England v India 2025- Test Match Series

England v India 1st Test Headingley Day 1 Close
Toss - England elected to field
India 359-3 (85 overs) Jaiswal 101 Rahul 42 Gill 127 no Pant 65 no Stokes 2-43

It looks like captaincy could be the making of Gill, who made an assured century, his Test career to date has been good but fallen short of what many expected given his obvious talent, Jaiswal on the other hand reeled off yet another accomplished century, despite suffering with cramp when he neared his milestone, thankfully for England he soon perished after lunch, generally he goes big once he's reached 3 figures.
The morning session had belonged to India before a double strike minutes away from lunch when Rahul played a lose shot giving Root an easy slip catch off the bowling of Carse. Stokes removed debutant Sudharsan with a diving legside catch from Smith which made his decision at the the toss look a little better. In truth it was the right call, there was some help for the seamers & some swing, the all struggled to find any consistency on length, often to full, but credit to India's batters who left the ball well. Stokes was the standout bowler, but had to settle for control later with defensive fields with the remainder of the pace attack going at around 4.5 an over. Bashir was allowed to bowl with economy but offered little threat as the batters preferred to milk easy singles with the occasional aggressive shots.
India have plenty of batting to come so England will be hoping that the 5 over old second new ball can provide some early wickets otherwise a long day in the heat beckons.

(20-06-2025 09:54 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  England v India 1st Test Headingley Day 2 Close
Toss - England elected to field
India 471 (113 overs) Gill 147 Pant 134 Jaiswal 101 Rahul 42 Stokes 4-66 Tongue 4-86
England 209-3 (49 overs) Duckett 62 Pope 100 no Root 28 Bumrah 2-48
Trail by 262 runs

At 430-3 England could've been looking at a deficit of 600 plus. The 2 set batters Gill & Pant were obviously looking to kick on & expand their shot making, but the overhead conditions also played a part with Stokes & Tongue finding some lateral movement.
England will be challenged by the skilful Bumrah the No.1 ranked Test Match bowler, & the combative Siraj who has 100 Test Match wickets now. Jadeja could pose a threat with the pace that he bowls at always attacking the stumps.

The late wicket of Root took the gloss off a great day for England, & it was almost compounded by a brainless shot from Brook in the last over of the day when he was given out playing a hook shot that he should have had nothing to do with, he got a lucky reprieve as the third umpire called a no ball, the third of an over that also included a rapid bouncer the end proceedings. Brook should expect more of the same today & needs to be switched on. A decisive spell from Bumrah could break the game open for India. A solid morning of batting and England could get close to parity.
Showers are expected around midday & some heavy this afternoon, a stop start day could disrupt England's flow.

(21-06-2025 12:11 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(20-06-2025 09:54 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  England v India 1st Test Headingley Day 3 Close
Toss - England elected to field
India 471 (113 overs) Gill 147 Pant 134 Jaiswal 101 Rahul 42 Stokes 4-66 Tongue 4-86
England 465 (100.4 overs) Duckett 62 Pope 106 Brook 99 Smith 40 Woakes 38 Bumrah 5-83 krishna 3-128 Siraj 2-122
India 90-2 (23.5 overs) Rahul 47 no Sudhasan 30
India lead by 96 runs

The first session of day 4 feels like a key one, but then when is it not. If India lose only one or 2 wickets, they should have the foundation to post somewhere in the region of 350. On the other hand if England take 3 or more wickets they would be in a strong position. A positive result seems most likely unless weather takes overs out of the game then a draw comes more into play.

(22-06-2025 11:18 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(21-06-2025 12:11 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(20-06-2025 09:54 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  England v India 1st Test Headingley Day 4 Close
Toss - England elected to field
India 471 (113 overs) Gill 147 Pant 134 Jaiswal 101 Rahul 42 Stokes 4-66 Tongue 4-86
England 465 (100.4 overs) Duckett 62 Pope 106 Brook 99 Smith 40 Woakes 38 Bumrah 5-83 krishna 3-128 Siraj 2-122
India 364 (96 overs) Rahul 137 Pant 118 Sudhasan 30 Jadeja 25 no Nair 20 Carse 2-80 Tongue 3-72 Bashir 2-90
England 21-0 (6 overs)
Target 371 runs

Been a rather good test match better than I was expecting just a pity the rain could be the party crasher unless someone steal it overnight

The local weather forecast suggests overcast conditions throughout the morning11am with 80-90% chance of light showers which would be enough to not start play. From 2pm the chances of showers decrease from 70,60-50% with sunny intervals through to close of play. hard to see that there will be no disruption to play.
This could almost increase India's chance of victory, with a full days play England only require to score at just under 4 runs per over, but I expect them to just keep going rather than settle for a draw if play is reduced.