Eoin Morgan is still raving about Hardik Pandya “He can bowl four overs at 90mph, then to be as accurate as that, it’s like having two players in one.”
The stands are emptying at Southampton, and the circus gets ready to move on to Edgbaston on Saturday. India will have some of their big guns back, England will be after a win. Play starts at 2.30pm BST, see you there!
Hardik Pandya is the player of the match. “I’m enjoying my cricket right now,” he says. And it shows.
A crushing win for India, despite dropping four (?) catches in the field. A sluggish game for England, who struggled against superb Indian bowling, moving the white ball like an artistic skater.
Eoin Morgan thinks it has to do with the ball and the conditions in the second innings but that “The presentation of the seam and the level of execution [by India] was exceptional.”
A smiling Jos Butter: “We couldn’t really get back in the game after the new ball bowling. I thought we came back really well in the second half, maybe a little bit abobe par but the way they bowled in the first six overs....” He praises Chris Jordan and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, says the ball swung more than he can remember in a T20. Says Matt Parkinson bowled with a lot of bravery.
Rohit Sharma: “ was a great performance from ball one...you have got to make use of thst six overs, we’ve spoken about it a lot , there’s a certain approach you got to play sometimes it comes off , sometimes it doesn’t. That’s why its so challenging.”
Hardkik Pandya: Bowling is something he wanted to do a lot more in the future, he came and bowled quick and used his varitations well and not to forget how he batted as well.”
WICKET! Parkinson c Axar b Arshdeep 0 (England 148 all out) India win by 50 runs!
19.3 overs: England 148 all out ( Jordan 26 ) Arshdeep’s allsorts prove impossible to get away and Parkinson retreats and saws the ball to point. A second for Arshdeep on his debut!
19th over: England 146-9 ( Jordan 25, Parkinson 0) Jordan top-edges a six over fine leg, but this dwindling into a Thursday night whimper. The cameras cut to solemn looking dressing room where Buttler has his hand on his hip. The crowd are enjoying things though.
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WICKET! Topley c Karthik b Arshdeep 9 (England 135-9)
18th over: England 135-9 ( Jordan 13, Topley 6) England’s gung-ho has become grunt-ho because the bowling is too good. Topley falls throwing himself into a pull, but just snitching a slower ball bouncer to give Arshdeep his first wicket.
Arshdeep Singh got proper skills
— Saqib Mahmood (@SaqMahmood25) July 7, 2022
17th over: England 130-8 ( Jordan 13, Topley 6) Topley shovels a four over the slips - ugly but effective - but Hardik is too crafty to give much away and finishes with 4-33 , his best T20 international haul, to go alongside the fifty.
“Hi Tanya.” Tim Sanders! “I think Test cricket is now officially the most relaxing format. All the opportunities for positivity and self-expression, but without the stressy deadlines.”
16th over: England 120-8 ( Jordan 9, Topley 0) Harshal returns for the denouement. Jordan picks off a top edge before Mills slips away. Brilliant bowling by India.
WICKET! Mills c and b Harshal 7 (England 120-8)
Done by the slower ball, tries to shimmy over the slips but just lumps it back to the bowler.
15th over: England 115-7 ( Jordan 4, Mills 7) England need 84 off 30, which should be impossible, though much depends on if India can hold on to their catches: another goes down when Hooda drops Mills at long on off Chahal.
14th over: England 106-7 ( Jordan 2, Mills o) Karthik having a shocker behind the stumps, letting Jordan slip between his gloves while he leaps to the right. But he pockets Curran later in the over to give Hardik his fourth and Tim de Lisle the soothsayer of the match award.
Jos #Buttler was sweeping all before him in the #IPL2022 until the final in Ahmedabad, when #Hardik Pandya ran the show. Six weeks later, history seems to be repeating itself in Southampton
— Tim de Lisle (@TimdeLisle) July 7, 2022
WICKET! Curran c Karthik b Hardik 4 (England 106-7)
Looking to hook behind, shuffles to the left, but contact is soft and Karthik makes amends! Another to Hardik.
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13th over: England 101-6 ( Curran 0, Jordan 1) This slipping away from England now, unless there’s some humpty from the tail.
WICKET! Moeen stumped Karthik b Chahal 36 (England 100-6)
Moeen spots a full toss, advances, but misses and Karthik does the business after fluffing it on the first attempt.
