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.

Root has 7 more runs than Malan, with two less boundaries but is striking at 83 compared to 56. His strike rotation is outstanding, and given the advantageous conditions he finally came in to today it almost felt inevitable.

I guess India are running out of ideas. But not sure trying to bounce a well set Joe Root out on a slow pitch with tired bowlers is the % play...

Good session for England

Marred slightly on the very last ball ...

After a lovely cover drive to move to 70 , Malan falls to a leg side strangle on review : funny old game , eh ?

298/3 still not too bad. 116 in that session off 26 overs.

That was an unexpected end to the session, a shame for Malan who seemed set to cruise to a second test ton, but England still in complete control with a lead of 220. Score raced along in that session and with Bairstow in next and Buttler afterwards it probably won't be slowing down.

37 overs left so a long 150 minutes await India this evening. England aiming to bat through today and, if they don't get bowled out, declare sometime tomorrow afternoon?

JDizzle wrote:Root has 7 more runs than Malan, with two less boundaries but is striking at 83 compared to 56. His strike rotation is outstanding, and given the advantageous conditions he finally came in to today it almost felt inevitable.

Basically Root doing Root things.

120 runs in the session, with the only wicket being a leggy strangle of Malan off the last ball. Lead well over 200 with only 3 wickets down. Also worth remembering that we are still only at tea on day 2. England can bat for as long as they want / are able, and push for a massive score while still having potentially over 2 days to dismiss India again

Shame for Malan that - doubt he'll have many better opportunities to notch that 2nd test hundred

Duty281 wrote:That was an unexpected end to the session, a shame for Malan who seemed set to cruise to a second test ton, but England still in complete control with a lead of 220. Score raced along in that session and with Bairstow in next and Buttler afterwards it probably won't be slowing down.

37 overs left so a long 150 minutes await India this evening. England aiming to bat through today and, if they don't get bowled out, declare sometime tomorrow afternoon?

Yeah, no need to do anything silly and start swinging for the fences anytime soon. Weather is set fair and the next Test is only three days away. Just grind them into the dust. Happy for them to bat as long as they can tomorrow.

Time for Kohli to chuck some of those military-medium pies? No point grounding Bumrah, Shami and Sira j to the ground. Give Jadeja a longish spell, and give Ishant a proper workout. The way he has gone about this game, seems he needs a break for the next one. If he gets anything right in between, well and good. Jadeja doesn't seem a hundred percent, so Kohli, Rohit and even Pujara can chip in with an over or 2 from time to time.

Death and Taxes ... And a Root Century

Looked certain ever since he came in , no ? Well done again , skipper...

Century for Root.

Seven fifty-plus scores this year, six of them have gone on to be tons. Form of his life. And the greatest runner between the wickets in the world.

Continuing with the theme of India's transformation process, with Rishabh Pant batting 6 for them, they need more output on a more consistent basis from their number 5 that Ajinkya Rahane isn't providing. The 2 main contenders for that number 5 position would be Vihari, and Suryakumar Yadav.
Vihari, if he's to play in this side, it has to be at 5 rather than 3. If he can bring that First Class level consistency to his test performances in there, it would be great. But I feel his game isn't quite cutout for consistent performances at test level. He lacks that Ex Factor.
Suryakumar is untested at test level. But he has taken to international cricket pretty well in limited overs. His opportunity has come rather late in his career for an Indian batter. In comparison, Vihari has a better FC record. But Suryakumar has more gears to his batting, and is finding greater consistency and maturity in domestic cricket, and his game seems to have greater range against both spin and pace. It is still to be tested as to how would he go about in swinging and seaming conditions. But I would like that opportunity to be given to him first. Vihari has played 12 tests all be it not on a consistent run, but never quite produced a performance demanding continued selection, except in the last of those 12 test, wherein he and Ashwin batted out an incredible draw...

Some joy for India as Shami and Kohli combine to nip out Bairstow just as he seemed primed to go ballistic on Jadeja...

But it must be a bit dispiriting to see Jos Buttler coming in to take his place. Just might enjoy this situation, perhaps.

That was another fifty partnership by the way , in good time. Can't complain about England's endeavour today...

Duty281 wrote:Century for Root.

Seven fifty-plus scores this year, six of them have gone on to be tons. Form of his life. And the greatest runner between the wickets in the world.

My reverse jinx about his conversion rate, or lack of, worked OK then. Historically the weakest part of his game compared with the others in the 'Big 4', but certainly not this year, especially when you look at what he's actually scored - 228, 186, 218, 109, 180* and currently 104*. Pity that in some of the other games he's contributed more than half England's runs.

