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England made 125 runs and took two wickets in the morning session at Manchester

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jul-2025

Ben Stokes brought up his century on fourth morning•AFP via Getty Images

Ben Stokes added a century to the five-for he had already taken to cement his place among the greatest allrounders in Test cricket, and after all that he just had to sit back and watch as his bowling attack laid waste to India’s top-order. England had piled up 669, their fifth-highest total in this format. They kept India on the field for 157.1 overs and the fatigue that it caused was certainly on show. India, trailing by 311 runs, lost two wickets scoring any of their own.Stokes, who retired hurt on 66 with leg cramps, seemed back to his fighting best judging by the quick single he took in the very first over of play. Anshul Kamboj had hit the stumps direct at the bowlers end and Mohammed Siraj was so certain it was out that he had his forefinger raised to various corners of the ground. Replays showed a different picture and Stokes took to Siraj in the next over, dancing down the track and clattering him through cover for four.There were a few nervy moments as he approached his century, his first in 35 innings. A neat nudge off the hips brought it up. Stokes punched the air as he ran down the pitch and brought out the folded-finger salute – a tribute to his father Ged – while the trumpeter in the crowd added to the moment by belting out the Superman theme. Stokes joined Garry Sobers and Jacques Kallis as the only three allrounders with 7000 Test runs and 200 Test wickets. He became the fifth captain to score a century and pick up a five-for.India were already showing signs of wear. They gave away overthrows. They spread the field for the No. 10. In situations like this, the 15 minutes they had to endure until lunch become extremely dicey and Chris Woakes made it impossible. He started around the wicket immediately to make sure the left-handed Yashasvi Jaiwal would not have easy leaves. The angle forced the mistake as he tried to flick one off middle stump only for the ball to seam extremely sharply off the pitch to take his leading edge through to Joe Root, who fumbled initially before gathering it on the second attempt. Sai Sudharsan showed the clearest signs of fatigue among the Indian players when he was faced with a harmless short and wide delivery. He tried to play at it. Eventually he realised he didn’t need to. In the end, he was caught at second slip leaving the ball.Shubman Gill walked out to face the hat-trick delivery, surrounded by five slips and a leg slip and his team yet to score. They managed one run during the three-over barrage.

Fast bowler is confident England can turn their fortunes around as the games begin to come thick and fast in the Women’s Ashes

Valkerie Baynes13-Jan-2025England are looking for a Melbourne re-set after dropping the first game of their Ashes battle on Sunday with Australia.Faced with defending a below-par 204 after being bowled out inside 44 overs amid poor shot selection and some smart Australian bowling led by Ashleigh Gardner’s 3 for 19, England fell short by four wickets as Gardner and Alyssa Healy mowed down the bulk of the target with 67 balls to spare.Lauren Bell, the England seamer who was economical in taking 1 for 25 in her nine overs, believed her team deserved “a lot of credit” for making Australia’s run chase a little harder than the hosts would have liked in the first ODI at North Sydney Oval. It might have been even tougher were it not for a couple of dropped catches at crucial moments.Alice Capsey put down Ellyse Perry off the bowling of Lauren Filer and was probably relieved to see Bell dismiss the allrounder a short time later. Sophie Ecclestone’s bizarre fumble, meanwhile, when Gardner was on 31 and Australia needed 22 more runs with six wickets down was impossible to quantify.”We got 200 on a pitch that I think the par score batting first was about 250, so putting in an effort to almost defend that was, I think you can take a lot of confidence from it,” an upbeat Bell said. “There are a few things that we could definitely work on moving forward. Obviously Australia caught very well and we dropped a few in at important moments. Moving forward, there’s a few places we can work on and really focus on the next game, but I think as a whole we can take a fair amount of confidence from the game.”Filer started England’s defense well with the early wicket of Phoebe Litchfield for just 4 and had in-form allrounder Annabel Sutherland caught in the deep to end the match with 2 for 58 from eight overs. Ecclestone accounted for the key wickets of Beth Mooney and Tahlia McGrath to finish with 2 for 38. But England will need an improved performance all-round if they are to avoid going four points down in the second ODI at Junction Oval on Tuesday.”We’re one game into a pretty long series and we’re two-nil down, but we’re going to have to start the next game and imagine it’s nil-nil and go again,” Bell said. That is the beauty of these series. We can come back and we’re just going to have to reset and go with our plan and just go again.”We’ll sit down as a team and review. Our batting group will get together and it will obviously be different conditions over in Melbourne, so we’ll have to adjust to them. But we’ll get together as a group and work out the little bits we can tidy up and hopefully put on a better performance.”With such a tight turnaround between matches a theme throughout the series which consists of three ODIs followed by three T20Is and a four-day Test match in the space of 22 days, any adjustments will need to be made almost on the fly.”It’s definitely tough,” Bell said. “We’re just going to have to adapt really quickly, communicate with the girls that maybe have played at Junction Oval and try and get as much information as we can about the pitch. Then the opening batters, if we bat first, or the opening bowlers, it’s just really important to communicate what the pitch is doing as soon as we get there.”One lesson Bell can take from Sydney is having the courage to stand by her convictions. Her determination that she had trapped Perry directly in front of the stumps was crucial after England had burned a review earlier.Bell managed to convince captain Heather Knight and wicketkeeper Amy Jones to again call upon the DRS, which confirmed that she had Perry plumb.”I was obviously really happy to get her and I had to stand my ground a little bit and tell Heather and Amy that I thought it was out,” Bell said. “It was two v one. I really, really thought it was out. Heather and Amy weren’t sure and I didn’t want to be the one to lose our last review, but yeah, I’m really glad I stood firm.”A batting performance in which Knight and Danni Wyatt-Hodge top-scored with 39 and 38 respectively combined with a bowling attack that struggled to combat Healy’s smart innings of 70 from 78 balls and needed more support in the field suggests that if England are to overturn the deficit in this campaign, they will need to stand very firm indeed.

