England's Summer of Cricket 2021

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

Hameed opening, for me, has been a breath of fresh air. One that England have needed for some time. Cautious yet positive, seeing off the new ball and scoring runs. His approach not only took any initiative away from the Indian bowlers, it provided a much needed positive approach for Burns who performed much better alongside him. 

This is the exact platform that a number 3 requires, a perfect situation for Malan to walk into now. He will have very little pressure on him.

If Hameed and Burns can put on another 50 runs together, it will destroy any remaining Indian confidence.

alfie wrote:

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 ..

Such days bring to mind all the Ghosts of the Past...

In 2014 India drew the first match.....won T2 and went on to lose the next 3 and ended with a series scoreline of 3-1
We have seen this team rebound all the time in recent times......BUT.....these are near past memories are from too near in the past and those Ghosts haven't been buried yet in our minds

The immediate ask is to see how much fight can India put in before losing?
The next ask is for remaining tests.....how to overcome a situation  where BIG 3 are failing......and there is no lower order batting

At least there is no recent precedent for India losing a Test on an away tour after a nightmare batting performance and then bouncing back to win the series…

JDizzle wrote:At least there is no recent precedent for India losing a Test on an away tour after a nightmare batting performance and then bouncing back to win the series…

I think you are being sarcastic w.r.t Melbourne 36 all.out & then the rebound
BUT
the 10 years of history before than still tempts us to look at recent Australian series as a one off & not a reliable precedence

The perfect day for England. First they skittle out India cheaply using Anderson sparingly and then the openers hammer open the advantage with a good opening stand, they've batted sensibly knowing that they have a fearsome 3-7 (in white ball cricket) to come. The game is set up perfectly for that quintet to take the game away from India if they bowl as ragged today as they did yesterday, you'd expect at least one of them to come off.

alfie wrote: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...

I think the previous day has knocked the stuffing out of India and I'd be amazed if they recovered from it. Yes, they recovered in Australia in one of the most astonishing test comebacks I've seen, but that was very much an anomaly, not the norm. Usually when India tour England they are very quick to throw the towel in at the first sign of trouble.

We can expect at least one more batting self-destruct from India in this series. England's own troubles with the bat have masked India's woefulness, at least until yesterday. Only Rohit and Rahul have shown any kind of form with the bat; on the evidence of yesterday Rohit's positive form has completely evaporated, so it's just Rahul left. Pujara and Kohli are averaging under 20 this series, Jadeja 25, Rahane and Pant 21. England will run through them cheaply at least once more.

I liked the way Burns and Hameed set about their task, especially the sharp running you reference, but I'm very cautious as to what it actually means in the medium and long-term. India took to the field as a defeated team, Sharma bowled an opening over like Harmison in 2006, and overall it was a miserable effort from the tourists. Good that Burns and Hameed have got some time in the middle and gained some confidence, but it was mainly a pressure-free excursion for them.

I said pre-series that I doubted any team would make 400...well England should make 400 from this position. If Burns and Hameed get through the first thirty minutes unscathed India will deflate very quickly. It could be quite a dull day with England racking up the runs on the way to certain victory, but it would be reminiscent of the golden years between 2009-2011.

I do not agree with you there that Hameed and Burns had a 'mainly a pressure-free excursion' Duty. I would suggest that there was probably more pressure on them to force home an advantage. Had they have failed, England could also have been badly exposed and possibly suffer the same fate as the Indian innings.

Excellent day for England - one of their best in recent memory. Game is all but over...but they still have work to do today for that to be the case. It isn't beyond the realms of possibility that they get skittled for 250, India then end the day 100-1 and suddenly some doubt is creeping back in. They need to hammer home the advantage with the bat today, and ideally be batting well into tomorrow (in an ideal world!).

