And, with that, time for me to say goodbye. England have won just one game on their Indian white-ball adventure – and the Champions Trophy draws ever closer. There is a single ODI to go before that starts, a final match at Ahmedabad on Wednesday – starting at 8am GMT. We’ll be here, do join us.
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Rohit Sharma
“It was good, really enjoyed being out there, scoring some runs for the team. An important game, series on the line as well. I really broke it down into pieces, how I wanted to bat, assessing what you need to do at regular intervals, was important for a batter who gets set to bat as deep as possible, and that was my focus.
“Obviously, looking at the pitch, when you play on black soil the ball can skid on a bit, important to show the full face of the bat, but later on…when England were bowling at my body, trying to access the gaps.. all about trying to understand what you are trying to do as a batter. And good support from Gill and Shreyas as well.”
“Gill is a very very classy player, doesn’t seem to get overawed by the situation, just so classy to watch from the other end.
“The middle overs are very important, keep taking wickest and that’s how you stop the run scoring. We want to keep getting better as a team, there is nothing specific to work on but keep working on ourselves and as a team.”
Jos Buttler
Looks like a really quite cross man who keeps remembering he’s been told to smile, like Gordon Brown as PM. “I thought we again did things well, we just need a few of us to catch fire and push on to 350 and credit to Rohit …for another great innings. We thought it looked a good wicket, maybe it skidded on a bit, I thought we played well but the opposition played better. We should have just found another gear and kicked on and maybe that would have been defendable.”
And for the future. “Just to keep making steps in the right direction.”
In the studio, Steven Finn is looking for positives… “Mark Wood is bowling quick… but the middle overs are something England are going to have to look at – need something like what Liam Plunkett was doing, making sure teams don’t have those power hitters there towards the end.”
Matt Prior: “The worry is how easily India chased that down, ok they lost a few wickets before the end but I think that was just boredom.”
And there’s nothing like absence making the heart grow fonder. Finn is pining for “someone like Liam Dawson, someone with that skill set in these conditions would be a really great addition, but he’s not in the squad so England can only work with what they’ve got.”
Some sobering stats for England’s men ahead of the Champions Trophy: they’ve lost their last four ODI series, and only won two of their last nine white-ball series.
Shubman Gill “I was feeling good, Rohit makes things much easier than what it is. I think the way he dominated the fast bowlers today was great to watch. It was a good wicket to bat on, the odd ball was skidding a bit. The chat was simple (with Rohit), once you are set try to go big and dominate the game when you can.”
Many, many fireworks as the teams shake hands. The series India’s, and England must lick their wounds once again. A decent effort with the bat but England had no answer to a master-class from Rohit at his absolute best.
India beat England by four wickets and take the ODI series 2-0 (3).
44.3 overs India 308-6 (Axar 41, Jadeja 11)Root reduces the equation with a wide and Jadeja finsihes things off with a kiss-me-quick drive through the covers for four. Done and dusted with 34 balls to spare.
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44th over India 302-6 (Axar 40, Jadeja 7) Atkinson’s seventh over. He’s still sprinting in, toe to toe shuffle. Jadeja on-drives him, sweet as, for four. An overthrow from the last ball. Three needed for the win.
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43rd over India 294-6 (Axar 38, Jadeja 2) Joe Root can’t work some miracles. India re-engage the collective brain, nine come from Root’s over, including a cut for four from Axar.
WICKET! Hardik c Overton b Atkinson 10 (India 286-6)
42nd over India 286-6 (Axar 31) Hardik rides his luck – getting an edge off Atkinson which flies over Salt’s head for four, a funky wristy straight drive which bounces just short of Atkinson’s follow through – but finally falls to the last ball of the over, pulling a bouncer from Atkinson, and picking out the tallest man on the field. India need 19 from 48 balls.
41st over India 276-5 (Axar 30, Hardik 1) India making heavy weather of these last few overs.
WICKET! Rahul c Salt b Overton 10 (India 275-5)
Overton again! Digs in a short ball but Rahul is too quick on it and ends up edging it through to Salt who takes a smart catch.