The hosts had control of the game, then they lost it, then they got it back, then they lost it… and so it went until the final overs

The Report by Alagappan Muthu08-Feb-20203:57

Five reasons why New Zealand won the Auckland ODI

Navdeep Saini!All the hype around him was that he could bowl fast.Only here he was staring down a bouncer with a glint in his eye and dispatching it over point for six. Not long after that, he hit boss mode, getting down on one knee and scooping the seam bowlers for four.Chasing 274, India were down and out at 153 for 7 in the 32nd over. And then their No. 9 had an identity crisis. Dude batted like he was ruddy Kevin Pietersen, making four times the runs his List A average of 12 suggests.It’s as if Eden Park just wouldn’t allow for a dead ODI to take place within its bordersKyle Jamieson roars after getting a wicket in his first over on debut•Getty Images

There were so many instances of players rising above the ruin to keep this game alive. Ross Taylor’s freakish, unbeaten 73 followed on from a collapse of 7 for 55. Ravindra Jadeja batted like he had been to the future and seen that he would score a half-century himself. Nothing he did, or said, gave even the slightest hint that he ever thought a match-winning hand was beyond him. This after a 10-over spell where he gave away only three boundaries.

New Zealand fined for slow over-rate

After India had earned over-rate fines for three matches in a row – the last two T20Is and the first ODI – it was New Zealand who were docked for bowling their overs too slowly in the second ODI. New Zealand were fined 60% of their match fee, with match referee Chris Broad ruling that Tom Latham’s side were three overs short of the required target with time allowances being considered.
Latham didn’t contest the charge so there was no need of a formal hearing. Players are fined 20% of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.

New Zealand’s ninth-wicket partnership scared up 76 runs in 51 balls. India’s eighth wicket-partnership – at the height of an impossible chase – made 76 off 86.Sheesh! Eden Park just cannot deal with even the idea of a boring cricket match. This one ended with New Zealand winning by the skin of their teeth and taking the series 2-0.The tension was unbelievable. And rather more apparent on the hosts, who may well have felt those twitches that a Super Over brings. They needed three wickets when India needed 121 off 113 balls. Plenty of time. Just stick to the plan.Jadeja kept pinching singles. Saini twisted his body into every which way to protect his stumps. The equation reduced to 85 off 60. By now, New Zealand had run out of fit players – Mitchell Santner and Scott Kuggeleijn were unwell and many of their first-choice picks including Kane Williamson, who was at the ground, and Trent Boult were still recovering from injury. So their assistant coach Luke Ronchi was yanked out of the dressing room and stuck on the field.Ravindra Jadeja kept Indian hopes alive for a while•Getty Images

