Australia in New Zealand 2025
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
North Wales Chronicle
22 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
England hope Ben Stokes benefits from a rest and bowls on Sunday
Having turned an overnight 77 into 141 for a first Test century in two years to propel England to 669 and a 311-run first-innings lead, Stokes was then conspicuously absent for the 63 overs India batted. He claimed five for 72 in India's first innings but restricted himself to fielding duties as Shubman Gill and KL Rahul helped the tourists recover from nought for two to 174 without further loss. A Ben Stokes 💯Wizz at the double 🔥Smashing six hundred 🏴 It's all in our Day 4 highlights 📺👇 — England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 26, 2025 Stokes has pushed himself to the limit this summer but there is a suspicion this is catching up with him, having struggled with cramp in his left leg when he was batting on Friday, briefly retiring hurt. Asked if he will be fit to bowl on the final day of the fourth Rothesay Test, with England looking to move into an unassailable 3-1 series lead, England assistant Marcus Trescothick said: 'We're hoping so. 'We're hoping another night's rest and physio work overnight that he'll be back. It's just a build-up (of things). He's had quite a big workload in the last few weeks. It's just trying to monitor it.' Stokes underwent surgery on his left hamstring at the start of the year, but he has already bowled the most overs he ever has in a series, even if he leads the wicket-taking charts with 16 at 24.75. He has proved his all-round worth in Manchester by becoming the fourth Englishman – after Tony Greig, Ian Botham and Gus Atkinson – to record a century and five-for in the same match. Ashes 2005-winning captain Michael Vaughan said on the BBC's Test Match Special: 'Ben is a super-human at times. He was probably hoping that they would get the wickets and he wasn't going to be required. 'Maybe the medical staff just said 'Ben, have a day off'.' Chris Woakes dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan with successive deliveries in the first over but Gill survived the hat-trick ball and overcame being dropped on 46 by Liam Dawson to reach 78 not out. KL Rahul is unbeaten on 87 to give India hope of avoiding defeat and setting up a decider at the Kia Oval next week but Trescothick remains upbeat about England's chances, with or without Stokes. Trescothick added: 'We've got 10 other guys who are capable of doing special things also. 'It's never great when bowlers go down or you don't have someone available to do the work you need them to do, it's then just up to everybody else to pick up the pieces and do the extra work.'
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Gill and Rahul dig in to lead India fightback after Stokes hits England ton
As England walked off for lunch on the fourth day at Old Trafford they could have been forgiven for thinking their opponents were beaten. India had endured the kind of morning that usually dictates a couple of paracetamol and the curtains being redrawn, such was the pummelling Ben Stokes delivered with bat in hand. It was not just Stokes, either. After his first Test century for two years drove England to 669 all out – 141 from 198 balls – the tourists were tasked with negotiating 15 minutes before the break – a negotiation that could scarcely have gone worse had a couple of contestants from The Apprentice been handling it. Chris Woakes conjured up two wickets in two balls before India had made a dent in the whopping 311-run deficit. And yet by stumps this fourth Test had taken on a different complexion courtesy of a couple of hugely determined performances from Shubman Gill and KL Rahul. Resisting for two wicketless sessions that forced the Saturday crowd to make their own fun, they steered India to 174 for two from 63 overs. Though still 137 runs behind, there is a chance of rain on Sunday and the draw that seemed so unlikely is now possible. Kudos must first go to the two set batters, not least after 157 overs in the field. Though a decent surface in the main, enough deliveries were shooting low and yet at no point did their focus waver. Both do obduracy in the most elegant ways, with Gill's low-slung hands still caressing the ball and Rahul all technical excellence. Reaching 78 and 87 not out respectively, two of India's senior pros had delivered a message to those lower down. But it also hinted at some of England's shortcomings when Stokes, their standout performer with the ball, is out of action. The supposed cramps that forced him off the field on day three may well be something more sinister going by the sight of him clutching his upper leg a couple of times. After his five-wicket haul in the first innings, all Stokes could do this time was run through the tactical playbook and wait patiently. Woakes was the pick overall and his new-ball burst was something to behold. First went Yashasvi Jaiswal, squared up and edging to slip as Joe Root clung on at the second attempt. Then came a dismissal that Gautam Gambhir could relate to, Sai Sudharsan's attempted leave on his first ball catching the bat and also flying to the cordon. Think back to the India head coach's dismissal at the Oval in 2014, even if he would sooner forget it. But after the hat-trick ball to Gill was survived, the chief threat came from Liam Dawson trying to trap the two right-handers on the back foot with a bit of skid, only for the ball to be met with enough willow each time. And it was Dawson who put down the one genuine chance to materialise during an afternoon that seemed to just disappear. Gill sliced hard to backward point when on 46, only for the ball to burst through the all-rounder's hands. Had it stuck, India would have been 74 for three and Brydon Carse's account in the match would have been opened. Jofra Archer, his fellow quick, got the new ball to talk initially but a couple impassioned appeals for lbw were declined. This five-match epic is asking plenty of both sets of fast bowlers – even those who joined halfway – and India's attack was certainly relieved to get off the park before lunch. