I had intended to be at Edgbaston for all 5 days, but a combination of picking the wrong place to stay and too many days in the full sun meant I drove home at the end of Day 3. Happily Sky offered me a month of Sky Sports for free, which was timely! A short write up of the days I was there, with photos plus a summary of the position at the end of Day 4.
Ben Stokes won the toss for England and put India in to bat, I’m starting to write this up at the end of Day 4, but that looked to be a bad idea by the end of Day 1. KL Rahul was bowled by Chris Woakes in the 9th over but things went downhill from there for England. England had been basking in a heatwave and it continued for the 3 days I was at Edgbaston. Karun Nair and Yashavi Jaiswal put on 80 for the 2nd over. Nair was caught by Harry Brook from the bowling of Brydon Carse, he’d scored 31.
Having watched Jaiswal play for India u19’s when he was 17, I was thrilled to see him opening for India. Jaiswal and India captain Shubman Gill put on 66 for the 3rd wicket. Jaiswal scored 87 from 107 balls before he was caught by Jamie Smith from the bowling of Ben Stokes, who’d again come into the bowling attack and made things happen.
India did then lose 2 quick wickets, Rishabh Pant was out for 25 after trying to sky a ball from Shoaib Bashir, Zak Crawley took a good catch on the boundary. Chris Woakes then bowled Nitish Kumar Reddy for just 1. India were 211 for 5 in the 62nd over.
PHOTOS FROM DAY 1
Gill was joined by Ravindran Jadeja, the pair batted on into Day 2 for a total of 46 overs, adding 203 to the India score, taking them to 414 for 6. Jadeja scored 89 from 137 balls. He was caught by Smith from the bowling of Josh Tongue. Washington Sundar joined his captain and the pair put on 144, Sundar scored 42 as Gill reached several milestones. It was getting to the stage where it was hard to see how Gill was going to be removed. A Tongue ball saw him caught by Ollie Pope, Gill jhad batted for nearly 8.5 hours, and faced 387 balls, he hit 30 Fours and 3 Sixes and scored 269. It was a phenomenal innings which was chance less until that final ball. India were 558 for 7. The lower order didn’t trouble the scorers overly and India were all out for 587. England bowled 151 overs.
That didn’t leave England many overs to fac, but India managed to take 3 wickets and Engakknd fell to 25 for 3. Ben Duckett was the first to go, a fabulous catch by Gill from the bowling of Akash Deep, his was the first of 6 Ducks on the England scorecard. Ollie Pope was caught by KL Rahul from the bowling of Deep, on the next ball, the first of 2 Golden Ducks. England were 2 down in the 3rd over.
Zak Crawley was walking back into the dressing rooms next, he was caught by Nair from the bowling of Mohammed Siraj. Crawley was out for 19, a score that would be the 4th highest along with Extras. England were 25 for 3. Joe Root and Harry Brook saw the day out.
PHOTOS FROM DAY 2
England fans hoped, of course, that the 2 Yorkshire men would do something special, but that wasn’t meant to be for the senior member of the duo. Joe Root was out for 22, caught by Pant from the bowling of Siraj. Ben Stokes came to the crease, and was dismissed in exactly the same way, he walked straight back, the 2nd of the English Golden Ducks!
Happily, from an England viewpoint the majority of the day did involve a mighty partnership. Jamie Smith joined Brook with England in some trouble on 84 for 5. The young pair, put on 303 runs, playing some Baseball, but also some patience, helping to keep their team in the game. They batted together for 60.4 overs.
India got their breakthrough when Brook was bowled by Deep, he’d scored 158 from 234 balls. He’d played an excellent innings, already captain of the white ball teams, he’s surely the test team captain in waiting! England were 387 for 6.
It looked like we’d be seeing a second double century but the tailenders had a new ball and some very good bowling to face. Deep took his tally to 4 for 88 in his 20 overs as he had Woakes caught by Nair for 5. Siraj then trapped Carse LBW for a Duck, Tongue LBW for a Duck and Bashir was bowled for a Duck. Smith was not out 184 from 207 balls. There is a very strong argument for Smith to be coming in higher than 7! His keeping was tidy enough, but he easily warrants his place as a batter alone.
Siraj took 6 for 70 in his 19.3 overs!
India lost Jaiswal to a nailed on LBW on Day 3, the photo at the bottom shows an angry Ben Stokes, who’d seen the countdown time India out for a review, which was then given by the umpire, the result being a review lost to India.
DAY THREE PHOTOS
Shubman Gill is walking win the footsteps of 2 legends of the game in India, Rohit Sharma and of course, Virat Kohli, who was captain in 2018 when I was at every day of every test. I took so many reaction photos of Kohli in 2018, he is animation personified! Gill is a much calmer leader. At just 26 he has the eyes of India on him. His first innings and calm captaincy put India into what was likely to be an unassailable position. England avoided the follow on, which was going to leave him with a declaration decision, how much of a lead would be enough to count England out?
Gill himself had another major innings on Day 4, scoring 161 from 162 balls, taking his personal tally for the game to 430! Pressure, what pressure? He and Jadeja shared another big partnership of 203, Jadeja scoring 69 from 118 balls. Pant had shared 110 with Gill, scoring 65 from 58 balls. His return after a horrendous car crash really is miraculous! India scored 427 for 6 in 83 overs. Setting England 608 to win the game.
India again looked like they were bowling on a different strip with the new ball and England were 50 for 3 at the end of Day 4. Crawley hit a poor shot to be caught for a Duck from the bowling of Siraj. Duckett was bowled by Deep for 25 and Root fell to the sam efate having scored just 6. It’s going to be interesting to see what Day 5 brings!
365 Sporting Days - New! 