LUNCH: ENGLAND 108/3 – Root and Bairstow have formed a 48-run partnership to keep England’s innings intact; both batsmen will look to add further runs while India bowlers attempt to cut into their lead.
Kuldeep Yadav has proven his worth for England in their batting lineup. Dhruv Jurel and Shubman Gill have also done well to add stability.
India vs England
India and England will clash for a 252nd time in Test, T20 or ODI cricket, the stakes are high. Both sides finished top two of their respective groups and a win will secure progress into the semi-finals for either team. Guyana should provide ideal conditions for spinners; India have the advantage here with Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav all being in excellent form; for England Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid have proven themselves during tournament play thus far.
As their respective teams take to the middle for their national anthems, a stadium filled with blue cheers in support of Rohit Sharma and Co.
Not just Indian fans are amped up about England’s semi-final against India. English supporters also seem very excited.
The pitch hasn’t deviated from its reputation of proving difficult for bat and ball to dominate, with dry conditions with some grass still present that make batting on an unforgiving surface a daunting challenge.
Rohit Sharma got off to a fast start to his innings. In just his first over, he hit two sixes and four fours before hitting an imperious six over long-on off his last ball of that over to put himself in control at 159/6 in 19 overs.
England are in trouble as they struggle to find any kind of rhythm against India’s spinners. Jos Buttler and Harry Brook have made starts but have been unable to capitalise. Axar Patel has been terrific with three wickets while Jasprit Bumrah continues his excellent spell.
India won the toss and elected to bat
India won the toss and chose to bat first in their second Test against England at Rajkot, making three changes from their initial team: Sarfraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel made their debuts, alongside pacer Khaleel Ahmed; Ravindra Jadeja also returned for more variety to their bowling attack.
Rohit Sharma completed his fifty in just 17 deliveries before being caught at first slip by Ollie Pope off Tom Hartley’s left-arm spin and the match became tied at 108-3 at lunch.
After the break, England’s batsmen struggled against India’s spinners. Root and Bairstow managed to put on a 48-run partnership in an attempt to keep their side competitive; however, India’s spinners eventually penetrated through their middle order and left England deep in debt.
England’s hopes of making an unlikely comeback were dashed when Ben Stokes was run out by Axar Patel. The Pakistan-born India all-rounder hit a bat-pad shot that caused Ben to be given out leg before wicket lbw; review of this decision proved inconclusive, so the umpire decided not to uphold it.
Ravindra Jadeja took his fifth wicket of the innings when Crawley was caught at short leg by Rahul for his fifth wicket of the innings and later Duckett was caught at second slip by Siraj to push the tourists down to 161-5 at the close.
England began their morning with more purpose than in previous sessions and were reduced to 194-7 at tea, although still 88 behind India. If not for Axar Patel’s attempt at cutting short delivery off Ravindra Jadeja being caught at first slip by Rohit, England may well have taken control into the final session and potentially won it all outright. Instead, their tail soon lost steam after succumbing to some misfortune at top-order level which eventually led to their wicket being dismissed in one over.
India won the toss and elected to bowl
India and England’s rivalry has long been one of the highlights of cricket history, drawing huge crowds worldwide to each match they compete in, whether Tests, ODIs or Twenty20s. Since first meeting each other for a Test match back in 1932 at Lord’s, their competition has only intensified; this match at Lord’s promises to be no different and promises an epic showdown between these teams!
India won the toss and elected to bat, and their choice has thus far proven fruitful. Unfortunately, however, as India’s innings progresses rapidly towards completion, their batsmen are having difficulty dealing with spinners Jack Leach is particularly penetrative, having struck both Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul with his googlies.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli appear to be in fine form; Rohit has scored an excellent century while Virat is on 91 runs at halfway stage. Additionally, Indian bowling looks impressive with Akash Deep and debutant Rajat Patidar both performing admirably.But despite India’s impressive start, they will likely fall short of England’s target set for them. Batsmen have found it difficult to face Ashwin’s spinners; even if they could make progress it wouldn’t come easily. Ashwin took another wicket by removing Crawley for 31 – his thick edge found its way onto Rohit who made no error when taking the catch at first slip – before Ollie Pope came in as replacement. If you want to know more about sports like: football, cricket, kabaddi, polo and many more just follow us: https://sportsbyte.co.uk/