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Times of Oman
5 days ago
- Sport
- Times of Oman
India's Lord's heartbreak: Skipper Gill reflects on India's Test defeat, Bumrah's availability for next match
London: India's captain, Shubman Gill, expressed disappointment and frustration after the team's narrow defeat in the third Test at Lord's, falling just 22 runs short of victory. Gill reflected on the team's performance, expressed pride in his team's performance despite missing out on a chase of 193 runs. Following his side's narrow 22-run loss to England in the third Lord's Test, Indian skipper Shubman Gill expressed pride in his team's performance despite missing out on a chase of 193 runs and explained how they could have applied themselves better with the bat on the final session of day four. India experienced one of their most heartbreaking losses in Test cricket despite a resilient half-century by Ravindra Jadeja and a solid supporting act played by tailenders Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Team India missed out on a 193-run chase, falling short by 22 runs after a brilliant fight from a troublesome situation of 82/7. Speaking in the post-match presentation, the Indian skipper said that he was confident of a successful run-chase, and a couple of 50-run partnerships from the top order could have done the job. "We were not able to do that (get top order partnerships), and they played better than us. There is always hope as long as there is a batsman batting, there is always some hope, because the target was not massive and a fifty-sixty run partnership we knew we would be back in. He (Jadeja) is very experienced, and did not want to give him any message. I think he was batting really well with the tail and I just wanted him and the tail-enders to bat as long as possible," he added. Gill said that the team felt that a lead of 80 to 100 runs could have been crucial, with the fifth-day wicket not really being conducive for big chases. "I think the last one hour (yesterday), we could have applied ourselves a bit better, especially the last 2 wickets that fell. And even in this morning, the way they came out with the plans we were hoping for one 50-run partnership, and if we had gotten one 50-run partnership in the top order, then things would have been easier for us. Sometimes, the series scorecard does not really reflect how well you have played. I think we played some really good cricket and I think it is going to be an even exciting series from hereon. Speaking on pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah's availability for the fourth Test, Gill said, "You will get to know about it soon." England won the toss and opted to bat first. England was reduced to 44/2, but a 109-run stand between Ollie Pope (44 in 104 balls, with four boundaries) and Joe Root (104 in 199 balls, with 10 fours) and a counter-attacking 84 run stand for the eighth wicket stand between Brydon Carse (56 in 83 balls, with six fours and a six) and Jamie Smith (51 in 56 balls, with six fours) took England to 387. Jasprit Bumrah (5/74) was the highlight for India with the ball. In the second innings, India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal early, but a 61-run stand between Karun Nair (26 in 46 balls, with five fours) and KL Rahul and a 141-run stand between KL (100 in 177 balls, with 13 fours) and Rishabh Pant (74 in 112 balls, with eight fours and two sixes) took India close to England's score. A brilliant half-century from Ravindra Jadeja (72 in 131 balls, with eight fours and a six) and lower-order contributions from Nitish Kumar Reddy (30) and Washington Sundar (23) took India to 387, with nothing separating the sides. Chris Woakes (3/84) was the top bowler for England in this innings. In England's second innings, India continuously kept England under pressure, except for a 67-run fifth wicket stand between Root (40 in 96 balls, with a four) and Stokes (33 in 96 balls, with three fours). Sundar (4/22) delivered a game-changer spell, running through the middle-order and bundling out England for 192. India was set 193 to win. During the run-chase, Team India was reduced to 82/7. However, Jadeja (61* in 181 balls, with four boundaries and a six) was not in a mood to give up. He put up resilient partnerships with the lower-order batters that put England under tension, but Mohammed Siraj's unlucky dismissal, where the ball spun back to the stumps following its landing on the pitch hurt a million of hearts as India was bundled out for 170. India trails 1-2 in the series. Stokes won the 'Player of the Match' for his handy knocks of 44 and 33 and total of five wickets in the match, including a three-wicket haul taken in the second innings taken in tandem with Jofra Archer, who also got three wickets.
