England v India Test Series

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Just got underway at Edgbaston. England 28-1, Cook out for 13, spin strikes again.

[JeMeSouviens]

Pretty evenly poised at 148/3, Root the only batsman to get 50 so far, Jennings fell just short on 48.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Yup, 168/3 just after tea. Very evenly balanced.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

243-7, what a mess!

[lord bunberry]

243-7, what a mess!
Bang on target from England though. They’ve averaged 280 in the first innings for a good while now. Considering how long the batting line up is it’s woeful. The fact that India have had precious little practice leading up to this test might go in England’s favour, but that’s the only hope they’ve got imo.

[lord bunberry]

It has to be said though, watching India is poetry in motion in cricketing terms, beautiful.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Im not sure they had to be that good, ably assisted by Englands slopiness.

[Off the bar]

287 all out, a long way short of what they were looking at when they were 216-3.

I'm heading along tomorrow and Saturday so hoping India can bat all day and into tomorrow, a lead of anything over 70 runs would be pretty daunting for this England side.

[JeMeSouviens]

India were cruising at 50/0 but then lost 3 quick wickets to Sam Curran. Lunch at 76/3, probably back to just about eeksy-peeksy?

[lord bunberry]

Im not sure they had to be that good, ably assisted by Englands slopiness.
They’ve certainly not been that good this morning

[Off the bar]

100-5 England well on top now.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

They’ve certainly not been that good this morning

Sitting outside the AGB so will watch the highlights through Strongbow glazed eyes when I get home much later on! Hic! :-)

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

England in all sorts again, 85-5.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

86-6

[lord bunberry]

Curran is fighting back 48 not out England 160/8 173 ahead. If they can get that over 200 they still have a chance.

[JeMeSouviens]

Curran is fighting back 48 not out England 160/8 173 ahead. If they can get that over 200 they still have a chance.

Brave effort from Curran. Run chase target 194. India 2 down already, 22/2. Could be a nailbiter!

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

India now 94-5, interesting stuff.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

141-8, England look like sneaking this, great entertainment.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

154-9

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

England win by 31 runs.

[lord bunberry]

England win by 31 runs.
That was brilliant stuff at the end there.

[heretoday]

That Stokes sounds like a bit of a "type".

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

India 15-3 in a rain interupted 2nd days play.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

India 62-6

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

107 All Out, excellent bowling and a few missed catches meant it could've been worse for the visitors.

[Mibbes Aye]

Well done Chris Woakes, I've got a lot of time for him as a player.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

I wonder if England will even need to bat again to win this?

[lord bunberry]

England on the brink now. They’ve done well to keep it going to a fifth day, but surely it’s a matter of time now. It’s game on in the series now, the last game at the oval will be the decider I think.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Jennings out without scoring within 10mins of play in the 4th Test.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Root gone too, 21-2

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

40-4, what a mess again.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

England have dragged themselves towards 250 which seemed unlikely at lunch.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Collapse from India from nowhere 195-8.

[Mibbes Aye]

Collapse from India from nowhere 195-8.

Missed the live action because of work but it feels nicely poised after day two.

No chance of a draw surely, so I would have to give the edge to India. Not so much because of the narrow first-innings lead though.

The Indian seamers have been growing stronger throughout this tour and England's top to middle order are not dealing with them.

England's seamers had to work harder and essentially, England's position is down to Moeen sparkling in amongst the Indian middle to lower order.

While he will have the chance to bowl at India again on a fourth innings pitch, the surface doesn't actually look too bad and it's difficult to imagine an Indian team dealing as poorly with decent, but not world-class spin as they did first time round.

Add to that Kohli may feel he has a point to prove.......

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

According to the commentators 4th innings scores at Soton are consistently low so England might still have a chance to sneak it.

[Mibbes Aye]

According to the commentators 4th innings scores at Soton are consistently low so England might still have a chance to sneak it.

Game on :agree:

[lord bunberry]

Game on :agree:
It certainly is.

[Mibbes Aye]

It certainly is.

England did well to push it on.

The issue for the selectors is that they have found themselves depending on Buttler and Curran for runs and the seamers are ageing and not producing the wickets. Big changes needed.

India need to close things off quickly tomorrow. It will be a tough ask after that to get the runs. But then they've got Kohli, let alone Punjara et al.

