And here’s your match report.
So, up to Leeds for the decider at Headingley on Tuesday. Should be a good game if Dhoni remembers his bat. Thanks for reading, and good night!
Joe Root wins man of the match, unsurprisingly. “I think the impressive thing is we learned to adapt, we didn’t just let them bowl at us. You want to make sure that one bowler isn’t dominating you.”
Kohli is asked about Dhoni: “It’s very unfortunate that people jump to conclusions. When it doesn’t go well people pounce on him. It was a bad day for everyone. The idea was to take the innings deep.”
Still, amid all that Dhoni nonsense we should say a word for Joe Root, who got a nicely paced century (although, hands up, even at a strike rate of about 97 I thought might have been a bit slow before Dhoni came to the crease), plus England’s spinners, who were both exceptional. Hats off also to Mo Ali and Adil Rashid, who between them got 3-80 in their combined 20 overs.
Well then. What a weird game. When Dhoni and Pandya were together you could understand the former being cautious - he frequently takes his time, holds his nerve etc - but he never stopped being cautious. He held his nerve for too long. Genuinely don’t know what he was doing: he looked out of touch, but he just didn’t even seem to try many attacking shots. He scored 37 from 59 balls, which featured 31 dot balls. 31!
England win by 86 runs
WICKET! Chahal c Stokes b Willey 12 - India 236 all out
Chahal plays another nice shot, a square drive that Bairstow cuts off. He then plays a miscued pull that is still better than most shots Dhoni played. And then a big drive that he edges through where second slip would have been, getting four, before sending the last ball down long-on’s throat.
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49th over: India 227-9 (Kuldeep 8, Chahal 4) - target 323 Obviously it doesn’t matter now but the penultimate over of a one day international is a maiden. Good lord guys, just throw the bat at one. If you get out, all the better.
48th over: India 227-9 (Kuldeep 8, Chahal 4) - target 323 It has been pointed out that Dhoni does this sort of thing a fair bit, which he does, but that’s usually because he’s just waiting for the right moment to pounce. In this innings he just stayed in the tall grass, reading a bloody book or something. Meanwhile, Chahal shows more intent than his senior colleague ever did by driving very nicely for a straight four. Then there’s a bit of slapstick where Chahal might have been run out twice, everyone has a good laugh and we all want to go home.
47th over: India 222-9 (Kuldeep 7, Chahal 0) - target 323 India have to rely on a pretty harsh call to get a few runs: Plunkett slides down leg, and it looks like it flicked Chahal’s pads, but wides are given.
WICKET! Siddharth Kaul lbw b Plunkett 1 - India 217-9
Sorry, that was new batsman Siddharth Kaul. The review found no bat involved, and it was heading for middle/leg.
Review!
Siddharth looks to be caught dead in front but reviews, because he might as well.
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WICKET! Dhoni c Stokes b Plunkett 37 (from 59 balls) - India 215-8
Two Indian subs come on, possibly to enquire what the bloody hell Dhoni thinks he’s playing at. Maybe the message gets through, as he finally goes for a big shot, and sends it straight to Stokes at cow corner. Good riddance. I hope someone asks him what he was doing out there after this.
46th over: India 215-7 (Dhoni 37, Kuldeep 6) - target 323 Dhoni turns down a single to the cover sweeper, and the boos and slow handclaps start. It’s not the main point, but an innings like this really is cheating the spectators who have paid top prices for tickets to a Lord’s international. Sarcastic cheers greet a single. Jos Buttler is holding his glove over his mouth, possibly to stop laughing at this absolute sh*tshow.
45th over: India 213-7 (Dhoni 36, Kuldeep 6) - target 323 My god. Almost as if he wants Dhoni to try something, Plunkett sends down a wide long hop, and Dhoni simply dabs it into the covers. Then something approaching an attacking shot, but his pull goes straight to fine leg and Dhoni strolls - strolls! - a single. Really, Dhoni is/has been a great player, but this is abysmal. 36 runs from 53 balls. I ask you. Three singles from that over. Just call it off now.
44th over: India 210-7 (Dhoni 34, Kuldeep 5) - target 323 Dave Willey is back, and beats Kuldeep as he tries a pleasant dab down to third man. What is going on here? Have India given up? Did they give up a while ago? A single brings the FEARSOME hitting of Dhoni to the strike, who opens up his BARRAGE with two GENTLE dabs to point, one of which brings him a SINGLE. 113 runs required from 36 balls - starting to look unlikely for India, this...
43rd over: India 208-7 (Dhoni 33, Kuldeep 4) - target 323 A boundary! My days, a boundary! Great shot from Dhoni in fairness, a flowing drive through the covers that beats the best efforts of three fielders. Another single allows Plunkett to send a few short ones down that Kuldeep fences at, then leaves one! He leaves one! Sweet Moses, this has been a properly surreal chase. And then Kuldeep takes a single from the last ball of the over so he keeps the strike! Maybe he’s annoyed at Dhoni too.
42nd over: India 202-7 (Dhoni 28, Kuldeep 3) - target 323 Dhoni plays an attacking shot! Off the back foot, straight down the ground, and a brilliant diving effort from Stokes keeps it to two. Then back to normal, a dabbed single down to deep square. Really, if I was an India fan I’d be fuming about this: it’s been so weird. Has he misread the scoreboard? Do you think he knows India need another 121 to win? Anyway, Rashid’s ten are done, and he’s been superb as well: 2-38 for the Yorkshireman.