I think every batsmen who's been dismissed will be at least a little disappointed that they didn't go on to three figures, or in Bairstow's case at least a half-century.

Still, 353/4 is a tremendous score, and England will be fulfilling the primary objective of batting through the day. Difficult to see India avoiding an innings defeat from this position.

It is also to be noted, that a good number of players in this side/squad have crosseed 30. Rahane and Pujara seems to be in their last tour of England, not sure how many more has Kohli left in the tank. Ashwin too, is 34 and has a body that he has to do battle with. Rohit again, we will have to see. But all of them should be around for a while yet. As such, Rahul Dravid and the structure he helped create, should yet again be at hard-work, creating greater bench strength, particularly in the batting department.
Hope the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Washington Sundar are given as much A team exposure as possible, particularly in away conditions. Washington has already played test cricket and has shown that he belongs at this level. What is not clear though is, in what capacity. His batting seems his stronger attribute, but if he can work on his bowling more to make it greater test standard, when Jadeja decides to go, he could step in. Washi is young, and Jadeja should have a good few years left in him, but Washington is one for the future.

Oh dear, Jos...

India in danger of working Shami into the ground here ... He has easily been the pick of the bowlers ...but doing a lot of work...

And as I type Jos Buttler has given him his third wicket with a bit of a gift to short mid wicket. He is finding runs a bit hard to come by this series , unfortunately.

OK , time for Moeen next so no shortage of stroke players ...

The weirdness of Buttler in red ball cricket continues - as has been the case throughout, he's always seemed to perform better coming in at 120-4/5, than the few occasions he's been in at 300 odd for 4/5.
Albeit he's timed one right to the fielder there - a touch unlucky/soft.

Shami gets another. Buttler goes without causing too much damage. Great chance for Moeen to come out and play an innings of freedom. Sam has taken wickets, so there is no way they are going to stop him scoring a few entertaining runs. Lets see if Moeen can also do something.

That was Sibley-esque from Buttler. Root won't be getting a double...because he'll run out of partners.

Nice statistical quirk with Moeen - he's scored 2871 runs at an average of 28.71.

alfie wrote:India in danger of working Shami into the ground here ... He has easily been the pick of the bowlers ...but doing a lot of work...

And as I type Jos Buttler has given him his third wicket with a bit of a gift to short mid wicket. He is finding runs a bit hard to come by this series , unfortunately.

OK , time for Moeen next so no shortage of stroke players ...

Kohli seems to be determined to get everything that he could get wrong, absolutely wrong in this game. Bowling his best bowlers to the ground is only the most recent. A golden duck, with a nothing poke at a 7th stumper outside off to Anderson is still to come!

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:The weirdness of Buttler in red ball cricket continues - as has been the case throughout,  he's always seemed to perform better coming in at 120-4/5, than the few occasions he's been in at 300 odd for 4/5.
Albeit he's timed one right to the fielder there - a touch unlucky/soft.

Yeah it did seem set up for him today...but to be honest he hasn't looked in very good form in these Tests at all. He battled away gamely trying to block out the day last week ; but even then he really should have been caught before he got started. Like a lot of them , he hasn't had a lot of match practice recently ; and it seems to be showing.
England didn't really need runs from him today so hopefully he will get some in the next match if they do

Lead is pushing 300 so with Moeen , Curran etc you'd still fancy a pretty handy lead...

Does Jos Butler get a lot of leniency because he is, well, Jos Butler?

Can any of ye stats lads out there tell me who was the fastest batter to 10,000 test runs? If Joe Root keeps going like this, he must surely be the quickest?

Bollix, thats on me


Some innings from Root though

Root bowled ! Good ball from Bumrah ...but I reckon tiredness and the niggles he was being treated for a few minutes ago basically did for him.

Important knock again : made sure the good work of the top three wasn't wasted. And really kept the score motoring along : lead already 305. Well played Joe

England might not be batting long into Friday after all. But they should still be good for a few more runs from here ...Bumrah and Shami can't bowl all the overs.

Bloody hell : Moeen throws it away completely

That was a real gift.seven down and at this rate India will be batting tonight !

alfie wrote:Bloody hell :  Moeen throws it away completely

That was a real gift.seven down and at this rate India will be batting tonight !

Moeen really gave it away. Don't know why did he have to play the big shot there, its not as if England are pressed for time...

Shouldn't make any difference but England have rather thrown away a strong position

Sam has put it behind him, that last test. He's beginning to enjoy himself with the bat here, and the small respite that Bumrah, Shami and Jadeja have provided, is going to vanish rather quickly, if he keeps going.

