England's Summer of Cricket 2021

First topic message reminder :

Siraj will have a couple of deliveries at Anderson. The lead is already a nice 25.

Lead under 70, England getting into the game

GSC wrote:Lead under 70, England getting into the game

Once it gets under 50 we can rely on Root to scrape us through to lead...

GSC wrote:Hameed a bit nervy still

 Nervy yes but doing the job.

Soul Requiem wrote:On a side note it was so important that Anderson wasn't needed after that initial eight over burst, it should allow him to bowl at full tilt in the second innings.

This did feel like it was the first time all series England have bowled as a complete unit and no-one has let up the pressure. Easier when they are three down early admittedly.

Wouldn't be shocked if Ishant is whipped off here - woeful first two overs

Hameed looking like prime Sehwag compared to Sibley

Hameed looking more and more comfortable. Do not wish to curse him but this looks like a very good chance for him.

JDizzle wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:On a side note it was so important that Anderson wasn't needed after that initial eight over burst, it should allow him to bowl at full tilt in the second innings.

This did feel like it was the first time all series England have bowled as a complete unit and no-one has let up the pressure. Easier when they are three down early admittedly.

Very much so with the most praise to Anderson for those first three wickets.

England just shaded that session for my money

Hameed looking steadily more comfortable. That inside edge past his leg stump was fortuitous but there were some lovely strokes in there as well. Rotating the strike with quick singles, putting away bad balls and leaving well are good signs though.

king_carlos wrote:Hameed looking steadily more comfortable. That inside edge past his leg stump was fortuitous but there were some lovely strokes in there as well. Rotating the strike with quick singles, putting away bad balls and leaving well are good signs though.

Hi Carlos - agree with you and Billy about Hameed. Taking nothing away from the young guy but a bit of praise again to the England seamers for making his job a little less onerous. Easier to go out facing 78 on the board than 364 at Lord's first dig.

Batsmen should be booking in for a long stay. India struggling to generate swing, line and length has been horrific, the ball is already 15 overs old and heads are down in the field.

Is this the best opening stand for England this series?

It will be if it gets past 37!

I am really liking this approach by both Hameed and Burns. Its great to see an opening pair playing this well together.

A couple of good looking boundaries from Hameed. He looks to take the bowlers on as an opener, I really like that approach from an opener.

Shami bowling well, but Ishant has been awful! And Virat all over the shop with his bowling changes. Siraj?

Also having a demoralising effect on India watching the lead tick away steadily instead of 20-0 with Sibley

Hameed looking really good here. Looking more secure than Burns, and he has put the bad balls away. India missing Sibley at the top, had he been around, even if he survived 25 overs, the score wouldn't have moved all that much.

This is filth from Sharma. It would have been better for India to have picked Vihari!

Siraj finally introduced into the attack, surprised it's taken so long.

Shami has been bowling well and Ishant has been terrible. So Virat takes Shami off and giving Ishant an extended spell! Well done, Skipper!

Ishant's strength has been bowling dry and bowling well to left-handers. He's doing neither here. He has given away as many runs in less than 5 overs that the rest gave away in 15 overs.

Ishant settling on a leg stump/outside leg line, giving Pant a proper workout! Ridiculous!

Kohli should entrust Jadeja from one end, give him the mandate to just keep it quiet. Rotate Siraj/Shami/Bumrah from the other end. Ishant needs some time, he's completely out of rhythm.

I hate watching Ishant when he is bowling like this. He looks totally off. He is one of my favourite bowlers so its horrible to see him bowl like this.

Just the 13th opening stand worth 50 or more for England since Cook retired (about 3 years ago!).

Can they push on to a 100+ opening stand? Only been two of those since Cook retired.

Hameed on to 32, already an improvement on Sibley's highest score for the series of 28.

Kohli, the stubborn clown, continues with Ishant.

This opening partnership is pretty much down to Hameed, not just for his runs but more so due to his attitude. He has been positive, watchful and picked off the bad balls at will. This approach has properly rattled the Indian bowlers.

