Mark Wood feels England’s audacious victory in the first Test has changed the dynamics of the Test series, insisting “we’ve given them something to think about” ahead of next week’s clash in Visakhapatnam.
England completed a famous 28-run win in Hyderabad, bouncing back from 190 behind after the first innings to complete a success already being talked about as one of their best ever away results.
Debutant spinner Tom Hartley outperformed the decorated home attack with his seven-wicket haul on day four and Ollie Pope’s 196 exemplified the tourists’ ability to control the game with sweeps and reverse sweeps, raising questions about how India will respond.
When England last travelled here in 2021, India responded to losing the series opener by preparing extreme turning pitches and walked away 3-1 winners, but it is not at all clear that such an approach would suit them this time around.
And pace bowler Wood is excited to place the ball firmly back in their court.
“I don’t know what they will produce next, they have the potential to do any wicket they want. But now we’ve given them something to think about,” he said.
“It’s one of our greatest wins, that tells you how big it was, and now we know we can do it. They now have to come up with a different plan.
“We’ve only won one game and there are five in the series, so it’s another big task to win the next game, but we’ve proved to India it will be a battle and we’re not going to give up.
“It’s not a foregone conclusion that we are going to turn up here and they’re gonna spin us out. Popey has played a fantastic knock and they’re now going to have to go analyse, like we would do if things didn’t go well, and think how they are going to try and combat that.
“We’re playing differently. It’s not just plodding forward and trying to survive. We’re trying to put the pressure back on India. Their spinners were going at over four an over – that would have never happened in the last series.
“People call it ‘Bazball’, but it’s putting that pressure on when the time comes and that’s how we’re trying to win games.”
Wood played as a solitary seam bowler in the opener, delivering just 25 overs in the match and a new ball spell of just one over in the second innings.
His was a unique role by English standards but one he or James Anderson may be asked to perform again by captain Ben Stokes in the second Test.
“I actually said to Jimmy that I found it more bizarre not having anyone to talk to,” said Wood of going it alone.
“Going with four spinners and myself I knew my role would be very different to what I was used to. It was a bit odd, a bit weird at times, but spin was doing the damage.
“Very rarely would you ever think you’d bowl just one and then be off but I trust what Stokesy says. I’ll give it everything for one over and when he says ‘rest’ I’m not annoyed; I get it, we’re going to spin now.
“It could (happen again) depending on what they produce. Going forward, for all the seam bowling group, we know that could be the statement and it’s about getting your mind around how to approach it.”
Record-breaking Root edges England closer to Sri Lanka victory
Joe Root hit a record-breaking century as England edged closer to sealing their series victory over Sri Lanka at Lord's.
Root, who equalled Alastair Cook's record during the first innings of the second Test, made 103 from 111 balls for his 34th Test ton.
England resumed on 25-1 at the start of day three, with Root leading the way for the hosts and the crowd rose as one when a sweeping four completed his landmark century.
He helped his nation set their opponents a target of 483 after they were 251 all out.
As the light faded over Lord's, so too did Sri Lanka's momentum in their record-attempting chase, with Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone claiming Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka respectively.
Play was eventually halted due to bad light, and called off to be resumed on Sunday with the tourists at 53-2 with Dimuth Karunaratne (23) and Prabath Jayasuriya (three) at the crease.
Data Debrief: Root revels on record-breaking day
Day three of the second Test belonged to Root, whose century was also his quickest in Test cricket.
Adding to his 143 in England's first innings, he registered two tons in a match for the first time, while becoming only the fourth player to achieve that feat in a Test at Lord's.
Root also joins Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in scoring 5,000 Test runs in two different decades, while closing the gap on Cook's all-time England tally (12,472) to just 95.
If that was not enough for him, he also took the catches for both of Sri Lanka's wickets, making him the first England player to reach 200 in Test cricket.
Last Hurrah: Dwayne Bravo to call time on CPL career after this year's edition
Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo says this year’s edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be his last hurrah as he announced his retirement from the tournament on Saturday.
Bravo, who represents the Trinbago Knight Riders, made the revelation on his Instagram account hours ahead of the franchise’s opening contest against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Basseterre, scheduled for 7:00pm.
“It's been a great journey, and I'm looking forward to playing my final professional tournament in front of my Caribbean people," Bravo said in his post.
“TKR is the place where everything started for me and will end with my team,” he added.
The 40-year-old’s post all but indicates the end of a decorated professional career, as he retired from international cricket in 2021 after the T20 World Cup and also announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) a year later after being part of four title-winning Chennai Super Kings campaigns.
Bravo, known for his flair and skillful batting and bowling, is currently the CPL’s highest wicket-taker with 128 scalps in 103 games at an average of 22.40 and economy rate of 8.69.
In fact, Bravo is the leading wicket-taker in all T20s, with 630 scalps in 578 matches. He has also scored 6,970 runs with the bat.
No doubt the electrifying Trinidad and Tobago stalwart will go down as one of T20's early legends, having played seven World Cups in the format, winning two titles, as well as over 15 franchise league titles. He is the first bowler to get to 500 T20 wickets.
CWI targets domestic T20 competition in 2025 to identify Caribbean representative(s) for 2028 Olympic Games
Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dr. Kishore Shallow says plans are already afoot to host a domestic T20 competition next year to determine the Caribbean representative(s) for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Shallow, once again welcoming cricket’s return to the Olympic Games, pointed out that his administration is already in dialogue with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) hierarchy to stage the domestic competition in 2025.
Cricket, which last featured at an Olympic Games in 1900, was always set for a long-awaited return to the global multi-sport showpiece, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year confirmed it and four other sports—baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, and squash—for the LA Games.
“To add cricket to the agenda in the next Olympics is certainly going to be something tremendous, as we did in the Commonwealth Games a couple years ago when we had one of our teams representing the females. We at the time chose our original women’s tournament, and the winner at the time was Barbados, so they represented the region,” Shallow said.
“We anticipate something similar will be done unless they tell us all the teams can come and participate, which would be ideal, but it is unlikely for that to happen,” he added.
Shallow also explained that the CPL champions cannot represent the region at the Olympic Games given that the tournament is franchise-based and involves players from other parts of the world.
As such, he revealed that he has engaged CARICOM leaders regarding plans for a domestic T20 competition from which the winner or top finishers would secure the coveted Olympic Games spot(s).
“We have been in discussion with CPL for them to fund a domestic T20 tournament starting next year. I think Miles Bascombe and his team have already scheduled a window for that next year in 2025. Once we are able to have that tournament, then we can use that to determine which team or teams will participate in the Olympics on behalf of CWI,” Shallow shared.
“We can’t use the CPL as it is now because it’s franchises. But in the domestic tournament that we’re having, which will still have a commercial model to it but not to the extent of CPL, but that will more than likely be territories instead of franchises, so we will be able to identify teams,” he noted.
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