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41st over: India 197-7 (Dhoni 24, Kuldeep 2) - target 323 Dhoni turns down a single from the first ball, but then inexplicably does take one from the second. Nothing about this innings makes sense, unless he’s planning to go absolutely berserk shortly. No sign of that just yet, though: he plays a measured drive for a single from the last ball of the over. There are faint whiffs of Sunil Gavaskar’s famous 36* from 174 balls in the 1975 World Cup about this knock...
40th over: India 194-7 (Dhoni 22, Kuldeep 1) - target 323 The bowling has been mostly good, but this really hasn’t been good from Dhoni. Sure, wickets have fallen around him, but Rashid just gave him a shin-high full-toss and he still only bunted it away for a single. He’s taken 37 balls for his 22 runs: not a great strike rate in a Test match these days, that.
WICKET! Umesh Yadav st Buttler b Rashid 0 - India 192-7
Yadav does indeed try for some tap, but misses and Buttler smartly whips the bails off, his foot just out of his ground. Last rites now for India...
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39th over: India 191-6 (Dhoni 20, Umesh 0) - target 323 Time running out now for India. Umesh Yadav is promoted a couple of places, presumably to try a little tap.
WICKET! Pandya c Buttler b Plunkett 21 - India 191-6
Now, with Mo done, Plunkett gets a bowl. He was one of the better quicks earlier and has six overs in the bank. Dhoni cuts out towards the point boundary but Roy runs round to keep them to two, then Pandya goes. Plunkett slides one down leg, which probably would have been a wide if he’d left it, but Pandya goes for the flick and gets an edge through to Buttler.
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38th over: India 187-5 (Dhoni 17, Pandya 20) - target 323 Pandya goes for a big shot but is completely done by some big spin. Dhoni continues his policy of coming down the pitch and shovelling the ball here and there, but the best he can muster is a quickly-run two. Five runs from the over, which isn’t even half what they need now.
37th over: India 182-5 (Dhoni 14, Pandya 18) - target 323 Last over from Moeen: wouldn’t be massively surprised if Root gets the over after this, considering how effective the spinners have been. Still, Pandya gets himself four, just about picking the gap between the two fielders on the mid-wicket fence. He certainly looks more likely to get some big runs: Dhoni is currently batting so stiffly that you’d think he ran a marathon yesterday. He comes down the pitch and goes for a massive heave, but misses. Mo finishes with 1-42 from his ten: terrific stuff.
36th over: India 175-5 (Dhoni 13, Pandya 12) - target 323 Really, really, really good over from Rashid: Pandya takes a single from the first ball, but Dhoni can’t get any of the rest away. And he was trying, too.
35th over: India 174-5 (Dhoni 13, Pandya 11) - target 323 A boundary! The first since the 24th over, which is fairly absurd. Dhoni comes down the pitch to Moeen and smacks a sort of half sweep, half slog - but not really a slog-sweep - just behind square. He didn’t get all of it by any means, but at least they’re starting to attack. Pandya goes for a back cut and picks up three, a couple more singles and a decent over for India.
Not out!
No bat, but glove! Pandya survives!
Review!
Pandya tries a reverse sweep, misses but the umpire turns down the appeal. If there was no bat that’s very close indeed...
34th over: India 164-5 (Dhoni 7, Pandya 7) - target 323 No runs from the first three balls, although Pandya does at least try a few more attacking shots. Just two singles from the remaining three balls. They’ll need something special - not out of the question - from here to chase this down.
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33rd over: India 162-5 (Dhoni 6, Pandya 6) - target 323 Mo’ good stuff from Mo. Not much by way of aggression from either batsmen, and the rate is now a hair under nine an over.
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32nd over: India 157-5 (Dhoni 5, Pandya 2) - target 323 Who knew that England’s spinners would nail India down? If England do win this game, it’ll be thanks to this brilliant spell by Rashid and Moeen.
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WICKET! Raina b Rashid 46 - India 154-5
Raina goes for a colossal slog sweep which probably would have brained Old Father Time if he’d hit it. But for the second time in the last couple of overs he didn’t pick a Rashid googly, and his stumps rattle.
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31st over: India 154-4 (Raina 46, Dhoni 4) - target 323 Dhoni offers something like an aggressive shot, and India grab a couple of runs but via leg-byes as it goes off his pads from a sweep. A slightly more productive over for India, eight runs from it, the last of them donated by an overthrow from Stokes.
30th over: India 146-4 (Raina 43, Dhoni 1) - target 323 Rashid flummoxes Raina with a googly that he’s a little lucky not to loop up in the air. But they can’t get anything away, just a single for each batsman and the required rate is now approaching nine an over. They still have their wickets in hand, but they’ll have to get a wriggle on fairly soon.
29th over: India 146-4 (Raina 43, Dhoni 1) - target 323 More good stuff from Moeen: Dhoni tries to shovel him from way outside off a few times, but doesn’t get any joy. Raina gets a single from the over, and Mo’s analysis is now 1-16 from six overs: for the uninitiated, that’s good.
28th over: India 145-4 (Raina 42, Dhoni 1) - target 323 Dhoni’s in, with his delightfully distinguished greying beard. Raina tickles a couple round the corner, beyond that a few singles from a decent over from Rashid.
27th over: India 140-4 (Raina 38, Dhoni 0) - target 323 About that drop: Roy really should have taken it, as Raina drives Moeen to the opener in the covers, around shoulder high, but he puts it down. And to compound the despair, it looks like he cut his hand in the process and has to go off. Moeen has bowled really well so far.
WICKET! Kohli lbw b Moeen Ali 45 - India 140-4
There it is! After Roy drops Raina earlier in the over, Moeen traps Kohli dead in front with one that turned a bit but not a huge amount, but did seem to keep a bit low. Huge wicket.
