England's Winter of Cricket 2020/21

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Rum sort of field for Nadeem to Sibley...two short covers ???

Not noted for getting caught there , is he ? Strange theory...

Very good from Leach. He bowled a lot better on day 4 but was slightly wayward early on. If he puts the ball in those areas he will get wickets today.

It's Pujara too. Vital wicket.

Leach is a such a likable cricketer and character. It's lovely seeing him finding form after a tough time since the Ashes.

A good move getting Bess on after the wicket in my opinion. It should give him confidence to bowl just after the breakthrough.

That's a good strike from Gill first ball though. Very positive as always.

Gill is holding nothing back !

Probably sound practice to put the pressure back on Bess right at the start ; if he can knock his confidence down early it will be a useful gain for India.

If he overdoes it and gets out though...

Leach certainly bowling at the preferred end for spinners.

I don't mind Gill attacking, he'll play one shot too many soon.

Bess hasn't got it right early on, however, might see Anderson in a bit.

Duty281 wrote:The big'un!

Leach finds that little extra bounce and turn. The game is now at England's mercy.

I wouldn't go quite that far yet. The start they wanted this morning ; but a lot of good batting to come. Root may have to mix his bowling up as the day goes on because India showed in Australia they can bat deep and disciplined - and they are very good at grinding bowlers down over long periods.

The batsmen are both looking for runs rather than just blocking , which might well offer a chance or two. I still think England probably need a couple more wickets before the ball becomes too threadbare if they're to stay ahead of the game...

Fifty for Gill

Doing what KP_fan recommended. You'd think he might overcook it at some point but so far he's been mostly sound enough.

Anderson on. Root heard you , Duty

And what a start for Jimmy

Gill gone and now Eng cannot lose......India with an uphill battle to climb from here

That is the ball of the series. My word.

Jimmy you beauty.

Gets it reversing and on the money straight away to remove Gill.

Really good management of the bowlers too by Root. They've chosen the right moment to bring Jimmy on.

In the end was nothing to do with Gill being aggressive. Just a near unplayable ball ripped through him...

The way the wickets have fallen suggests batting today is going to be very , very difficult.

Outside the line was my immediate instinct...

Surely Rahane is gone here ? They must review this ...

Oh dear...impact off by millimetres! Thought that was dead...

Never mind ...clean bowled now

Ohh he's so, so good. That's out as well, but the umpire's declined the appeal.

Root reviews...umpire's call on impact. Rahane survives for now.

But bowled next ball! Anderson with one of the great overs.

Very very close indeed but Rahane stays. A good decision.

Oh lord. Jimmy Anderson. Unbelievable over.

a Big hole now......hard to see India coming out of it

What an over from Anderson ! Was quite unplayable .

Players taking a drink...think England dressing room might be chilling the champagne already after those three balls...

Three wickets in the opening hour. One away from bringing Sundar out. Surely the test.

One more ball for Anderson in this over...Pant survives. A quite outstanding over that has ripped the heart out of this Indian second innings.

Did think pace might play a major part today , along with Leach. The plan to bat again and rest the bowlers looking better by the minute.

Wonder if Pant will still play in his usual style ?

I know there's some riveting Test cricket going on but has anyone else noticed Amar Virdi's colourful sunglasses? They are fabulous.

Terrible first hour for India, the wheels have come off... Leach got the fulcrum when he had Pujara caught by Stokes of a delivery that Pujara would have been better off playing straight rather than to the leg side. Then Anderson, who has had a quite game of sorts, came in and reversed his way through Gill and Rahane to knock the stuffing out of India! Terrific for England, should have it in the bag in the next couple of hours of play. Virat Kohli is still there, but this is going to be too much for him.
It doesn't rain in Chennai at this time of the year either!

Dammit, I was driving to work and by the sounds of things, I have missed one of the best overs Jimmy Anderson has ever bowled...

6th over for anderson....if pant had seen him off this would have been his last

Pant playing his drives , but not yet trying to go over the top.

Wonder whether 'tis best to let Leach tempt him ; or give Bess a try at the left hander - Jack has done well but has been bowling since start of play and might benefit from a rest ?

Never mind that...Jimmy continues to demolish the innings ...Pant caught at short cover

Anderson gives Pant a good going-over with a nagging line and length. Eventually he's rewarded with the tamest of dismissals. He might go past Kumble in this series.

And this will be all over by tea-time.

Wow, Jimmy Anderson... Simply the best

So consistent from Jimmy. He really does seem to keep getting better!

Could he get a five-fer on a day 5 Chennai pitch...?

KP_fan wrote:6th over for anderson....if pant had seen him off this would have been his last

Only three in this spell though. Might not get the ball out his hand too easily now

Bess indeed on. Hasn't found his length today , but they can afford a few boundary balls...

Has he got Sundar ? Jos thinks so...surely a edge ?

Ultra edge reveals the truth ...six down

I can understand Kohli's frustration at Pant getting out but to turn his back on him? Not very respectful.

