England's Summer of Cricket 2021

First topic message reminder :

That's the important wicket. Deserved for Robinson and England.

Now into that brittle middle order.

Very generous of Thakur to donate all of the runs he made yesterday back to England.

Lead almost eradicated - England need to add at least fifty more.

That is a good hour for England. Even after losing a set Bairstow, they haven't unraveled. Pope is batting with greater discipline, he's actually looking good beyond the flash of brilliance that characterize his batting otherwise. Moeen hasn't been that assured, but towards the end, he was showing signs that he's going to take the bowling on. England just 7 away from the innings lead. They would want another hundred more at the very least.

India would be worried that this partnership is now set. They would be hoping to get through this soon, and then take out the last 3 for not too much. Though they have made it a habit to lose most of their side under hundred, they won't be too worried if the lead can be restricted to around 50-60.

Poping some runs would open up the question of England's balance and playing side for the next test. Buttler hasn't been a particularly impressive test player. He has had a pretty poor series so far. Bairstow is a proper wicketkeeper, and has looked better with the bat too. He never liked the gloves being taken away from him. Will England now rethink?
Think they should, leave the gloves with Bairstow, and give Pope a decent run. Of the 20-Something lot, he has looked the most likely to make some strides as a test batter for England, along with Hameed.

Seems to be a rule of this summer that neither side can take an advantage and maintain it for long...

Today it's been first hour all India , second hour runs flowing freely for England...then a wicket falls rather out of the blue and another difficult period for the batsmen follows.

Clear now England will have a lead (wasn't exactly nailed on at 62/5 !) : question is how big. You'd think they need a few , batting last. Though the odd thing is that despite this looking like a pretty decent pitch on which to bat , so far we've seen just three bats reach fifty and two more passing thirty...and none have gone on from there. Always seems to be a ball coming that produces a wicket just when it isn't expected.
Could be just not many batsmen in any sort of form on either side

But when , say , Root and Malan were together- and then Pope and Bairstow : batting had begun to look rather comfortable ...only for everything to change with the break. Of course this is to some extent always the way ; but it does suggest to me that getting in on
this pitch - and indeed being secure even when you are - perhaps isn't as easy as it apparently should be ?

Suppose someone will dominate and prove me wrong at some point.

Scores level now

Moeen and Pope managing the tough overs from Bumrah well...although a Bumrah yorker actually had Moeen LBW but no one appealed!

Good game management and Moeen now punches England level.

Another 50 partnership.

India seeing the game gradually taken away from them as they can't maintain control. Moeen's worked very hard for his runs, Pope's found scoring tougher in this session but is still sticking it out. Of course facing Jadeja from one end is making it easier.

msp83 wrote:Poping some runs would open up the question of England's balance and playing side for the next test. Buttler hasn't been a particularly impressive test player. He has had a pretty poor series so far. Bairstow is a proper wicketkeeper, and has looked better with the bat too. He never liked the gloves being taken away from him. Will England now rethink?
Think they should, leave the gloves with Bairstow, and give Pope a decent run. Of the 20-Something lot, he has looked the most likely to make some strides as a test batter for England, along with Hameed.

A lot of people are saying Buttler's test career could be over. He will almost certainly miss the next Test and likely to opt out of The Ashes if that goes ahead. He has been poor this summer, but had played really well last summer with his part in the run chase with Woakes and a big hundred as well. Story of his career I suppose, never really consistent over a long period

Not been able to watch today - but how has Pope rotated the strike? He’s a got a very Root-lite score, being 73* with only 6 boundaries but still striking at 54. Normally means he is rotating nicely which is a killer to the ‘bowl dry’ plan.

Whereas Moeen and Bairstow had 7 boundaries in their 30s.

Oh, Moeen.

And to illustrate my point from earlier...just as Moeen appeared to be solidly "in control " and ready to put India to the sword...he skies one to a fielder.

Seven down and the lead is just 31. Still all to play for...

JDizzle wrote:Not been able to watch today - but how has Pope rotated the strike? He’s a got a very Root-lite score, being 73* with only 6 boundaries but still striking at 54. Normally means he is rotating nicely which is a killer to the ‘bowl dry’ plan.