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26th over: India 137-3 (Kohli 44, Raina 36) - target 323 After that flurry of two - two! - aggressive shots in the previous two overs, it’s back to the nudges and dabs. Five singles from the over. India need to go at 7.75 from the remaining 24 overs.
25th over: India 132-3 (Kohli 42, Raina 33) - target 323 Raina goes after Moeen, but only picks out Willey in the deep, the all rounder managing to fall over in perhaps the most ungainly save of some runs you’ll ever see. He does save those runs though.
24th over: India 126-3 (Kohli 40, Raina 29) - target 323 Here’s Adil Rashid for a bowl, and Kohli goes at him straight away. The first ball is slapped to the boundary - their first of this partnership - then he hits hard down the ground, only for a single to long-off. Then: drop. Raina gets a thickish edge through to the keeper, but Buttler couldn’t get his hands there in time and it rebounds off his thumb.
23rd over: India 119-3 (Kohli 34, Raina 28) - target 323 Raina plays a rare aggressive shot, an uppish drive that goes over cover and is fielded on the boundary, as they take two runs. They’re the only two runs from a very tight Moeen over, though. This is fine from India, but they can’t keep scoring at this rate for long - they’ve gone at 4.76 since Raina came in.
22nd over: India 117-3 (Kohli 34, Raina 26) - target 323 Quiet spell this. Stokes tries a few shorter balls to Raina but he’s happy enough to dab/paddle them. India haven’t scored a boundary since Raina came in, which was in the tenth over. Not that they’ll necessarily be panicking about that.
21st over: India 112-3 (Kohli 32, Raina 23) - target 323 More Mo, and he keeps things pretty tight. Raina, maybe spooked by that early spin, jabs at him a couple of times without any real conviction, and India take three singles from the over.
20th over: India 109-3 (Kohli 31, Raina 21) - target 323 Nice bowling from Stokes, beating Kohli twice: first with a slower ball, then with a quicker one that moves away a touch. A couple of singles, then Kohli plays a deeply curious shot, sort of leaving his bat pointing diagonally upwards, letting the ball hit it, then as they go for the single he collides with Morgan at the bowler’s end. All very friendly though, some hands are shaken and we all go about our days.
19th over: India 105-3 (Kohli 29, Raina 19) - target 323 Moeen Ali is on, and gets some good spin straight away. Tight over too: just a single from it, and he nearly got through Raina’s defensive push.
18th over: India 104-3 (Kohli 28, Raina 19) - target 323 More nudges, more pushes, more dabs here and there. Kohli is a bit lucky to get away with a loose drive from what looked like a slower ball, flying in the air just in front of point. Then Stokes goes short and Raina plays a weird flick, scoop shot thing that loops up in their air, but drops short of the bowler.
17th over: India 99-3 (Kohli 24, Raina 18) - target 323 Good, risk-free batting from India. They take nine runs from the over without really trying that hard, with a series of whips and nudges and dabs, combined with some smart running and helped out with a wide that got away from Plunkett.
16th over: India 90-3 (Kohli 20, Raina 14) - target 323 Raina goes all the way across his stumps, so much so that when Stokes goes up for the lbw shout, they decide not to review on the basis it was probably missing off stump. Stokes then sends a good short ball to Kohli who hooks unconvincingly, but the top edge drops well short of the fielder at fine leg. Stokes then tries to bowl Raina - creeping across the stumps again - around his legs, but he jabs the bat down in time. Finally, Stokes ends a decent over with a slower ball which an edge from Kohli, but doesn’t carry to Buttler.
15th over: India 87-3 (Kohli 19, Raina 12) - target 323 Solid enough over from Plunkett, save for a big, loopy offside wide, but India still get four further singles from it.
14th over: India 82-3 (Kohli 17, Raina 10) - target 323 Ben Stokes is on to bowl, and Raina welcomes him to the game by powerfully flicking his first ball behind square leg for a boundary. Then Kohli plays a perfect cover drive, barely following through on a magnificently-timed shot that beats the sweeper easily. Expensive first over for Stokes: 12 from it when you throw a few singles in.
13th over: India 70-3 (Kohli 10, Raina 5) - target 323 Plunkett goes up big for lbw against Kohli: you’re always going to appeal just that little bit more when it’s him, but that was too high and probably going down leg too. Kohli clips the next ball out in front of deep mid-wicket for a couple, Bairstow - back on the field and patched up - running around to field.
12th over: India 65-3 (Kohli 7, Raina 3) - target 323 After a good start, India are in a little bit of bother here - in theory, of course. Any time Kohli is at the crease, you’d back his team to win. Three singles and a wide from the over.
11th over: India 61-3 (Kohli 6, Raina 1) - target 323 “Having seen first half, I say England win this by 2 runs!!” very specifically predicts Mahendra Killedar. “Disclaimer - I had also said England would win the semi-final by 2-0 at half time...”
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WICKET! Rahul c Buttler b Plunkett 0 - India 60-3
What a catch! Liam Plunkett is on for a bowl, and Rahul drives at one that was probably too short for the shot and moved in at him. Thus, he gets an inside edge which flies down to Buttler’s left, but he takes an outstanding catch just off the grass. Brilliant work.
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10th over: India 57-2 (Kohli 3, Rahul 0) - target 323 Brilliant player Dhawan, but a bloody frustrating one too.
WICKET! Dhawan c Stokes b Willey 36 - India 57-2
Dhawan inches across his stumps and is helped out by a half-volley on his shins from Willey, which is duly swatted down to the fine leg fence. And then, with him looking set for a big score, he reaches for a wide ball and slashes it exactly - but exactly - into the hands of Stokes at point.
