Joe Root again came to the rescue as England threatened to squander the foothold James Anderson's five-wicket haul had gained them against India on Friday.
Led by Anderson (5-62), some excellent work with the ball allowed England to begin their reply in the second session on day two of the second Test at Lord's, despite India having resumed on 276-3.
KL Rahul was gone early, adding just two as he departed for 129, and only Rishabh Pant (37) and Ravindra Jadeja (40) offered any serious resistance thereafter as the tourists were all out for 364.
England made it to 23 without loss before Mohammed Siraj removed Dom Sibley and Haseeb Hameed from consecutive balls to prompt a battling Root display, during which he passed Graham Gooch to go second on his country's list for Test runs. He was 48 not out with his team 119-3 at stumps.
The captain's knock, aided by 49 from Rory Burns, ensured England remained in contention at the end of a promising day, despite Siraj's spell.
India had quickly set about undoing their hard work on Thursday as the long-awaited wicket of Rahul went to Ollie Robinson from the second ball, before Ajinkya Rahane then followed to Anderson in the next over.
The tourists did then threaten to build a third big partnership until another timely intervention when Pant paid for his aggressive approach, swiping at a Mark Wood delivery that carried into Jos Buttler's gloves – again, one became two, with Mohammed Shami's jaunt to the crease a brief one.
It fell to Anderson to wrap up the innings, trapping Ishant Sharma lbw, earning a nick behind off Jasprit Bumrah's glove to complete his five-for and then getting underneath a wild Jadeja swing off the bowling of Wood.
England started steadily enough in reply, only to have Sibley pick out Rahul at short mid-wicket soon after tea.
The recalled Hameed departed quickly to a straight one to bring out Root, who teased two wasted reviews out of opposite number Virat Kohli before settling in to put on an 84-run partnership with Burns – a stand that was eventually broken when the opener went lbw.
Ageless Anderson
Anderson was supposed to be injured, of course, but did not show it in a typically influential outing. His 31st five-for was his seventh at Lord's, tying Trent Bridge for his favourite ground in this sense.
And, at 39 years and 14 days, Anderson became the oldest pace bowler to take five wickets in a Test innings since 1951. Only New Zealand legend Richard Hadlee, against England in July 1990, had also taken five at the age of 39 in the intervening period.
Root reaches second
With 48 here, Root moves ahead of Gooch (8,900) and now trails only Alastair Cook (12,472). The England captain has scored 1,000 or more runs against five Test nations, but India (2,011) tops the list of opponents.
This track record clearly played on Kohli's mind in the final session as he twice reviewed for lbw when on both occasions he might have held fire against another player in the England side.
Windies legend Walsh joins Zimbabwe in hunt for historic Women's T20 World Cup spot
West Indies fast bowling legend Courtney Walsh has joined Zimbabwe’s women’s team as a coaching consultant, as they prepare to challenge for a spot at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh later this year.
The Jamaican, who led West Indies women’s to the semi-finals of the 2022 ICC Women's World Cup in New Zealand, where they lost to eventual winners Australia, will now aim to rewrite the history books by assisting Zimbabwe to a maiden World Cup appearance.
The Lady Chevrons are targeting one of two spots from the Women's T20 World Cup qualifiers, which begins in the United Arab Emirates on April 25.
Walsh, 61, who took 519 Test wickets in his stellar career, is assisting head coach Walter Chawaguta ahead of the tournament, and Givemore Makoni, managing director of Zimbabwe’s Cricket is delighted to have the legendary pacer on board.
"We count ourselves fortunate and privileged to be able to bring in Courtney as a technical consultant for our campaign in Abu Dhabi," Makoni said.
"He is one of the world's greatest cricketers and we believe his experience at the highest level of the women's game in particular will boost our chances,” he added.
A total of 10 teams will participate in the qualifiers in the UAE, which culminates on May 7.
The sides will be split into two groups of five, with the top two progressing to the semi-finals, from where the two finalists will secure berths to the Women's T20 World Cup in Bangladesh later this year.
Walsh and his Zimbabwe outfit will face the hosts, Ireland, the Netherlands and Vanuatu in Group B, while Sri Lanka, Thailand, Scotland, Uganda and United States, are set to lock horns in Group A.
Zimbabwe women won the gold medal at the African Games in Ghana last month, beating South Africa in a super over.
Cole Palmer has nothing to prove to City, says Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino
Mauricio Pochettino believes Cole Palmer will go into Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City on Saturday with nothing to prove to his former employers, insisting he is the right manager to help the 21-year-old continue his stunning ascendancy.
Palmer, who left Chelsea’s Wembley opponents in a £42.5million deal in the summer, is joint top scorer in the Premier League after his four goals in Monday’s 6-0 demolition of Everton moved him level with City’s Erling Haaland on 20 for the season.
