Close: India 146-3 (Kohli 44, Rahane 29)
Sure enough, the umpires have called it a day. They may need to have a stiff word with themselves for bringing the players off in the first place, when nobody was in danger. That was the moment when the WTC went WTF.
The day belongs, narrowly, to India, who were put in to bat in conditions that could not have been more on New Zealand’s side if their name had been Jacinda. The Indian batting could easily have collapsed, but their big names knuckled down and showed a lot of graft and craft as Boult and Southee, uncharacteristically, bowled too short with the new ball. New Zealand fought back as an immaculate spell from Kyle Jamieson inspired the others, and at 88-3 the Kiwis had their noses in front.
But Virat Kohli survived, and his nose was significant too – he was playing the ball under it while standing outside his crease. That’s the method that brought him so much success in England in 2018 after his struggles four years earlier, and it has worked a treat again. If he doesn’t depart early tomorrow, India will be in the driving seat.
Thanks for your company and correspondence on a day that was ultimately frustrating but mostly absorbing.
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It’s all not happening. In Munich, it’s half-time; in Bristol, a fine Test match is now heading peacefully for a draw; and in Southampton, there’s no news, which is almost certainly bad news.
A smidgen of news. The umpires are out there having a look, according to our friends at Cricinfo. I can’t bear witness to this dramatic development myself as both Sky and TMS have switched to coverage of the women’s Test. India have done so well there that the draw is now “almost certain,” according to my OBO colleague Adam Collins, who is one of the Sky commentators. Meanwhile in Munich, Ronaldo must be seething because Portugal have scored two own goals in two minutes. Can they win the Golden Boot?
More on the light unfantastic. “Blaming umpires for bad-light interruptions,” says Abhijato Sensarma, “is like blaming Joe Root for the results produced by his ambiguously ambitious Test XIs in recent times. They’re the ‘face’ of something plaguing cricket in either instance, but it’s more of an institutional problem than an individual one. If the ICC want, they can negate the effects of bad light by tinkering with the playing conditions. And if the ECB want, they can prioritise the county championship, select better teams, and give Root the breathing space he needs. But could they be bothered?”
There may not have been a half-century here, but there’s been another one in Bristol – from the Indian No.8, Sneh Rana, who is making her Test debut. She now has 72 and India’s lead has passed 150. Do join Will Unwin for more.
Another look-away-now moment if you’re recording the football for later. In Munich, Cristiano Ronaldo has done what Cristiano Ronaldo does. Details here with Luke Irwin.
If Andy Zaltzman is the leader of the opposition in the parliament of playable light, his deputy is John Etheridge of The Sun. “As normal,” he observes on Twitter, “the only person in the whole ground with an umbrella up is the fourth umpire out in the middle by the pitch.”
An email comes in from Gaurav Jindal, who is looking ahead. “This surely means a spicy India vs England series post the WTC finals? Surely this is more swing than Anderson and Broad can conjure.” More than Broad, yes. “So maybe a more even series than last time. I really thought 4-1 didn’t do justice to how closely fought the last series was.” Agreed – it felt more like 3-2.
The covers are coming on. Kohli, by the way, has made 44 off 124 balls, and Rahane 29 off 79. No Indian has made a half-century today, but all of the five batsmen we’ve seen have faced at least 50 balls. Five consecutive half-Denturies! Even Pujara, who made only 8, hung in there for 54 deliveries. The Indians have shown so much intent, it’s almost as if they’re all called Virat Kohli.
“More bad light,” says a tweet from Andy Zaltzman, who is fast emerging as the leader of the opposition to fussy umpiring. “This is a blight on the sport. Does cricket need better balls, better lights, or just a better attitude? Or all three?”
Over in Bristol, there’s another Indian partnership – between two players who are far less famous than these two, but just as adhesive. The lead is in three figures now, and England could be facing a tricky run chase in the gloaming.
Bad light stops play for a third time! India 146-3
One of the umpires approaches the stumps with a light meter, and Kohli starts stomping off without even getting the nod. That’s a bit rude, but it’s not wrong.
64th over: India 143-3 (Kohli 40, Rahane 28) Southee is still on, still swinging the ball, but Kohli is seeing it so big now – as big as those wide eyes of his – and he helps himself to two off his legs.
“Please,” says Alan in Dublin, “where is this TMS of which you speak?” Ha. I found it on 5 Live Sports Extra, via the BBC Sounds app. From what I’ve read today, I suspect it’s not available overseas, but I’m hoping to be corrected by a reader in Outer Mongolia.
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63rd over: India 141-3 (Kohli 40, Rahane 28) Jamieson looked as if he could bowl maidens all day, but Williamson takes him off after only two overs – maybe he’s going to change ends to give Southee a breather. Back comes Trent Boult, and soon he and Neil Wagner are asking for a change of ball, which they don’t get as the old one passes the test of the rings. I don’t know why they’ve taken against it – it’s still swinging.
62nd over: India 140-3 (Kohli 40, Rahane 28) Rahane picks up a couple with a deft nurdle off Southee, who now has 0-18 in this spell. If there was any justice, he’d have 3-12.
61st over: India 138-3 (Kohli 40, Rahane 26) Jamieson to Kohli: as Bryan Ferry observed in Love Is The Drug, you can guess the rest.
“How does Test cricket expect to survive,” asks Brad Carpenter, “when on the other side you have a thrilling 1-1 draw in the football and in Southampton we have two men in white coats looking at the skies and saying ‘No, enough. Let’s go have a cup of tea.’ It’s pathetic. We already lost a day.”