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WICKET! Brook c Yadav b Chahal 28 (England 94-5)
The end of a smart innings from Brook, when he pulls Chahal but sends it special delivery to Suryakumar at deep midwicket.
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12th over: England 94-4 ( Brook 28, Moeen 30) Singles a go-go, before Moeen inside-edges Axar for a four, then shovels him up , up and away for six!
11th over: England 80-4 ( Brook 26, Moeen 19) Chahal picks up after drinks. An ugly top edge from Moeen brings four, and the sun has now left the cut strip. Ah, and that’s another DROP by India! This time its Moeen who gets the life as he cuts and the ball slides in and out of Suryakumar hands at extra cover.
10th over: England 72-4 ( Brook 25, Moeen 13) England’s winter nemesis Axar gives Brook a gimme which he whistles through the covers for four. At the half way stage, India are still on top but if these two get going...
“Is this the point at which Brook & Moeen pull a Root & Bairstow, except on amphetamines?” I’ll tell you in ten overs, Tim Pearson.
9th over: England 62-4 ( Brook 18, Moeen 12) Time for some leg-spin from Chahal. Moeen slog-sweeps with style, flaying the bat over square leg.
Tim de Lisle - a man whose brain never switches off - drops me a line: “The last big T20 game Buttler played was the IPL final and it was Hardik who stood in his way – getting him out, taking two other wickets, making some runs, winning the Player of the Match award and lifting the trophy.”
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8th over: England 53-4 ( Brook 17, Moeen 5) Moeen bends the front knee just like the coaching books say and the ball spirals for four through the covers. A handful of singles then Brook gets another life, deliberately top edging Harshal high into the air but Karthik spirals back and slips while catching.
The Indians' trousers must have been washed on the hot cycle @tjaldred
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 7, 2022
Yes! Harshal’s are proper ankle grazers.
7th over: England 45-4 ( Brook 13 , Moeen 0) Jos Buttler’s pale blue eyes stare into the middle distance on the balcony, as Roy’s stalled car is put out its misery. Brook glides four past the slips before slamming Hardik for six more. A smartly run two finishes the over, crossing in and out of the shade.
WICKET! Roy c Harshal b Hardik 4 (England 33-4)
A flying top edge screams into the blue before dropping down into the patient hands of Harshal at deep third.
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6th over: England 32-3 (Roy 4, Brook 1) Bhuvneshwar is a tricky man to face at 32-3. Roy can’t get going, and has a frustrated look at his bat. Brook, I think, is dropped by Karthik behind the sticks on 0. And England are stuck in first gear.
5th over: England 29-3 (Roy 3, Brook 0) Malan square cuts a fourth four off Hardik before his stumps are marmalised. Livingstone arrives, in helmet cam” and immediately has huge swing and misses but picks up a leg bye. It’s about as good as it gets, before he attempts an inelegant paddle straight to the keeper
“Hey Tanya.” Andy Gold, hello!
“What a time to be paid to watch cricket (or even to like me just be hiding from five nousy children down the garden listening to it!)
“Did umpiring standards ever decline (over 19, Indian innings) or did the evolution of TV just basically highlight how hard the job is? My Dad was a club umpire who’d arrived at the higher level of Herts League Club cricket. After DRS highlighted how often the very best in the business got it wrong he made the decision to retire rather than continue spending his weekends presumably getting even more decisions wrong than the pros were!”
WICKET! Livingstone c Karthik b Hardik 0 (England 29-3)
A shimmy and scoop... straight to the keeper.
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WICKET! Malan b Hardik 21 (England 27-2)
Inside edge and off you go!
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4th over: England 23-1 (Roy 2, Malan 17) The first ball of Arshdeep’s second over is slammed by Malan high but just out of reach. A couple of beauties, till Malan picks up a boundary, pulling him to midwicket, then slamming the next square.
“David Keech raises an interesting point about DRS and walking,” muses Martin Wright. “So how about this? If you’ve not hit it, but see the dreaded finger raised, you could show respect for the poor old ump by immediately walking, but simultaneously making the signal for a review, and then enjoying the march back out into the middle when the decision finally comes through. Given the time some of them take (“still waiting for ultra edge”, etc), you might even be able to have a quick rub down in the Pav before heading back out.”