Good work from Hameed and Burns - but like Duty, maybe not as strongly, I would advise some caution. It is a difference to be going out when the opposition have only got 78 on the board, to having 350/400...and also I thought the Indian bowling/captaincy was both poor and bizarre. Ishant was utterly woeful, why he got the new ball over Shami/Siraj is beyond me, and then why it then took 18 overs for Siraj to be introduced into the attack is beyond me too. India really were dreadful all round yesterday.
Nice to see them cash it in with a good start, but both need to take advantage of that today.

I think when youre facing up to a first innings total of 70 rather than 370 there is less pressure on the openers. But equally Hameed under a lot of pressure to deliver an innings after coming back into the team and no scores in the last test

India opening the bowling with Sharma.

Duty281 wrote:India opening the bowling with Sharma.

No Bumrah is baffling

GSC wrote:I think when youre facing up to a first innings total of 70 rather than 370 there is less pressure on the openers. But equally Hameed under a lot of pressure to deliver an innings after coming back into the team and no scores in the last test

I'm a bit conflicted on this. As far as Burns goes there's less pressure but Hameed having had a horror return would be under pressure regardless of the match situation and the way he's gone about things is most pleasing. He evidently has more scoring areas than Sibley albeit very square of the wicket, he does put away the bad ball very adeptly.

No Bumrah, India waving the white flag and trying to manage workloads?

Good ball from Shami - the end of England's biggest opening stand at home since May 2015.

Well theyve laid on a platform, Malan back almost by default but has an opportunity now

That was a lovely delivery

Shami I thought probably looked the most dangerous of the bowlers yesterday ; and he's continued to produce some probing stuff this morning. Fair reward for his work ...

Came somewhat out of the blue as Burns had been pretty solid. He might feel he's missed out on a big score after getting through the early overs today - but he's done his job in setting up a nice platform.

Nice shot from Malan to get off the mark.

End of a good first hour for India. Only 21 runs conceded and they've broken the opening stand. Some good bowling from Shami and Bumrah ; Ishant again the weaker link. They will need a lot more than that to get back into this but they'd have to be pleased with their start.
Hameed has been concentrating very hard to stay safe. Obviously wants to make the most of this good opportunity...

Malan does not look like he wants to hang around...

Think India need to get Root before lunch to make it passable. England just need to hang in and weather this opening period

Hameed really getting tied down here . Hasn't scored for ages - and in fact only 8 runs today in 90 minutes.

OK to set out to weather some very testing bowling ; but I'd be happier - and I reckon he would be too - if he could just pick up a single or two , rotate the strike a bit. Not easy the way Bumrah has been bowling to him , I know !

Malan dealing in boundaries while Hameed is getting a working over. Maybe Burns dismissal spooked him a bit

Dunno where that came from but Jadeja gets Hameed for 68. Didn't manage to convert it into a big score but more than did the job

Ah and there it is...Jadeja bowls Hameed in his first over back...

Welcome break for India: but I did fear Hameed had become just too fixated on defence. Guess he has worn the bowling down ; but think he'd probably have been better served by playing as he did yesterday , at least after the first forty minutes or so. Fine innings though .

Very tough stay for Hameed this morning. Worth remembering that Hameed actually has an inferior strike rate in FC cricket to Sibley - anyone hoping for Hameed to be naturally more fluid than Sibley may be disappointed.

Not the best morning so far for England, but still well ahead in the game.

Duty281 wrote:Very tough stay for Hameed this morning. Worth remembering that Hameed actually has an inferior strike rate in FC cricket to Sibley - anyone hoping for Hameed to be naturally more fluid than Sibley may be disappointed.

Not the best morning so far for England, but still well ahead in the game.

A lot of that strike rate is based on his years of playing time without scoring. This season for Notts he's around the 45-50 mark generally, he is certainly a more fluid player than Sibley.

Hameed had spells yesterday (one of 29 balls and one of 23 balls iirc) that he went scoreless. So it clearly is something that happens to him. He obviously weathered them well yesterday, he just got a good nut today.

182-2 at lunch. India lost their control a bit at the end.

Attritional morning, but India probably needed much more than that to get back into this

KP_fan wrote:

alfie wrote:

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 ..