Jasprit has bowled quite OK with great discipline. If he gets a wicket or 2 more for his just rewards, fair enough. But after this over, bring Ishant back on. Or give Siraj an opportunity to try and get a wicket or 2. Bumrah shouldn't be overbowled in such a terrible lost cause.

Yes, England have rather lost their way since Malan clipped one down the leg side.

But the lead's over 300, the score is (nearly) 400, so it doesn't matter much.

eirebilly wrote:Can any of ye stats lads out there tell me who was the fastest batter to 10,000 test runs? If Joe Root keeps going like this, he must surely be the quickest?

Lara, Tendulkar and Sangakarra were the quickest by each reaching 10,000 test runs in their 195th test innings.

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283191.html

Root has just completed his 198th innings, so he's just missed the boat. He should be quicker than Cook, though, and may squeeze in as 5th fastest overall if he maintains present form.

GSC wrote:Shouldn't make any difference but England have rather thrown away a strong position

Have certainly thrown away a couple of wickets...but I wouldn't say they've exactly lost the "strong position "...

At 402/7 they lead by 324 ; they aren't going to get the 400 lead that was threatening earlier but it's still a fairly healthy spot to be in

Wonder if the bowlers can add a few from here ? Pretty sure they really don't want to start bowling tonight !

Curran out hooking a Siraj bouncer , ending a useful partnership with Overton... 418/8.

Pity that : I was hoping those two would get to the close and come out swinging in the morning. Only a couple of overs to go I think so Overton and Robinson should probably make sure they don't get out tonight - just on the Guildford Principle

No joy for Sharma off that last review. An exhausted and beaten India trudge off the field.

Another good day for England and another century for Root. That lead increased by just over 300 runs. Should be looking to wrap up that innings win tomorrow.

Also, India failing to get through 90 overs in 6 and a half hours even though they had Jadeja twirling through many overs.

Typical middle order collapse from England then

423/8. Good run rate - 303 in less than a full day. Lost two more wickets than ideal but really that's almost nit picking...

Root supreme again. What a player !

Credit to India's bowlers for not giving up : Shami in particular was very good. And Jadeja did enough to suggest Moeen might have a role to play with the ball tomorrow. At least they won't be starting their innings after lunch trailing by 440 or so as looked likely half an hour after tea. Still got a mountain to climb though.

Weather set fair , I gather ? Moving day tomorrow then...

Doesn't affect the match at all but would've liked to see the mid-lower order cash in a bit on that platform.

In any case, job done for England. Will hope to close this out tomorrow

Should be an innings win for England for sure, after the day they've had to the unreal first day. India had the first session under control, and their bowlers other than Ishant, got among the wickets towards the end of the day, as some personal reward for the hard-work they put in after being let down by the batters. But in between all that, Root and Malan ensured with support from Hameed, that India wouldn't have anything really, to hope for. A Pujara or a Kohli could still, in principle, play a Gambhir like hand and somehow save this one, but I don't see a 0.1 percent chance of that happening. Neither of them are in form, and the match situation is so hopeless that they would have already given up. Besides, they would need more than one extraordinary contribution. Won't be surprised at another batting implosion and a 3 day finish. The best now that they can hope for, is to add some more serious miles to Anderson's legs, in particular. When did Anderson play these many continuous tests in recent times? He has played all tests of the summer hasn't he? With no Broad, Stokes and Woakes, besides Archer and Wood, I don't think they can afford to rest Anderson for the 4th test. At least make him earn his wickets, would be good if they can drag him along towards a 3rd spell at the very least.

The pitch is flat.....good for batting....so good that you can stand and hit thru the line without moving your feet ...like almost every Eng batsmen did esp so Malan

Helped by Indians who first tried to blast Eng off yesterday and were too undisciplined today...almost despondent given the match situation.

Ishant getting out of rhythm again like he was in the WTC final & hence he was dropped for T1......has not helped

Kohli trying hard to justify the mistake of picking Ishant ...giving him more overs  then he needed to.....in hope for redemption hasn't helped either
Ishant is not Pivoting well.....when in rhythm he would  pivot on his delivery stride and rotate his body with chest facing Long leg at delivery point
Now he is finishing front on with chest open towards at best 1st leg slip

If the pitch should hold like this tomm and while India cannot win this, draw too is a very remote possibility minus rains.......for their own self belief....they should set themselves a target of avoiding innings defeat.