60th over: India 138-3 (Kohli 40, Rahane 26) Southee is still on, after that over that was all wizardry and no wickets. This one is more forgettable: he tries a short ball and regrets it as Rahane plays a controlled pull for four. That’s the fifty partnership off 19.3 overs. These two have had their moments of fortune, but the skill and graft they’ve shown is more than they would normally put into a stand of a hundred.
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59th over: India 134-3 (Kohli 40, Rahane 22) Jamieson, who had replaced Wagner, has an over to finish. It takes more than a bit of bad light to knock him off his stride, and that’s another maiden, so his figures are still economical, verging on unbelievable – 13-8-14-1.
The covers are off and the players are on. “It really doesn’t look any different to when they walked off,” says Jonathan Agnew on TMS.
“Worst phrase in cricket,” says John Etheridge of The Sun on Twitter. “‘The safety of the players is paramount.’ No, what is paramount is providing entertainment for the people who pay the players’ wages, either at the ground or through TV subscriptions.” Yes, as long as nobody is in danger, which they have not been so far today.
David Hindle is talking about the weather, and not in the anodyne tones that Britons usually bring to their favourite topic. “Last year,” he says, “I seem to remember that all the grey, wet muck from the channel and the wider Atlantic hung over the Ageas Bowl, and pretty much only there, for most of a five-day Test match. How about not scheduling any more Test cricket at this ground with its own, peculiar, evil little microclimate?” Ouch.
For some live cricket, do join Simon Burnton, who’s covering the women’s Test in Bristol. India are just 78 ahead with only two of their 20 wickets left. Sophie Ecclestone has taken her second four-for of the match – and of her Test career. The England catchers, crowding round the bat, are making so much noise that the batters may be tempted to ask if they’re the Sri Lankan men’s team in disguise.
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Look away now if you’ve been recording the football for later. The Group of Death just got even more interesting: do join Rob Smyth to find out more.
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“Trust you are well,” says Ram Sridhar, very politely. I am thanks Ram, hope you are too. “With all due respect to Ump Richard Illingworth, this is the WTC finale. Kohli’s referral or as a matter of fact any player’s referral should definitely be based on explicit ‘SOFT’ signals by the onfield umpires. Sorry there’s no room for latency or subtlety. Happy to be proven wrong. We learn everyday, don’t we?” We do. But the latency and subtlety are part of cricket’s rich tapestry, aren’t they?
Bad light stops play again! India 134-3
Damn that precedent.
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58th over: India 134-3 (Kohli 40, Rahane 22) Southee sees Wagner get a bit of tap and decides it’s time to bowl the over of the day. He beats Kohli, who escapes with a single, and then he beats Rahane not once but twice, angling the ball in and moving it away. Then the gods take pity on Rahane and give him a four, squeezed past gully. All this in the 58th over of the day. “That over was something to behold,” says Ian Bishop, who knows a bit about bowling.
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57th over: India 129-3 (Kohli 39, Rahane 18) Wagner continues and lures Kohli into a nick, but it falls short of second slip. Then Wagner digs one in at Rahane and draws a top edge, off the pull, which lands safely near square leg. Wagner is making things happen – but not always in a good way, as Kohli dabs for three and Rahane cover-drives for four. Game on.
56th over: India 120-3 (Kohli 35, Rahane 13) Tim Southee has three balls left of the over that was rudely interrupted. He appeals for caught behind off Rahane’s hip, but there was no bat involved. And that’s a maiden, spread out over half an hour.
The light doesn’t look any better, but we’re about to have some action. The umpires are out there, the batsmen are almost catching them up, and the New Zealanders are having a group hug on the boundary. The right things are happening, if not in the right order.
Also on Twitter is this from Andy Zaltzman, the most quotable person ever to get a job as a scorer. “Cricket, please write out 100 times: We must not go off for bad light. We must not go off for bad light. We must not go off for bad light. We must not go off for bad light. We must not go off for bad light. (Especially when we have floodlights.) (Unless it is dangerously dark.)“
Bad light stops play! India 120-3 (Kohli 35, Rahane 13)
The sky is gloomy, but the lights are on and nobody’s in any danger. The umpires nonetheless confer and decide to go for an early tea. That seems a bit feeble, and it sets a poor precedent for the rest of the match. So it’s the end of a session that just about belonged to New Zealand, who kept it tight (51 runs, one wicket), although they didn’t get the scalp they wanted most.
Talking of Kohli, we have an update from my colleague Geoff Lemon about that perplexing review in the 41st over. “It looks like Umpire Illingworth thought Kohli was out but wanted to check the catch,” Geoff says on Twitter. “In doing so, the third umpire correctly found that Kohli hadn’t hit the ball. I didn’t see a soft signal but maybe it was given.”
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55th over: India 120-3 (Kohli 35, Rahane 13) Williamson, evidently bowing to the greater experience of the OBO, takes de Grandhomme off after just two overs and brings back Wagner. He very nearly has Rahane caught at gully, slicing a drive off a half-volley that was wide but wily.
54th over: India 118-3 (Kohli 35, Rahane 12) The ball is still moving and Southee is landing it on the spot, but Kohli’s eye is well in now. By opening the face at different angles, he turns two perfectly respectable deliveries into pair of twos, one through extra cover, the other past gully. And then he gets a third two, but this one is off the edge. Nasser Hussain reckons 280 would be a competitive score here: India should manage that as long as Kohli makes one of his 70s.
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53rd over: India 112-3 (Kohli 29, Rahane 12) There are nine top-class bowlers in this Test, and the tenth is de Grandhomme, the only trundler in the village. Rahane reminds him of this by going back and smacking him past cover point for four.