9th over: India 52-1 (Dhawan 32, Kohli 2) - target 323 Kohli gets off the mark with a quick single, then is almost run out when Dhawan tries the same. Good over for England: on reflection I maybe didn’t give Wood enough credit for that wicket, having rolled his fingers across the ball and fooled the batsman a little.
WICKET! Sharma b Wood 15 - India 49-1
What a weird shot. With India going well even if he hadn’t quite dashed out of the blocks, Sharma inexplicably charges down the track and goes for a colossal legside heave, which he duly misses and loses his stumps.
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8th over: India 49-0 (Sharma 15, Dhawan 31) - target 323 Great fielding from Roy saves a run: he dashes in and around from deep mid-wicket, picks the ball up cleanly on the run and skims a throw in. If he’d got any of those elements even a little bit wrong, it would have been an easy two. Four singles from the over.
7th over: India 45-0 (Sharma 13, Dhawan 29) - target 323 Wood is lucky to get away with a long-hop as Dhawan pulls straight to mid-wicket. Then he doesn’t get away with a better short ball, that Dhawan hooks to deep backward square leg. Then a rancid bit of fielding, Morgan completely missing a ball he chases back from mid-wicket, turns one/two into three. Another long-hop from Wood is pulled for four by Sharma, and a good over for India produces 11 runs.
6th over: India 34-0 (Sharma 9, Dhawan 22) - target 323 Another terrific shot from Dhawan, more of a jabbed drive from a ball of less width from Willey, but with the same result, this time zipping to the boundary just in front of point.
5th over: India 28-0 (Sharma 8, Dhawan 17) - target 323 Lovely from Dhawan, who hits two violently beautiful off drives: the first goes to the boundary, the second is stopped bravely by Bairstow in the covers, but at some cost: he has to leave the field, favouring his right hand, and Dawid Malan comes on to field in his place. Another two similar shots follow: the first gets a big inside edge and they take two down to fine leg, but the second goes where Dhawan intended, through the covers once more. Solid start for India.
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4th over: India 18-0 (Sharma 8, Dhawan 7) - target 323 Bit of in-dip from Willey, but not quite enough to fool Sharma. Then a couple of balls with a bit too much dip, going down leg and the only two runs from the over are wides.
3rd over: India 16-0 (Sharma 8, Dhawan 7) - target 323 Wood nearly gets through Dhawan, but the lefty jabs his bat down in time and manages to get the ball away down to fine leg for a couple. A few more singles from the over, including a pull that Sharma nailed but it went along the ground, straight to fine leg.
2nd over: India 11-0 (Sharma 6, Dhawan 4) - target 323 Big Dave Willey will bowl from the Nursery End. He gets a bit of lift to Sharma, who collects four with an inside-edge that flies fine just past the keeper. He then floats one up pleasantly for Dhawan, who duly lashes it through the covers for four.
1st over: India 2-0 (Sharma 1, Dhawan 0) - target 323 England have a couple of slips in straight away, knowing they’ll need early wickets. After a couple that don’t carry particularly well, the second of those slips comes to short extra-cover. Wood beats Sharma’s edge then spoils things a little with a wide down leg, before Sharma gets his first run with a cuffed pull that I think came off his thumb.
The players are out on the holy turf. Shikhar Dhawan and the almighty Rohit Sharma will open the batting, and Mark Wood has the ball from the Pavilion End.
Afternoon all, Nick Miller here. So have England got enough? Even with that last stand between Root and Willey, 322 feels a bit light. Particularly as the Indian batsmen seem to really have the measure of England’s bowlers, if the game at Trent Bridge is anything to go by. They’ve got a bit more to bowl at this time, but they would still have liked another 30-40 runs. Email me here, or tweet @NickMiller79 with your thoughts
50th over: England 322-7 (Root out for 113, Willey 50) Willey, won’t he have time for a fifty? He will. Some hard running brings David Willey, son of Peter, his first half-century in his 41st one-day international, off only 31 balls. My guess is that he may well turn out to be a better batter than bowler.
There’s a run-out off the last ball, and it’s hard to tell who has gone (apologies for getting this wrong earlier), but what matters is that these two piled up 83 off only 52 balls, and England got close to the 330 that they had been eyeing before the mid-innings slump. What also matters, very much with a five-Test series coming up, is that Root is right back in form. No wonder the cameras find Ed Smith roaring with laughter. But the last laugh may yet belong to Virat Kohli, who will feel his classy strokemakers can chase this total down.
Thanks for your company, and do stay with us as Nick Miller steers you through the second half of the day.
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49th over: England 314-6 (Root 110, Willey 45) Umesh manages not to get clattered, but he does bowl a no-ball, and then a run-out chance goes begging. India in a bit of disarray.
“The man in the red headband,” says John Starbuck (44th over), “is probably Willie Nelson.” True.
48th over: England 305-6 (Root 106, Willey 42) Before Root reached his hundred, Willey played a couple more of his bludgeoning blows. Afterwards, Root joined in with his first six of the day, swinging Pandya away to deep midwicket. The stand, already worth 66 off 38 balls, is being rightly acclaimed by the crowd.
And a cri de coeur lands in my inbox. “Why oh why,” wonders Nigel Phillips, “is this not on terrestrial TV? In the pub the tennis is on, football later. A little kid just asked me what cricket was. It is impossible to explain without it on TV. The BBC should chat to Sky and say, ‘we give up on football, but please let us show a bit of live cricket’. If they can pay Claudia Winkleman over £300k for larking around, they can afford to pay for some cricket. Until they do, I refuse to pay my licence fee.”
