India in England Aug-Sep 2021 (& July 2022)

[mikesiva]

Pujara!

[alfie]

Rather a good day for India : some of the triumphant " game over" celebrations on day one might be a little muted now...

Obviously England still in a strong position with a new ball up first thing and India still 140 behind. One or two early strikes and things could wrap up quite quickly. But if the Indian bats continue their stubborn resistance and force the bowlers into very extended spells it might be hard work getting through the rest of the order. Anderson wasn't quite "on" yesterday and Root's reliance on him and the two tall seamers left the attack looking a bit one dimensional late in the day. Perhaps we will see a bit more of Moeen today ?

To actually present England with a serious target , India would need to push their score up to something over 500- so they are going to be under pressure for a long time however well they bat. But at least they've ensured they aren't going to be blown away in three days - and have put serious miles in the England bowlers legs as well ; might pay off in the next match.

Well done Pujara. Saved his place anyway...

[Arthur Crabtree]

There goes Pujara. Looks like England will bat again, which would be a good effort from India.

[bigfluffylemon]

Goodness, that happened quickly. 3 down went to 9 down in less than an hour.

There goes Jadeja and the match.

[bigfluffylemon]

All over. After such a good batting performance yesterday from India, a collapse from 2 down to all out in 18 overs. The last 7 wickets fell in 12 overs for 41 runs. And half of those came from Jadeja hitting out in a hopeless cause.

Series is alive. How England can go from day 5 at Lord's to this match performance is beyond me. But they played well, hats off.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Another 5-fer for Robinson. 23 wickets in 4 Tests at 17.7.

[Durhamfootman]

that was over quick. England now just have to work out how to play every single match at Headingley and they'll be certain of lifting the test championship in 3 years time.

Perhaps to do that they just need to employ the Leeds head groundsman to take charge of preparing every home venue pitch they play on and avoid going on tour as much as NZ do

[alfie]

Didn't take long in the end , did it ?

Not too surprised : we have seen teams before battle gamely for a long time in this almost hopeless situation of trailing by a huge margin on first innings - only to fold up quickly once the key batsmen are out. Really was some outstanding bowling from Robinson and Anderson with the new ball this morning and no surprise the batsmen struggled... and once the top five had gone the rest had no hope and played accordingly.

Ironic in that today was bright sunshine and fine for batting compared with yesterday's overcast skies and floodlight assisted somewhat dim light conditions - but they survived the one and succumbed in the other...

In truth it goes to show that if you get bowled out for 78 on day one you are likely headed for a heavy defeat : just a matter of when.

I don't believe in momentum - at least , not from match to match (can be a factor within a single match) so not reading too much into this for The Oval. New game ; blank slate.

But I am looking forward to it as this series has been a jolly good contest so far , with plenty of ebb and flow. More of the same please

[Arthur Crabtree]

Wood is fit for the next game. Could come in for Sam I suppose. Unless Anderson needs a break.

Woakes fit.

Buttler out last two Tests as partner having baby. Bairstow likely to keep.

Maybe Pope comes in?

[Durhamfootman]

Is Foakes still injured?

[Arthur Crabtree]

Joe Root (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Sam Billings (wk), Rory Burns, Sam Curran, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Squad for Thursday.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Is Foakes still injured?

He's not played since May so I guess so.

[bigfluffylemon]

Root leapfrogs Smith and Kane to top the ICC batting rankings. To be fair though, Smith hasn't played for months...

[Arthur Crabtree]

Test at the Oval today.

I'm guessing Woakes will come in for Sam.

Sounds like Pope will replace JB2.

[bigfluffylemon]

No Ashwin. Sharma dropped, Shami injured, so they bring in Yadav and Thakur.

Maybe I'll eat my words, but I can't believe they keep leaving out Ashwin. Isn't it the number one rule when playing England, even in English conditions - always bring your best spinner?

But Root opts to bowl first. I fear another Lord's.