10 h. ago England’s top order toppled as India’s bowlers turn up the heat at Lord’s

The tourists produced a scintillating session to leave England 98 for four at lunch following a tied first innings.

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28 h. ago Stokes conjures England magic to halt India and put third Test on knife

Third Test D3: England 387 & 2-0; India 387England bat out one over after bowling India outIt has been a tough old series for England’s bowlers. As well as wrestling with docile pitches and doughy Dukes balls in a lengthy heatwave, they have come up against an India batting lineup that is rich with talent and seriously gutsy with it. The upshot has been perspiration outstripping inspiration by some margin.Not that those two elements are mutually exclusive and in Ben Stokes, England have a cricketer who thrives on delivering both. On the third day of this pivotal third Test, as India were bowled out for 387, the scores dead level on first innings, and the hosts were thankful for their captain’s ability to conjure something from nothing. At stumps, closing on two for no loss, his side were just about back in the box seat because of it. Continue reading...

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52 h. ago Archer and Bumrah make batters sweat as England and India toil on day two at Lord’s

Third Test, day two: England 387; India 145-3Archer takes wicket with third ball of comebackThe over rate was glacial and the heat oppressive yet every spectator at Lord’s was still transfixed. Nothing stirs the senses quite like high-quality pace bowling and here that old saying held true, be it the latest five-wicket display of Jasprit Bumrah’s utter mastery or Jofra Archer striking third ball on his Test comeback.Archer first, and a moment that will live long in the memory for both the player and his supporters in the stands. As India closed on 145 for three in reply to England’s 387 all out, his figures read one for 22 from 10 overs. And yet that solitary wicket, one that stopped everyone in their tracks, was unquestionably the moment of the day. Continue reading...

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5 d. ago Jofra Archer: Brendon McCullum confirms 'buzzing' bowler in England selection frame for third India Test

Surrey pace bowler has not played at Test level for four years

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9 d. ago Hothouse kid Jamie Smith starts as he goes on and changes Test in 20 minutes | Andy Bull

England’s keeper came in on a hat-trick, hit his first ball for four and never stopped battering India’s bowlersIt started in the worst possible way. By the second over of the day England were 84 for five, five hundred runs and a thousand miles behind. Their best batter, Joe Root had just been caught off the ninth ball of the morning, and their captain, Ben Stokes, who has worked so many miracles for them before, had been caught off the 10th, done by a wicked, lifting delivery, nasty, brutish and short, which brushed off his glove on its way through to the keeper.The bowler, Mohammad Siraj, was on a hat-trick, and here comes England’s No 7, Jamie Smith, 24 years old, playing his 19th Test innings. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Shubman Gill digs in to steady India and hold off England’s battling bowlers

Second Test, day one: India 310-5 v EnglandGill adds second century of series as tourists rack up runsAt the end of a sluggish first day in which just 85 overs were sent down, both sides could feel happier than the slightly short-changed punters.India? They had been stuck in and responded with 310 for five courtesy of Shubman Gill’s second century of the series. England? Well, they never get too hung up by the runs column and, after last week’s win at Headingley, no one was claiming to be staggered at Ben Stokes bowling first. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Shubman Gill digs in for a ton to steady India and hold off England’s battling bowlers

Second Test, day one: India 310-5 v EnglandGill adds second century of series as tourists rack up runsAt the end of a hard-fought opening day in which just 85 overs were bowled, both sides were happier than some of the punters heard growling about the delays on the way out.India? They had been stuck in and reached 310 for five by stumps courtesy of Shubman Gill’s second century of the series. England? They never get too hung up about the runs column and after a victory at Headingley that saw them claim just three wickets on day one, no one could claim to be staggered by Ben Stokes opting to bowl first. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago England vs India: Jasprit Bumrah left out as second Test begins at Edgbaston

India have confirmed that the fast-bowler will appear in no more than three of the five tests

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1 week ago Mystery swirls around Bumrah as unchanged England overlook Archer for second Test

India yet to decide if fast bowler will play at EdgbastonMoeen Ali joins England backroom staff for the matchOne of the many delights of leafy south Birmingham is when an international cricket team is in town and residents stumble across them training on the Colts Ground at Edgbaston. Folks could be heading for a stroll in Cannon Hill Park, or their weekly shop at Aldi, only to suddenly find themselves watching Jasprit Bumrah let fly.The fences at the Colts Ground have now been hastily covered up with tarpaulins after some passing numpties apparently decided to hurl some abuse at the players over the weekend. Those who did watch India train on Monday were not much the wiser as regards the main question: whether, despite being 1-0 down, the tourists will pick Bumrah for the second Test that starts on Wednesday. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago The Spin | One in a 13 trillion chance: why six sixes in a Test over may never happen

Stuart Broad suffered and Herschelle Gibbs enjoyed himself in a World Cup but no one has come close in TestsSix, six, six, six, six, six. The perfect over for a batter but for a bowler a double dose of the devil’s number and the ultimate humiliation. “My brain had turned to fuzz,” says Stuart Broad of 19 September 2007 when Yuvraj Singh took him for 36 runs at Kingsmead in Durban. England had already crashed out of the inaugural T20 World Cup and a 21-year-old Broad suffered a colossal prang to his pride, the events of that night for ever changing him as a bowler.England’s match against India was the second in a double-header. The game before ran over and cut into the preparation time for the second. “I marked my run-up at the end I was starting from, but either forgot or didn’t have time to mark it at the other end. I’d also never really done any death bowling. I think maybe Colly [Paul Collingwood, the England T20 captain] had messed up the overs and he was like: ‘You are back on ...

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2 w. ago Josh Tongue’s heroics sets up thrilling finale to Headingley test

The seam bowler swept up India’s tail leaving England needing a further 350 runs for victory

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3 w. ago Pope resists Bumrah to lift England after bowlers claw control away from India

First Test, day two: India 471 v England 209-3Pope unbeaten on 100 but Root falls late to BumrahA day on from that much-debated decision to bowl first by Ben Stokes and the clouds had started to lift for England. The hosts were still some way from flipping the advantage they had handed India but by stumps, after an earlier fightback with the ball, Ollie Pope’s unbeaten 100 had established something akin to a foothold in the contest.Pope came into this Test with questions being asked about his spot at No 3; questions that centred around a poor record against India and Australia and not quelled by that 171 against Zimbabwe. Jacob Bethell, flavour of the month in New Zealand late last year, was breathing down his neck, even if potential, rather than back catalogue, was the driver. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago James Anderson and Stuart Broad assess England seamers ahead of ‘era

After the retirements of their two highest Test wicket-takers, England head into 10 crucial matches against India and Australia with a new-look stock of pace bowlers

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