Meanwhile, Jadeja was doing the MS Dhoni thing, biding his time and mining twos from within the 30-yard circle. He didn’t seem to mind that the required rate was at 9.7 and the reason for that became immediately apparent when Saini tonked Colin de Grandhomme for three fours in the 44th over, and then sheepishly giggling when his partner would come up to punch gloves.But, just as it looked like the most improbable finish was on the cards – Saini scoring a fifty and simultaneously unlocking the secret to human flight – a rookie player comes up and knocks his stumps to the ground. Eden Park, man. It really can’t help flipping a script.That Kyle Jamieson strike paved the way to victory, and cemented his candidacy for Man of the Match award. Though honestly, his dismissal of Prithvi Shaw should have sealed it, an incoming delivery storming emphatically through the batsman’s defences to wreck his stumps.Tim Southee must have been pleased in the end. He was not at all well on Saturday. He was a doubt even to play but then it became apparent that New Zealand wouldn’t even have an XI to put on the park if he took the day off. So he put on his black cap and put in a truly big-hearted performance. He wasn’t on the pitch when it all ended, raising the possibility that he bowled out (2-41) well before he otherwise would have simply to go to the dressing room and rest. But, as he was leaving every single one of his team-mates raced up to him, from the captain Tom Latham to one of their best ever Taylor and even the debutant Jamieson, and patted his back.Southee is no longer the wicket-taking machine he once was, often swinging the ball in ways that made people question basic physics. But he stands up in adversity. He leads when no one wants to. He did that in Australia when New Zealand were robbed of Boult and Lockie Ferguson. He did it again in Auckland, clean bowling Virat Kohli at the start of the chase to provide his team the foothold they needed to win the game.It was beautiful to watch New Zealand execute their plan for the Indian captain. They had three slips to start and continued with at least two catchers through the first 20 balls he faced. Most experts would attest that is the period when every batter is at their most vulnerable. Also, they bowled one side of the wicket, the off side namely, and blocked out his cover drive. Kohli had made only nine runs in this time and was eventually forced to try and drag balls into the leg side if he wanted his score to move.This was where Southee wanted Kohli to be. He rolled out the cross-seamer. It cut in off the pitch. The batsman played around it and was bowled. However well India fought after that – and they did, with Shreyas Iyer scoring a fifty as well, that wicket, much as it did in the World Cup semi-final, was crucial.Ross Taylor is an expert at hitting the ball in the leg side•AFP

It meant New Zealand don’t have to look back so wistfully at their own batting collapse. Losing 7 for 55 had ripped away much of the tension from a game that was building up beautifully. Ha! As if such a thing could ever happen in Auckland.Taylor killed all possibility of a dull game by playing an absolute blinder. His ninth-wicket partnership with Jamieson – who scored a century while facing James Anderson and Stuart Broad in a tour game in 2018 – was entirely ridiculous.It came after New Zealand had lurched from 142 for 1 to 197 for 8 thanks to the pressure India exerted through the middle overs. To think that was the period where they won the game in Hamilton. Taylor and Tom Latham ransacked 117 runs in overs 30-40 without even looking like losing a wicket a few days ago. Here, New Zealand stopped and stumbled and crashed and burned to 32 for 4 in that phase.Taylor was 29 off 47 when the eighth wicket fell and his side didn’t look like it would last the remaining nine overs. He had already been part of two run-outs that stole all the momentum away from the innings, especially the one that cost Martin Guptill his wicket when he looked well set on 79. A straightforward chase was on the cards and Eden Park was all set to be marred by that most awful of things – a boring cricket match.But then that magic that surrounds this ground, which is home to the Grant Elliot miracle, the Marcus Stoinis heartbreak and the Kane Williamson fist pump, began to show itself.Taylor was completely infused with it. Sure, 14 years in the international arena does help a guy overcome such a hopeless situation but where’s the fun in that narrative? It’s much more compelling to imagine an otherworldly force enabling Taylor to the best fast bowler in the world nearly all the way for six, with the back of his bat. Jasprit Bumrah does not get treated like this. By anyone. Heck, even the new kid Jamieson was whacking fours off him at the death.Eden Park just cannot deal with even the idea of a boring cricket match.

The England and Rajasthan Royals batter has spent much of the last ten months moving in and out of biosecure environments

