stabbed into the off side
England vs India, 1st Test at Leeds, ENG vs IND, Jun 20 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary
Stumps • Starts 10:00 AM
1st Test, Leeds, June 20 - 24, 2025, India tour of England
New
IND 2nd Innings
Full commentary
6.28pm So, that's enough for one night. ANother enthralling day, and there are two more of them in store (and another 20 after that, yay!) From Miller, Ashish and Venkat, good night!
6.25pm Here's Ollie Pope on the state of play: "The India team batted in the sun for a day and a bit, then the clouds came in for us, so I knew it would be tough [for my hundred]. Respect the good balls and put away the bad balls. The conditions and I know this pitch, true bounce, quick outfields, can swing a bit. Play as late as I can, play square and score with the swing. That last series [in India] I wasn't good enough in the last four games, I'll look to draw a line under the last innings and reset from there. Whether it's 0 or a hundred. KL Rahul will be an important wicket for us. Don't want to put a number on a chase, the less the better but beat the infield it's four."
6.03pm Rain stops play! The umpires have had enough, and though Stokes is unimpressed, it's got heavier even as we speak. So that is stumps.
Another wonderful day of Test cricket... lit up by Harry Brook's 99 and Jasprit Bumrah's magnificent five-for. Between them they turned this match into a one-innings shootout, and by the close, India had turned their six-run advantage into a lead of 96, for the loss of two wickets. Carse produced a beauty to prise out the dangerous Jaiswal for 4, while Ben Stokes' golden arm accounted for Sai Sudharsan for the second time in the match. But with KL Rahul and Shubman Gill in situ at the close, it's a massive day four in prospect!
Matthew : "First time on ESPNcricinfo from Antarctica (on cruise). Please publish. India are basically 96 for 6, given the tail will do not much. These two need to really dig in for a big one." A touch pessimistic, but bonus points for your commitment to following the cricket (say hello to the penguins!). It's perhaps overstating things a touch, but the difference between India losing 7 for 41 and England going on the attack at the back end was certainly intriguing!
Kush: "So whose camp would you rather be at this time?" England's, just, if only because a couple of early wickets tomorrow morning will put massive pressure on India to scrape a defendable target. If this pair make hay on the resumption, however... all bets are off!
Suyog : "Match evenly balanced. India should Target to bat whole day tomorrow irrespective of result, target or circumstances. England will anyway go for it on last day with their bazball approach. So, having enough runs on the board is crucial."
23.5
•
Bashir to Rahul, no run
We are now past 6pm... so it could be the close of play any minute if the rain does arrive
23.4
1
Bashir to Gill, 1 run
bottom-handed whip, into the leg-side
23.3
•
Bashir to Gill, no run
slides on with the arm, past the edge! Well bowled by Bashir, the variation is the straighter one, and Gill played for turn there
23.2
1
Bashir to Rahul, 1 run
cracked off the back foot, out to the cover sweeper
The umpires are starting to worry about the incoming weather...
23.1
1
Bashir to Gill, 1 run
stabbed into the covers on the front foot
Bashir to continue. Decent last over ... someone moves behind the bowler's arm at the last minute. Might have been wind, as it were...
end of over 23Maiden
IND: 87/2CRR: 3.78
Shubman Gill4 (7b 1x4)
KL Rahul46 (73b 7x4)
Ben Stokes 5-1-18-1
Shoaib Bashir 2-1-8-0
Prasad Chavali : "1.4 billion people and one Bumrah... he needs a sidekick..." When you put it like that... being one-in-a-million bowler is understating it really!
22.6
1lb
Stokes to Gill, 1 leg bye
inswinger, into the thigh-pad, fenced to backward square
22.5
•
Stokes to Gill, no run
tight lines, more wobble from Stokes as he seams it back off the pitch and keeps the lbw in play. Kept out well in the end
Root is very excited about the state of the ball. Lovely and shiny on one side. Good work, shiner-in-chief ...
22.4
•
Stokes to Gill, no run
full length once more, outside off, more shape away as Gill leaves alone
22.3
•
Stokes to Gill, no run
that's what the leg-sided balls are about! This is a zinger of an outswinger, exploding off a good length and climbing past the splice!
22.2
•
Stokes to Gill, no run
another one tails down the leg-side. Stokes is very persistent with the leg-sided line at the moment... it paid off for Sai. I guess it's a frustration for the batters too
22.1
•
Stokes to Gill, no run
swinging down the leg-side, lots of excitement from the cordon, but Stokes knows there's no strangle there
end of over 22Maiden
IND: 86/2CRR: 3.90
KL Rahul46 (73b 7x4)
Shubman Gill4 (1b 1x4)
Shoaib Bashir 2-1-8-0
Ben Stokes 4-0-18-1
Saad Mubashar: "England automatically become a 1.5x better Test side with a fully fit Ben Stokes." So true... you forget how much he's been missed as an allrounder, arguably since 2020
21.6
•
Bashir to Rahul, no run
slides onto the back foot to defend back to the off side. A good reintroduction
21.5
•
Bashir to Rahul, no run
that one gripped! Outside off again, a touch tighter and fuller, and takes the inside-half of a thrusting bat as KL meets the length
21.4
•
Bashir to Rahul, no run
outside off, another teasing length, wide enough to invite the turn back into the stumps. Left alone
21.3
•
Bashir to Rahul, no run
good delivery, dipping outside off and gripping into a back-foot push
The rain is falling... Root is full of energy at slip
21.2
•
Bashir to Rahul, no run
outside off, keeps a touch low as Rahul leaves alone
21.1
•
Bashir to Rahul, no run
a hint of turn from outside off, just back of a length
Bashir rejoins the party. Slip and leg gully
end of over 2110 runs • 1 wicket
IND: 86/2CRR: 4.09
Shubman Gill4 (1b 1x4)
KL Rahul46 (67b 7x4)
Ben Stokes 4-0-18-1
Josh Tongue 5-0-15-0
20.6
4
Stokes to Gill, FOUR runs
width, cuffed up and over deep third! Gill shows his colours immediately, unleashing his levers to dispatch the loose ball. Stokes kicks his footholes in frustration
Hello skipper. This is a seriously fun Test!
20.5
W
Stokes to B Sai Sudharsan, OUT
inswinger, clipped to short midwicket! Huge moment, and b-i-i-i-g movement from Stokes too! It wasn't the ideal line, shaping past the pads, but it went late, and Sai's timing was confounded as he pinged it a touch airily to Crawley, who clung on well! A decent knock from the debutant, especially after his first-innings 0. But Stokes, on the pads, does him again
Sai Sudharsan c Crawley b Stokes 30 (48b 4x4 0x6) SR: 62.5
20.4
4
Stokes to B Sai Sudharsan, FOUR runs
lovely timing! Stokes strays onto the pads again, but this time Sai is across his stumps to the inswinger, in position perfectly to nail it through backward square
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