The top orders should stand up and get counted for.
There is always something to gain in long tests series , even in losing causes...especially when you are bang at the mid point of the series.
.
There was probably 3 hours of help on D1 in the form of a spongy / sticky pitch, where Indian batting got caught out....BUT had they some lower order batting, and eked out even a 170ish total....they wouldn't have closed all doors, windows and cracks for themselves  like they have done now

Applause for Root...Imperious Touch
Not convinced with stand and steer Malan or often playing across the line Hameed inspite of their runs

Didn't realise just how many, and some recent, players had scored hundreds in three successive Tests.

But Root has now done it TWICE in a calendar year, which is remarkable. His century tally is now getting very respectable and much closer to what a player of his class should be achieving at Test level.

Today a lot of the hard work was done before he got in. But his other Test tons of 2021 have been made in difficult situations and amid a weak batting line-up.

Joe seems to have been galvanised by talk a few months ago that he could no longer be mentioned as one of the Big Four. Now it's Kohli who is going thru a comparatively lean patch. But I'm sure he'll come out of it, too.

If I was Joe Root i'd do something completely ridiculous this morning, bat for one ball and then declare. It's essential we make use of the early morning conditions where wicket taking seems to be at it's easiest but at the same you want to make sure all the Indians take to the field.

sirfredperry wrote:Didn't realise just how many, and some recent, players had scored hundreds in three successive Tests.

But Root has now done it TWICE in a calendar year, which is remarkable. His century tally is now getting very respectable and much closer to what a player of his class should be achieving at Test level.

Today a lot of the hard work was done before he got in. But his other Test tons of 2021 have been made in difficult situations and amid a weak batting line-up.

Joe seems to have been galvanised by talk a few months ago that he could no longer be mentioned as one of the Big Four. Now it's Kohli who is going thru a comparatively lean patch. But I'm sure he'll come out of it, too.

Root has a special liking for Indian bowling. By the end of the series he should have more than 1000 runs against this year itself. The way he's going, at least a couple more hundreds are on card. From his debut test, he has done really well against India.
As for Virat, for nearly 2 years now, he hasn't been getting the big runs that he used to. The hundreds dried up, though he didn't quite seemed so out of touch, as he has become in this series. But this has been the culmination of a prolonged lean period. The situation has been aggravated by even greater struggles from Pujara and Rahane. Rohit, Pant and Jadeja, have been greater contributors during the last couple of years, than the big 3. In this series, only Rahul, Rohit and Jadeja have aggregated at lease hundred runs for India. Kohli has 69 from 4 innings, Pujara 71 from 5 with a notout and Rahane 84 from 4 innings.
Jadeja, despite his average being only 25 for the series so far, has contributed decisive runs in the first 2 tests. But Pant, for a number 6, failed to kick on after reaching 20 in 3 out of 4 innings with a top score of 37.
When England toured India earlier this year, there were crucial batting contributions from Pant, Washington Sundar, Ashwin and Axar Patel. In Australia too, it was Pant who produced consistent contributions along with Rohit and Shubman Gill, though Pujara and Rahane made decisive though inconsistent contributions. Shardul Thakur and Washington again provided crucial runs, as did Ashwin and Jadeja.
So there have been issues with the big 3 for a while, but even the drips that they could produce is drying up in this series, and in the last innings, there was nothing from anyone else either.

England should certainly declare when they get to nine down, no sense in risking Anderson out in the middle with India trying to injure him.

Today is supposed to be a day with plenty of dark cloud, so it'll be pleasing conditions for England's bowlers. India will be aiming for the smallest of victories and taking the game into day four.

There's no way a draw is happening in this game with the time left, it's either an England win (99.9% chance) or an Indian win (0.1% chance). If India scored 500-550 in their second innings, setting England 150-200, there'd still be a full day left in the game. Unfortunately for India this isn't a road in Chennai so they won't be getting close to 500.

msp83 wrote:

sirfredperry wrote:Didn't realise just how many, and some recent, players had scored hundreds in three successive Tests.

But Root has now done it TWICE in a calendar year, which is remarkable. His century tally is now getting very respectable and much closer to what a player of his class should be achieving at Test level.

Today a lot of the hard work was done before he got in. But his other Test tons of 2021 have been made in difficult situations and amid a weak batting line-up.

Joe seems to have been galvanised by talk a few months ago that he could no longer be mentioned as one of the Big Four. Now it's Kohli who is going thru a comparatively lean patch. But I'm sure he'll come out of it, too.