3rd over: England 12-1 (Roy 2, Malan 6) Bhuvneshwar glides in from the long shadows. “While the ball is swinging, this is the danger period” says Steven Finn. So true, but at last a boundary as Malan inches across and sends the ball over midwicket
Bhuvi Kumar is a beautiful bowler in every sense @tjaldred.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 7, 2022
So true, I would pay big money for those eyelashes.
2nd over: England 5-1 (Roy 1, Malan 0) Arshdeep’s first over in internationals, tall, slim, wearing a black turban. Movement in the air. Roy swings at his second and his fifth but can’t make contact. A lbw appeal polishes off the over and that’s very nicely done.
1st over: England 3-1 (Roy 1, Malan 0) Three outswinging humdingers in a row from Bhuvneshwar, enough to bring in a second slip. Roy angles a single, happy to get down the other end, only to see Buttler done like a kipper by an inswinger. Wonderful bowling.
WICKET! Buttler b Bhuvneshwar 0 (England 10-1)
Beautiful from Bhuvneshwar: a ball that billows in and Buttler starts his captaincy with a duck.
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As the sun starts to drop, here comes England’s chase.
20th over: India 198-8 (Arshdeep 2, Bhuvneshwar 1) Mills bowls the last and it is first blood Karthik who ping pongs him for two successive fours over long off. But Curran grabs the edge, a muddle brings another wicket, and after a flying start, India rather limp over the line. Still a huge total though.
WICKET! Harshal run out 3 (India 195-8)
Yes-no- what- wait - oh. Confusion beaten by Buttler’s throw.
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WICKET! Karthik c S Curran b Mills 11 (India 195-7)
Smashing catch from Sam Curran, harrying back, catching it on the run and holding on as he lands with a thump on his tummy.
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19th over: India 186-6 (Harshal 3, Karthik 3) It’s the miserly Jordan who Harshal and Karthik must get away. And they can’t, though they pick up a cheeky single from a Buttler overthrow. India are falling short of their magnificent start here. Super bowling by Jordan: 4-0-23-2.
An email wings in from David Keech: “Bit of cricket history from a 72 year old who has been following cricket intently since age 10. Years ago, in the Colin Cowdry and Peter Mays days and earlier, it was the done thing to walk - admit you are out - when you know you’ve hit the ball. Then umpiring standards went downhill and pretty much all walking stopped. The thinking was “If I’m going to be given out to a horrendous decision I need to cash in if the mistake is in my favour”. It was the reason DRS was introduced in the first place. Of course with DRS there should be no reason not to revert to walking but old habits doe hard .....”
18th over: India 181-6 (Harshal 1, Karthik 1) Topley is back, the camera pans up and we see the trees in their best summer bloom behind the hotel. A great towards-the-death over, just four runs from it and the crucial wicket of Hardik. Two new batters to face the last three overs.
WICKET! Hardik c Brook b Topley 51 (India 180-6)
Hardik is ready to pummel, but slices instead, sending the ball square to deep point where Brook jogs in and says thanks very much.
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17th over: India 178-5 (Hardik 50, Karthik 0) A wide, a four, a wicket and then a six as Hardik slots Parky back over his head for six into the crowd.
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WICKET! Axar c Roy b Parkinson (India 171-5)
Parkinson repays his captain’s confidence, spots Axar moving towards him, sprays wide and Axar can only flinch helplessly to Jason Roy at cover.
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16th over: India 165-4 (Hardik 42, Axar 13) Jordan takes the ball, with fives overs left. He restricts India to one off the first three, nailing the wide but not too wide, ball. Axar can’t put bat on leatherl till the fourth ball which he bottom edges and it limps over the rope. Oiled zip from Jordan, who is clocking up just under 90mph.
15th over: India 157-4 (Hardik 40, Axar 8) A better over from Parkinson, Hardik has a mow and, I think, that’s a missed stumping by Buttler as the ball flies by for leg byes. No boundaries.
14th over: India 149-4 (Hardik 34, Axar 7) Hardik grabs an early boundary off Curran, then India are content with singles.
@tjaldred Could we please find a way to encourage players to admit they are 'OUT'? Suryakumar clearly goved that, your could see the deviation from the first replay. There is no way he didn't know that hit his glove. Why can't he walk?
— Brendan Large (@brendanlarge) July 7, 2022
What was it Boris Johnson wrote about Gordon Brown, “ like David Brent haunting The Office in that excruciating episode when he refuses to acknowledge that he has been sacked.” Shame is going out of fashion, discuss.
