England v India 2025- Test Match Series

Well. it might me the best looking ground in this country but it's not the best cricket wicket. No pace in it whatsoever, edges not carrying to slips, & lack of boundaries tell the story. Unless Brook goes big in the 2nd innings Root should take the No.1 ranking back off Harry, this is the best batter in the world struggling to time the ball, constantly looking at the bottom of his bat as the ball kept missing the middle.
England could be in serious shit if Stokes discomfort persists & prevents him from playing a full part with the ball or worse still not at all.

(10-07-2025 09:07 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  England v India 3rd Test Lords Day 2 Close
Toss - England elected to bat
England 387 (12.3 overs) Root 104 Carse 56 Smith 51 Pope 44 Stokes 44 Bumrah 5-74 Reddy 2-62 Siraj 2-85
India 145-3 (143 overs) Rahul 53 no Nair 40

(11-07-2025 10:50 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(10-07-2025 09:07 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  England v India 3rd Test Lords Day 3 Close
Toss - England elected to bat
England 387 (112.3 overs) Root 104 Carse 56 Smith 51 Pope 44 Stokes 44 Bumrah 5-74 Reddy 2-62 Siraj 2-85
India 387 (119.2 overs) Rahul 100 Pant 74 Jadeja 72 Nair 40 Reddy 30 Washington 23 Woakes 3-84 Archer 2-52 Stokes 2-63
England 2-0 (1 over)

Quite laughable that Gill had a go at Crawley for time wasting after he got hit on the hand, when earlier in the match he was receiving a back massage. England pushed the limits last evening by being late coming out on the field & then Crawley pulled away when Bumrah was ready to bowl. They achieved their aim by only having to face one over, when 2 was comfortably achievable.
Strong umpires would put a stop to this messing about. If you really want or need a massage when the game is in progress, then get off the field & have it in the treatment room.

(13-07-2025 09:38 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  Quite laughable that Gill had a go at Crawley for time wasting after he got hit on the hand, when earlier in the match he was receiving a back massage. England pushed the limits last evening by being late coming out on the field & then Crawley pulled away when Bumrah was ready to bowl. They achieved their aim by only having to face one over, when 2 was comfortably achievable.
Strong umpires would put a stop to this messing about. If you really want or need a massage when the game is in progress, then get off the field & have it in the treatment room.

It did make me laugh last night at the Indian irritation. On Thursday they were bowling at 11 overs an hours for god's sake

(12-07-2025 11:04 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(11-07-2025 10:50 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(10-07-2025 09:07 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  England v India 3rd Test Lords Day 4 Close
Toss - England elected to bat
England 387 (112.3 overs) Root 104 Carse 56 Smith 51 Pope 44 Stokes 44 Bumrah 5-74 Reddy 2-62 Siraj 2-85
India 387 (119.2 overs) Rahul 100 Pant 74 Jadeja 72 Nair 40 Reddy 30 Washington 23 Woakes 3-84 Archer 2-52 Stokes 2-63
England 192 (62.1 overs) Root 40 Brook 23 Crawley 22 Stokes 32 Crawley 22 Siraj 2-31 Washington 4-21 Bubrah 2-38
India 58-4 (17.4 overs) Rahul 33 no Carse 2-11
Target 193

(13-07-2025 11:04 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(12-07-2025 11:04 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(11-07-2025 10:50 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(10-07-2025 09:07 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  England v India 3rd Test Lords Day 5 Tea
Toss - England elected to bat
England 387 (112.3 overs) Root 104 Carse 56 Smith 51 Pope 44 Stokes 44 Bumrah 5-74 Reddy 2-62 Siraj 2-85
India 387 (119.2 overs) Rahul 100 Pant 74 Jadeja 72 Nair 40 Reddy 30 Washington 23 Woakes 3-84 Archer 2-52 Stokes 2-63
England 192 (62.1 overs) Root 40 Brook 23 Crawley 22 Stokes 32 Crawley 22 Siraj 2-31 Washington 4-21 Bumrah 2-38
India 170 (74.5 overs) Jadeja 61 no Rahul 39 Archer 3-55 Carse 2-30 Stokes 3-48
England won by 22 runs
Target 193

Ben Stokes - take a bow son.
Take a bow.

An utterly compelling slow-burner of a Test Match & as in the 1st Test at Headingley, one that India had no right to lose. Stokes was a colossus, he grafted for his runs on a wicket that was tough to time the ball & bowled at key times picking up wickets & yet another monster spell drawing on all his reserves, he completely emptied the tank. What set him apart is his captaincy, never letting the game drift urging his team on & giving them the odd bollocking here & there when the fielding standards falls below the high levels that he sets himself, highlighted by the instinctive & crucial run out in India's 1st innings, when Rahul & Pant were compiling a 141 run partnership that was setting their team up to go well past England total. Instinctive sums up his captaincy style in a world on stats|& analyst it is refreshing to see someone back their own gut instinct. It happens far too often for it to be a fluke, it is a gift, yet obviously coupled with all his experience & knowledge of the game.

Any win in cricket over India these days is good, but what a match! I think my estimation of Stokes' captaincy has gone up - I know he's not in the Mike Brearley mould but I think he must have wondered if he had done enough and I would it would have been a better win if we had set a target that enabled us to bowl them out with a few runs in hand, but it is not often in Test Cricket that the scores are level after after the first innings.