England in India

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Comments

  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    edited January 28
    Pope gets a life on 186 when he offers a low chance to a wide-ish 1st slip off Siraj. England's lead has stretched beyond 200 at 396-7.

    Wood and Leach to come, although Leach injured himself in the field yesterday and has a strapped and swollen leg which could well affect his mobility.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    Hartley goes for 34, breaking a partnership that added 80. England are 419-8, a lead of 229.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    Wood goes for a duck, England on 420-9, a lead of 230, with Pope on 196 relying on a limping Leach to help see him to a double ton.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    edited January 28
    Pope goes for 196 next ball, England all out for 420, a lead of 230.

    A fantastic effort to post a target for India to chase, but, a few balls apart, the pitch hasn't done too much so far, as evidenced by going from 163-5 to 419-7 before Hartley's departure.

    Our cause isn't helped by two of our mainline bowlers having only 1 cap between them before this match, and Leach quite possibly being hampered by his injured knee.

    Normally chasing 231 in the 4th innings in India would be a huge ask, but I'd think India will still be favourites as things stand.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    No Leach as we took the field, Root opened the bowling at one end, and Mark Wood at the other.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    A chance in Wood's first over, Crawley too slow to get down to a tough chance low down.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    Surprisingly, despite creating that chance, Wood was only given one over.

    Hartley gets one to turn very sharply and we send an LBW shout upstairs, but it's turned too much and we've burned a review early on again.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    We make a breakthrough, India 42-1 with Pope taking a smart catch at short leg off Hartley's bowling.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    edited January 28
    One brings two, Pope with another close catch off Hartley, this one on the off side at silly mid off (maybe?). 42-2, 2 wickets in the over.

    Leach being tried from the other end, I didn't realise he was even on the pitch tbh.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    In other cricket news, Australia collapse from 171-6 to 207 all out to lose by just 8 run to the West Indies, who, let's not forget, were 64-5 in their first innings.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    Hartley with his third, India 63-3. India burn a review as well.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    edited January 28
    Rehan comes on for his first over of the day, and goes for 13. Not what the doctor ordered.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    95-3 at tea. We really could do with a wicket or two straight after the interval.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    First over after tea, and Hartley gets another, caught and bowled. India 95-4, Hartley has 4-31.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    107-5 as Root gets one, LBW, and another burnt review for India.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    119-6, a run out thanks to a fantastic bit of fielding by Stokes.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    edited January 28
    119-7, Leach is brought back into the action and takes a wicket with just the second ball of his new spell. 2 batsmen on 0 at the crease.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    England burn another review, on a caught behind, but there was no bat involved; both teams have just one review left now.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    edited January 28
    Hartley gets his 5th, and we break what was looking to be a dangerous partnership. India are 176-8, needing just 55 for victory. Will this wicket be enough to allow the extra half an hour to see if a conclusion can be reached today? Or will Stokes want to rest his bowlers and take the heat out of the situation and come back tomorrow?
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    We get another half an hour, or 8 overs, whichever is sooner.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    edited January 28
    Hartley gets 6! A relatively easy stumping for Foakes as Hartley draws Ashwin down the pitch and then turns it past him. 177-9.
  • PrestonHammerPrestonHammer
    I hadn't watched any of the test until half hour after the 7th wicket went down. I stopped with 4 overs left in the day because I felt I was jinxing it. Pop on to the site to see India are 9 down. Don't worry, you can thank me later hahaha
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    Things getting tense now, India are 200-9, so need just 31 for victory.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    edited January 28
    One more over today I think.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    edited January 28
    And that's game over, England win by 28 runs. Hartley gets 7.
  • SlackerSlacker
    THAT’S why test cricket is far and away the best format.
    A fantastic test match that had just about everything. So so chuffed for Hartley , he must have been so down after that first innings battering and what superb captaincy to keep him going.
    Wonderful stuff.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    A superb performance over the last 2 days. First we took the final 3 of India's wickets for just 15 runs, then we managed a fantastic 2nd innings score of 420 including a brilliant 196 by Pope, and finally we managed to defend 230 thanks, in the main, to a 7 wicket haul by debutant Tom Hartley but including an amazing run out by captain Ben Stokes.
  • ValiantIronValiantIron
    What just happened?|
  • thornburyironthornburyiron
    Pope on his own wiped out India’s first innings lead.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    No surprise, but Leach is out of the second Test which starts in the early hours of Friday morning. Bashir has joined up with the party again after his visa issues, but a three pronged spin attack of him, Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley would boast only 3 caps between them.

    The BBC are suggesting that "the Visakhapatnam pitch could be better for batting" (than the pitch for the first Test), although we saw in 2021 that once India lost a Test the pitches were set up to be extremely receptive to spin and something tells me we're going to see the same thing here.

    We're lucky that, in the absense of any bowling from Stokes in this series, Root can more or less be called an all-rounder in the conditions we're facing in India; in the first Test, admittedly with Leach injured, he bowled the most overs in India's first innings, and the second most (behind Hartley) in the second innings.

    I know Hartley did very well in the second innings of the first Test, but India really went after him in the first innings. Rehan Ahmed didn't look particularly convincing either tbh, and Bashir is very inexperienced, having played just 6 first class matches.

    With a (relatively) decent pitch you'd think we'd play an extra fast bowler and pick one of Ahmed and Bashir along with Hartley, but, especially after losing the first Test, I can see India ensuring that the pitch will be far, far more suited to spin than pace. It will be interesting to see which way England go.
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