52nd over: India 107-3 (Kohli 28, Rahane 8) Southee to Kohli: five dots, then a nudge to deep square for a single. An enterprising caption tells us that Kohli has played and missed five times and edged once: not bad going when you’ve faced 85 balls on a dank day in England against an attack that eats dankness for breakfast.
51st over: India 106-3 (Kohli 27, Rahane 8) Boult does come off, but Williamson keeps Wagner up his sleeve and brings on Mr Dibbly-Dobbly, Colin de Grandhomme. if Joe Root was batting, that would be a great call. As it is, Rahane plays out a maiden that carries no threat.
50th over: India 106-3 (Kohli 27, Rahane 8) First we have a change at the other end – Southee replacing Jamieson. That immaculate spell is not an easy act to follow, but Southee manages it by dishing up a superjaffa, an outswinger moving so far so late that not even Kohli is good enough to get a nick. Later in the over, there’s a strangled LBW shout that would be plumb if there hadn’t been an inside edge. The nicks are on Kohli’s side at the moment.
49th over: India 106-3 (Kohli 27, Rahane 8) Kohli plays a dab to point off Boult and somehow picks up three for it. He may have hit only one four, but Kohli is warming to the task – he has foraged 14 off his last 24 balls, after labouring to 13 off his first 50. Rahane, taking his cue from the boss, off-drives for two. Time for a bit of Neil Wagner at Boult’s end.
48th over: India 101-3 (Kohli 24, Rahane 6) Kohli takes a quick single off Jamieson, a bowler he prefers to leave to lesser mortals. Of the 73 balls Kohli has faced, only seven have been bowled by the towering piece of stringy pasta.
47th over: India 100-3 (Kohli 23, Rahane 6) Kohli, facing Boult, rolls with the inswing and plays a handsome push through the gap at midwicket for three. Rahane, less assured, comes close to playing on, but then he puts it out of his mind and eases a back-foot block through the covers for two to bring up the hundred. The Indian fans in the stands greet this as if it was Pujara getting off the mark.
46th over: India 95-3 (Kohli 20, Rahane 4) Yet another maiden from Jamieson, whose analysis is now 11-7-13-1. He’s such a distinctive figure, roughly the height of both batsmen put together, and surely the only cricketer ever to have been likened to both Robert Redford on stilts and a piece of fettuccine.
45th over: India 95-3 (Kohli 20, Rahane 4) Boult has been much better in this spell, but he strays onto leg stump to give Kohli a comfy single off the pad. Kohli being Kohli, always itching to impose himself, runs like the wind and turns it into two.
44th over: India 93-3 (Kohli 18, Rahane 4) Afternoon everyone and thanks Geoff, lovely stuff – if you didn’t catch the 14th over, it’s well worth a bit of scrolling. Kyle Jamieson continues to ask all the right questions, moving the ball both ways and beating Rahane’s tentative prod. So that’s drinks, with New Zealand on top now. But Kohli’s still there and he will be aware that NZ made a right hash of the first hour – Southee and Boult bowled too short (for once), Williamson didn’t post a short leg to keep Gill in his crease, and the review for that inside-edged non-LBW was awful. Ebb and flow.
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43rd over: India 93-3 (Kohli 18, Rahane 4) Boult with the ball again. Still trying to work out what happened in his last over. It doesn’t look like NZ lost a review. But the umpire wouldn’t call for a check on whether a catch carried unless they thought there was a catch. Illingworth didn’t give it out, or make a soft signal. And the third ump can’t use tech other than replays for an umpire review, only for a player DRS. Bizarre.
Rahane sprints a drop-and-run single to mid off, and Williamson would have had him cold with the throw, but it misses. Then Kohli nails a cover drive but on the bounce straight to the field.
That’s it for me on this Day 1 / Day 2 of the WTC. Thanks for your company, Tim de Lisle will be driving the golf cart for the rest of the day. Tell him to stay out of the lake.
42nd over: India 91-3 (Kohli 17, Rahane 3) A quiet over for Jamieson, who is held at bay comfortably enough as Rahane looks to settle.
41st over: India 91-3 (Kohli 17, Rahane 3) An easy start for Rahane, who gets a friendly ball almost outside the line of his leg stump, and clips it for a simple three. The ball-tracking view comes up and shows that the ball was hitting leg stump flush, near the top. Three reds, would have lost the review had they chanced it.
Now then, last ball of the over there’s some kerfuffle. Boult bowls down the leg side, Kohli misses a flick. No movement from Umpire Illingworth. Boult is adamant that Kohli has hit it, raising a finger at Williamson. Watling likes it too. The captain prevaricates, asks questions, has his hands hovering around, but doesn’t make the review signal. Time counts down and expires. Williamson still doesn’t ask for a review. Then the umpires come together and ask the third umpire to intervene.
It’s not to see whether the catch was clean, because Watling took it well above the ground, and Umpire Kettleborough asks for the sound-graph technology to look for an edge. There isn’t one. Kohli remains.
But what on earth happened there? Did the umpires decide that Boult had asked for the review? He can’t, only the fielding captain. Who never signalled for it. Kohli is quite perplexed, repeatedly asking both umpires what has happened there. They don’t seem to have a good answer. Has New Zealand lost a review? Can’t tell. It’s all over the shop.
WICKET! Pujara lbw Boult 8, India 88-3
The rock has been removed! He’s faced 54 deliveries for his runs but a bowling change does for Pujara. Trent Boult comes back, left-arm over, and does exactly what he tries to do: swings it into the pads, beats the forward push at the ball, hits the pad in front of middle and leg. Kohli asks Pujara whether he hit it, and Pujara shakes his head. They converse and Pujara walks off without a review. Some chance it could be umpire’s call on leg stump, but it was given out so that wouldn’t help. Otherwise the decision looked pretty good. That’s massive for New Zealand.