Soul Requiem wrote:On a side note it was so important that Anderson wasn't needed after that initial eight over burst, it should allow him to bowl at full tilt in the second innings.

I see you have already made a point I'd been intending to raise , Soul. May indeed be very important as second innings wickets will surely take a lot more work than this morning's... And at 39 it's been noticeable that Jimmy (understandably!) sometimes struggles to be quite the same threat when forced to bowl again only a day or two after bowling 25 overs in a first innings.
Was a good team effort from the four seamers , none of whom really ever allowed the pressure to ease.

Nice to see an England opening pair setting a fifty partnership on the table...

I liked Hameed's approach right from the start : gone was the scared rabbit of Lord's ; he was ready to put away anything loose even before tea. And they have run well together - apart from one near-fatal yes/no.

Has to be said India haven't been at their best with the ball so far. Bumrah (very economical) , and especially Shami , have been fine and perhaps a little unlucky not to have had a wicket : but Ishant has been serving pies with sauce...

Bit surprised Kohli took so long to try Siraj ?

msp83 wrote:Kohli should entrust Jadeja from one end, give him the mandate to just keep it quiet. Rotate Siraj/Shami/Bumrah from the other end. Ishant needs some time, he's completely out of rhythm.

Think he got your message , msp

Jadeja bowling quite well...beat batsman and keeper with that one. Don't usually expect spin to play a big part here in recent years but perhaps this game may be different?

Approaching a perfect day for England as they overtake India's score with no one yet out. Perfect test days, like Melbourne 2010, are that rarest of things.

The test is won and we'll probably look back at this day as the day the series was won. England can still send an emphatic message by batting through Thursday and into Friday, grinding India down, and making them chase the ball for what would seem an eternity, before sealing a magnificent innings victory. It's been just over three years since England won a test by an innings at home.

Fourth test starts in only eight days time - England should get those Indian bowlers as weary as possible before then...except for Sharma where it doesn't matter, I can't imagine him being picked again this tour!

What a gorgeous cut from Hameed to bring up a 100 (!) opening partnership.

And 50 for Hameed in ugly fashion. Should have been caught by Rohit, I think. Never mind, hopefully this is the start of a prosperous international career for Hameed.

Duty281 wrote:Approaching a perfect day for England as they overtake India's score with no one yet out. Perfect test days, like Melbourne 2010, are that rarest of things.

The test is won and we'll probably look back at this day as the day the series was won. England can still send an emphatic message by batting through Thursday and into Friday, grinding India down, and making them chase the ball for what would seem an eternity, before sealing a magnificent innings victory. It's been just over three years since England won a test by an innings at home.

Fourth test starts in only eight days time - England should get those Indian bowlers as weary as possible before then...except for Sharma where it doesn't matter, I can't imagine him being picked again this tour!

Thanks for the reminder, Duty. Think I've still got time to see the end of this one before heading to that.

Ball has been running for England today ... Hameed reaching his fifty with a proper edge which fortunately for him went between first and second...

Deserves the fifty He has played with intent and is combining perfectly with Burns to bat his team into a very strong position.

Also a rare beast of late : a hundred run opening stand for England.

Very Melbourne 2010 , indeed.

Another match that's similar to this so far, is Headingley 2009, where England were woeful and on the receiving end. Positive for Indian fans is that England somehow won the Ashes deciding Test after that.

Fabulous way to get to fifty for Burns. This is dizzying stuff from the two openers.

Fifty for Burns - in a rather more elegant fashion than Hameed

He's been patient today ; but he's not missed out whenever they've bowled it where he likes. The - rather rare for him - six was a nice touch earlier. But to be honest my favourite shot of his was the swept boundary to greet Jadeja : seemed to send a statement of intent.

They've both played really well. Hence 118/0...

And that's the close of play. 120/0. Perfect day for England

England have the ideal chance to wear the Indian attack down so that this innings affects then for the remainder of the series.

Really impressive stuff from the new opening pair.

The perfect day. Well done England.

At this rate, and the way India are going about things, I won't be entirely surprised if England end up batting all the way to Friday as Duty wishes. Even the 36 all out was preferable to this. Not in the game from the first over...
Can someone do a Gautam Gambhir and somehow bat out a draw, is the only remaining question for India here. But the chances are more for a massive innings defeat.