Whereas Moeen and Bairstow had 7 boundaries in their 30s.

Surprised Pope's only got that number of boundaries seeing as how he hit three in one over this morning!

Well that's why he does infuriate. Does the hard bit then chucks it away. Pretty handy number 8 I would say, but no going to score those counterattacking hundreds from 6 or 7 like he used to. And yes I know he was at 8 today, but is officially the 7

2 set batsmen, ball doing nothing, small lead and he does that?

JDizzle wrote:Not been able to watch today - but how has Pope rotated the strike? He’s a got a very Root-lite score, being 73* with only 6 boundaries but still striking at 54. Normally means he is rotating nicely which is a killer to the ‘bowl dry’ plan.

Whereas Moeen and Bairstow had 7 boundaries in their 30s.

Been a bit mixed actually: he was initially just hanging in ; then had a flurry of boundaries (most of his came in a burst before lunch) : before he settled more into the picking up singles mode. He and Moeen were milking Jadeja rather well , I thought , before Mo had his rush of blood.
He possibly deliberately throttled back a little after Jonny got out - they'd been scoring pretty rapidly. Think he means to bat as long as he can today...

The maligned one living up to his reputation again, the amount of times he looks good and does something stupid.

Still a good session for England, despite Moeen's lapse. Lead of at least 50 is assured; if Woakes can bat as well as he bowls it may reach three figures.

Will be interesting to see how England approach the next ten overs before the new ball.

Moeen's one of those players you just wish had the mindset of Paul Collingwood or Steve Waugh, to make the absolute most of his ability. Fantastic talent in terms of ball striking and timing, but as a batsman just too prone to brain fade to ever be trusted as a major contributor.

Not saying he's the wrong selection for this game, as int he absence of Stokes he does bring more batting ability than either Bess or Leach and is at least as good a wicket taking spinner even if he doesn't offer quite a much control as either of them.

VTR wrote:

msp83 wrote:Poping some runs would open up the question of England's balance and playing side for the next test. Buttler hasn't been a particularly impressive test player. He has had a pretty poor series so far. Bairstow is a proper wicketkeeper, and has looked better with the bat too. He never liked the gloves being taken away from him. Will England now rethink?
Think they should, leave the gloves with Bairstow, and give Pope a decent run. Of the 20-Something lot, he has looked the most likely to make some strides as a test batter for England, along with Hameed.

A lot of people are saying Buttler's test career could be over. He will almost certainly miss the next Test and likely to opt out of The Ashes if that goes ahead. He has been poor this summer, but had played really well last summer with his part in the run chase with Woakes and a big hundred as well. Story of his career I suppose, never really consistent over a long period

It's still very much Buttler or Foakes for the keeper slot for me, as you say Buttler had a good summer last year (and tour of Sri Lanka in the winter) and his keeping has been very good since that WI series last summer.
Bairstow, while doing a decent stopgap role in this series...hasn't really done anything of note has he? He also looked decidedly shoddy with the gloves yesterday (admittedly must have some rust, but a horrid drop) and while he's certainly made an effort to change his technique, he's ultimately just stopped being bowled by plonking his leg in front and now being out LBW instead.

Foakes, has missed a rather big opportunity for himself this summer with his injury. He'd potentially have played the whole test match summer if not injured...couldn't have timed the injury, and the severity of it worse! Kind of feels like it may never happen for him tbh...

Another decent session for England...without taking control. A decent lead, but could do with a partnership between Woakes and Pope here after tea, and getting that lead up towards 100. Pope looked much more assured in that session I thought

Anyway the pitch still looks good and weather is good so England can expect a better Indian effort this time around. Ideally getting this up to around 100 ahead would be strong, considering England are gonna have to bat last

Pope did look better in that session, the break seemed to settle him down and he's just trundled along without trying too much. He has the natural ability to score at a decent rate without taking risks so needs to concentrate on doing that, once he gets to 50/60 he can open up a bit more. He's almost timed his innings back to front.

Without wishing to labour the maligned Ali point, I do remember seeing the other day something saying he has a good cricket brain, hence the vice captaincy. I fully believe he does, so it is staggering he would play a shot like that, at that point.

