but doesn't take the run. |
| 46.2 : C Woakes to R Ashwin, Nasty! Uneven bounce on this surface again. This just takes off and takes Ashwin by surprise. He tries to defend but is struck on the fingers again. Same place as before. The ball lobs behind and falls just short of third slip, who dives forward to take but can't get under it. |
| Ashwin has copped another blow and it's on his bowling hand again. Not exactly good for him and India. The physio is called out and seeing this momentary halt in play, the umpires have decided to call for Drinks. |
| 46.3 : C Woakes to Ashwin, Ashwin with a desperate dive! This is the second Test after all, plenty remaining. Maybe he should consider avoiding these risks, given there's no real need for it. Cut through point and Ashwin calls for the second. Runs back in and there is a throw at Bairstow's end. Ravichandran dives and just about gets in. |
| 46.4 : C Woakes to Ashwin, The batsman works it down the leg side. One run added to the total. |
| 46.5 : C Woakes to Sharma, Back of a length outside off, it's run down to third slip off the outer half. |
| It's getting quite dark. Not sure for how long the umpire would let play continue. Maybe Root should consider bringing Adil Rashid on, if a pacer wouldn't be considered safe as such? |
| 46.6 : C Woakes to Sharma, OUT! And there's the final nail in the coffin. ENGLAND WIN BY AN INNINGS AND 159 RUNS! A comprehensive victory for them, a deal which is sealed, rightly, by Chris Woakes. Curls it back in on middle and leg, Ishant Sharma moves inside the line and flicks it aerially down the leg side. A leg slip is in place and Ollie Pope there does well to dive to his right and take the catch. |
| The Englishmen walk off the field to a rising ovation from the Lord's faithful. They wave to acknowledge their support, Chris Woakes' teammates pat him on the back and applaud his efforts in this game along with the crowd. A valiant effort, a well-deserved victory, at the Home Of Cricket. Couldn't have asked for anything better. |
| A humiliating defeat for the visitors as they lose by a big, big margin. The match was effectively played for just 2 and a half days, but that was enough for England to wipe India off. The first day was washed out, but come the second, the Englishmen won the toss and used the overcast conditions to their advantage. They bowled India out for a mere 107, in just under one session, with James Anderson leading the charge with a 5-fer. |
| The home side faced their own problems too when they took the bat, losing the top order early, but once more it was the lower middle order which bailed them out. Heroes emerged in the form of Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes who showed that the only way forward is by attacking, and the duo stitched 189 runs in rather quick time. Bairstow missed out on a ton, while Woakes got to the triple-figure mark. That partnership more or less finished things, but some quick runs on the morning of Day 4 from |
| Post that, with the Indian batting line-up as frail as it is and Virat Kohli playing with an injury, the task was always going to be difficult. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane showed first signs of some kind of Indian resistance, but that was about it. When Stuart Broad broke that stand, the writing was on the wall. Everyone before and after them showed no stomach to fight and succumbed to the pressure applied by the English bowlers. Anderson bagged four, so did Broad and Woakes collected t |
| Stuart Broad is caught on the sidelines for a little chat. He says it was a powerful performance from the team. Mentions that after the emotional scenes at Edgbaston, it was good to come here and win. Is happy they could take full advantage of the overcast conditions on offer and take the game by the scruff of its neck. States it was difficult to bat and cites Cheteshwar Pujara's gritty knock as an example of that and says that he really made them work for his wicket. Feels that the rain break w |
| Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, says that he is not bery proud of the way his team has played because this is the first time in the last 5 Test matches that India have been outplayed. Praises England for the way they played and credits them the win. Does not want to complain about the conditions not being favourable and humbly accepts that everytime conditions cannot come to your rescue. Again, praises England for bowling well in conduvive conditions. Admits that in hindsight, he would have played |
| Victorious England captain, Joe Root, accepts that it was a less stressful win. Praises his side for being on top from the very first ball. Admits that England had the conditions in their favour but they used them well. Praises Anderson with the ball, Bairstow with the bat and then Woakes' all-round show. Also says that Woakes has been a big part of the side and his comeback has lifted the team spirits, which is why his century was celebrated by the entire dressing room. On his team's bowling, R |
| CHRIS WOAKES HAS BEEN NAMED THE MAN OF THE MATCH. Says that he is delighted, not only to win the award but to win the Test match inside 4 days and also score a century at Lord's. Agrees that the feelings have not yet sunk in though Bairstow tried his best to calm him down. Regaining his composure a bit, Chris says that he is happy that it aided the team's cause. On the batting display, Woakes says that the main aim was to see off the good balls and once set, start to score some runs. On his come |
| Right, then! We've come to the end of the 2nd Test and England lead 2-0. If the first game was close, then this was the complete contrast. India are by no means a bad team, but it's about time they start showing it. Figuring out their best combination and who will have what role will be a must, followed closely by reading the conditions better and deciding on their tactics. England, well, the only thing have to do is not be complacent. They can win the series at Trent Bride where the third Test |
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