Alan Gardner20-Apr-2021Liam Livingstone, the England and Rajasthan Royals batter, has opted to return home early from the IPL, citing “bubble fatigue” after spending much of the last ten months moving in and out of biosecure environments. The Royals said that Livingstone had flown back to the UK on Monday, before India was added to a “red list” of countries from which the arrivals need to undergo a mandatory ten-day quarantine period.Livingstone joined up with the Royals after his involvement in England’s limited-overs series against India in March, which included his ODI debut. However, he had not been selected for any of Royals’ three IPL matches in the ongoing tournament.The 27-year-old was playing at the Pakistan Super League in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic first caused a global shutdown of the cricket calendar. He was named as part of an expanded England training squad in May, as the ECB prepared to stage all of its home matches behind closed doors, and was a reserve squad member for the limited-overs series against Ireland, Pakistan and Australia.He was also an unused back-up on the tour of South Africa in November and December, which was cut short amid concerns that biosecurity protocols had failed, before moving on to the Big Bash League, where he played a key role in getting Perth Scorchers to the final of the competition.Livingstone is not the first player to withdraw from the IPL for such reasons, with Mitchell Marsh telling the Sunrisers Hyderabad he would not be travelling in March. Several England players pulled out of the Big Bash this winter, too, including Tom Banton and Tom Curran, after spending extended time in biosecure environments as cricket boards attempted to fulfil their fixtures while grappling with the pandemic.Livingstone’s return is a positive for his county, Lancashire, who are two matches into the start of their County Championship campaign and will be strengthened in their push for a spot in Division One.

All the stats, analysis and colour from the title bout of the inaugural World Test Championship

Sidharth Monga23-Jun-2021
6.25pm

New Zealand. World. Test. Champions

With an aerial flick over square leg, Ross Taylor has taken New Zealand to their first world title in cricket 46 years after world championships started in cricket. They have worked hard for this title, and have raced against the dying sun and a high-quality team to get there. I am off to writing the full report. Here is a teaser for you. Please follow our live commentary for reactions.

Even the England weather couldn’t summon enough cruelty to break the New Zealand hearts once again. Two years after they lost out on the ODI World Cup without actually losing the final, glorious late-evening sunshine saw New Zealand through to their first world title, the inaugural World Test Championship. It was well past regulation closing time on the reserve day, the sixth of the match, which featured only three-and-a-half days of actual cricket because of bad weather.But what cricket it was. Two absolutely high-quality sides in extremely difficult conditions for batting combined to produce a thrilling contest of cricket in such little time. New Zealand needed to be highly efficient, consistent and skilful if they were to have a chance of winning this, and they managed it just in time.

6.25pm

Under two an over

It is there. They can touch it if they extend their arms. They need just 14 runs in 10 overs now. It is finally looking easy now. No bad light, no rain, no boundary countback. New Zealand are going to be champions of world Test cricket. At half past five in the morning back home in New Zealand.6pm

Into the last hour

Getty Images

In the words of the great JR, “We have taken our last break, folks. We are not leaving here till we have a Test champion of the world.”Actually only New Zealand can win from here. But can some miracle deny them 35 runs in the remaining 15 overs? They have eight wickets in hand. It is so close they can smell it. Their first world title 46 years after cricket started the concept of world championships. Their two batting veterans have masterminded this tricky chase. Ross Taylor has taken the odd calculated risk, but Kane Williamson has only just punished errors. Both are striking at 44 per 100 balls, which is enough in this chase.5.30pm

Pant is back

Rishabh Pant is back on the field. Wriddhiman Saha has left the field. India have separated the two spinners, and Jasprit Bumrah has had a catch dropped at first slip. New Zealand need 54 in 22 overs. Eight wickets still in hand.5.20pm

Saha on the field

We have no information on what has happened to Rishabh Pant, but Wriddhiman Saha is keeping for India as of the start of the 29th over. Also, quite curiously, India are bowling two spinners in tandem.That’s reporting of facts done. I am not quite sure why India are bowling two spinners, especially when Ravindra Jadeja is not even looking threatening. New Zealand are racing against the dying sun here. If they use up all their 53 overs, it will be close to half past seven in Southampton. There is every chance light might become an issue. But two spinners speeds up the game.New Zealand 84 for 2 in 30 overs. Need 55 in 23 overs. Jadeja ha bowled two overs for 11.5.10pm

Halfway there

New Zealand now have 70 runs in a little over half the overs they have given themselves. They are 70 for 2 in 27 overs. This has come with Mohammed Shami perhaps beginning to tire. In two overs he has given away four balls to both Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson. Also Taylor took a calculated risk against R Ashwin to loft him over wide mid-on. Now India have gone to Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja.4.45pm

Three an over

Time for a drinks break. The asking rate has now reached an even three an over, which is well above the going scoring rate in this Test. Light permitting, there will be another drinks break in 16 overs, and then the mandatory hour.The bowling right now is really high quality. Mohammed Shami and R Ashwin are landing the ball where they want it, and sending it there the way they want it to. There is no risk-free run available. New Zealand feel it is too early to take that risk, and it really is. There is no way you want to give India even a sniff at winning this. Only four runs have come off the last six overs.And here is a device you wouldn’t want used tonight•AFP