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Hundred! To Root
He’s barely seen the strike in the last three overs, but now Root moves over onto off stump and whips Pandya for two to reach a very fine century. It’s his 12th in ODIs, but his first against India, his first at Lord’s, and, most significantly, his first since being dropped from the T20 team. He’s not the captain in this format, but that is a captain’s innings.
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47th over: England 292-6 (Root 99, Willey 36) Umesh has decided to play baseball, and Willey is up for it – he smashes one full toss for four to long-off, then clubs another for four to deep midwicket, where it is fielded in the old Indian style. That’s the fifty partnership: 52 off only 31 balls, and just 17 of the runs scored by Root.
A stern email from James Walsh. “If Ben Walker from the EBC is still reading, be great if he knows when they plan to put Test cricket back on free to air. It’s been 13 summers since it got hidden behind Murdoch’s paywall and barely anyone knows what Joe Root looks like, never mind whether he belongs in your greatest XI.”
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46th over: England 281-6 (Root 98, Willey 26) Fortified by his auto-nutmeg, Willey tucks into Kaul. A straight drive for four, a pull for six, a flat-bat pull for four more, a tonk for two off the toe end, and a squirted single to nick the strike, not that Root will mind. In this mood, Willey is a superb mixture of the skilled and the agricultural.
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45th over: England 264-6 (Root 98, Willey 9) Kuldeep’s final over, and England are almost treating him like a normal bowler, milking him for singles. Willey tries a slog-sweep, nutmegs himself and picks up three.
A few minutes ago Sky zoomed in on Mike Gatting just as he sat down to his lunch, complete with a linen napkin tucked into his collar. (“The first of 15 courses,” chortled Nasser.) This did not go unnoticed by Brian Withington. “The cut away to Mike Gatting tucking into his lunch with such gusto brings to mind the immortal Duckworth Lewis Method line from Jiggery Pokery. Having succumbed to Warne’s ball of the century, our hero plaintively exclaims, ‘If it had been a cheese roll it would never have got past me!’ Talk about art imitating life.” Or the other way round, in this case?
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44th over: England 256-6 (Root 95, Willey 4) Kaul is back, still auditioning for a movie called The Man in The Red Headband. He concedes four singles, which won’t bother Kohli at all.
43rd over: England 252-6 (Root 93, Willey 2) England badly need a boost and Root provides it with a lovely late cut off Kuldeep, using the pace of a quicker ball to run it down to the Allen Stand. And then he goes well forward to cover-drive for four more. He really is back in form – he just needs some fireworks at the other end, and Willey should be the man to provide them.
In other news, Rafa Nadal has won the fourth set, so that semi-final is going all the way. In the unlikely event that you reckon it sounds more gripping than this game, join Will Unwin here.
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42nd over: England 240-6 (Root 83, Willey 0) That is a well-earned wicket for Chahal, who’s been testing throughout. He finishes with one for 43 off his ten overs.
On Twitter, Lawrence Booth points out that England made only 43 for 3 between overs 30 and 40. It’s now 20 years since Booth turned up as an intern at Wisden Cricket Monthly. I was wondering what had become of him.
Wicket! Ali c Sharma b Chahal 13 (England 239-6)
Moeen’s slog-sweep is his undoing in the end, as Chahal teases him with flight and Sharma takes the catch at deep midwicket. England are throwing this away.
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41st over: England 236-5 (Root 80, Ali 12) Kuldeep returns, and nearly gets Moeen, who goes for the big Mo, connects with thin air, and is lucky to find the ball hitting only a fourth stump. Next ball, he tries it again and gets four – great shot. But England need a massive over.
40th over: England 228-5 (Root 78, Ali 6) Realising that he needs to do something, Root goes for the big heave against Chahal, misses it, and survives a review for a stumping. He’s playing something like second fiddle when England really need a big, bad, screechy guitar solo.
That appeal from the ECB (36th over) brings a tart retort from StJohn Bird. “I’d love to think the ECB could celebrate the 1000th England Men’s Test match by trying to give us the impression that they even slightly care about Test matches or the Test team anymore. I mean, we’d know it was all a bit fake but it would help keep up the pretence for a while longer at least. Or, you know, they could actually start to properly care and celebrate Test cricket. Like the guardians of the game ought to.”
39th over: England 224-5 (Root 75, Ali 5) Another quiet over, from Umesh. I hope Root hasn’t forgotten how to be a finisher. His team, and the game, need him to get 120 here.
38th over: England 220-5 (Root 73, Ali 2) Pandya’s over goes for four as Moeen plays himself in. The last five overs have yielded only 20, for two. At this rate, England’s seamers will have to grab some early wickets to make a game of it.
A tweet from William Hargreaves. “I love that we’re now talking about ‘Sarah Taylor style’ [33rd over] when once we would have said ‘Alan Knott style’. Her instinctive keeping is something to behold, isn’t it? Those legside stumpings!” Absolutely.
37th over: England 216-5 (Root 71, Ali 1) Well done Umesh, and Kohli – he has pegged England back.
Andrew Benton picks up on Sankaran Krishna’s point (34th over). “A block of Roquefort on a warm day would be pretty penetrating. Seriously cheesy.”
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Wicket!!! Buttler c Dhoni b Umesh 4 (England 214-5)
The pendulum swings. England’s gun backfires as Buttler cuts at a ball that was a bit close to him, perhaps not helped by his own trigger movement forwards. India on top now, and Root has a job to do.
36th over: England 212-4 (Root 70, Buttler 2) Root breaks the shackles by square-driving Pandya for four – one of those moments when he looks like the player Mike Atherton might have been if he hadn’t had a bad back. This is now Root’s highest score for England this summer, beating his 68 in the second innings of the first Test against Pakistan, also at Lord’s.
