India tour of Eng, June 20 - Aug 4

[Arthur Crabtree]

I'll go mid-range. India to lead by 100.

[sussexpob]

India take the new ball, and Deep strikes straight away..... key partnership now. If England can get to Carse, Bashir and Tongue before the ball goes soft and Woakes gets in, then they have a chance at a big lead. If they don't, we could see England pass 500-550

Well they got into the underbelly with the new ball, and the tail is being exposed.

Unless Smith can get 5-6 overs in incredible hulk mode, this lead is still absolutely massive. Assuming India can get the next wicket before 150 deficit/5 overs, they could be close to a 200 lead tonight....

I'd be looking at 550 lead + 5 clear sessions as India.....

[sussexpob]

Well Siraj ends it. Brilliant spells of bowling with the new balls see him with 6-70, which on this pitch feels like a sterling effort. 20 overs remain, 180 lead. India could be 250 ahead at the close assuming they get the overs in. Bat with a little urgency tomorrow morning, try to get say 130..... explode in the afternoon...

I said 5 clear sessions, I meant 4... dont expect India to score 300 in 50 overs

[Durhamfootman]

6 blobs and a 5 in a score of 400

[Durhamfootman]

There’s a few there not pulling their weight

[sussexpob]

6 blobs and a 5 in a score of 400

Yeah, but you can add 1000 style points to Zak Crawley's total. Fished outside of offstump for the 1234 time in his career, but he did give us three of those glorious straight drives before he failed....

[Arthur Crabtree]

I'd be looking at 550 lead + 5 clear sessions as India.....

Yes, clear record breaking territory. But India might want a few more...

[Arthur Crabtree]

Third innings when the side batting first has a big lead is always a sleep zone.

[Durhamfootman]

India off like a train. Showing some intent.

Having seen England chase 370 with ease, what target would make Gill feel comfy? I suppose there is a danger they set a target too big for India to lose, but with too little time to win, if England don’t gift wrap it for them

[mikesiva]

England 407 all out

Smith 184
Brook 158

Siraj 6-70
Deep 4-88

[sussexpob]

I'd be looking at 550 lead + 5 clear sessions as India.....

Yes, clear record breaking territory. But India might want a few more...

England are unlikely to chase anything 400-450 on day 5 even on a flat deck, but their ability to score quickly makes me add 50, and scoreboard pressure adds 50.

Something about a huge target or lead that gets in players minds....look at the first 20 overs yesterday. That don't happen if India scored 300

[meninblue]

I am surprised Kuldeep Yadav is not a part of second test 11. They have included Washington Sundar, who unlike Kuldeep is not a specialist spinner. In fact Kuldeep has more variety and skills in spin and Jaddu has always been ineffective when wickets do not offer spin because all he has to offer in such situations is very few variations which makes him predicatable. Kudleep, whereas, is skilled and brings lot to table on wickets in England, NZ, SA, Aus etc. Shardul Thakur in first test and now Nitish Reddy in second making 11 because they can score runs. Picking Jaddu because he can bat and field and then picking Washignton Sundar because he can offer some overs to rest the pacers and play handy innings with the bat tells the whole story about the faith Indian think tank has in the batting lineup.

Though the wicket is flat , very batting friendly, I expect that the run scoring from India barring Rishabh will be at slow strike rate. India will bat very cautiously and consume a lot of overs if the batsmen survive. Although Bazball fails in India, the probability is that it will work well on this flat wicket. Even the wonderful first innings lead of 180 does not gurantees anything on this surface.

[sussexpob]

Every time India needs to push on in this series, it's Karun Nair trying to save his test career at the crease batting in slow mo

[sussexpob]

Brydon puts him out his misery

[Arthur Crabtree]

Maybe time to have a look at Bashir.