4.30pm

Ashwin the spanner in New Zealand works

Getty Images

India still have a hand on that mace. New Zealand will have to prise it out inch by inch. R Ashwin has trapped Devon Conway with a drifting offbreak that doesn’t turn. This is a genius at work in conditions that are not suited for him. No bad balls from him all match. New Zealand 44 for 2 in 17.2 overs. Still need 95 in 35.4 overs. This is not a pitch where you take your eye off, swing casually, and suddenly you have lost 5 for 30. So New Zealand will want to guard against that before they get adventurous. Maybe go for it once the target is under 50? And that is a long way away.4.05pm

Four, four, four, then a wicket

New Zealand have finally broken the shackles 20 minutes into the final session with three fours in Jasprit Bumrah’s over, the 13th of the innings. In the 14th, though, R Ashwin has Tom Latham stumped as he looks to take another liberty. This is tense stuff. New Zealand 33 for 1 in 13.3 overs. Latham gone for 9 off 41.New Zealand now need 106 in a possible 39.3 overs. The over-rate will be an issue, but from what we are hearing we are staying right here until a result is achieved or the overs are bowled. Provided the light remains good. And today we have a clear day, two days after the longest day of the year. That sunset is a long time away.3.25pm

Last tea of this WTC

New Zealand have had to face eight testing overs, especially the four bowled by Mohammed Shami, which suggests forcing the pace will not be easy. New Zealand just can’t afford any bad light here because it will be 3.45pm when we come back and they will probably need all of the 45 overs still remaining in the match. The sun is shining right now. They need 120 in the last session. The openers are unseparated. Come back for a massive last session.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

2.45pm

In minutes starts the chase

New Zealand have made this team out of being calm and consistent. Can they keep their nerves in this last mile? Mind you, against this Indian bowling unit, this last mile could be more than just that. However, New Zealand will know they just need to bat normally for a while, rule out a defeat, and then hope the light stays long enough to get them the 53 overs. There have been so many near misses. And this is no cake walk. Scoring over two an over has been difficult in this Test. How are those palms yet?India now know they need wickets. Not to win, but just to force a draw. They can’t keep this run rate down without getting wickets. Not unless they can get the asking rate to fives and sixes for more 15 overs or so.2.35pm

A tryst with destiny

With some great captaincy, New Zealand limit the damage India’s tail intends to do. Mohammed Shami edges one over the slips for four, the lead is getting dangerous, and Kane Williamson sends out a fly slip. Shami swings again, and the man doesn’t have to move. Jasprit Bumrah soon completes his pair. India bowled out for 170. New Zealand need 139 in a possible 53 overs. What a glorious finish in store. The sun is staying with us.2.20pm

Matter of time

R Ashwin thinks he needs to throw his bat now that e has only nine, ten and Jack for company. He tries an almighty drive, and edges Trent Boult to first slip. India 156 for 8, leading by 124. Ashwin gone for 7 off 19. A possible 58.2 overs in the game.2.15pm

Nicholls takes a stunner

Kapil Dev taking Viv Richards to set up India’s first World Cup. Has Henry Nicholls done that with Rishabh Pant for their first World Cup? Pant has finally played one crazy shot too many and run out of luck. Skips at Trent Boult, and skies one (cue crucification comments), but this one goes up miles and is swirling. And suddenly if you see fielders running back and you look at Pant’s luck in this innings, you think he might get away with this. The the camera focuses on Nicholls, who is assured in how much he has to run and is ready to watch it over his shoulder, which is the most difficult catch in the game. Yet you look at how steady it is, and you see he has it covered. In the end he has to put in a small dive, but he has it covered.India 156 for 7, leading by 124. Pant gone for 41 off 88. A possible 58.4 overs in the game.1.45pm

Wagner hour

Look who slid into seventh position in his last Test•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Oh we are into the crazies. Neil Wagner is running in with a field set for the short ball, and has peppered both Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja before getting him nicking a length ball. The angle he creates from round the wicket is so good it needs to be checked for a no-ball. That’s what makes New Zealand. When the pitch is not doing much for them, when things are not happening, they have Neil Wagner. What this barrage has done is stem the flow of runs first and then take the wicket too. And he has done this in the 10th over of his current spell, bowled either side of lunch.India 142 for 6 in 62.5 overs. Leading by 110.1.40pm

Rishabh Pant, an absolute original