And here’s Ben Walker from the ECB. Is he about to tell me off? No. “I don’t know if you are aware but the first Specsavers Test against India at Edgabston is the 1000th England Men’s Test. To celebrate we are asking fans to vote for their greatest ever England Men’s Test XI. Here’s the link and I wondered if it would be possible to mention it on the OBO?” https://r1.surveysandforms.com/1b2sx2a0-c437ii47
35th over: England 204-4 (Root 64, Buttler 0) Kohli withdraws Kuldeep and brings back the other Yadav, Umesh, so it’s pace at both ends, presumably because Buttler can read Kuldeep. It pays off as Umesh smothers Root with the help of two fine stops, one at short extra, the other at midwicket.
Ian Andrew joins the conversation about fast-bowling captains. “One FS Trueman did rather well in the only game he captained against Australia.”
34th over: England 203-4 (Root 63, Buttler 0) A handy over from Pandya, who now has one for 45 off seven.
And he has half-answered this point from Sankaran Krishna. “Euphoric as it is to watch Kuldeep grab so many wickets and constantly flummox the batsmen, as an India fan I have to wonder who in heck is going to take wickets other than him? All the rest seem to be about as penetrating as a block of cheese on a warm day.” Nice line.
Wicket!! Stokes c Dhoni b Pandya 5 (England 203-4)
Kohli takes the slip out and Stokes takes the bait, trying a glide to third man that just gives Dhoni an easy catch. Stokes is the first England batsman today not to get going, and Pandya is the first bowler not called Kuldeep to get a wicket.
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33rd over: England 200-3 (Root 61, Stokes 4) Kuldeep continues, and Root brings out the reverse sweep. He only connects with the edge, and Dhoni almost grabs it, Sarah Taylor style, but it goes for four and the fact that he felt like playing it speaks volumes about his confidence.
Meanwhile, the captaincy debate rumbles on. “Forget about Willis, Botham or Flintoff,” says Rob Razzell, “what about Akram, Kapil Dev or Shaun Pollock as great fast bowling captains? There’s no reason it can’t work. I’ve always thought Broad has a good tactical mind, but it’s all a bit late now.” Not necessarily. And Pollock a bit flattered there, I’d say – nice guy but not a natural leader. How about Imran Khan, and, as a slow-bowling captain, Ray Illingworth?
32nd over: England 192-3 (Root 55, Stokes 2) Another good over for India as Pandya strings some dots together. Why the struggling Stokes has come in ahead of the barnstorming Buttler is anyone’s guess.
31st over: England 189-3 (Root 54, Stokes 0) After taking the wicket, Kuldeep ties Root down, and he now has three for 32. What a force he is.
Morgan had just got away with a miscued slog to deepish midwicket, so he’ll be kicking himself twice over. But it was an excellent partnership between the two captains, which added 103 off 98 balls and staved off the eternal spectre of an England collapse.
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Wicket! Morgan c Dhawan b Kuldeep 53 (England 189-3)
Kuldeep does it again! Typical in one way, but not in another. He bowls a rare full toss and Morgan bunts it straight to the man at deep midwicket. A badly judged end to a well-judged innings.
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30th over: England 185-2 (Root 54, Morgan 49) Another four-run over from Chahal. The man is a machine.
And here’s Toby Sims. “I’ve always thought that (not exclusively) captains have made great pundits (Athers, Nasser, Ricky Ponting to name but a few) - and I’ve found Stuart Broad to be extremely insightful… probably not a coincidence that people have always wondered why he never captained. Having said that, I’ve found Tuffers quite insightful when he’s not being the butt of the jokes, so what do I know…!”
29th over: England 181-2 (Root 53, Morgan 46) Kuldeep returns, strangely unaccompanied by the music from Jaws. Root, seeing it large now, works him to leg for a couple to reach a fine fifty. He needed that.
“Following John Starbuck’s explanation of Broad’s lack of captaincy,” says Brian Withington, “I can only smile thinking about the DRS review protocol if Stuart were bowling AND captain. Some sort of gagging regime might be in order.” Good point.
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27th over: England 176-2 (Root 49, Morgan 45) Emboldened by that big over, Morgan dances down the track to Chahal’s first ball and on-drives it for six. That’s 46 off the last six overs, much better from England.
26th over: England 168-2 (Root 48, Morgan 38) Kohli gives Raina another over and instantly regrets it as Morgan plays a controlled lofted sweep for four and Root late-cuts for four more, deliciously. That’s a sign that Root is back in form.
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25th over: England 156-2 (Root 42, Morgan 32) Chahal is keeping it tight, not threatening but going for just four an over. Morgan sweeps him for two, but there are only two singles off the last five balls. That’s the halfway stage, with England eyeing 330, and India, with six overs of Kuldeep up their sleeve, eyeing a middle-order collapse.
24th over: England 152-2 (Root 41, Morgan 29) Kohli tries a bit of Suresh Raina. “Off-spin!” say the two Brits, “we can milk that!” Six singles from the over. This game is now nicely poised.
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23rd over: England 146-2 (Root 38, Morgan 26) Chahal bowls a no-ball, so Root has a slog and gets caught at deep midwicket off the free hit. Odd, but not as odd as what then happens on the telly. A young man in the stands gets down on one knee and proposes to his girlfriend. He’s primed Sky, who flash up a caption saying Decision Pending. The woman says yes, but then people pretty much have to when they receive a public proposal. “Very romantic,” says Bumble. Not in my book: it feels a little unfair.
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22nd over: England 140-2 (Root 35, Morgan 24) Root brings out one of his few big shots, the upper cut, and some tip-and-run brings ten off Pandya’s over. That’s more like it.