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion Stokes had given them the runaround, both through the completion of his 14th Test century and the 125 runs that were trowelled on to a pile already bulging from Root's historic 150. Not since 2014 had India shipped a 600-plus total in a Test match, while Jasprit Bumrah's runs column running into three figures was simply a first. If the return of Stokes as a force with the ball has arguably been the biggest plus for England in this series then this innings was not far behind. Resuming on 77, Stokes opened up with a couple of imperious fours off Mohammed Siraj and then tipped past three figures with a flick down leg. Out came the celebration not seen for a good while – that crooked finger salute and a look to the sky to honour his late father, Ged. This was the first time an England captain has scored a century and claimed a five-wicket haul in the same Test match and soon the afterburners were lit as he and Carse (47 from 54 balls) ransacked 95 runs for the ninth wicket. When Stokes monstered Washington Sundar for a straight six it took him past 7,000 Test runs, something only Garfield Sobers and Jacques Kallis had previously combined with 200-plus wickets. But unless Stokes is able to resume bowling on day five, or others step up in his absence, India could yet wriggle free and head to the Oval with a chance of squaring the series. Gill, previously kept quiet for three innings, is also ominously back in the groove.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Surely India won't leave out Jasprit Bumrah if series is in the balance? Their greatest match-winner with the ball hasn't stopped being a champion bowler overnight, writes NASSER HUSSAIN
India will have a tricky decision to make if they continue to dig in on the final day at Old Trafford and come away with a creditable draw. Because although they keep saying that Jasprit Bumrah will play only three Tests in this five-match series – and this, don't forget, is his third – the series could still be alive when the teams arrive at The Oval next week. Clearly, if India lose and go 3–1 down, they can give Bumrah and probably Mohammed Siraj, who has played all four games so far, a rest for the final game. But if they escape Manchester only 2–1 down, are they really going to leave out their greatest match-winner with the ball? I know people are saying that India have lost the two games Bumrah has played in and won the one he missed, with Siraj and Akash Deep bowling India to victory in the second Test at Edgbaston. But there are a lot of things that go into losing a game of cricket, and I don't think you can honestly say Bumrah's bowling was one of the causes of the tourists' defeats at Headingley and Lord's. Don't forget, he took a first-innings five-for in both those games, and his overall tally in this series of 14 wickets at 26 is better than any of his colleagues. It's possible that someone like Siraj steps up a bit more in Bumrah's absence, because he's the kind of character who likes to be the leader of the attack. We occasionally saw the same dynamic between Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, whose most famous spell of eight for 15 against Australia at Trent Bridge in 2015 came when Anderson was out injured. But I honestly think it's a coincidence that India are yet to win a game this summer with Bumrah in their side. So now they may find themselves having to make that big call for the final Test. Ideally, they bring in fresh legs, because it's been a gruelling five-match series, with each of the games so far going to the last day, and the pitches offering the bowlers precious little all the way through. But are you honestly saying you're not going to try to get one final game out of your strike bowler? It's true that in this match, for the first time I can remember, Bumrah didn't make the best use of the new ball, bowling too straight at Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, when a fifth- or sixth-stump line is where you want to aim against these England batters. It looked as if India were trying to get Duckett lbw, which is an unusual dismissal at Old Trafford because of the bounce. How many have fallen leg-before in this game? One: Shubman Gill to Ben Stokes in India's first innings. And, of course, the stat doing the rounds was that Bumrah had conceded 100 in a Test innings for the first time, in what is his 48th Test. But you always have to bear in mind at Old Trafford that, even when you expect the pitch to go up and down a bit, or deteriorate for the spinners, it rarely becomes a minefield. That's why England got 660 on it. And that's why Test cricket is such a magnificent game: you have to work for your success. India looked dead on their feet when they walked off on Friday evening, but Bumrah recovered pretty well on the fourth morning, relocating his length and bowling Liam Dawson.