He gets a lot of negative press, because people can see the talent and it is infuriating to see the same sort of dismissal over and over

Before the series the general consensus seemed to be that the seam bowling was pretty even between the two sides but I think the past couple of games have shown that isn't the case. Bumrah would be selected ahead of Overton for England but aside from him I don't think any of the Indian pace men are in contention, the lack of control is glaring. Yadav has done well getting his three weeks but they've come at a cost.

Robinson- 3 for 38 off 17.3
Yadav- 3 for 70 off 17

Thus far that seems to sum it up.

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Good innings from Pope. Made the 80+ contribution that was needed from one of England's three specialist batsmen left, but a shame he couldn't make it three digits.

Time for Woakes and Robinson to play with intent and try to get England close to a 100 lead.

Ah that's a pity...Pope falls for 81 , playing on to the generally unthreatening Thakur. Would have loved to see him make a hundred.

Good knock though

Has ensured some sort of a lead - though with a new ball due soon I can't see it being a big one. Game still tight.

Might be time for Woakes to have a dart. Robinson can bat but if he goes Anderson could be gone within a ball… Not sure England would want Jimmy facing too many anyway.

Duty281 wrote:Good innings from Pope. Made the 80+ contribution that was needed from one of England's three specialist batsmen left, but a shame he couldn't make it three digits.

Time for Woakes and Robinson to play with intent and try to get England close to a 100 lead.

Intent yes : Robinson immediately swiping at Jadeja ...no. Bit dumb , that .

Woakes looks like being stranded. And with a fairly slender lead it's probably advantage India now...

Yeah this lead isn't looking too good. Bit of a mini collapse, really had an opportunity to get to the new ball at least, but no, let's gift some wickets instead. Generally the team batting third around 50 behind behind is ahead in the game. Lead of 120 or so was there for the taking

I wouldn't go as far as to say advantage India. Quite the opposite - I'd say England have a clear advantage. A lead of 60-odd (maybe a little more) isn't much on this pitch, but it is quite a bit considering the weakness of India's batting. And also, due to bizarre selection, England won't be facing Ashwin on this in the fourth innings, so that's another factor in England's favour.

257/9 at the moment. That's 100 below par for my reckoning and I don't think India have bowled especially well, it's just so many England players have given their wickets away cheaply, starting off with the openers.

Very tricky mini-session coming up for India. But not yet as Woakes crunches a couple of fours.

I'm not too bothered by Robinson getting out to a swipe but Pope showed a lack of adaptability with his dismissal, he'd narrowly avoided playing on 6/7 times previously but kept playing the same shot, he was scoring easily enough as it was.

Soul Requiem wrote:I'm not too bothered by Robinson getting out to a swipe but Pope showed a lack of adaptability with his dismissal, he'd narrowly avoided playing on 6/7 times previously but kept playing the same shot, he was scoring easily enough as it was.

Might have been struggling a bit to maintain his concentration...had been in a long time , with a lot of responsibility. I'm sure he is disappointed but not going to be too critical.

I am annoyed about Robinson though: Woakes looks capable of serious runs today and it was criminal to not at least try and give him the strike while you settled in. Bit surprised to be honest - I thought he'd play more sensibly than that.

Lead up to 81 now...every run handy !

In positive news jarvo has been arrested on suspicion of assault

This Woakes inning has taken England ahead I think, but with a bit more discipline they could've batted India out of this game. Game management matters and England a bit brainless with it

Bumrah hurt now

Well...Bumrah's not playing the fifth test.

Excellent effort from Woakes. What a game he's having.

Similar to Thakur yesterday, Woakes just grabbing some momentum back at the close of the innings. Tester this evening for the Indian batsmen.

Wonder if Pant or Rahane will come in for Jadeja as a night watchman...

Fifty for Woakes

Very good batting...and Jimmy played well in support. Run out ends it now but 99 is a lot better than it looked half an hour ago !

Not rock crushing: but if they can get some early wickets...

Yes, this is probably more frustrating for India than Thakur's effort was for England yesterday.

Goes to fifty now, the lead up to 99.

And that's all it'll be. Another incident missed due to the amateur TV director.

Heck of a lot of batting required for India to turn this from defeat to victory. Warne talking up Kohli making a big score for the umpteenth time.