And here’s Sam Korn. “As well as Willis and Botham, Andrew Flintoff and Gubby Allen spring to mind as fast-bowling captains. None of them exactly successful in the job… Tony Greig comes close, but can’t really be called fast.” True, and his bowling was fading by the time he became captain. But thank you for mentioning my childhood idol.
21st over: England 130-2 (Root 29, Morgan 22) The two England captains have prevented a collapse, but the two Indian captains – Kohli and Dhoni, who still makes some of the field changes – will feel they’re in control. The last five overs have gone for only 17.
21st over: England 126-2 (Root 27, Morgan 20) Pandya goes for five singles, then tries a bouncer which raps Morgan on the funny bone. Which should be known as the unfunny bone.
If you have anything on your mind, my dear old reader, now would be a good time.
20th over: England 121-2 (Root 24, Morgan 18) Chahal continues with his flighted leg-spin, and it’s another miserly over. This innings of Root’s could go either way: he looks determined to do the sportsman’s favourite thing and silence the doubters, but he may not be in good enough form to build on this solid start.
19th over: England 118-2 (Root 21, Morgan 18) The person who needs correcting is me – Kohli wasn’t really going for spin at both ends, as he has now taken Kuldeep off. Root, especially, must be delighted, but Pandya, to be fair, gives Kohli what he wants with an over that goes for only three.
18th over: England 115-2 (Root 19, Morgan 17) It finally occurs to Kohli that spin at both ends might be the way to go. Chahal returns and keeps two England captains quiet.
John Starbuck returns too, to pick up on my musing about Stuart Broad as a captain manqué (8th over). “Classism: the reason why Broad has never been an England Test captain. He has done the job in the short form, but you can count on your fingers, perhaps even of one hand, the number of fast bowlers who had the top job in England. I think only Bob Willis and Ian Botham have done it; maybe someone can correct me?”
17th over: England 113-2 (Root 18, Morgan 16) Kuldeep goes for two fours! He dishes up a full toss, which Root cover-drives, and a half-volley, which Morgan slog-sweeps. That’s the first time since the second T20 that England have managed to counter-attack Kuldeep. Game on?
16th over: England 101-2 (Root 13, Morgan 9) Root breaks the spell with a clip for four off Umesh. Kohli posts a slip for Morgan, and why not – Brendon McCullum would have three of them. Morgan duly edges it, but the other way, with a Harrow cut that brings him an unearned four. He then plays a much better shot, a brisk pull, for four more.
15th over: England 88-2 (Root 8, Morgan 1) So Kuldeep strikes again. Nasser has been saying Jos Buttler should come in at four, because he can pick Kuldeep’s variations, but Morgan sticks to Plan A, and starts steadily enough. But the scoreboard is saying that England have no idea how to handle this guy. Kuldeep has figures of 3-0-11-2; everyone else has 12-0-76-0.
Wicket!!! Roy c Umesh b Kuldeep 40 (England 86-2)
Another one for the Demon Kuldeep. He floats it up and Roy slog-sweeps it straight to deep square. In the space of 13 balls, Kuldeep has wrought havoc again.
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14th over: England 86-1 (Roy 40, Root 7) Root, relieved to be facing Umesh, gets into the groove with a couple of twos on the leg side. Root is “really hard to bowl a dot ball to,” Broad says, “which allows everyone else to play their role.” Loyal of him, but it hasn’t happened the last couple of weeks.
13th over: England 81-1 (Roy 39, Root 3) You won’t believe this, but Kuldeep has been hit for four, for the first time in this series. He dropped short and Roy rocked back and cut him as if he was a mere mortal.
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12th over: England 74-1 (Roy 33, Root 2) Kohli took Chahal off to bring Kuldeep on, and he doesn’t bring him back now at the other end, which is puzzling. Instead Umesh returns and benefits from England’s sudden bashfulness.
11th over: England 71-1 (Roy 31, Root 1) Root, who’s been all at sea against Kuldeep, makes a steadier start, going back to push for a single, then forward to his second ball. In between, Roy goes forward too, crisply. But Nasser was right: it’s a different ball game now. And Kuldeep has 19 for 122 in his six internationals this summer.
And here’s Brian Withington. “Inspired by your intro today, I have been trying to think of a Duckworth Lewis Method song title to celebrate the mystery that is the Indian left-arm leg spinner. Ended up with an Adele-inspired Rolling in the (Kul)Deep although from an English perspective it might be more like Rolled up by Kuldeep.”
Wicket!! Bairstow b Kuldeep 38 (England 69-1)
Kuldeep strikes second ball! Bairstow sweeps, misses, takes it on the pad, it bounces up onto his glove and ricochets into the stumps. Unlucky.
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10th over: England 69-0 (Roy 30, Bairstow 38) Kaul gets a fifth successive over, a rare thing these days. Bairstow, eager to make hay before Kuldeep comes on, misses one slog but connects with another, to cow corner. Roy receives a failed leg-stump yorker and cashes in with a glance for four. Here endeth the powerplay, and normally you’d say England were on top, but it’s all about Kuldeep. And here he comes.
9th over: England 60-0 (Roy 26, Bairstow 33) Kohli turns to spin – not Kuldeep yet, but Yuzvendra Chahal. And the runs half-dry up, with four singles and no big shots.
8th over: England 56-0 (Roy 24, Bairstow 31) Kaul bowls his knuckle ball, and Roy blocks it for four over the man at extra cover to bring up yet another fifty partnership. “Always fascinating to try and work out what makes a partnership ticks,” says Stuart Broad, whose combination of fluency and attention to detail makes you wonder why he has never been England’s Test captain.
