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.

Back to following the game on cricinfo, and they report that Anderson hasn't come back on to the field... Has he picked up some niggle?

India did really well in that session but they have get set again after tea. Can be tricky.

Overton back - sensible . He's probably been the best bowler today and hasn't bowled for a while. England need to be patient.

Anderson off the field I see . He didn't look altogether comfortable in that last hour so he may not be a factor at all today.

Thought they'd start with Moeen but it is Robinson at the other end...

Got him ! Robinson traps Rohit lbw...

Review but this is stone dead.

Umpire's call actually; but still out.

Only umpire's call?

Never mind it all counts the same. Richly deserved for Robinson and now England can get amongst that soft middle-order.

Root looks rather happy. And a bit relieved, perhaps

Good knock from Rohit...over to the skipper now.

(After a brief interruption from "Jarvo". Silly fellow ! It was funny once ...)

On with the game...

Much deserved for Robinson that

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Much deserved for Robinson that

Agreed ! He's bowled well and a lot of "nearly" shouts. Deserved to get a marginal one go his way.

Not sure I'd agree with Duty that the "soft middle order" is in yet . This Kohli fellow can bat a bit...

Outside England Kohli is a top batsman. In England he barely scrapes a 30 average. And his last test century outside India was in 2018.

Robinson did deserve that wicket, he had troubled all batters, and had actually got Rohit only for the umpire, and then his skipper to fluff it. So can't begrudge the very marginal umpire's call that went his way. Good knock from Rohit, and though he actually missed a nothing special delivery, he hasn't self-destructed, and showed admirable discipline and really toughed it out. Now that Kohli is there, will emerge from the dressingroom comforts?

Is Hawkeye playing up slightly? The one earlier looked plumb and was missing, this one looked plumb and was only clipping.

Duty281 wrote:Outside England Kohli is a top batsman. In England he barely scrapes a 30 average. And his last test century outside India was in 2018.

Thankfully for Kohli, the 2018 England tour was actually played in the UAE! How else would he have made nearly 600 runs in the series otherwise?

Anderson's back on the field, Kohli is yet to get off the mark. Overton and Robinson have bowled well, but if I was Root, I'd have Anderson straight back on! Its only the theater that one can look forward to, for an Indian supporter. Come on Root!

That's a half-century for Cheteshwar Pujara!

Fifty for Pujara...saved his place ; and some points for Guildford in the tipping competition

Got a bit more work to do to save his team.

alfie wrote:Fifty for Pujara...saved his place ; and some points for Guildford in the tipping competition

Got a bit more work to do to save his team.

There is no saving the team here, for this test match. But if Pujara can properly regain his touch, that will still go a long way for India in how the rest of the series turns out. He, despite the seemingly passive ways of his batting, has been a test-match-winner. Even not on top of his game, he did it in Australia. But the batter in this series prior to this series, looked like a walking-wicket.

By the way, Pujara, in course of this innings, became the 4th Indian batter to cross a hundred runs for the series! Someone should tell that Joe fellow, that it is done on a series, and not innings basis!

Yes, here we go!

Msp gets his way...Anderson on.

He's not really been at his best , apart from the early overs , today. Might be a chance for Kohli to get his own back.

Got a free boundary already...

The old man seems to be on a generous mood!, gifting an easy early boundary for the out of sorts Kohli!

Anderson's lines and lengths haven't been spot on in that over, but his pace was fine, going up to the late 130s there!

Ah well, what is Pujara up to? Preparing for a T-20 debut in the T-20 WC?

Pujara means business! Laying into Anderson!.

England - especially Anderson - have not bowled well to Pujara. Far too much on his pads ; too straight anyway. He's been struggling with fourth stump line all the series so why not keep it there ?

I'd get Jimmy off as he's just gifting runs and really not threatening much at all. Plus he might have a lot more work tomorrow so no need to overwork him.

Wonder if the light is going to cut today short ? Twenty plus overs left , in theory.

Think those were badly executed deliveries from Anderson, but England's leg-side orientation for Pujara, what are they really looking at? He has had an LBW-bowled problem against the in-coming ball, but the fields?

Even with the extra half-hour, 100 minutes left to bowl 28 overs. Good luck with that!

Anderson's off, he was a bit off in that short spell. I was hoping for the Indian batters to get Anderson into a 3rd spell. They've managed that. That's one more milestone, on the way to recovery for the rest of the series.

This innings of Pujara, reminds me of his 144 against Steyn and Morkel in South Africa in 2012-13. He hasn't batted this fluently against pace before or after that until today.

msp83 wrote:Think those were badly executed deliveries from Anderson, but England's leg-side orientation for Pujara, what are they really looking at? He has had an LBW-bowled problem against the in-coming ball, but the fields?

Yeah I don't think it has been the right option. Sometimes you think he might pop one to a leg gully ; but really he's been getting a lot of runs through mid wicket and hasn't looked like missing one on the stumps. When he's had to play outside off he's looked less assured.