Funny series, England could quite easily seal it 3-1 but you've got to feel that India are on the ascendant and England are needing major surgery. This England side can win games at home but would be annihilated on tour in India or Australia.

Two openers, a resolution to three given that Root isn't willing to go there, some certainty about the keeping, replacement openers for Broad and Anderson and some sense of who they want as a spinner. That's all England need.

[Mibbes Aye]

The expression '...delicately poised' must have been coined for Test match cricket. This is sumptious.

[lord bunberry]

Ended up being a bit more comfortable for England than looked likely at tea.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Just watched the highlights, fine Test Match cricket.

[lord bunberry]

Cook has announced his retirement after the final test. That leaves England struggling to find two opening batsman now. He’s not been in brilliant form lately, but it goes to show how much England are struggling for opening batsman that his place has never been under threat.

[Mibbes Aye]

Cook has announced his retirement after the final test. That leaves England struggling to find two opening batsman now. He’s not been in brilliant form lately, but it goes to show how much England are struggling for opening batsman that his place has never been under threat.

:agree:

Cook has had an outstanding career, and he deserves all the plaudits going.

England are a mess at opening bat. Jennings was likely to be dropped anyway which means they are scrambling to find two openers and a number three. I’m not convinced it’s Moeen.

[lord bunberry]

:agree:

Cook has had an outstanding career, and he deserves all the plaudits going.

England are a mess at opening bat. Jennings was likely to be dropped anyway which means they are scrambling to find two openers and a number three. I’m not convinced it’s Moeen.
Bairstow should bat at 3 and give up the gloves to Butler imo. That still leaves the problem of finding two opening batsmen. Obviously it’s made more complicated by the fact that they’ll be trying out different players in overseas tests. I think they’ll now be forced to stick with Jennings and one other new batsman.
I think one thing has become clear over the last few years is that being an opening batsman is the toughest job in cricket.

[Mibbes Aye]

Bairstow should bat at 3 and give up the gloves to Butler imo. That still leaves the problem of finding two opening batsmen. Obviously it’s made more complicated by the fact that they’ll be trying out different players in overseas tests. I think they’ll now be forced to stick with Jennings and one other new batsman.
I think one thing has become clear over the last few years is that being an opening batsman is the toughest job in cricket.

I disagree in that I think Root should take responsibility and bat at three, Bairstow goes at four.

Curran will move up the order, without a doubt.

Completely agree with you, opening bat is tough at this level. I don’t think Jennings will be kept, but we shall see,

[lord bunberry]

I disagree in that I think Root should take responsibility and bat at three, Bairstow goes at four.

Curran will move up the order, without a doubt.

Completely agree with you, opening bat is tough at this level. I don’t think Jennings will be kept, but we shall see,
Having listened to Root being interviewed I think he’s determined to bat at four, whether that means Bairstow moves to three I’m not sure as he also prefers to bat lower down the order. Root made a point of mentioning that Ali bats at three for his county, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him moved up.

[lord bunberry]

England have collapsed from 133/1 to 181/7 they’ll be lucky to bat the day out.

[weecounty hibby]

I'm playing today for the first time in probably about 22 years. 150th anniversary of Clackmannan County Cricket Club, old boys v current 1st XI. I fancy our chances!

[lord bunberry]

Cracking day so far. Great innings from Cook and Root. India now 2/3 Kohli out for a duck in their reply.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Just watched the highlights of the 4th days play, some days in sport are just special, Cook, Root, Anderson & Broad, just magic. Special word for umpire Dharmasena, he doesnae get much wrong.

[Mibbes Aye]

I'm playing today for the first time in probably about 22 years. 150th anniversary of Clackmannan County Cricket Club, old boys v current 1st XI. I fancy our chances!

Hope it’s gone well.

[lord bunberry]

Could India win this? It would one of the biggest run chases ever I would’ve thought.

[JeMeSouviens]

Could India win this? It would one of the biggest run chases ever I would’ve thought.

It looked on as Rahul & Pant shared a 200+ stand, both making centuries. Rashid has removed both of them now and India seem to be trying to dig in for the draw. 22 overs to go, 3 wickets to get ...

[JeMeSouviens]

Anderson takes the last wicket to win the match and break Glenn McGrath's record for most wickets taken by a fast bowler!

[lord bunberry]

Anderson takes the last wicket to win the match and break Glenn McGrath's record for most wickets taken by a fast bowler!
I had to go to work and missed the final session, gutted. :greengrin