7th over: England 49-0 (Roy 18, Bairstow 30) Sensing that this start isn’t explosive enough, Roy lofts the first ball of Pandya’s over for six to extra cover. Bairstow, seeing that Kohli has posted two backward points, upper-cuts over them for four, then cover-drives for four more. That’s 17 off the over: explosiveness achieved.
6th over: England 32-0 (Roy 10, Bairstow 21) Roy, strolling over to the offside like his role model KP, whips Kaul through midwicket for three, then tries it again and gets a rap on the pad. Kaul wants a review but Dhoni doesn’t. The pitch seems slow, which could make for a more interesting game, albeit a more testing one for England.
5th over: England 27-0 (Roy 7, Bairstow 20) Umesh gives way to Hardik Pandya, and Roy plays and misses again. The slope is bothering him more than the visitors. Bairstow chips a slower ball but gets away with it as it loops over midwicket’s head. He then misses one too. You can see why Kohli wanted to bowl first.
4th over: England 23-0 (Roy 6, Bairstow 17) A tidy over from Kaul, who dresses like it’s 1979 (red headband) and, on this occasion, bowls like it too. The cameras, wearying of the boring old Lord’s champagne trope, home in on Damian Lewis, star of Homeland. Have you watched it, Bumble, asks Isa Guha. “I’m more of an Emmerdale man. Sorry Damian.” Damian, who is listening on headphones, raises his index finger. Silent banter.
And an email comes in from Richard. “England have been pretty good at chasing,” he notes, “less good at setting a target. So now seems a good opportunity to practice that skill - there’s a bit of pressure for the reasons you mention but it’s not a semi-final. So chapeau to Morgan for the call in my book.”
3rd over: England 21-0 (Roy 5, Bairstow 16) The slip returns for Umesh Yadav, who has the slope on his side. He secures another small victory by persuading Bairstow to pull and miss one that goes over middle stump. Then he tries it again and Bairstow pulls him for six, before adding a hard-run two to third man. England have 99 problems but the opening pair ain’t one.
2nd over: England 12-0 (Roy 4, Bairstow 8) Siddarth Kaul opens from the Pavilion end and Jonny B tucks in. A cut slices through Hardik Pandya in the covers, and a straight push pings back past the bowler. He’s still in form. After ten balls, Kohli gives up on his slips.
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1st over: England 4-0 (Roy 4, Bairstow 0) Umesh Yadav gets things off to an eventful start. The first ball is a patsy which Jason Roy only has to lean on to pick up four past square leg. The third is a jaffa that takes Roy’s edge, only to drop just short of Dhoni’s glove. That may be to do with the thing that stunned London last night: some rain.
Also unchanged: the tradition of receiving an email, early doors, from John Starbuck. “Good morning. England’s choice to bat may be influenced, according to TMS, by the prospect of batting second against Kuldeep Yadav in perhaps uncertain light and a rougher strip. I doubt that there will be much deterioration in either and Kuldeep doesn’t seem to need much help anyway, but this could be old-fashioned thinking. There were times when they opted to bowl first rather than face high-powered West Indies or Australian speed merchants but fear really shouldn’t be making the decisions.” Too right. Although there is a kind of courage in backing themselves to set a proper target this time.
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Teams: no change
Half a century ago, Geoff Boycott made a Test double-hundred and was promptly dropped for slow scoring. The question today was whether the same thing would happen to Ben Stokes after a fifty that was not so much painstaking as agonising – in a form of the game that is all about scoring fast, he made 50 off 103 balls, while all the people coming in after him, tailenders included, managed 110 off 100. Stokes keeps his place, but he can’t do it again. The other man who needs a few runs fast is Joe Root, whose average in his last five ODIs is a most uncharacteristic 14.
England 1 Roy, 2 Bairstow, 3 Root, 4 Morgan (c), 5 Stokes, 6 Buttler (w), 7 Moeen, 8 Willey, 9 Plunkett, 10 Rashid, 11 Wood.
India 1 Sharma, 2 Dhawan, 3 Rahul, 4 Kohli (c), 5 Raina, 6 Dhoni (w), 7 Pandya, 8 Kaul, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Chahal.
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Toss: England opt to bat
Eoin Morgan makes a surprising choice. England have been batting first and losing, and he chooses to bat first. He reckons it’s a good pitch that will “hopefully deteriorate”. Brave, minister, very brave.
Virat Kohli is chuckling because he would have bowled first anyway. “Happy to chase, pretty confident at the moment.”
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Preamble
Morning everyone. Are you all played out? We’ve had a whole month of the World Cup, and several years of Kevin Anderson slugging it out with John Isner. We’ve had 13 international fixtures this summer featuring the England men’s cricket team, and even addicts may not be all that hungry for another one. Still, at least it’s not the third-place turn-off.
This match matters, in three ways. England need a win to keep the 50-over series alive after being hammered by India in the opener – the same predicament they found themselves in before the second of the Twenty20 games, which they duly won. India don’t need a win but they would love one, to make it two series out of two in no time, and to rub it in, like a classy, popular version of Donald Trump, that they are more powerful than their hosts. And England, even if they lose, have to work out how the hell to play Kuldeep Yadav.
Kuldeep has made the sort of entrance on the English stage that tends to inspire a song by the Duckworth Lewis Method. In fact, his left-arm wrist spin is dynamite on any European island: in five international appearances since the Indians landed in Dublin, he has taken a mind-blowing 18 for 120. His average in those games (6.67) looks like someone else’s economy rate, and yet he hasn’t quite had it all his own way. In four meetings with England he has been lethal, anodyne, left out, and lethal again. Which is it to be today?
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