Duty281 wrote:Anderson gives Pant a good going-over with a nagging line and length. Eventually he's rewarded with the tamest of dismissals. He might go past Kumble in this series.

And this will be all over by tea-time.

Might be over by lunch at this rate

Could be over at this rate. Anderson running through them as if it is a cloudy morning at Trent Bridge

Howler from the umpire. Bess gets in the wicket column. It's nearly all over and we've only had 90 minutes play!

England have a very real chance of winning this series. Will still be tough, but something thought highly improbable this time last week, might just be possible.

Great stuff from Bess. This will be over very soon.

Weird, England seem to be romping to victory in spite of being assured they declared too late and had poor body language by Nick Knight yesterday

They did declare too late, but some world-class bowling has ensured it won't matter.

Duty281 wrote:They did declare too late, but some world-class bowling has ensured it won't matter.

Maybe not. If the intention of the delayed close was to (a) keep the bowlers fresh for day five (b) ensure the ball was not too weathered overnight (c) set India an impossible target , and (d) bowl more overs on a more "difficult" pitch ; one might say the evidence of this morning is that they got the timing about perfect !

Bowling has been good. And Root has fiddled his bowlers around very well today too

Bess delivering some pies now...Kohli tucking in.

Not sure why his length has gone so badly this morning but maybe rest him now and have a go yourself , Joe ? Bess has done his damage with Sundar already.

Archer working poor old Ashwin over ...

Two blows to the hand , one to the helmet...

Don't expect a gentle half volley next , somehow ?

Did well to survive the over..and the physio delays means that's lunch.

Decent session for England

Decent session for you too in the tipping comp, Alfie.
You're leading by 19 points with another 75 soon to come.

Bess showing how far he still has to go before he can become a permanent fixture in this England side.

Anyway, that was near enough the perfect session for England. Leach bowled a good spell early on, accounting for Pujara with an excellent delivery. We might have thought Leach would take the headlines today, but then Anderson bowled one of the great overs. A thing of absolute beauty.

Four to get. One away from the tail. Should be done in the next session.

Ind lost 3 wikts too many in this session...and in a really deep hole
Hard to see any ways of them crawling out of this hole now

The pitch is still manageable ......Anderson's 3 wkts , rather unexpected have made the difference and those 2 clean bowled , the batsmen could have done nothing much about.

In the inning I would say Rohit, Rishabh and Sundar have fallen to poor strokes.....

Got a few stats to dig out:

1) This will be England's sixth consecutive away test win (3 v South Africa, 2 v Sri Lanka, this one v India). The last time England went on an away test winning streak this long was in 1914, when they eventually ended up with seven away test wins (which is England's all-time record).

2) This will be England's sixth consecutive test win in Asia (5 v Sri Lanka, this one v India). The only non-Asian side to do better than this was Australia with seven in 2002-2004 (thanks to Cricviz for that).

3) In Anderson's last 66 tests, he has taken 268 wickets @ 21.1, which is utterly staggering. (Thanks to Zaltzman for that one)

India survived to lunch, having negotiated the first half hour without much damage, the floodgates opened with Pujara's wicket and Anderson just burst through. The skipper has been resolute through all that and has looked rather comfortable out there. Ravichandran Ashwin has survived a bouncer attack, took a few on the body, and has stuck at it, like he did in the previous test he played.
All England need is one opening though, and there is a hell lot of time.

An example of England’s exceptional cricket so far this test was the wicket of Sundar - two balls before, Archer sprinting to stop the ball hitting the boundary, diving stop to keep it to three and get Sundar on strike...two balls later, Bess gets him with a lovely delivery and sharp catch by Buttler

I would agree with that Olly. England just seem more hungry than India. India have been very lackluster in the field compared to England chasing everything down.

Morning all - despite a few grumbles from myself and others yesterday, Olly's positive mindset has been justified as it turns out nice again. Just watched the morning session highlights before joining it live now. Anderson - superb, leave it at that for now.

Still some work left for England. Ashwin can be stubborn; ball is now quite worn and it's a long way to a new one.

Plenty of time left ; but they'd prefer these two don't keep them out there too long. The longer they have to bowl the easier for the tail end bats to block away.

Fifty for Kohli , which will please him after the first innings failure. He's looked pretty assured today. And Ashwin is doing well to keep him company , despite the battering he got from Archer just before lunch. His hand seems to be OK.

157/6. Thirty three overs down , fifty seven to go.

Hi Guildford...

Was a good morning...necessary I think as the old ball isn't doing much at present so getting those five wickets so early was important.

Anderson has been terrific . But Root won't want to flatten him now in case he has to take that new ball later. Might see some Stokes ?

Leach bowling nicely. Bess was pretty loose.

Review now of a Leach lbw ? Not sure about this one...

Buttler leading England up the garden path by convincing Root to go for another dodgy review.

No. Another rather poor review that . England haven't been quite with it on the lbw calls in this match. Jos seems to be a bit overkeen ...perhaps he's itching to get off on his holiday

Two reviews left anyway. But they should be a bit more selective as you never know when they'll need one...