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40th over: India 87-2 (Pujara 8, Kohli 16) Jamieson comes back into the attack to send down some balls from a towering height. Kohli leaves alone the first four deliveries, then clips away a straighter ball for three. Very much a tactical win to the batsman in that over.
39th over: India 84-2 (Pujara 8, Kohli 13) Wagner goes back to what he knows, launching a couple of short balls at Kohli, who misses out on the first. Wanted to carve that over slip, but it looks like it beat him for pace. Maybe skidded through as well, and a bit wide. He doesn’t get it and he’s very annoyed about that. He leaves the next short one alone, also angled across him, but guides the next square of gully and sprints back for a sharp second run. New Zealand must have a plan to throw to Pujara’s end even if it’s further away, anticipating he will be the slower, and they were right. Kohli drives a single to close, half stopped at cover.
38th over: India 81-2 (Pujara 8, Kohli 10) There’s a run for Kohli from de Grandhomme at last. Sees just enough width after three suffocating overs, and steps into a very restrained cover drive. Not enough to hit the rope but enough to let him harangue Pujara back for three. Could have been some trouble had the throw from the deep not sprayed out to the middle of the pitch, where Watling had to come scrambling after it like he was trying to stop his cat escaping out the front door of a new house. India’s skipper ticks over double figures.
37th over: India 78-2 (Pujara 8, Kohli 7) Pujara is hit! Wagner gets the length of his shorter ball better and Pujara tries to take it on. Through the shot and misses it. Looks only a moderate blow, takes the bottom bar of the grille and the impact causes his stem protector to come loose from the back of the helmet, as it’s designed to do. Wagner trots up and checks on him, bumps his fist. No identity crisis for Wagner, he’s a very straightforward individual. Pujara gets a brief check-up but wants to carry on. I’ve mentioned his recent innings in Australia because they’re fresh in the memory. He took several blows to the helmet there, and carried on batting with as much concentration as before. Most players who get hit in the helmet are a high chance to get out soon afterwards, it unavoidably shakes them up. This guy seems to have different abilities.
36th over: India 78-2 (Pujara 8, Kohli 7) The little tussle with de Grandhomme continues. Kohli does push at the second ball of the over, but not much. Doesn’t follow it as it swings, thus doesn’t edge it. Leaves the next couple. Kohli seems calm, unfussed. Hasn’t tried to score. Trigger movement has him stepping slightly across his off stump, ready to address the ball, then holding the bat aloft. Three overs in a row this session that Colin has bowled to Kohli without conceding a run.
35th over: India 78-2 (Pujara 8, Kohli 7) Pujara! The light is out from under the bushel. He quite likes Wagner’s left-arm angle across him. Sees a fuller ball, deduces that it’s going to carry on straight instead of swinging in, and plays a minimal checked drive out through extra cover for another four. Wagner throws in one bouncer that goes about eight metres over Pujara, and swings one down the leg side, maybe looking for Pujara to nick it. He does get out that way more than the average.
34th over: India 74-2 (Pujara 4, Kohli 7) CDG makes Kohli play throughout this over, but can’t draw any sort of mistake. No run.
33rd over: India 74-2 (Pujara 4, Kohli 7) Pujara is off the mark! He’s played out 35 dot balls to this point, but the last ball of Wagner’s over gives a bit of width. Pujara is such a good cutter of the ball. Even when he was defending in Australia recently he still played a few uppercuts over the slips and so on. That’s not a reckless shot for him, if the length is where he wants it to be. Which this ball is, so he puts it into the fence.
32nd over: India 70-2 (Pujara 0, Kohli 7) An entire over from de Grandhomme to Kohli now, who shoulders arms to everything he can. The last ball swings away and clips his back thigh pad through to Watling, who appeals for a catch. Nothing doing, and as an lbw shout it would have missed off stump.
31st over: India 70-2 (Pujara 0, Kohli 7) Wagner to Kohli, and the left-armer does try out a slightly shorter length, but angling across Kohli, trying to draw him into a wide dash. Which to be fair does see the end of Kohli sometimes early in an innings. Think Adelaide last December. Not this time though. An over full of leaves, until Kohli sees a fuller length and walks across his stumps to glance it for a run. We’re onto a more seemly score.
30th over: India 69-2 (Pujara 0, Kohli 6) Interesting choice, de Grandhomme with the ball to start after lunch. Dinesh Karthik reckons it’s because he got Kohli out once before. He’s bowling to Pujara though, who pays the over no mind, like a great rock withstanding the sea.
As for the score... I’m not going to say that I’m proud of this, but I’m not not.
69 for 2? It usually is, yes. #WTCFinal
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) June 19, 2021
29th over: India 69-2 (Pujara 0, Kohli 6) We’re back to it. Wagner has the ball after the break, and everything is pitched up, no need for Bouncer Man at this stage. Kohli plays him pretty well. Shapes up for a drive to cover at one point, hits the field. Gets one coming back into his pads, Kohli keeps it out. No run.
“Apologies if you went over this yesterday, but why on earth is this being played in Southampton?” wonders Stephen Brown. “I know covid-times have forced us all to make some slightly unusual decisions that we wouldn’t have made 18 months ago. But isn’t there a more... prestigious ground (sorry to everyone in Southampton) that could have hosted this? The obvious choice for the inaugural final of the WTC would have been Lords, but even if that wasn’t possible, Edgbaston or Trent Bridge or Old Trafford would seem like more obvious choices. I know I’m not making any friends with this line of thought, but there must be others pondering the same thing.”