13th over: India 141-4 (Hardik 28, Axar 5) Livingstone’s first over leaks all over: Hardik thumping two boundaries, before Azar joins in with a cover smash. Buttler is unsmiling thinking behind the stumps.
Overseas listeners - this is for you: (thanks both)
Hi @tjaldred. Overseas readers can click on the live button here for ball-by-ball commentary - https://t.co/nMBM7d7tuN
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 7, 2022
@tjaldred in relation to where do I listen? The T20s are all being covered live by @guerillacricket, the saviours you didn't know you needed!
— David Schaub-Jones (@bickit) July 7, 2022
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12th over: India 126-4 (Hardik 18, Axar 0) Suryakumar happy to play the angles, on his toes, sending Jordan through backward point, till being done by Jordan
WICKET! Suryakumar c Buttler b Jordan 39 (India 126-4)
Buttler calls for and wins his first review as official captain. Jordan looked unconvinced, but his slower ball works its magic, Suryakumar gloving behind to Buttler.
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11th over: India 120-3 (Suryakumar 34, Hardik 17)I’ve never tried to eat a Magnum while doing a T20 OBO before. Turns out it is as tricky as bowling to Hardik who wafts a Tymal Mills slower ball with a flourish over third man for four. Then Suryakumar casually flicks him for six behind his ears.
10th over: India 105-3 (Suryakumar 27, Hardik 10) Hardik charges at Parky’s second ball and lofts it back over his head for four. A genuine wide, then a wider legit ball which Hardik ploughs through the off side for four more. Malan can’t stop another drive in the inner circle and they grab two more. At the half way stage of their innigns, it’s advantage India!
9th over: India 91-3 (Suryakumar 21, Hardik 1) Buttler beckons to Chris Jordan to solve the Indian conundrum. He immediately brings an element of decorum. and then the wicket of the tricky Hooda. The wicket ties Jordan with Adil Rashid as the leading England wicket taker in T20 cricket.
“Incidentally a friend texted me yesterday offering a ticket for tonight’s game,, “writes William Milner from his gorgeous overseas bar, “which obviously I could not accept but it was £130! £130 for a T20 game - surely that is the wrong price??
WICKET! Hooda c Mills b Jordan 33 (India 89-3)
Mills makes no mistake at short fine leg as Hooda takes a spade to a hot potato.
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8th over: India 86-2 (Hooda 32, Suryakumar 21) Parkinson , fresh from pocketing a catch, gets his turn. Suryakumar thrashes his first ball through backward point and the fifth flies over cover, beating the fielder. And the sun still shines.
7th over: India 75-2 (Hooda 31, Suryakumar 11) Tymal Mills, shirt characteristically untucked, and Yadav helps his second ball over his shoulder and up and away.
A word of warning from David Keech:
“For those of us outside the UK we can pretty much only listen for free to home test matches via the TMS overseas link. It doesn’t appear for white ball stuff, I suspect due to contractual reasons. There are several subscription options I believe but I don’t know the details. Be very wary of any pirated sites offering video or audio for free. I followed one of these links once and in spite of anti-virus software got 10 a second pop-ups and a heavily infected hard drive that only a complete reinitialize and reinstall solved.”
6th over: India 66-2 (Hooda 29, Suryakumar 4) India on a mission here as Topley’s over goes for 16 , Hooda letting fly, bat ripping through the air and sending the ball for flying fours over third man and backward point.
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5th over: India 50-2 (Hooda 13, Suryakumar 4 ) Two identical sixes as Hooda smashes Moeen over Chris Jordan’s head at long-on, jumping forward, back leg swinging joyfully to the right. Then the wicket, before Suryakumar comes in and sweeps a four first ball!
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WICKET! Kishan c Parkinson b Moeen 8 (India 46-2)
Moeen again! An ungainly sweep from Kishan top edges behind and Parkinson catches it while falling on his backside and rolling over.
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4th over: India 33-1 (Kishan 8, Hooda 0) A superb bit of fielding by Harry Brook sprinting around on the rope, parrying it away with his hand; and another by whoever is at point. Kishan, swirls, top-edges without control, but a running Parkinson can’t reach it. Topley finishes off a busy over by cracking Kishan in the chest.