40th over India 275-4 (Axar 30, KL Rahul 10) Outside my window, the sky is uniform dreary grey and a woman passes zipped up to the gunwales. Continents away, KL Rahul is content for singles, but Axar stretches, drops to one knee and slog-sweeps Livingstone for four. Is given out next ball (caught? lbw?) but reviews immediately – he hasn’t got bat on ball and the ball is pitching outside off stump.
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39th over India 268-4 (Axar 25, KL Rahul 8) KL Rahul greets an Overton bouncer by spinning on his toes and hooking it down and for four. The cameras pan to Hardik Pandya who prowls outside the dugout. India need 37 to win.
38th over India 261-4 (Axar 24, KL Rahul 2) Livingstone whistles through another over – England’s man of the match today. Handy with bat, ball and swooping in at the rope.
WICKET! Shreyas run out (Buttler) 44 (India 258-4)
Terrible bit of running by India. Shreyas gets half the way down the pitch before he realises that Axar isn’t moving. Decent throw by Buttler at midwicket and Rashid does the rest.
37th over India 258-4 (Axar 23, KL Rahul 0) Rashid, who hasn’t been quite at his best today, finishes his spell with a wicket, if only from a run out. Five from the over, 1-78 from his ten.
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36th over India 253-3 ( Shreyas 42, Axar 20) Five singles from Livingstone’s over – who now has a very respectable 5- 0-19-1.
35th over India 247-3 ( Shreyas 38, Axar 18) Wristy sweep for four? There you go madam, says Axar Patel, picking up Rashid in cocky style. Later in the over, some smart fielding on the boundary by Livingstone prevents another four. India casually picking up runs and stuffing them in their deep pockets.
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34th over India 237-3 ( Shreyas 35, Axar 11) Liam Livingstone nearly does it again, with a full toss that Shreyas launches at but misses. India content to just gently take it down from here.
“My take is that every stage of the measurement and the calculation should have determinable standard deviations,” writes Paul Edgington, “i.e. what is the accuracy by which they can determine the balls position at any point in flight in mm, etc? I think that multiple calculations should be done with all the permutations of the extremes and if any result in not out, it’s not out, but if all result in out decisions, even if one or more of the extreme values would currently be umpires call, then it’s out. So rather than a single trajectory, as now, it would be like a gradually increasing cone along the path showing all the possible trajectories given the known limitations for determining location, speed and movement from swing/spin.”
This is beginning to stretch my C in GCSE maths.
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33rd over India 233-3 ( Shreyas 32, Axar 10) Mahmood again. Just a fistful of singles. 71 needed off 102 balls.
Arul Kanhere strokes his (metaphorical?) beard “Nasser Hussain explained how the Umpire’s call also kept the stumps to their actual size, in the sense that if umpire’s call was clipping bails and that was supposed to mean “hitting” then all umpires would definitely give it out all the time, effectively increasing the size of the stumps according to the width of the ball.”
32nd over India 230-3 ( Shreyas 32, Axar 7) Axar joins the boundary party, slapping a full toss from Livingstone square for four. A fabulous one handed stop by Saqib Mahmood at point, but while the batters make a Horlicks of a single, Salt fumbles the return and England miss a chance to get rid of Axar. Drinks, I think.
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31st over India 222-3 ( Shreyas 31, Axar 1) Mahomood returns, and leaks only a couple of runs.
30th over India 220-3 ( Shreyas 30, Axar 0) The breakthrough! But surely too late. Liam Livingstone takes his cap and struts into the grassy surrounds. A wonderful innings from Rohit, a true digestif for the week.
“If there is a reliable „tracking algorithm to calculate probability of the umpire being in error” then Brian Withington’s idea is founded on firm ground. Is there?” asks Henry Lubienski. “And if there is, could a sufficient portion of the cricketing community be persuaded that there is? Involving increased scientific evidence into the process could only be welcomed.”
WICKET! Rohit cRashid b Livingstone 119 (India 220-3)
Gallops down the pitch, eager for a six, but gets a bottom edge, skies the ball into the night, and Rashid catches a steepler with both hands.