Telegraph
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Chasing big totals in Tests is easier than ever
The fourth innings of Test matches is where legends are made. The run chase is imbued with a certain mystique: it offers no second chance, but there is always the opportunity for a single player to secure glory off his own bat. Many of the game's most celebrated knocks were in the final innings. Some historians consider the three greatest of all time to all be in fourth-innings run chases: Brian Lara's 153 against Australia, Kusal Perera's 153 against South Africa and Ben Stokes's 135 against Australia. In each instance, the batsman defied formidable bowling attacks and the weight of history to lead his side to targets of more than 300, winning by one wicket. Such innings are so celebrated partly because they are so rare. Yet while the mythology of the fourth-innings chase remains, England's magnificent chase at Headingley emphasised that Test cricket is now in a golden age for run chases. In the history of Test cricket until 2020, chasing sides won just 65 times while chasing at least 250 runs, and lost 164, winning just 28.3 per cent of matches which had a positive result. Since the start of 2020, chasing teams have won 15 times while chasing at least 250, and lost 17 – winning 46.8 per cent of matches that have a positive result. This phenomenon is best seen in England. Since Ben Stokes became captain before the 2022 summer, England have won six out of nine times when needing at least 250 to win. At home, that soars to an extraordinary six out of seven. Yet other countries have also completed stunning chases in the 2020s. India hauled down 329 to win at the Gabba in 2021; West Indies made 395, the fifth-highest successful run chase of all time, in Chattogram to beat Bangladesh; Pakistan chased down 342 with four wickets to spare against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2022; New Zealand and Australia respectively chased down over 280 in consecutive Tests in Christchurch, in 2023 and 2024. Earlier this month, South Africa were set 282 to win the World Test Championship final at Lord's, 70 more than any side had previously made in the match, and got there with five wickets in hand. South Africa's chase showed a central reason for why sizeable run chases have become more common: Test matches are speeding up. Australia's second innings at Lord's was completed before lunch on day three. Rather than confronting the worst conditions of the match, as has historically been the norm for sides batting in the fourth innings, instead South Africa benefited from the best time in the match to bat. Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma could trust the bounce at Lord's, without having to contend with the seam movement that Australia had exploited earlier in the Test. 'We'll have a chase,' Ben Stokes said when England last hosted India, at Edgbaston in 2022. He decided to do the same when he won the toss at Headingley on the opening day this year. On both occasions England faced huge fourth-innings targets – 378 and 371 – yet ultimately won with some comfort. These are England's two highest successful chases of all time. Leeds, with its fast outfield and a pitch that tends to flatten out, is particularly well-suited for such fourth-innings history-making. The last seven Tests at the ground have all been won by the chasing team, including England's Ashes victories in 2019 and 2023. Stokes's preference for bowling first in England illustrates how the changing character of pitches is inverting conventional wisdom about Test pitches. Rather than becoming more arduous to bat as the match progresses, many wickets today – especially in New Zealand and England – offer early moisture and then flatten out. In the 2020s, the average runs per wicket in England is 36.5. That is the highest of any of the four innings, and a 13-run increase on the 2010s. One theory for the shift is improvements in modern drainage methods, which have reduced the moisture on the pitch that bowlers can use to extract movement. The growing prevalence of back-to-back Tests, which can render bowlers fatigued when they are being attacked in the fourth innings, might also have contributed to run chases becoming more successful. Rather than the fourth innings being the hardest to bat, in England the innings to avoid is the third. In the 2020s, the average runs per wicket in the third innings is just 27.4; the figure is 31, 32.5 and 36.3 in the first, second and fourth innings respectively. The third-innings woes speak to team's struggles to set up the match – often seeming to struggle to locate the right tempo in an age when they need to set higher targets to be secure. While India batted superbly for much of their second innings, they still frittered away their advantage, losing their last six wickets for 31 runs. Yet for all the uncertainties over how to approach the third innings, teams have never had more clarity about their strategy in the final innings. Historically teams in the fourth innings often had to assess whether to aim for a win or merely a draw. But now, with draws becoming obsolete, there is no such ambiguity. Instead batsmen can lean upon their experience chasing targets in the limited-overs formats. In both forms of one-day cricket, chasing gives sides a slight but persistent advantage. Ben Duckett, a supreme white-ball batsman too, was clinical in how he sized up risk on the final day. Just as Stokes himself did at Leeds in 2019, Duckett showed how limited-overs skills – especially his reverse sweep – have made run chases more attainable. Joe Root has steered England home in 19 successful run chases in ODIs; his undefeated 53 was the sixth time that he has been undefeated in a successful Test run chase since 2022. The manner in which Root and Jamie Smith plundered runs as the target loomed showed the savviness that chasing sides now possess. Bowling sides defending targets above 300 were once guaranteed an extensive period with the second new ball; England won after facing just 12 deliveries of the second new ball. The upshot is that possibilities in the fourth innings need to be reassessed. For England and beyond, feats long thought outlandish have now come to seem almost ordinary.
The Guardian
23-06-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
‘We can chase anything': Tongue bullish as England look to overhaul India total
After blowing away India's tail for the second time in the game, pocketing a three-wicket maiden in the process, Josh Tongue said England were confident of scoring the 371 runs they need to claim victory in the opening Test, insisting: 'With our batting lineup we can chase anything.' England survived six overs before stumps to reach 21 without loss, leaving 350 to get on what is forecast to be a rain-affected final day. Should they reach their target it would be the highest successful run chase at Headingley – or for that matter anywhere in England – for 77 years, beating by nine the 362 they scored in the extraordinary Ashes encounter here in 2019. 'We're really confident,' Tongue said. 'If you look at our batting lineup it's obviously very strong. We play a positive brand of cricket. So I think chasing 371 is going to be a good thing for us to do. I feel like with that batting lineup we can chase down anything. Their bowlers are obviously going to bowl well in periods of the game. It's just soaking up that pressure and then reapplying it back on to them. 'We'll go for the win. That's the clear message in the changing room. It's just being as positive as we can. I don't see why we can't chase that down.' Tongue said of the wicket that 'when they were batting it flattened out', but KL Rahul, one of two Indian centurions alongside Rishabh Pant, said that had not been his experience across 247 balls at the crease. Forecasting 'a blockbuster finish', he warned England that their aggression could be their undoing. 'There's definitely going to be a result. That's what England have said very openly and their style of cricket suggests that,' he said. 'That gives us a good opportunity to pick up 10 wickets. It was a very tricky wicket – I spent a lot of time batting out there and I didn't feel set at all at any stage. With this wicket you never know what to expect.' Though both enjoyed considerable success Rahul's precise strokeplay contrasted markedly with the charismatic and unconventional approach of Pant. 'You just stand there and admire and sometimes scratch your head about the shot selection and the cricket that he plays,' Rahul said. 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 'He's a unique player and you just let him be. He obviously has a method to his batting, which none of us understands but it seems to work for him. You just let him be Rishabh Pant.'