3rd over: India 29-1 (Kishan 4, Hooda 0) Moeen, thrown into the attack early on, makes the breakthrough. Rohit plummets down onto one knee and sweeps him behind square for four. And again: faster, higher, stronger. Before being beaten by a quicker one.
“Good evening.” John Starbuck, hello! “Does having flames up their backsides mean England’s bowlers will be turning on the afterburners? Brighter cricket already.”
WICKET! Rohit c Buttler b Moeen 24 (India 29-1)
Great comeback by Moeen who had just been swept for a duo of boundaries. Forced onto the back foot, nibbles behind.
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2nd over: India 20-0 (Rohit 16, Kishan 3) From the hotel end, Reece Topley, all long legs and mullet. Rohit watches for a ball then eases him off his ankles to the rope for four; four more square, bisecting the fielders. 11 from the over, without any risk.
In a surprising turn of events, Chris Tavare is dominating the early emails.
“I used to watch Kent play a lot in the early 1980s (I was a strange child!) and I can promise you that Tavare was EXTREMELY attacking, especially in the Sunday League,” taps Stuart Burrows. “He would step to leg and batter stuff over cover. I was astonished by his transformation for England, since he was by the far the most attacking player Kent had until Chris Cowdrey came along, if I remember right.”
1st over: India 9-0 (Rohit 6, Kishan 3) Sam Curran, hair fresh out of a bleach bottle, to start. Two quick singles, then Rohit powers Curran down the ground, Jordan dives full length at mid-off but can only parry the ball to the boundary. He wrings his finger - it looked painful.
The ground, btw, isn’t - yet- full.
With flames up their backside, Brook and Parky have a jolly good laugh walking onto the pitch.
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“Sorry to be a pain,” writes William Milner, “but I’m sitting in a bar in symi in the Dodecanese sipping an ouzo and desperate to listen in - is this on TMS or any other website for those of us overseas?”
You lucky thing. I’m afraid the BBC aren’t giving it out today - can an OBO-er help?
And I hope that ouzo sups better than what we drank on a sixth form classical civ trip to Greece. Our lack of civilisation probably didn’t add to the taste, to be honest.
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Anyone want to hazard a guess at the amount of boundaries we’re going to see today?
And if you’re sick to death of boundaries, Steve has written something on a stonewaller for the ages.
@tjaldred Enough of Bazball and all this T20 entertainment. Here is my blog on the joy of Chris Tavare:https://t.co/b300nuRQD6
— Steve Pye (@1980sSportsBlog) July 7, 2022
Adil Rashid has been given a leave of absence to make a Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca - so Lancashire’s Matt Parkinson plays, alongside Lancashire teammates Livingstone and Buttler.
A debut for left-arm medium-fast bowler Arshdeep Singh.
No debuts for England, but when there is an abundance of riches, there is plenty to play for.
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Teams
India: Rohit, Kishan, Hooda, Suryakumar, Hardik, Karthik, Axar, Harshal, Bhuvneshwar, Arshdeep, Chahal.
England: Roy, Buttler, Malan, Livingstone, Brook, Ali, S Curran, Jordan, Mills, Parkinson, Topley.
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England are back in red, with an underlying lion motif.
India win the toss and will bat
The sky is Caspian Sea blue at Southampton and, hang on: here’s Eoin Morgan, holding a microphone in slacks and (very) open necked shirt. “It is the end of something I’m extremely proud of but I’m excited for the future,” he smiles, enigmatically.
Preamble
Hello! So here we are, from Baz-ball to, er, Matt-batt in 48 hours.
Southampton is the venue for this, the first of three T20s in four days, between the top T20 sides in the world. These teams practically wash their smalls together, England captain Jos Buttler will toss the coin with Rohit Sharma, who he waved to on the IPL merry-go-round in the spring.
Buttler is on his first official gig as captain, after deputising for Eoin Morgan in the third ODI in Amsterdam. In the form of his life, there can’t be a better time to take the wheel. This is also Matt Mott’s first T20 series since he took over as white-ball supremo.
Harry Brook, Yorkshire wunderkind, is expected to play after a sensational summer in all forms of county cricket - Buttler has said he will try to balance experimentation with firming up a side. He has a few absentees - the injured, Jofra Archer and co, and the knackered, YJB and his Test buddies.
Sharma returns after a tussle with Covid, and goes into the game with India 2-0 up in the previous couple of games between the sides. Things blast off at 6pm.
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