India tour of Eng, June 20 - Aug 4

[sussexpob]

This is stunning stuff from Sundar.... an absolutely breathtaking 50. Men all over the boundary, dont care.

[mikesiva]

India 396 all out

Jaiswal 118
Akash 66
Jadeja 53
Sundar 53

Tongue 5-125
Atkinson 3-127

Target 374

[Arthur Crabtree]

Even given England's impediment, that's a fair effort by India. Taking advantage of the drops and then turning the screw at the end.

[sussexpob]

Settle down Zak. No need to play those

Gets nasty one following it. Bounced a lot, hit Crawley on the elbow. Ouf, and then one jumps big on Duckett. That hit back of a length and came past Ducketts ear!!

[Arthur Crabtree]

Going slower than the first innings...

[sussexpob]

Final ball gets Crawley. I am not sure he seen that at all. India played the bluff, put everyone out to mask the bouncer, then its a fast yorker on offstump that castles him.

Crawley was absolutely nowhere near it.... as I said, did he not see it in the light? Siraj was coming out the light into the shadow, I just wonder if that did Crawley.

[Arthur Crabtree]

And Crawley is out last ball of the day.

Interesting to see if England get through tomorrow, possibly with the help of rain. A good effort if they do. And something to aim at.

[sussexpob]

The pitch has lost some of its green colour, and with it the excessive seam movement. Not much swing today as compared to day 1/2, but today was bright, tomorrow is going to be perfect swing conditions. And especially at the Vauxhall end, we seen Deep get at least three balls from memory that bounced a lot, one to Duckett would have taken his head off from a length had it been on line, the other whacked Crawley high on the arm, the last smashed Duckett's hand and left him in a lot of pain. Having said that, in all innings the ball took about 10-20 overs to really start biting into the pitch, so England have some really tough yards to bat through tomorrow. I think it's India's to lose, and really England shouldn't get that close, but who knows with this team.. I said the same at Leeds and they did it with 5 wickets to spare. All it takes is for peak Joe Root to play like he can, Duckett to turn his start big...who knows.

I'd like England to try to bat some time and wear out the three seamers before going nuclear, but I think its pointless to hope for that at this point.

[sussexpob]

The pitch has lost some of its green colour, and with it the excessive seam movement. Not much swing today as compared to day 1/2, but today was bright, tomorrow is going to be perfect swing conditions. And especially at the Vauxhall end, we seen Deep get at least three balls from memory that bounced a lot, one to Duckett would have taken his head off from a length had it been on line, the other whacked Crawley high on the arm, the last smashed Duckett's hand and left him in a lot of pain. Having said that, in all innings the ball took about 10-20 overs to really start biting into the pitch, so England have some really tough yards to bat through tomorrow. I think it's India's to lose, and really England shouldn't get that close, but who knows with this team.. I said the same at Leeds and they did it with 5 wickets to spare. All it takes is for peak Joe Root to play like he can, Duckett to turn his start big...who knows.

I'd like England to try to bat some time and wear out the three seamers before going nuclear, but I think its pointless to hope for that at this point.

[sussexpob]

Whichever way this series turns by the end, I have to applaud both teams for providing us with a test series for the ages. I can't remember a better series in a couple of decades, and might even challenge some of my favourites from the late 90s for the best ever. 3 tests separated by less than 25 runs at the halfway stage, one epic rearguard over two days to save another... not many dull moments inbetween, there has been drama and needle a plenty.

People like to argue test cricket has no future, and the players don't want to play it.... well, tell that to these two sides then, because they aren't listening. Both sides have given it their all, both sides clearly care, and both team being led by the front by their captains digging deep for their side. Test cricket is the elite version of the game, and this series has been played in an environment of fierce competition worthy of being considered elite level sport. No pom-pom girls, booming sound systems, game lengths decided on gimmicks, teams created to represent "The North" that you don't care about, no players just there because they are getting 200k a match before they pilot off to somewhere else for a payday 2 hours after the last over is bowled, or some idiot screaming on commentary everytime someone top edges a skier to a midget sized boundary while carrying a boat sized bat....

If only the ICC were a body worth of being tasked with the future of this sport, I'd think this series could be a turning point for the format. Sadly, I think the ICC, BCCI and ECB will probably care more about what Pepsi or McDonalds think, rather than us fans of the sport.