Root has a special liking for Indian bowling. By the end of the series he should have more than 1000 runs against this year itself. The way he's going, at least a couple more hundreds are on card. From his debut test, he has done really well against India.
As for Virat, for nearly 2 years now, he hasn't been getting the big runs that he used to. The hundreds dried up, though he didn't quite seemed so out of touch, as he has become in this series. But this has been the culmination of a prolonged lean period. The situation has been aggravated by even greater struggles from Pujara and Rahane. Rohit, Pant and Jadeja, have been greater contributors during the last couple of years, than the big 3. In this series, only Rahul, Rohit and Jadeja have aggregated at lease hundred runs for India. Kohli has 69 from 4 innings, Pujara 71 from 5 with a notout and Rahane 84 from 4 innings.
Jadeja, despite his average being only 25 for the series so far, has contributed decisive runs in the first 2 tests. But Pant, for a number 6, failed to kick on after reaching 20 in 3 out of 4 innings with a top score of 37.
When England toured India earlier this year, there were crucial batting contributions from Pant, Washington Sundar, Ashwin and Axar Patel. In Australia too, it was Pant who produced consistent contributions along with Rohit and Shubman Gill, though Pujara and Rahane made decisive though inconsistent contributions. Shardul Thakur and Washington again provided crucial runs, as did Ashwin and Jadeja.
So there have been issues with the big 3 for a while, but even the drips that they could produce is drying up in this series, and in the last innings, there was nothing from anyone else either.

Yup that's a good observation on Root
His average vs India is a whopping 62 ( even before this test)
Career average is 50
vs Aus it's only 40

If Pujara Fails he is out for T4......if Kohli fails, his rope gets shorter
Kohli is reacting late to the ball.....it happens when you are not judging the length and potential movement of the ball off the hand of the bowler but rather of the pitch
and this happens when either you are out of form ( temporary)
or your reflexes have slowed a fraction of  a fraction of a second ( this is start of terminal decline)

The bravado of playing 4 tailenders will end and next game will see Shardul back for sure
But lets see if India can muster enuf fight to take the game into D4

Guildford could rest easy last night knowing the Indian openers don't know when they will be strapping them up this morning...but agree with Duty, as soon as a wicket falls I would be declaring, no point sending Anderson out to bat in this situation.
Overton/Robinson really should be swinging from ball one too, if they can add a quick 20/30 in a couple of overs, it'll just deflate the Indians a tad more.

Expecting India to put up a much better fight second time round, the pitch isn't producing any demons at the moment, so a decent score should be on the cards. I think they'll get close, maybe slightly over the deficit and England may have a 30 odd run chase to knock off on day 4.

Soul Requiem wrote:If I was Joe Root i'd do something completely ridiculous this morning, bat for one ball and then declare. It's essential we make use of the early morning conditions where wicket taking seems to be at it's easiest but at the same you want to make sure all the Indians take to the field.

Don't think England would need to do anything fancy. Just bat normally, perhaps just try to stay positive, add as many as possible before they are bowled out. Don't expose Anderson too much and take any risk with him that's all.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Guildford could rest easy last night knowing the Indian openers don't know when they will be strapping them up this morning...but agree with Duty, as soon as a wicket falls I would be declaring, no point sending Anderson out to bat in this situation.
Overton/Robinson really should be swinging from ball one too, if they can add a quick 20/30 in a couple of overs, it'll just deflate the Indians a tad more.

Expecting India to put up a much better fight second time round, the pitch isn't producing any demons at the moment, so a decent score should be on the cards. I think they'll get close, maybe slightly over the deficit and England may have a 30 odd run chase to knock off on day 4.

Olly - As always your concern is much appreciated. However, I've been resting easy since we skittled India for 78 and even more so since we overtook them with 10 wickets still in hand. I think it would take something beyond even England to get into any serious trouble after that.

My aim at the end of day one was to still be batting at the end of day two. Mission achieved. Ideally we would only be 5 or 6 down now but we put more runs on the board yesterday than I expected so that balances out. Furthermore, after the success of day one, I'm not going to waste any wishes on this Test. Instead, saving them for the next two Tests where they might still be needed!

Genuinely interesting views as to our batting from here. I would just bat on until all out aiming to initially play sensibly but positively. As usual, keep their openers wondering and waiting with minimum time to prepare for their second dig. I understand we don't want Anderson to be clobbered but I don't want to show we're frightened of any bully boy type tactics. By all means though, start swinging more when the ninth wicket falls.

I don't really see much a point in continuing if Anderson's out to bat. Looking at the cloud cover and with 350 runs in the bank at 8 down, I'd say there's more of inclination for England to get on with it this morning