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29th over India 218-2 (Rohit 118, Shreyas 29) With the field up Shreyas flicks Wood over mid-on for four. And again, bigger, bolder, landing closer to the rope. Wood finishes the over with a bouncer, that Shreyas takes from his eyebrows, Botham style, and hooks for SIX. The target, incidentally, has now dropped to double figures.
28th over India 201-2 (Rohit 116, Shreyas 14) You could only slide a piece of tissue paper between the hues of blue on the England and India shirts (though England wear navy trousers). Livingstone slips through an over in less than two minutes. Maybe this is the answer – get through them so quickly you can defeat India by stealth.
27th over India 200-2 (Rohit 115, Shreyas 14) Apart from a full toss flambeed through backward point by Rohit, a fairly quiet over from Mark Wood.
Hello, Tom Hopkins. ”I respectfully, but I think philosophically, disagree with Brian Withington. To my mind, the great achievement of umpire’s call is that it preserves the sense that not everything is binary, there’s a middle ground where sometimes you get a bit lucky and sometimes you get the rough end of the stick and both of those things are ok. That’s how sport (and maybe life) is supposed to be. Go for the chimera of 100% precision and you’re inviting the dumpster fire that is VAR (maybe even more so, as that’s not even trying to predict what might have happened, only failing to provide total clarity on what did happen).
”And, yes, the current umpire’s call is simplistic but it’s visual and makes some intuitive sense, if a number just pops up “Joel, I’m being told there’s an 89% probability you were wrong, the benchmark is 90%, you can stick with your on field position” is anyone going to buy that (entertainment value of someone trying to explain that to Botham notwithstanding)?”
A hundred for Rohit Sharma!
26th over India 194-2 (Rohit 110, Shreyas 13) No more messing – Rohit reaches his 32nd ODI hundred (off 77 balls) with a six – dancing down the pitch and pancaking Rashid over long off. Smokes is puffed into the air, he gets a hug from Shreyas and a roar from the crowd. Only Kohli and Tendulkar lie ahead. A swarthy reverse-sweep brings four more, “Rohit, Rohit” shout the crowd. And another, helped down leg side, to finish the over. What a fantastically bombastic innings this has been.
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25th over India 179-2 (Rohit 96, Shreyas 11) Rohit looks left, looks right. Those five runs are beginning to itch him. He tries to flick Wood for four on the legside but misses. Wood throws his hands up. In the end is content with a singel – Wood’s over going for just three runs. England have managed to claw back a little control here. At the half way point, India need another 126 to win.
24th over India 176-2 (Rohit 95, Shreyas 10) The crowd are hungry. Three singles. England bring the field up. A wide from Rashid. Then another wide of off stump but not given – to Rohit’s smiling bemusement. Rashid smiles and pulls on his cap.
23rd over India 172-2 (Rohit 94, Shreyas 8) Wood is back. Three dots. Rohit looks quite wrung out. A little air has slipped out from the tautly tied balloon. Another dot, then Rohit clears the front leg and frying-pans Wood into the stands.
22nd over India 165-2 (Rohit 87, Shreyas 6) KP notes that England’s fielders are deliberately throwing the ball at Rohit’s end as India pick up the singles – four from Rashid’s over – plus a sweep for four from Shreyas.
21st over India 158-2 (Rohit 82, Shreyas 6) Shreyas helps himself to four off Overton to fire up the rockets.
20th over India 151-2 (Rohit 81, Shryas 1) England bite back. The crowd are hushed with disappointment as Virat shuffles back to the bunker, just a couple of singles off the over.
Hello there Brian Withington: “A thought initially prompted by an unsuccessful Nathan Lyon review against Sri Lanka the other day and reinforced by Woods review of Rohit earlier - the umpire’s call margin is too arbitrary and inflexible, being too generous in some situations and too parsimonious in others. For example that Woods delivery would have required after burners to clamber over the stumps rather than pleasingly splash the bails boundarywards.
“I think the answer is simple without dispensing entirely with the concept - just use the tracking algorithm to calculate probability of the umpire being in error (I’m sure it already can). And then overturn whenever tracking says the umpire is wrong with say [99]% confidence (precise number set after case study review).