If you hang it out there regularly then surely the one that comes back would be more of a surprise ?

Strange tactics. Don't think Root has quite got things quite right since lunch : think he might have expected things to happen more than they have ; and hasn't really had a plan "b" to hand.

Have to credit the Indian bats though ; they've played very soundly in sometimes difficult conditions.

Tend to agree with Warne (!) that a bit more from Moeen might have been an idea.
I know it's been good conditions for the pace bowlers , but the truth is they've not actually created many real chances - beat the bat a lot , yes ; but no actual edges , and not many streaky shots. And they're all putting a lot of overs in their legs...a bit of variety surely worth a try ?
India putting up a really good fight today. Wicket now might easily lead to a few more and undo the good work ; but at the moment these two are looking fairly secure.

Fifty partnership

A half-century partnership in which Pujara outscored Kohli, after doing the same with Rohit!

msp83 wrote:A half-century partnership in which Pujara outscored Kohli, after doing the same with Rohit!

World turned on its head ! He's played really well - definitely helped by some of the poor lines they've bowled to him but I admire the positive way he has gone about his business

Back after last drinks and Anderson again with England starting to look as if they're running out of ideas...it seems spin just isn't on the menu today.

Thirteen overs to a new ball and India are half way to making England bat again...

At what stage do England fans start to get worried ?

Moeen actually looking quite good. Beats the bat there...I'd be inclined to give him a silly point for an over or two.

The England skipper on. Not a bad move. They have lots to play with, a wicket late in the day, will open things up nicely. Nothing wrong in trying a couple of overs himself.

Seems its bad light possibility that forced the England skipper's hands. Think he shouldn't mind too much, if they go back in. Can try himself and Moeen for a few overs, and if nothing happens, just get back in, and start afresh in morning conditions with a new ball.
Poor overrates yet again though.

msp83 wrote:The England skipper on. Not a bad move. They have lots to play with, a wicket late in the day, will open things up nicely. Nothing wrong in trying a couple of overs himself.

He had no choice otherwise they would have been taken off the field

Pujara and Kohli seem to have shut shop. Not entirely sure that's the right way to go for Pujara, he has come out of the rut playing positive cricket, blocking out even full-tosses perhaps isn't the best way. He's unlikely to loft the spinner and hold out, or drag short-balls from outside off to pick out deep fielders on the leg-side. If there is one to be put away, he should.
Kohli on the other hand, should just try to survive the day...

All spin. Why not ? Hastens the new ball in any case...and who knows , might draw an error ? Though Pujara doesn't seem disposed to making any errors...treating Root with a lot of respect.

Looks like being a long battle to prise out these Indian wickets so sharing the work around makes perfect sense.

Spinners looking more likely to get a wicket than the pace men have been for a while anyway ! Root got one through there that didn't miss top of stumps by much.

England wouldn't half love one of these tonight. Because if they're still together at the close - as seems likely - the new ball is going to be a Very Big Key Point in this match. Survive it and those with tickets for Sunday might yet have some cricket to watch...

Getting ahead a bit there , sorry. But this has been a real battle today...real Test Cricket.

alfie wrote:At what stage do England fans start to get worried?

Certainly not yet! India would have to bat through all of tomorrow to be in a position of only moderate strength.

But it has been an irksome day for England. With the exception of Curran the standard of bowling hasn't dropped much from the first innings; they've continually put it in the right areas, but whereas before they were finding the outside edge to transfer the ball safely to Buttler's gloves, this time it has continually evaded the edge.

Moeen currently bowling a little too short to be of any real threat. England should say to the umpires they want to bowl seam and let the light meter take them off the field. Regroup for tomorrow.

Yeah I was a little tongue in cheek there , Duty.

But now that it is 215/2 at stumps here I would suggest that England will need the new ball to produce something in the morning or India might indeed be capable of batting all day tomorrow...bowlers will be a bit weary.

Likelihood is the new ball will produce results , of course ; and things will change rapidly. But India have given themselves some sort of a chance of getting that 500 plus innings they need to make this an unlikely contest on Sunday. Which nobody would have expected this morning !
Certainly India's day

Starting with a lead of 360 odd and still with a lead of 150 in hand..... and deliberately foregoing the opportunity to keep bowling 3 more overs even though with spin in fading light to squeeze out an edge, a stumping or false shot from one of two top batters....for saving just 10 to 12 odd runs only....Root has blinked first

India's session again.
Now all the interim play if kept aside for a moment...from an India point of view......the objective would be get to the next new ball with 2 of top 7 batters still playing...prferably one of them Puajara
i.e go thru next 80 overs not losing more than 3 wickets.
TOUGH ask, Herculean I would say.....but if they get there, then the game would start turning

If Pujara is still batting - with , presumably , Pant - in another 80 overs , India will be 100 ahead and the England bowlers will be looking for somewhere to lie down...I think it would have well and truly turned already !

