England's Summer of Cricket 2021

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Siraj will have a couple of deliveries at Anderson. The lead is already a nice 25.

Lovely stuff from Jimmy. Completely outclassed Pujara over an eight-ball duel.

Great to see him pitching the ball up from the off - in previous opening spells in this series he's been a little too short of ideal. Here he's nailing it from the off.

Rather than opening his big mouth, Anderson is making the ball to do all the talking! And Indian batters aren't enjoying that one bit!

Duty281 wrote:Lovely stuff from Jimmy. Completely outclassed Pujara over an eight-ball duel.

Great to see him pitching the ball up from the off - in previous opening spells in this series he's been a little too short of ideal. Here he's nailing it from the off.

Was going to say Ali Martin just tweeted these are Anderson's first wickets with the new ball (first new ball in his first spell), this summer. Weird!

That was the tenth time Anderson's dismissed Pujara. Only Peter Siddle, with 11 dismissals, is a more frequent victim of Anderson's test bowling.

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/8608.html?class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=dis_dismissals;template=results;type=bowling;view=batsman_summary

Robinson not quite getting it right at the other end, but this is still a delightful start for the home side.

In 4 out of 5 innings, Rohit and Rahul played the percentages better, tried putting their heads down in the first hour. They succeeded in 3 out of 4 attempts. But here, Rahul went for a big drive early on, and edged behind.
Cheteshwar Pujara has been very unsure against Anderson in 4 out of 5 innings. And rather unsurprisingly, he yet again fell to Anderson...
How would Rohit, and particularly Kohli play it from here? Hope Rohit will bring common sense to his shot selection, and Kohli would avoid those nothing pokes that wouldn't bring him any runs, but has serious chances of edging behind.

Duty281 wrote:

I think England would have won the first test had it reached a natural conclusion, but weather denied them. England controlled the second test through days two-four, then it was a horror show. They should be 2-0 up. They've played the better cricket, overall in this series,

Yeah true.....As True as the Fact that I would have captained Eng Cricket team too & missed narrowly:shock:

Had my father taken a job with Cadbury Schwepps that Cadbury almost offered him in 1970s
& Had he worked for Cadbury they would have relocated him to Eng as they do 1 in 10,000 employees
and then the rest would have been history, given my spin bowling allrounder skills

Jimmy having a great start to the day. Kind of wish he had a Broad or a Woakes at the other end as backup ; but to be fair to Robinson he's been pretty good too so far. The issue for England after this excellent start may be the change bowlers. Wouldn't mind seeing Curran quite early so he gets the best of the swinging conditions ...

alfie wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:I feared this - Shane Warne has joined up with the Sky team after his Hundred coaching gig. Pain on the ears incoming

If someone in the box has a "mute" switch they could use when he starts to run off at the mouth he'd be OK as he has some excellent insights at times. Trouble is he has a compulsion to fill any split second of silence with talk - even when he has nothing to say.

Real nightmare would be him and KP in tandem .

Heard Darren Sammy and KP in tandem during a Hundred game - that was like two pub bores at their loudest and very worst!

KP_fan wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

I think England would have won the first test had it reached a natural conclusion, but weather denied them. England controlled the second test through days two-four, then it was a horror show. They should be 2-0 up. They've played the better cricket, overall in this series,

Yeah true.....As True as the Fact that I would have captained Eng Cricket team too & missed narrowly:shock:

Had my father taken a job with Cadbury Schwepps that Cadbury almost offered him in 1970s
& Had he worked for Cadbury they would have relocated him to Eng as  they do 1 in 10,000 employees
and then the rest would have been history, given my spin bowling allrounder skills

Epic!!!!

Anderson continues to move the ball, and Rohit and Kohli not entirely in control. Anderson would do well to test Rohit with a short one. He wouldn't see it coming from Anderson, and he thinks that the short ball is there for him to hit, every damn time...

An early go for Sam Curran, taking over from Oliver Robinson. Robinson hasn't quite been there, so not a bad move. Sam would like the conditions here...

Time for Sam Curran, presumably first change because Kohli's there.

Big test match for Curran - he's likely out of the team when Woakes returns, unless he delivers a top performance here, and may find it a struggle to get back in.

That's a good first over from Sam. He does seem the weakest in this England bowling lineup, but he's a cricketer with that spark about him, and I like him. Wouldn't begrudge a good performance from him, so long as he only irritates and do not alter the match direction away from India.

Promising first over from Sam.

Have to say I do admire the way Rohit has reined in his natural instincts on this tour to combat the conditions that Indian bats have often struggled with in the past. Here again he is soaking up the pressure from Anderson .

But Kohli isn't Jimmy again... 21/3

Ah well! Anderson does for Kohli, yet again! India in deep deep trouble at 21-3. Makings of a massive disaster.

Haha, Kohli goes to Anderson. Absolute poetry. Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind, Kohli.

Good assist by Warne on commentary, saying that he thought Kohli would make a big score today.

Anderson benefiting from a fuller length, but another bad shot from Kohli. At this rate, his tour could end up being worse than that of 2014, his lowest career point so far. He averaged 13 then, now going just under 14 so far in the series, in complete contrast to Joe Root.

Reckoned England would have batted first so Root must be feeling the landing of the coin did his side a big favour.

Pakistan, though, were worse off than this and won in the Windies so it's still early days yet.

Ajinkya Rahane had inherited the Crisis Man duties from VVS Laxman. He needs to stick to that role here, India has everything at stake... Rahane, despite the 61 last test, isn't in great touch. After him its only Rishabh and Jadeja, and of course Jasprit Tendulkar and Brian Shami!