Well, rather, Stephen. In fact it was scheduled at Lord’s originally. Then with virus restrictions, Southampton’s possession of an in-ground hotel was deemed to be a compelling advantage so that two teams could be hosted in biosecure fashion. Which all seemed pretty reasonable, until the ECB decided to add a couple of Tests for England against New Zealand, and play one of them at Lord’s.
So the ground that couldn’t be used for this match could be used for a match a couple of weeks earlier, and those teams managed to safely distance themselves and train and play there. If anyone can figure that one out, I’d love to hear the rationale.
Hmmm. England had very few good news stories out of their New Zealand Tests, but one of them was Olly Stone. Not any more...
Andrew Benton is our tech support. “Anyone wanting to listen in to [redacted] from overseas could consider getting a VPN. You can base your internet access in one of many countries in the world, so you can choose a place where it is available and presumably just tune in and chill out.”
He said it. Also others have mentioned that the Opera browser now comes with a VPN built in, you just switch it on in the settings.
Ayan Chakrabarti ponders the session. “Glad to see fortunes bouncing back and forth. Aside from national pride all one really wants to see is a tight, hard-fought gripping test match. Also wish it was a three-Test series.”
Yes, that idea has been mentioned. The reason that it’s impossible is that with teams trying to qualify, you could have as many as five or six teams who don’t know whether they’re going to make the final up until a few months or even weeks ahead of time. So having that many teams having to set aside four weeks or so for a three-Test series, only for most of them not to play it, just isn’t feasible. The calendar is so packed. Saving space for one match was hard enough to get signed off.
Lunch – India 69 for 2 after losing the toss
An excellent first session. New Zealand wanted to bowl first after picking five seamers, and didn’t start so well. Swing and bounce and carry, but enough inaccuracy to let Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill pick them off. Despite some dangerous deliveries the runs kept coming at a pleasing rate for India. Then late in the piece, after an opening partnership of 62 with plenty of nice shots, Jamieson and Wagner barged their way back into the game, nicking off both openers. Kohli and Pujara now have a rebuild ahead of them, and conditions will stay much the same all day: heavy cloud, moisture in the air, and bowlers off the long run.
28th over: India 69-2 (Pujara 0, Kohli 6) Southee to close out the session to Kohli, who leaves most of the over before flicking away a run behind square.
Andrew Cosgrove is watching at the ground. “They announced a few minutes ago that each team has three reviews. I’m a bit surprised, I thought they’d increased it because of home umpires, but these guys should be neutral shouldn’t they?”
Quite right, that’s strange. The umpires are Michael Gough and Richard Illingworth, both very English. They’re not employed by the ECB either. So why would the home umpiring provision apply in this match?
27th over: India 68-2 (Pujara 0, Kohli 5) Hello, Virat Kohli! Gorgeous stuff early from the Indian captain, first ball of Wagner’s over, as he sees a bit of width and gets down on one knee to drive through cover for four. Why not do it with style? Into the pads goes Wagner instead, and Kohli turns to the leg side. There’s a short midwicket waiting for him but Kohli places it square of him on the bounce.
“Not been paying very close attention to the game,” mutters Brian Withington, “but it seems England have responded to criticism and at last unearthed a decent top three for the third Test vs NZ. Just wondering how long this ‘India’ company has been sponsoring them so prominently on the sweaters?”
26th over: India 63-2 (Pujara 0, Kohli 0) Southee pairing with Wagner, and he tries a short ball the leaps at Pujara’s gloves, takes the bat handle as he pulls the bottom hand away. Something to shake up Pujara after a few blocks and leaves. Pujara doesn’t mind the short stuff though. We saw him take an absolute battering in Australia a few months ago, and it didn’t stop him from being a vital part of that series win.
25th over: India 63-2 (Pujara 0, Kohli 0) The game changes quickly. Pujara yet to score from 15 balls, and now Virat Kohli joins him. This is the blue-chip partnership for India. Suddenly, after a session of toil and a bit of worry, it’s New Zealand with a big chance to grab hold of the match. Wicket-maiden to start for Wagner.
WICKET! Gill c Watling b Wagner 28, India 63-2
As soon as he comes into the attack! There was plenty of discussion about whether Wagner or Jamieson might be left out of this match. New Zealand will be glad to have picked them both now. The bustling bowler comes on quarter of an hour before the lunch break. He’s known for bouncers but can swing the ball beautifully. Left arm, over the wicket. He lands his first couple of balls on a hard length, Gill hopping up to defend. Then Wagner goes a bit fuller. It swings in a touch, just a touch, just enough shape in the air to make Gill play for swing. Then it hits the pitch and goes on straight. Terrific bowling, tough ball to face, and Gill is already shaping to play and so pushes at the changing line of the ball. A straightforward nick.
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24th over: India 63-1 (Gill 28, Pujara 0) It will be interesting to see what effect it has on Gill, batting with the cautious Pujara instead of the free-scoring Rohit. Gill tucks away a single from Southee, and Pujara waits out the rest of the over.
23rd over: India 62-1 (Gill 27, Pujara 0) A testing over from Jamieson to Pujara. Fullish length and lots of bounce, with some seam movement. Takes the inside edge into pad. Beats the outside edge through to the keeper. And you get the feeling the Pujara is probably loving this.
22nd over: India 62-1 (Gill 27, Pujara 0) A quick break it was in the end, because Southee is back for de Grandhomme. Gill isn’t worried by the recent wicket: he has a big cut shot, off the bottom edge and going nowhere, and tries a couple of off-drives as well. No run from the over.