As you say , a very tough ask . But whatever happens they have given the lie to any notion that they would fold under pressure just because they are playing in England. This team do not do that anymore.

And even if England roll them over tomorrow , as is perhaps rather more likely , they have ensured that the home team's bowlers will be at least as tired as India's quartet for the next game in a few short days...

India haven't reached anywhere near safety, and a historic turnaround-win is not even on the menu at this stage. But rather than folding under the weight of the enormity of their first innings failure, and the inability of the bowlers to bring about a miraculous transformation, they fought hard with the bat, led by the most out-of-form batter in that lineup, with an unusually attacking innings. Even myself, and I would count KPF in there as well, strong supporters of Pujara were beginning to develop our doubts, he has played a fine hand, if only to keep India alive for another day, to hopefully, fight another day. Fine support from Rohit Sharma, who along with KL Rahul, yet again provided a platform for the middle order though KL didn't score much. And at last, the skipper has just threatened to join the party too. He has finally, more runs than Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami for the series!
Tomorrow isn't going to get any easier though. England will have the new ball straight away, and Anderson and Robinson will be even tougher to face up to. If they get through one early, it could all come crashing down rather quickly. But if they manage to put another session and a half more of bowling into England legs, I would have something to take away from this test, and that might in all possibility would still mean an innings defeat, I think they'd have overcome 78 allout, and any possible unraveling because of that for the rest of the series.

msp83 wrote:India haven't reached anywhere near safety, and a historic turnaround-win is not even on the menu at this stage. But rather than folding under the weight of the enormity of their first innings failure, and the inability of the bowlers to bring about a miraculous transformation, they fought hard with the bat, led by the most out-of-form batter in that lineup, with an unusually attacking innings. Even myself, and I would count KPF in there as well, strong supporters of Pujara were beginning to develop our doubts, he has played a fine hand, if only to keep India alive for another day, to hopefully, fight another day. Fine support from Rohit Sharma, who along with KL Rahul, yet again provided a platform for the middle order though KL didn't score much. And at last, the skipper has just threatened to join the party too. He has finally, more runs than Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami for the series!
Tomorrow isn't going to get any easier though. England will have the new ball straight away, and Anderson and Robinson will be even tougher to face up to. If they get through one early, it could all come crashing down rather quickly. But if they manage to put another session and a half more of bowling into England legs, I would have something to take away from this test, and that might in all possibility would still mean an innings defeat, I think they'd have overcome 78 allout, and any possible unraveling because of that for the rest of the series.

Good points, msp, and perhaps most of all your batsmen might be playing Anderson out of Thursday's Test.

Good fightback by India. I thought it would be much more of a slog for the England bowlers second time around, although they probably thought they would get more than just the two wickets.

Jimmy hasn't taken a second-innings wicket this summer and India have, at least, made the England bowlers work for it.

I think if India get through the first session with a maximum of one further wicket lost then they may start dreaming of the greatest escape at Headingley since....well, since the last test that was played here.

But if England resume with business as usual and take two or more with the new ball, Root can breathe a sigh of relief. I think the seamers,  with the exception of Curran, bowled well yesterday and they know if they maintain that the rewards will come. Surely Anderson will break his second innings duck this morning?

Looking ahead to the fourth test, I'd have been surprised if Anderson was picked again in a scenario where India were bowled out for 50 in the second innings. Being taken into the fourth day just confirms, I think, that Anderson will be rested for the next test, with Woakes coming in. Mahmood in for Curran is a change I hope happens.  No other changes needed unless Buttler's wife goes into labour, then I imagine Pope gets the call.

But before that let's just have England get over the line today. Headingley may be where the magic happens; I just hope it's an ordinary day.

Test Cricket often produces fascinating ebb and flow games - and series. This seems to be one.

Three possible outlines for today , maybe :

A. Early new ball wickets and a fairly rapid collapse sees all done mid afternoon.
B. Attritional battle with England gradually chipping away at the wickets and ends up with a small lead for India chased down in the evening session.
C. India bat England to exhaustion and end the day 150 ahead with a couple of wickets in hand and an interesting final day in prospect.

If I were forced to make a choice I would suggest "B" is the most likely . But I would have to be forced at gunpoint as I have seen too many Test Matches to ever predict anything with complete certainty...

Bit sunnier today , eh ?

Guess England would have preferred some cloud. But good that the weather is behaving itself as predicted.

No drama yet. Bats leaving comfortably so far - haven't really had to play much yet. Very early...

Howler from the umpire, Gough gives that every day.

Robinson makes the breakthrough and Root, who probably had a sleepless night, can breathe a little.

No shot Pujara : not out on field.

Review. Will it be umpire's call ...no !

He's out ! England get it right for once

That did look good in real time ...and good timing for England .

Pity for Pujara to miss the hundred...but well bowled Robinson