When you lose the toss, bowl first and end day 1 with a lead you've had a special day. Agree with Duty, just bat them into the ground from this position, and bat once.

Could it be any better for England?

Shades of Melbourne 2010 and Nottingham 2015, with the match pretty much won and lost on the opening day.

Amazing how England so often bounce back after a home Test defeat- and this time with a weak/weakened side.

Duty281 wrote:The perfect day. Well done England.

And a terrible day for India. The overthrow off the final ball summing it up.

A handy couple of wickets for Curran - well, Jadeja's anyway. Possibly prolonging his current Test run. Both lbw, the only ones of the day. So many of the shouts from others were going over. When or near to form, he uses his skiddy action to pitch it up on the stumps and gets a fair few of his wickets that way. I've been banging on about him doing that for a while.

The Indians were flat or hungover or drained or complacent or overconfident...or all of the above doesn't matter.

They have put themselves, so far back in the game that a 3 day inning defeat is the most likely scenario.

The only silver lining in this dark cloud for Indian supporters is that there is no stress like in the first two games.
This game is gone and we should start planning life beyond when series stands one all with two games to go

GSC wrote:When you lose the toss, bowl first and end day 1 with a lead you've had a special day. Agree with Duty, just bat them into the ground from this position, and bat once.

Yep, a special day for sure. Important not to get too ahead of ourselves but the immediate aim should be still batting come the close tomorrow. Then we can consider further.

Duty - one of the few (only?) one predicting an England win and a possible India batting meltdown.

This shows just how hard it is to win away series. Here are England, with one of their poorer line-ups, poised to level the series.

Kohli did suggest that away wins should count for extra points in the Test Championship.

Think Soul's been predicting similar.

Would agree that away wins should count for extra points. There's a big gulf between India-England in India, and an even bigger gulf between the two in England. The home side missing so many of their top players in Stokes, Woakes, Broad and Archer, plus you can add Wood/Foakes/Stone/Pope to that list who are missing or have missed tests in this series, yet they're still going to win this five-test contest.

The main concern about away sides getting more points is that it may encourage greater negativity from home sides e.g. the preparation of roads and dead pitches to try and secure draws.

Duty your optimism about England's chances even after the Lord's meltdown has certainly been justified by that excellent first day ; good reward for faith

However I think we might exercise a little caution before declaring the series done and dusted already , no ? Haven't even actually won this match yet (though barring sudden catastrophic weather appearing from nowhere or a reverse-1981 miracle it is hard to see how they wouldn't) and the remaining two matches are still very much blank tablets as yet. This Indian side has shown great resilience recently and I think it would be rather foolish to write them off because of one rotten day.

Anyway I am delighted that England used the shock of the previous disaster not as a weight on their shoulders but a spur to inspire a pretty flawless day one performance in all parts of the game. The change in attitude from hesitancy to confident positive (though never reckless) play was the big difference for mine. Obviously getting a couple of wickets for practically nothing at the start helps ; but it is to be hoped this is a new approach that is going to endure - even when they encounter the inevitable trickier sessions of play.

The bowling from all four seamers was excellent ; but I am inclined to be even more delighted with the way Burns and Hameed played to make sure their good work was backed up in the last session. It is true the Indian bowling was for the most part well below their usual standard (Ishant particularly let his side down - not quite sure what was wrong with him , to be honest ; but he really did bowl a lot of rubbish) ; and the injury to Jadeja that took him out of the attack didn't help either. But even so we all know how quickly things can change when someone gets out through carelessness and gives a bowling team a lift : they both mixed diligent defence with plenty of sharp running and a preparedness to take every opportunity to collect boundaries from anything loose. Batting basics I suppose but we haven't always seen them applied so consistently lately...a good start for them as an opening partnership.
(And no : I am not anointing them as "the pair for the next X number of years" just yet. One swallow , etc ... But yes , a very good start )

As this was for England. Now let us see how they follow it up on Thursday...