He has netted an incredible seven times in the team’s last two home games, including a hat-trick in the breathless 4-3 win over Manchester United when two of his goals came in the 10th and 11th minutes of stoppage time.
He previously scored from the penalty spot in the fifth minute of added time to snatch a point in a 4-4 draw when City visited west London in November.
Palmer has previously stated his decision to leave the champions – for whom he scored twice in August in the Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup – was based on the belief he would get more first-team game time at Chelsea.
That decision has been thoroughly vindicated, with his performances for Mauricio Pochettino’s frustratingly inconsistent side placing him in the reckoning for the PFA Player of the Year award.
His odds on winning the award have been slashed by as much as half with some bookmakers since his Everton haul.
But his manager said there was no possibility the England international would face City with an axe to grind.
“It’s his first consistent season playing, we need to be careful because he’s still young, he’s growing,” said Pochettino.
“He’s already played twice (against City) in the Premier League. He’s very grateful for Manchester City, with Pep Guardiola. He always talks very highly of them.
“He’s not the type of player that has something inside (to prove). He understood perfectly that for different reasons he wanted to prove himself in another club.
“He’s not the type of person to wants to prove something against his former club.”
Prior to joining Chelsea, Palmer had played only 19 senior league games spread over three seasons, and had not scored in the Premier League.
Yet he is now a genuine contender to deprive his former team-mate Haaland of the Golden Boot won by the Norwegian last season.
There is also the growing prospect of his being selected in Gareth Southgate’s squad for Euro 2024 in Germany this summer.
“He has to absorb the pressure to play in the Premier League consistently,” said Pochettino, who previously enjoyed success at Tottenham stewarding young talents though their early years, including England captain Harry Kane.
“It’s about the demands in his private life. He is top scorer. He maybe needs to pay attention to different things than before. That’s going to have an influence on how he is going to prepare himself, how he’s going to rest and going to sleep, how he spends his energy.
“We need to be careful. We have the experience to manage this type of thing, when a young kid becomes a big star. Why is he not performing in a few months? Because his life has changed. He needs to learn from this experience that is completely different to the past.”
Wolves v Arsenal: ‘What we still have to play for is beautiful’ – Arteta
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta set out to remind his team that they still have something “beautiful” to play for despite their Champions League exit.
The Gunners slipped out of UEFA’s flagship club competition in midweek when they went down 1-0 to Bayern Munich, losing 3-2 on aggregate.
That defeat followed on from a 2-0 loss to Aston Villa last Sunday – a reverse that significantly dented Arsenal’s title hopes, with the Gunners now two points behind Manchester City who, after this weekend, will have a game in hand.
Arsenal face Wolves on Saturday and, with City in FA Cup action, a win would see them move back to the top of the table, at least temporarily, so Arteta offered a reminder that all is not lost.
“I can guarantee you we are fully focused on Wolves and everybody's lifted,” he said following the loss in Munich.
“What we still have to play is beautiful and I said before, it's time to be next to our players and in this moment, not when you win 10 in a row and a draw, that's easy to prize our players and to be behind them and to say really nice things. The moment is now to be next to them.”
On Friday, in his pre-match press conference, Arteta added: “As an experience, [the Champions League was] the best one.
“I am now fully focused on the times ahead of us. We are now behind Manchester City and will give it a good go. The context is clear. If we win we are top of the league.”
Wolves sit 11th, though they could do with snapping a four-game winless streak in order to get their European hopes back on track.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Wolves – Matheus Cunha
Cunha has been involved in nine goals in his last nine Premier League games, scoring six and assisting three. His 11 goals overall this season is the fourth most by a Wolves player in a single Premier League campaign after Raul Jimenez (17 in 2019-20, 13 in 2018-19) and Steven Fletcher (12 in 2011-12).
Arsenal – Bukayo Saka
Saka has been involved in eight goals in his last seven Premier League away games, scoring seven and assisting one. His 13 away goal involvements overall this term (eight goals, five assists) is the most by an Arsenal player in a single Premier League campaign since Alexis Sanchez’s 20 in 2016-17.
MATCH PREDICTION: ARSENAL WIN
Arsenal lost a Premier League game for the first time in 2024 against Villa last time out. Since the start of last season, only twice have the Gunners suffered consecutive league defeats, doing so in May 2023 (v Brighton and Nottingham Forest) and December this season (v West Ham and Fulham).
Wolves are winless in their last four Premier League games (D2 L2), though they have won their last two at Molineux against sides starting the day in the top two of the table, beating Man City 2-1 in September and Spurs by the same score in November.
Arsenal have scored in their last 32 meetings with Wolves in all competitions.
Wolves have now lost each of their last five against the Gunners, failing to score in both home defeats in that run.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Wolves – 21.5%
Arsenal – 51.2%
Draw – 27.3%
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