“Projections of trajectory where the ball has travelled a decent distance before hitting the pad (which is also close to the wicket) are inherently more reliable than others. And cricket balls that have reached the apex of their bounce before striking the pad don’t climb any higher …”
I’ll throw that one to the floor…
WICKET! Kohli st Salt b Rashid (India 150-2)
Not out on the field but Salt is convinced… and he’s right! Kohli pushes forward and gets a kiss of an edge to a ball that Rashid gave some air. Dismay in the crowd, disbelief from Kohli, but drinks works its magic again.
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19th over India 146-1 (Rohit 78, Kohli 4) I didn’t have Jamie Overton down as the miserly breakthrough man – but after a wicket in his first over, his second goes for just three runs. Rohit does up his shoelaces and they take DRINKS.
“Hi Tanya, lovely way to spend Sunday. Unless you’re an England bowler perhaps. Maybe I’m oversimplifying things but would it be better if we’re not bowling leg side and allowing Rohit and Shubman to just help it to the boundary? This side still feels pretty unbalanced, especially in the spin department. I can’t understand why we only have Rashid as a front line spinner? It seems pretty misguided. Pace, pace and more pace doesn’t work everywhere. Not without some variation.”
Hello, Guy Hornsby! I guess they’re hoping for Root and Livingstone’s variations to do some work – does feels a bit like Rohit could eat them for breakfast though.
18th over India 146-1 (Rohit 78, Kohli 4) The old firm are back in charge – though I’m not quite as excited by Kohli’s arrival at the wicket as I once was: so strike me down (and watch him get a hundred). The crowd are very enthusiastic though. Rohit pulls another short ball from Atkinson for four, then Kohli drives him with perfect high elbow, straight legs and exquisite positioning straight down the ground for another.
“Some fascinating insights to noise at cricket grounds there.” writes Dean Kinsella. “I have travelled in India and have experienced both beautiful music and the treble only speaker systems at festivals. But my point wasn’t only about noise in India only. Its one of the main reasons I would never consider attending an episode of the hundred or a T20 in England or anywhere else. I am a musician myself and love live concerts even loud ones (though more often when I was younger and less fuddy duddy). But I just don’t see the value of four bars of a four minute tune. Its noise pollution.”
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17th over India 137-1 (Rohit 73, Kohli 0) Overton’s first ball of the innings goes for four. The second is a wide. The fourth is another four – pulled with vicious hands by Gill who is then bowled – quite out of the order of things. Another wide follows but reward at last for England.
WICKET! Gill b Overton 60 (India 136-1)
At last! “Come on” shouts Overton with clenched fist. Gill done by an outstanding yorker which nips out his off stump.
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16th over India 127-0 (Rohit 73, Gill 52) Atkinson tries to bounce Rohit and is swatted to the rope. As he is from his last ball, a half-arsed bouncer which Rohit swings over his shoulder, like a sack of potatoes, for six.
“Hello Tanya,” Andrew Benton, hello!
“You swim reluctantly, and now England sink, reluctantly. Come on our bowlers, get to it, this game is slip-sliding away.
“Beach Volleyball at the Beijing Olympics was my first exposure to sport as entertainment - there were sometimes only a few seconds of silence at a time, a point not taking long to play, though by the end even the commentator/DJ was flagging a bit. Was a very fun day.”
Fifty for Shubman Gill
15th over India 114-0 (Rohit 62, Gill 50) And so it continues, Rashid again sent over the rope. This time Gill, two fours, inside-out over extra, lofted and not. He reaches his fifty with a single, off 45 balls. Not a bad foil for Rohit. England in need of wickets, quickly.
14th over India 105-0 (Rohit 62, Gill 36) Gill brings up the hundred partnership (101 balls), pulling Wood forward of square with contracted arms between the waiting Duckett and Brook, who can only turn to watch the ball gallop to the boundary. And then Rohit dances with the lightness of a skinny man, down the track, flaying himWood over extra cover for four more.