21st over: India 62-1 (Gill 27, Pujara 0) Cheteshwar Pujara is the next batsman to the crease, the steady centre around which so many Indian Test innings cohere. He looks unfazed by Jamieson in the first instance, standing up tall to defend off the back foot, covering his stumps when a ball cuts in so that it loops harmlessly off his thigh pad.
WICKET! Rohit c Southee b Jamieson 34, India 62-1
New Zealand needed that. Everything had been going India’s way during the part of the day that wasn’t supposed to, and out of nowhere Jamieson breaks through. He had mostly been bowling to Gill through the previous half hour so Rohit perhaps wasn’t accustomed to Jamieson’s height and bounce. This ball starts off angling in, then swings away. Rohit is drawn forward to defend, and keeps pushing a bit wider as the ball swings. But the bounce from a fuller length is what undoes him. Instead of hitting low on the bat and going down, it leaps to strike near the shoulder of the bat and skews up. From one fast bowler to another, Southee is fielding at third slip and he dives wide to his right to take the catch close to the ground. Rohit almost played it well, kept his hands gentle, but it was taken a couple of inches above the turf.
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20th over: India 62-0 (Rohit 34, Gill 27) Make that four times! Rohit, de Grandhomme, the same ball, the same shot. A touch short, spanked square for four. Williamson puts a deep cover point out at last. Rohit punches more gently in that direction for a single before Gill takes two runs off his pads. Better than three runs an over through this first session of the match so far.
19th over: India 55-0 (Rohit 29, Gill 25) Jamieson to Gill again, who is very much staying at home now behind the batting crease. That doesn’t stop him driving a couple of runs down the ground. But he looks a little wary as he blocks and leaves.
18th over: India 53-0 (Rohit 29, Gill 23) Three times today now de Grandhomme has dropped fractionally short today, and three times Rohit has got it exactly out of the middle. We’re not talking shoulder-height short, or armpit height. Waist, at best. But Rohit has such balance, up on his toes with minimal bat-swing, just timing it. Once he’s found the field, the other two times he’s found the fence. When de Grandhomme pitches up though he hits Rohit on the pad. Convinces Kane Williamson to take a DRS review, which shows that Rohit has smashed that ball. It deflected half a foot sideways before hitting pad. A bad referral.
17th over: India 49-0 (Rohit 25, Gill 23) Jamieson: towering, broad, an expanse of white, like being bowled to by an industrial fridge. He tries the hard line, then the inswinger, getting jag off the pitch. Gill keeps starting off outside of his crease, and sometimes stepping back into his crease, other times shuffling forward. It seems that Jamieson doesn’t like that, because he scones Shubman Gill. Hits him in the grille at the side as Gill turned his head. “That’s a beauty, that’s a beast!” says Craig McMillan, who presumably is doing a Disney cross-promo. “Oh look at that shot, that’s an adorable talking clock with a heartwarming backstory!”
Gill has quick medical check. Jamieson tried to be cross and give him a stern stare after hitting him, then had to war with his own New Zealand niceness which wanted to ask whether Gill was ok, then he saw that Gill was fine and so kept on doing fast-bowler glaring. Identity can be a vexed business.
16th over: India 49-0 (Rohit 25, Gill 23) Our friend de Grandhomme starts with a succulent effort, perfect length and dipping in and then out with its swing, foxing Rohit and beating the edge of his bat by the width of a piece of tape. But here is where India have been so good: later in the over, when a ball drags short, Rohit absolutely destroys it. No clean minimal back-cut this time, he pulls out a proper square cut and batters it to the boundary.
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15th over: India 45-0 (Rohit 21, Gill 23) Good gracious. Jamieson shows a bit of impatience and decides to try a bouncer. Just to have a little look at his opponent. Gill cracks it for four. No hesitation, so controlled once more. Jamieson follows up with a length ball that takes off, soaring over the stumps. Gill left that, and Watling was excited, but the keeper took that ball with his gloves up in front of his eyebrows.
14th over: India 41-0 (Rohit 21, Gill 19) It’s Mullet Season. Boult gets a rest and Colin The Big Man gets a trundle, long locks trailing behind him like a national flag from the radio aerial of a Datsun Z20Y nudging the speedo towards 30 kilometres per hour down a gentle incline. He swings it, of course he does. Keys in the bowl, party time. Dips a little bit short and Rohit creams a back-cut, but straight to gully. Colin adjusts his length, so to speak, and lands it in just the right spot. Needle onto wax, hits the groove. And play. That’s time for drinks.
13th over: India 41-0 (Rohit 21, Gill 19) Jamieson to Gill, the battle of the young guns resumes. Jamieson gets his length right after that early error, swinging the ball away just outside off stump, making him play three times to defend. Both players are on their first Test visit to England, Jamieson with the advantage of having already had one outing at Lord’s. Two overs now without a run.
12th over: India 41-0 (Rohit 21, Gill 19) Boult continues to Rohit, who only has to play twice in the over. Happy to be very watchful when the length is dangerous. Over in Bristol, Shafali Verma has just belted Sophie Ecclestone for six down the ground, then holed out from the final ball of the over to a remarkable catch by Katherine Brunt. That makes 96 and 63 on debut for Verma, 159 runs in the match.
11th over: India 41-0 (Rohit 21, Gill 19) First victory to India, as Southee comes out of the attack without a wicket. Jamieson will get a try with a newish ball. He beats Shubman’s outside edge with his first offering, but overdoes his second and gets driven down the ground for four. Point and counterpoint. Gill is happy to watch the rest of the over go by.