Such days bring to mind all the Ghosts of the Past...

In 2014 India drew the first match.....won T2 and went on to lose the next 3 and ended with a series scoreline of 3-1
We have seen this team rebound all the time in recent times......BUT.....these are near past memories are from too near in the past and those Ghosts haven't been buried yet in our minds

The immediate ask is to see how much fight can India put in before losing?
The next ask is for remaining tests.....how to overcome a situation  where BIG 3 are failing......and there is no lower order batting

This test was gone for 40 overs into day one. You really don't come back from winning the toss, batting first and getting bowled out for 78 in 40 overs and win test matches. The fine efforts of the English openers made it impossible for them to make a comeback and keep the game open. Today morning required 5 or 6 wickets in the first 10 overs or any such drama, didn't happen, so this well and clearly gone. Would be a miracle if a Gambhir like rescue act materializes, but even then, they are already far too behind to have a chance, and there is far too much time left in the game.
So, time to talk and think about what next. After the WTC final, Kohli had talked about transformation times and the need to think about it. The big t3, particularly Rahane and Pujara, have been struggling for a while now. Pujara did put his body on the line and yet again played a stiller role in India's series win downunder, and it was Rahane who started the turnaround after 36 allout of course. Despite that, and despite the years of performances that they have under their belts, they both seem to have reached a corner in their careers. They saved the day, and eventually the match along with the bowlers last time. Ordinarily, that alone would have given them this series at the very least. However, 78 allout might quicken things up, and unless they can produce something extraordinary, at least one of them might find himself on the sidelines for the next test.
Pujara's struggling so badly, and just doesn't look like scoring anything substantial. He doesn't seem to have a way pass Anderson at the moment. If he's to go, the options would be Mayank and Shaw the reserve openers, and Hanuma Vihari.
Vihari has an impressive First Class record. He's a fine team player. He can even be an occasional pie-chucker! But in the opportunities that he has got at the highest level, he has shown that has a better temperament than technique, and that the latter has too many limitations. Anderson's unlikely to be too bothered if it is him replacing Pujara.
Shaw holds serious promise, and though nowhere near the Virender Sehwag class yet, he has the potential to evolve into something of that mold. But he needs a more functional technique for that. Unlike MS Dhoni or Sehwag himself, Shaw's methods haven't really reached that stage of functionality. England is likely to be a very tough, very demanding place for the youngster, and its better to keep him away from the challenge at this stage of his career.
Mayank might be the most suitable of the lot available at the moment. Has a reasonably tight game, and can play his shots. Has had some test success too, and he started out impressively in Australia, before losing his way.
Eventually though, I would hope young Shubman Gill, once recovered from his fitness issues, would be the more permanent, more long-term candidate for the Pujara slot.

In isolation, not a bad morning for India. They took out both openers, and gave away only 62 runs in the session. But to come back into the game, they would have needed something like 7 for 50 or something. And Joe Root who come to the wicket only towards the end, has already 14 on the board. Since by pattern he's set to score at least 50 percent of his teams score, there is another big hundred that is awaiting India...
By the way, Hameed has been the first English wicket to fall to spin in this series. Longest an Indian spinner had to wait for a wicket in a series, after 1990.
Ashwin for Ishant, would probably have made a lot more sense here, both Moeen and Jadeja got a few to turn a bit, and Ishant of course has been godawful!

Only the fluent middle and lower order players left, so if they stay out there the runs are going to come at a brisk pace for the rest of today.

For India to have any chance in this match, they need to be batting today and not be over 200 hundred behind.

A big ask for them but still very much possible. This match is not yet over.

Soul Requiem wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Very tough stay for Hameed this morning. Worth remembering that Hameed actually has an inferior strike rate in FC cricket to Sibley - anyone hoping for Hameed to be naturally more fluid than Sibley may be disappointed.

Not the best morning so far for England, but still well ahead in the game.