Great hour for England, and a terrible one for India. Real test for India, their mental strength, as much as batting quality and depth in serious examination...
Pathetic overrate to start the test match though.

Rahane looking a bit twitchy out there in the middle. No relief in sight for India as Anderson on with his 8th over of the morning!

Jimmy into his eighth now...

I guess it is hard to get the ball off him at present ; but Root will have to make sure he doesn't expend all his energy in one spell. At some point we will have to see if Overton can play his part in this attack. Has been a dream start for England but I reckon batting will be a lot easier after lunch so they'll be hoping for at least one more scalp before the break.
I like the lines Sam Curran is bowling at present.

Moeen the 2nd change. A bit surprising... No 2nd spell for Robinson, no Overton...

Sam's bowling really well here! He's looking dangerous! All the more surprising that Root went to Moeen and not Overton, who seemingly was picked, keeping in mind the conditions!

Strange move to bring Moeen on with the ball moving so well for the pace men ? Not sure what Root is thinking here...

Tidy enough over but I fancy the batsmen were happy to face that for a change from Anderson.

Curran giving Rahane some trouble : looking distinctly tentative at present.

Just noticed that it is the debut men's test for Umpire Alex Wharf. Remember him playing a few ODIs against India way back...

Sam's the kind of cricketer who would get on a roll once he gets going. India did well to keep him quiet throughout the series. They would do well to keep him the same, else what Anderson started, he's likely to complete.

Not really understanding the move to bowl Moeen this early on, with the ball doing plenty for the seamers and two right-handers at the crease.

Some easy singles await for India.

Well, it wasn't just an exploratory over Moeen, he's bedding down for a proper spell. Perhaps, the poor overrates may have something to do with it?

So here's Overton, at last...

Belatedly Overton's now on. Had a wonderful FC season so we'll see if he can back that up in the test arena and ignite his international career.

Curran bowled a decent spell, but no reward. Them's the breaks sometimes.

What is the usual average speed range of Overton? Seems more medium fast rather than fast-medium?

Yeah, he's a 78-83 MPH type bowler who's very similar to Robinson, there's not much extra pace coming from him.

Already 14 extras. And as of now, they've top-scored for India!

The number of no-balls is absolutely stupid in test cricket these days. Time to up the penalty to two runs.

Duty281 wrote:Yeah, he's a 78-83 MPH type bowler who's very similar to Robinson, there's not much extra pace coming from him.

Would have been fun to have Mahmood around. Don't know about his long-format credentials, but seemed more skillful than Mark Wood in limited overs.

Duty281 wrote:The number of no-balls is absolutely stupid in test cricket these days. Time to up the penalty to two runs.

No more than there's ever been, they're just being picked up on nowadays. One run and an extra delivery is ample.

Duty281 wrote:The number of no-balls is absolutely stupid in test cricket these days. Time to up the penalty to two runs.

To hand the responsibility of calling no-balls to the third umpire has also helped in getting them actually called. But yes, this is not right. And when spinners bowl no-balls, it is just absolutely irritating!

Rahane out now on the stroke of lunch


England's session by a mile.

Oh my! What have you done, Rahane? Poor shot! Dreadful time to lose a wicket! After that dreadful start!

Has he nicked it?

Yes, Nasser, pretty big one. Good, nagging accuracy from Robinson in his second spell, gets the reward.

Very strong session from England, first time they've started well this series and they're just two away from the tail. Need to maintain that intensity and keep India below 200.

An excellent first session for England, despite Rohit's blockade. Expecting a counter attack from Pant/Jadeja after lunch!

Thought everyone bowled nicely there. Curran unlucky not to take an edge in his most threatening spell of the series so far...and maybe slightly concerningly for England, some turn already for Moeen!

Rohit has once again been excellent and played the situation perfectly. Unlike Kohli, Rahane and Rahul. England never tested his ego with a couple of short ones though. Probably, they thought Rohit, who generally is a good player of the short ball, wouldn't be too bothered with the kind of pace that the England attack generates. Robinson, and probably Anderson, who both can get up to the high 80s at times, should have given it a try a couple of times I guess.
Rishabh time after lunch, India's fortunes would depend on how long does it last...

Missed the last half hour of session one...but I see Robinson gave England a good finish to the second hour...

56/4 is about as good a session the home team might have hoped for.

Pant looks as if he wants to take a bit of initiative from the start after lunch. Could be an interesting half hour coming up. How did Overton bowl before lunch ?

Thought Overton was no better than OK. He looks very gentle.

Robinson bowling beautifully to Pant at the moment, surprised there's no Anderson at the other end.

Pant gone ! Robinson strikes again... Poor shot , to be honest.

Buttler must have magnets in his gloves today

My unpopular opinion of the day, Rishabh Pant is a horrible batsman to watch. I don't see the enjoyment in seeing someone just wildly throwing their bat at everything.

Robinson deserves that. A nothing effort from Pant and five catches for Buttler!

This is the horror show with the bat from India that was always on the cards.

Now, Root, please don't let them off the hook again.

Overton seems to be doing a decent control job at least. No great pace but he's keeping the batsmen honest : generally on that line just outside off with the odd full ball to try and sneak through... And importantly no freebies to ease the pressure

I know it didn't pan out that way last week - but you'd think one more wicket now exposes a long tail...

I feel like we should probably stop calling it a long tail until England actually run through it