10th over: India 37-0 (Rohit 21, Gill 15) Four times in that over that Boult’s inswinger looked like sneaking through and nailing the pad or the stumps. Four times the Indians keep it out, Gill squeezing a run, Rohit inside-edging one that just happens to ricochet wide of the stumps instead of onto them.
9th over: India 36-0 (Rohit 21, Gill 14) Another three runs for Gill. Gets an overpitched ball from Southee and plays a very simple on-drive, just a checked push down the ground. It rolls away to the rope, and Jamieson launches his giant fettucine frame after it and flicks the ball sideways away from the cushion. After many replays the third umpire says he saved it. Except... that ball definitely touched the padding. Or at least, Jamieson’s hand did. You could see the slight crumpling of the material with contact. The umpire has missed that one. Rohit makes up for it immediately, opening the face of his bat to drive another overpitched ball behind point for four. No saving that one.
8th over: India 29-0 (Rohit 17, Gill 11) Gill’s turn now, driving Boult down the ground for three. This Indian run rate has started very brightly in challenging conditions. Shafali Verma has just resumed her innings in Bristol, too.
7th over: India 26-0 (Rohit 17, Gill 8) Boundary season has begun. Southee is just a fraction short and a fraction outside off. It’s not short enough or wide enough for a full square cut, but Rohit hops in the air and plays a forcing jab at the ball, down into the ground and through cover point. A few balls later, a beauty from Southee, and it only sees him punished. Angles at leg stump, swerves back towards off stump, Rohit is defending down the line, but he has soft enough hands that the edge flies into the ground and away through the slips for four. Southee finds a perfect ball to follow up, a touch of swing and then seam away from Rohit along with vicious bounce. Too good for thee, lad. Too good for the edge too. Rohit bunts two runs off his pads to close out a quality but expensive over.
I’m getting requests for the TMS Overseas link for this match... well, sorry to say there isn’t one. They haven’t put one up. I would assume that it’s because this is an ICC match, not an ECB match, so the BBC won’t have rights to stream it digitally, or to stream it overseas. They’ll either have only analogue rights or only UK rights. Perhaps someone inside the UK can tell me whether they can stream the commentary via the BBC site or app.
6th over: India 16-0 (Rohit 7, Gill 8) Boult tries his first short ball of the day, and Gill pulls him for four! No damp grass will stop that one. Perfectly struck, up high and coming over the ball, hitting it well in front of square, through midwicket. That’s control. Boult loses his line down the leg side afterwards.
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5th over: India 12-0 (Rohit 7, Gill 4) Shubman Gill has decided to combat the swing by walking at the bowlers every few deliveries. Not the worst idea, though he has to be still and steady when playing a shot. He gets one a bit too short from Southee and picks off three runs through square leg. Rohit is drawn into a push for the first time today and has his edge beaten.
4th over: India 9-0 (Rohit 7, Gill 1) Boult aims relentlessly at the pads of the right-handers, bending the ball through the air from over the wicket. Gill gets off the mark via a squeezed inside edge to midwicket.
3rd over: India 8-0 (Rohit 7, Gill 0) Southee goes up for an appeal against Gill but it’s hitting him high and leg side, the ball angled in from wider on the crease. They take a leg bye. The bowler finds his line at last after this, just outside off stump, some excellent bounce and carry through to Watling, and some bending outswing as well. Rohit leaves. Finishes the over by pushing a couple through the covers.
2nd over: India 5-0 (Rohit 5, Gill 0) Boult, left-arm swinger to complement the right arm of Southee, and he starts down the leg side too. Gets a lot of bounce though, that takes off from the surface and flies through to Watling. Good signs with that carry in the surface. Boult swings another into the pads of Rohit, squeezed away via an inside edge. The bowler is interested in the near thing, but the better chance of the wicket comes at the non-striker’s end. Gill hares off for a run! There isn’t one there. Rohit doesn’t move, but Gill gets three quarters of the way down before having to turn back. He’s only saved because Wagner is a left-armer, so has to run around the ball to pick it up and throw, and his throw a bit hampered and thus a bit wide. Gill dives in, and a direct hit would still have sent him off the field. Nervy stuff. But not from the final ball of the over, as Boult dishes up a low full toss, and Rohit calmly drives it through mid off for two. Again the damp grass saves four.
1st over: India 3-0 (Rohit 3, Gill 0) Tim Southee with the ball, coming in from the hotel end, with Rohit Sharma to take strike. He starts astray, on the leg stump and Rohit picks him off through square leg. It would have gone for four on a normal cricket ground, but the damp grass slows it up enough for Wagner to slide and save a run. Southee can’t get his line to Gill either, a couple down leg and a couple swinging sharply but very wide of off stump. Only the sixth of the over is on line, and Gill walks at it to defend.
The anthems are done, the seats are taken, and we’re almost ready to go.
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“Not sure Chekhov was that into cricket,” writes Richard Hirst. “I reckon Samuel Beckett would be more suitable: especially for the rain delays.” You’re quite right, if I take that as hint that Beckett played a couple of first-class matches, but Tim de Lisle and Robert Wilson used up all the OBO Beckett gags yesterday.
At least you could say that the spirit of Chekhov was invoked when Ed Smith was so insistent that Jos Buttler had to come back into the Test team. That is to say, if you have a gun then you must use it.
“Greetings from Auckland, looking forward to the long night ahead,” writes Sam Gee. “Cricket trophies these days often have names of former cricketers - Chappell, Hadlee, Border, Gavaskar. I propose the Boon Mace, as Sir David was the match referee who put NZ into the final. Greatest Australian Ever (at least, on this side of the Tasman!). Any other suggestions? Also, where will it live? Is it like the urn, or can the winners actually have it?”
