England take control of third Test after skittling India for 78 at Headingley

By Sports Desk August 25, 2021

England took complete control of their third Test with India after bowling out their opponents for just 78 on day one at Headingley and replying with 120-0.

The tourists, leading 1-0 in the series and seeking back-to-back Test wins in England for just a second time, were wiped out in just over 40 overs after electing to bat first.

Virat Kohli's side surrendered their last six wickets for 30 and England made a more-that-steady start to their reply by the end of play on Wednesday thanks to Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed.

Star man James Anderson got England off to a flier as he picked up three wickets for the loss of six runs in his opening spell of eight overs, dismissing KL Rahul (0), Cheteshwar Pujara (1) and Kohli (7) in quick succession.

India were in trouble at 21-3 and, while they were given temporary respite by Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, the latter was soon sent packing by Ollie Robinson for 18. 

Robinson picked up from where he left off after lunch with the wicket of Rishabh Pant, who edged straight into the hands of Jos Buttler for just two runs.

That was Buttler's fifth catch and England were not finished there as Craig Overton, in for Mark Wood, got Sharma – India's top scorer with 19 runs – caught trying an awkward pull shot.

Mohammed Shami was then caught at third slip by Rory Burns for a golden duck, before Sam Curran got Ravi Jadeja (4) and Jasprit Bumrah (0) both out lbw.

Mohammed Siraj (3) was the last to fall for a shocked India, the ball coming off his bat and landing in the hands of Joe Root at slip, leaving India with their ninth-lowest total in Test history.

England had the chance to get some runs on the board before the end of play and their batters steadily backed up their bowlers' hard work.

Burns and Hameed produced an unbroken century stand for the first wicket to give England a lead of 42.

Burns reached 52 by the close of play – his 10th Test half-century – and partner Hameed will resume at 60 not out on Thursday as England look to close in on an emphatic victory to level the series.

 

Headingley horror for India

India posted their third-lowest total against England with 78 runs and their lowest since 1974 when skittled for 42 at Lord's.

It was India's third-lowest score ever after electing to bat first, meanwhile, behind the 76 they managed against South Africa in 2008 and 75 against the West Indies in 1987.

England were rampant and Anderson in particular was in inspired form, setting the tone early on. Buttler also deserves special praise as he took five catches in an innings for a second time, previously doing so against the West Indies in 2015.

Hameed steps up on return to top two

Burns and Hameed refused to be budged as England became only the third side in Test history to bowl out the opposition and end day one in the lead with both openers still in play.

That is the 22nd new opening partnership used by England in the past nine years, with Hameed opening the batting in Test cricket for the first time since 2016 after jumping the order following Dawid Malan's recall.

Both men faced more than 100 balls but looked comfortable for large parts, with England's opening partnership registering a century at home for only the third time in five years.

Related items

  • Leeds United 4-0 Norwich City (4-0 agg): Whites book Wembley spot in emphatic fashion Leeds United 4-0 Norwich City (4-0 agg): Whites book Wembley spot in emphatic fashion

    Leeds United thumped Norwich City 4-0 in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final to seal their place at Wembley.

    After a goalless draw in the first leg left it all to play for at Elland Road on Thursday, Leeds turned on the style in front of a raucous home crowd to cruise into the final on May 26.

    Ilia Gruev settled the majority of Elland Road's nerves with just seven minutes played as he caught out Angus Gunn with a long-range free-kick, curling into the space vacated by the Norwich goalkeeper's expectation of a cross.

    Joel Piroe then doubled the hosts' advantage 13 minutes later, again capitalising on poor goalkeeping to beat Gunn to Wilfried Gnonto's cross and nod home.

    The tie was effectively over five minutes from half-time, Georginio Rutter getting on the end of Crysencio Summerville's squared pass to rifle off the underside of the crossbar and in.

    And after Gunn spilled Gnonto's low shot in the second half, Rutter cut the ball back for Summerville to poke home and secure Leeds' place in next Sunday's final, where they will meet either Southampton or West Brom.

    Data debrief

    Leeds may have looked pretty blunt in attack at Carrow Road, but that was far from the case on home soil as they put the Canaries to the sword in brutal fashion while keeping a 21st Championship clean sheet this season, more than any other side.

    Daniel Farke's men produced 2.45 xG (expected goals) to Norwich's 0.51, while Summerville made it 20 league goals for the season, more than any other Leeds player.

  • ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Warm-Up matches confirmed ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Warm-Up matches confirmed

    The official warm-up match fixtures for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 have been announced. Matches are scheduled to be played from Monday 27 May to Saturday 1 June across the USA and at two venues in Trinidad and Tobago in the West Indies.

    The venues to host the 16 warm up matches are the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Grand Prairie, Texas; Broward County Stadium, Broward County, Florida and Queen’s Park Oval and Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago.

    Warm-up fixtures will be 20 overs per side and will not carry international T20 status as teams will be allowed to field all members of their 15-player squad. In a change from the previous rights cycle, teams will now have the option of playing up to two warm-up matches depending on arrival time at the event.

    The West Indies against Australia fixture at Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday 30 May will be open to fans, tickets will be available at tickets.t20worldcup.com or box offices located at the National Cricket Centre and Queen’s Park Oval from 16 May.

    Warm-up match schedule:

    Monday 27 May

    Canada v Nepal, Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Grand Prairie, Texas 10h30

    Oman v Papua New Guinea, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago 15h00

    Namibia v Uganda, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago 19h00

    Tuesday 28 May

    Sri Lanka v Netherlands, Broward County Stadium, Broward County, Florida 10h30

    Bangladesh v USA, Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Grand Prairie, Texas 10h30

    Australia v Namibia, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago 19h00

    Wednesday 29 May

    South Africa intra-squad, Broward County Stadium, Broward County, Florida 10h30

    Afghanistan v Oman, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago 13h00

    Thursday 30 May

    Nepal v USA, Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Grand Prairie, Texas 10h30

    Scotland v Uganda, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago 10h30

    Netherlands v Canada, Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Grand Prairie, Texas 15h00

    Namibia v Papua New Guinea, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago 15h00

    West Indies v Australia, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago 19h00

    Friday 31 May

    Ireland v Sri Lanka, Broward County Stadium, Broward County, Florida 10h30

    Scotland v Afghanistan, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago 10h30

    Saturday 1 June

    Bangladesh v India, Venue TBC USA

     

  • IPL: Washout confirms SRH play-off place IPL: Washout confirms SRH play-off place

    Sunrisers Hyderabad are into the Indian Premier League play-offs despite their game against Gujarat Titans being abandoned without even doing the toss due to rain.

    SRH move onto 15 points, with one game remaining, but are now ensured a top-four finish for the first time since 2020.

    Their top-two hopes have taken a hit though – they have to beat Punjab Kings in their final game and hope Rajasthan Royals lose to Kolkata Knights Riders to finish second.

    The Titans were already out of play-off contention after their previous game against KKR was also called off due to a heavy storm without hitting a ball. They finish their season currently third from bottom, though that could change depending on results in the final few matches.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.