A lot of that strike rate is based on his years of playing time without scoring. This season for Notts he's around the 45-50 mark generally, he is certainly a more fluid player than Sibley.

I'd say he's definitely got a better range of scoring strokes than Sibley - but ultimately, both are similar players in the way they go about it, it is on the defensive side of things (which is totally fine, an opener absorbing deliveries is part of their job!)

Ishant doing his best to get out of bowling in this inning

Root continuing to look in sublime form

Jadeja seems to be carrying a niggle from yesterday - definitely not able to sprint top speed in the field today

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Very tough stay for Hameed this morning. Worth remembering that Hameed actually has an inferior strike rate in FC cricket to Sibley - anyone hoping for Hameed to be naturally more fluid than Sibley may be disappointed.

Not the best morning so far for England, but still well ahead in the game.

A lot of that strike rate is based on his years of playing time without scoring. This season for Notts he's around the 45-50 mark generally, he is certainly a more fluid player than Sibley.

I'd say he's definitely got a better range of scoring strokes than Sibley - but ultimately, both are similar players in the way they go about it, it is on the defensive side of things (which is totally fine, an opener absorbing deliveries is part of their job!)

Agree he has more shots than Sibley. And that he is still generally a "defence first" opener...not that there is anything wrong with that.
But yesterday he was more active in turning the strike over ; and just looked more focused on keeping the score moving. Today he appeared to bunker down in the face of some good bowling , especially after the
departure of Burns . Probably felt a responsibility not to give India a second wicket too soon. Admirable team intention : but I think he'd have done better to be a bit more positive. For his own sake , primarily.

Not intended as a criticism, really. Reckon he did his job. But I fancy we will see him play some more fluent
innings now that he has got himself back in the game...

Root moving things along. 35 already and the total over 200

The lead will be 300+ by stumps if this carries on.

India's last hope is they spark an almighty collapse with the second new ball and keep the deficit to below 200. At the moment that looks rather unlikely with Root in supreme form.

50 for Root at his home ground.

He's made it look so easy.

Root in imperious form and the writing is pretty much on the wall now

Root moves elegantly to his fifty at ODI scoring rates...

Nice change for him to come in with 150 on the board , I guess. Only the second time in the last five years , I hear.

Looking very good today

Root being Root again, just waiting for him to do it against a decent bowling attack...

He scores so quickly without taking any risks, it really is extraordinary.

Malan's gone to fifty, that's all of the top four making fifty.

Been a very tidy innings from Malan. Punished the bad balls firmly, left well on length and defended judiciously. Good platform to build from for the second part of his test career.

India starting to look very bedraggled in the field. 75 runs already conceded in this session.

England's top 4 all going to 50. At the risk of jinxing it, this very much looks like fill your boots time

Fifty for Malan.

Justifying his return immediately. And now the hundred stand as well ... In good quick time. New ball has actually brought more scoring than threat - as happens sometimes,

Game getting away from India at a gallop.

100 partnership at about 4.5 runs per over, whatever control India had this morning has collapsed

This is really soul destroying for India. It will take a very strong team to come back from here.

I think we can see Hameed's slow pace this morning in context now. He wore the bowlers down and now the middle order are taking control

GSC wrote:100 partnership at about 4.5 runs per over, whatever control India had this morning has collapsed

Was always likely to happen once England made it through the first two hours with just the two overnight bats out. India bowled pretty well before lunch but hard to maintain that when you are so far behind in the game... They needed to take at least four in that morning session.

Once Root got in and settled (which he did very quickly !) the writing was on the wall in letters three feet high ...

Lead over 200 now, still only two down.

Close your eyes, it's like the glory days of 2011.

As said higher up, in isolation India would have been considered slight winners of the morning session - 60 runs and 2 wickets. However, being so far behind, being slight winners of a session gets you nowhere especially when you lose control in the next session. Almost a hundred added already with 20 minutes left to tea and no wickets lost.

Anyway, we know Root has trouble converting 50s to 100s...