Boony giving Australia a whack only proves how upright and fair he always was. Every Australian can trust in the essential goodness of Boony. And yes, the winners do get to carry the mace around. In other outlets I have suggested that the winning captain should be allowed to take it while riding a horse, and perhaps smash the head off at least a mannequin in a combat display. This will bring fresh eyes to the sport.
.@GeoffLemonSport what should I watch today. #ENGWvINDW or #WTCFinal2021 ?
— Akash Sachdeva (@AkashSachdeva1) June 19, 2021
There will be some channel surfing. I replied: WTC for the first half hour of Boult and Southee, because it starts earlier. Switch over to see what Shafali and Deepti can do. Back here for a while if those two get out, then return to Bristol when Southampton breaks for lunch.
The pitch
Sunil Gavaskar says there’s a fair bit of grass on the surface, “which means the ball will seam after pitching”, and that it should also swing in the air. Very overcast day, although the science doesn’t necessarily support the theory that clouds aid swing. Still, New Zealand have the early armoury in Boult, Southee, and Wagner to move the ball from a full length and take edges, so Gill and Rohit will have to be very disciplined.
New Zealand's team - it's all seam, all the time
Ajaz Patel misses out, and the Kiwis go with de Grandhomme and the four quicks. Bowling first had better work for them.
Virat Kohli says that he would have bowled first too, based on conditions. But he doesn’t mind. “Runs on the board has been our strength over the years, and looking at the makeup of our team we bat pretty deep. So in a big final, runs on the board, however many you get on the board, are certainly a bit of an advantage first up.”
“The makeup of our side, the balance is such that we prepare for conditions that might change or vary, and that helps us to bat deep as well. Looking at those two spinners, they can bowl in any conditions, and if there’s dampness in the pitch or something to offer, those guys are accurate to create some pressure as well.
New Zealand win the toss and will bowl
Interesting! “The conditions, a bit of weather around so hopefully we can make the most of it first up, get a bit of seam movement. But saying that, I’m sure the wicket will be fairly consistent throughout this game judging by the cool weather,” says New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.
Inviting India’s powerful batting to set a score. It’s bold.
“Do you think this test will last the full 5 days? In these overcast swinging conditions I will give it 3.5 days max.” Maybe, Samya, maybe. But conditions don’t always deliver. You never know whether it’s going to swing until it swings. And even if it does, maybe an opener bunkers down through that period and then goes on to a big score, and we’re into a batting-heavy day.
“Good to see two teams not playing just to get ready for the Ashes!” says Arnab. “Hoping for a good day with weirdly similar looking skippers.”
Yes, hello Chris Silverwood if you’re reading. The Ashes, The Ashes, The Ashes. Now and forever. Here are some thoughts on that situation.
On the other side of southern England, Shafali Verma of India’s women’s team will resume her innings this morning in Bristol on 55 not out. Added to her 96 in the first innings, that’s 151 runs in the match so far for the 17-year-old on Test debut. We’ll have an OBO of that match running concurrently to this, with play starting half an hour after play in our match. But I’ll be keeping an eye on Shafali’s tally here too.
Teams
We already know India’s XI, because they confirmed it a couple of days ago.
India
Rohit Sharma
Shubman Gill
Cheteshwar Pujara
Virat Kohli *
Ajinkya Rahane
Rishabh Pant +
Ravindra Jadeja
Ravichandran Ashwin
Mohammed Shami
Ishant Sharma
Jasprit Bumrah
Three excellent fast bowlers. One off-spinner and one left-arm orthodox spinner, both of whom have also made Test centuries. A dynamic wicketkeeper-bat at six, and five quality specialist bats above that. It’s a potent team.
New Zealand
Tom Latham
Devon Conway
Kane Williamson *
Ross Taylor
Henry Nicholls
BJ Watling +
Then all but one of
Colin de Grandhomme
Kyle Jamieson
Neil Wagner
Tim Southee
Trent Boult
Ajaz Patel
The first is the all-rounder who could shore up the batting or counter-attack as well as bowling economical seam. The next four are fast bowlers of very different type and skill, each with its merits. The last is the left-arm orthodox spinner. Still not sure which way they’ll go. Matt Henry is the other fast bowler in the squad but won’t (by my guess) be in consideration.
Drop us a line
You know this bit. The OBO gets a bit lonely without company. It’s nice to see emails clunking into the box with people’s thoughts and concerns, hopes and dreams, wants and fears, wry asides, pessimistic wails, cries from the heart. I’m also quite good with relationship advice, so if you need a hand then we might be able to sort some problems during the quieter overs.
Email is geoff.lemon@theguardian.com, or bird me at @GeoffLemonSport.
Preamble - The game is afoot
“Good news!” I say in a Professor Farnsworth voice. It’s not raining in Southampton. And the forecast says that it is unlikely to rain in Southampton today. Which means that we should be able to play on Day 2 of the World Test Championship final, which will effectively be Day 1 of the World Test Championship final, but it will be the first of five days of the World Test Championship final, because the World Test Championship final was allocated six days. You with me?
It rained all day yesterday, and the whole thing was called off by about 3pm. Today, New Zealand and India will engage in sporting contest. The Kiwis are currently the No.1 ranked side in the world, having pinched that spot from India with their series win against England a few minutes ago. But the ranking will mean less than the result of this match - which would presumably also change the ranking.
Two excellent teams over the past two years of Test matches that decided who would feature in this final, as did the points deduction that Australia got for a slow over rate in one match. Bowl your bloody overs in time, everybody! It’s not complicated. Stop discussing Chekhov between every delivery and having five substitutes run out with towels and gloves and encouraging compliments at the end of each over.
Let’s get to it.