About 13-16 overs tonight if the light holds, England will want at least two. If they can get both openers tonight they're well set to win the game, anything extra would be a grand bonus.

99 run lead it is. Woakes making up for some loose shots from those ahead of him and it's a handy lead. Prize a couple out tonight and it's a good day overall

290 with Root only making 20 isn't bad overall, but a great team would've batted India out of the game.

Only 4 players passing 50, maybe it's not a great pitch to bat on?

Guess if England were not able to bat the day out the timing of this is about right...not a long session so the bowlers can have a solid go , and still be pretty fresh in the morning - with a still fairly new ball.

Will want to strike tonight though. Don't want to let the two R's get set : they've been the key to India's better innings this series...

GSC wrote:290 with Root only making 20 isn't bad overall, but a great team would've batted India out of the game.

Only 4 players passing 50, maybe it's not a great pitch to bat on?

I think we'd all accept that England are not , at present , a "great team"

I'd have liked 400 but with both openers failing and Root out for just 21 I'd say 290 wasn't too bad.

Pitch is interesting. Should be at its best for batting now ; we will see...as you say , not many getting past fifty - or even much past 30 ! so far.

Important hour or so , this.

Oh dear...chance goes begging at slip already

Burns just didn't see it , did he ?

Burns not having his greatest test match.

Test matches are tough to win when you have to take 26/27 wickets just to get 20

England caught very well at Headingley. But here (where it is probably fair to say the ball has swerved late and made it trickier than it might seem) India have been much sharper.

First innings drops didn't really cost a lot. Hope that one doesn't...

Solid start from India...11 overs down and just the one (spurned) chance...

Think England are bowling pretty well but you wouldn't say the batsmen are looking exactly rattled. One might well bring two but only another three or four overs to go . If they make it to the close this game will be getting back towards evens.

Not that that means anything the way this series has gone so far

India win that little session...England will be rather disappointed they couldn't strike tonight.

Of course it all starts again in the morning - and we saw what happened in Leeds when it was supposed to be loaded in favour of the batsmen. But there isn't quite the same scoreboard pressure this time.

Still 56 behind. First hour tomorrow, etc etc

England bowled decently, but again that opening pair are proving the toughest to shift. Good resistance from them. England shouldn't be too concerned because they know India can and do collapse in a heap fairly quickly. India have to aim to bat out the day tomorrow - if they do, they'll be favourites or near favourites for the test.

At the moment I think England can chase anything up to 250 on this. We'll have to see if the pitch deteriorates tomorrow. It's all set up nicely.

England's day, overall.

Pretty good day for England, without being decisive of course. Could they have got some more runs with the bat? Sure, probably 50 under par there I’d say, but the middle/lower order did a fabulous job to make sure that wasn’t 150/200 under par. My gripe would be with the lads who had them 62/5, rather than those who got them upto 290 odd!

Pitch is looking better for batting, so there is definitely the opportunity there for India to bat well here 2nd dig and get a good lead. Especially, if England keep dropping catches…

India did not get the slender lead that I wished....but upon observation of the "goodness" of the pitch today ...it appeared in hindsight nothing more wishful thinking

Pitch was good for batting and Eng's middle order did well to put useful runs.....Eng are back to what is their strength loading themselves with bowlers who can bat
I am a Woakes fan and had picked him in first two tests for tipping competition only to find he's unfit.....god only knows how I missed him here.

Ind did well too, to get them under 300.....Ind had the rough end of stick with a difficult conditions in a session and half tomm...but they too did well to not go out of the game yesterday.....100 runs on....and given they have to bat last...game is at par or maybe Eng 60-40 ahead or maybe par that they did not get a wicket and Ind scored trouble free


Tomm should be a good day for batting ....no less than today....and Rohit / Rahul looked good.
Rohit may well cash in tomm......Rahane playing for his career and Pant for redemption......cannot expect better conditions.

The minimum I expect from India is to play out the day tomm with about 300 runs scored and nearly bowled out...and that will keep them in the game with 40-60 chance ( 60 to Eng)
If the game goes into D5 then Eng's chances stand greatly diminished, if not completely gone