But hey well, moaning wasnt the point of this post. The point was to celebrate an excellent series, one that has me excited to turn it on at midday or for the next test. So thanks to both teams for a great series.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Good stuff.

I think the pitches for the first 4 Tests have been a negative. Plus the short schedule.

By the way, Sundar was batting like Gordon Greenidge today. Not seen hook shots like that for a while.

[alfie]

Whichever way this series turns by the end, I have to applaud both teams for providing us with a test series for the ages. I can't remember a better series in a couple of decades, and might even challenge some of my favourites from the late 90s for the best ever. 3 tests separated by less than 25 runs at the halfway stage, one epic rearguard over two days to save another... not many dull moments inbetween, there has been drama and needle a plenty.

People like to argue test cricket has no future, and the players don't want to play it.... well, tell that to these two sides then, because they aren't listening. Both sides have given it their all, both sides clearly care, and both team being led by the front by their captains digging deep for their side. Test cricket is the elite version of the game, and this series has been played in an environment of fierce competition worthy of being considered elite level sport. No pom-pom girls, booming sound systems, game lengths decided on gimmicks, teams created to represent "The North" that you don't care about, no players just there because they are getting 200k a match before they pilot off to somewhere else for a payday 2 hours after the last over is bowled, or some idiot screaming on commentary everytime someone top edges a skier to a midget sized boundary while carrying a boat sized bat....

If only the ICC were a body worth of being tasked with the future of this sport, I'd think this series could be a turning point for the format. Sadly, I think the ICC, BCCI and ECB will probably care more about what Pepsi or McDonalds think, rather than us fans of the sport.

But hey well, moaning wasnt the point of this post. The point was to celebrate an excellent series, one that has me excited to turn it on at midday or for the next test. So thanks to both teams for a great series.

Amen to all that - well not so much the moaning bit But totally agree it has been a fascinating Test series , despite the less than ideal pitches it has been mostly played on. Whatever happens today ( hopefully not an anti-climax fold up !) I think it will have a satisfactory end. If England chase it down it will be a fine achievement well deserving of a 3-1 win ; and if India prevail I reckon they've earned a 2-2 draw.

A pity five match series are so rare but economics rule...

[alfie]

And not game to predict anything ; but India obviously in a far stronger position. If the pitch remains at least as good for batting as it was yesterday , then England do have a chance . India also have only three seamers so a long partnership or two could sap their menace ; but the early part of the day is going to put a lot of pressure on the batsmen. Siraj seems indestructible and I wouldn't put it past him to be the wrecker. Isn't it weird how India have so much more success when Bumrah doesn't play ?

Be a good time for a Pope special on his home ground.

[sussexpob]

And not game to predict anything ; but India obviously in a far stronger position. If the pitch remains at least as good for batting as it was yesterday , then England do have a chance . India also have only three seamers so a long partnership or two could sap their menace ; but the early part of the day is going to put a lot of pressure on the batsmen. Siraj seems indestructible and I wouldn't put it past him to be the wrecker. Isn't it weird how India have so much more success when Bumrah doesn't play ?

Be a good time for a Pope special on his home ground.

One of the weird outliers for England's big chases of recent times is, Pope's record in 4th innings is absolutely terrible. They need a contribution from that 3-5 slot. England chance in this game is to push India in a position they have to get defensive, or start to get jittery, and only contributions at the top is going to do that.

The pitch was tamer in seam/swing yesterday, but its expected to be a gloomy, gray day in London, and as soon as the clouds have come the ball has moved. And if Akash Deep especially can get anywhere near the wild bounce he extracted yesterday evening, its going to be tough. But as I said, we shall see. If England can get 75 without losing a wicket, India might start to get flashbacks of Leeds, and might start to adapt how they play.

The prediction had England around 20% - probably fair. Its Indias to lose, certainly

[Durhamfootman]

I understand that England were guilty of 6 drops in the last innings. Not necessarily dollies, but all very catchable. That is what has put India in such a strong position in this test, I would suggest

Couple that with the catastrophic early drops of India batters who went on to make hundreds to save the last test and what could easily have been a crushing 4-1 series win might end up being a 2-2 draw. For all the talk about batters and bowlers and who should have played and who shouldn't, all England really needed to do was cling on to a few of those catches. There will always be dropped catches, but 6 in one innings feels profligate to me, especially when you're down to just 3 front line bowlers

catches don't just win matches, they win series