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13th over India 96-0 (Rohit 58, Gill 36) Despite four dots, Rashid is unable to stem the flow, Rohit cutting a short fat one to the ropel
12th over India 91-0 (Rohit 54, Gill 35) Wood digs one in and Gill plays a short armed pull with a clap of the bat that could make a person cry with joy. Tick, then tock, of singles, India content to keep this tempo up.
Hello Nigam Nuggehalli. “ Re the message from Dean Kinsella about the DJ and the music, here’s what I wrote in a newspaper column about my experience watching the 2023 World Cup game between India and Australia in Chennai:
‘We reached Chennai and went to the Chidambaram stadium where we discovered that things were better organised than Bangalore. We were inside the stadium in no time at all. It appeared to us that we had left the chaos of Bangalore behind. We felt that the sauna like effect of Chennai weather puts people in a stupor where any unnecessary activity is restricted naturally. The only exception was the DJ at the stadium, who acted like he was in a universe of his own.
“The DJ’s favourite activity was to egg the crowd on in the middle of every over. Waiting until the end of the over interfered with his world view. If a fielder dived and saved a run or the bowler got a wicket, the DJ had to intervene and bellow that the fielder was brilliant and the bowler was awesome. For the few people who didn’t get it, the DJ gave some pointers and lines for the crowd to chant. I thought I will get some respite between the overs. But the period between play was taken over by music that was so loud I thought it was coming from somewhere inside me. After some time, I was habituated to the drill. I got up and cheered when the DJ told us to and sat down when he took a break. My dear students, I realised that in the post IPL world, almost everything can be converted into entertainment. I thought I had gone to see a cricket game, but I found myself in the middle of a carnival.
“Entertainment is not a bad thing. Cricketers claim, certainly with more frequency recently, that they are basically entertainers. But here’s the thing. They are not basically entertainers. They are basically sportsmen. But this idea appears to be lost in contemporary times and not just among sportsmen. Newscasters have also become entertainers. I suppose professors might be next in line. A few years ago I was asked by one of my students to present some videos on Aristotle. I refused. But I have loaded up on some Aristotle videos, just in case the demand for entertainment hots up.’”
Thank you Nigam – fascinating.
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11th over India 86-0 (Rohit 54, Gill 30) Shubman Gill takes a huge stride and sweeps an inelegant shot elegantly – all swift movement and darting blade. That aside, he and Rohit are content to take Adil Rashid for singles.
10th over India 77-0 (Rohit 53, Gill 22) The last over of the power play is the best one yet for England, Wood going for just three with his neat tracer bullets.
”I sympathize with Dean Kinsella,” taps MArtin Wright, “but – writing from India – I have to point out that exuberant noise and India go together like, well, fuddy and duddy. And since when was Dean the name of a fuddy duddy anyway? Derek, maybe. Or Martin, come to that...”
Fifty for Rohit Sharma!
9th over India 74-0 (Rohit 52, Gill 20) Glorious from Rohit, who makes easy pickings out of Rashid. Four swept between the fielders, four more cut with a shimmy to bring up his fifty off 30 balls. For those wondering whether to bother turning on the TV – do, this is vintage Rohit.
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8th over India 64-0 (Rohit 43, Gill 19) Mark Wood at last. The television branding doesn’t say Mark Wood, RF, but Mark Wood, 35 years old. Harsh. Gill (25) picks up a single off his first ball as Wood lands on the ground. England REVIEW an lbw decision against Rohit, given not out on the field. Very close – but umpire’s call. In retort, Rohit then bashes SIX over mid-on, leaning onto the back foot, front foot resting on the heel. He’s surprised by the speed of the last, and gets a single off an outside edge.
7th overs India 56-0 (Rohit 36, Gill 18) And we wait again, while the DJ finds the right button to switch off Billie Jean. An irate Rohit at last smiles, and eases Saqib’s first ball after the break into midwicket. Singles, then Rohit flicks four more off his hips. England were 54-0 at the same point.
Floodlights on
And we go again. No overs lost.
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Hello Dean Kinsella. “Just a personal opinion Tanya, but its a shame its not the public address system that has broken down instead of the floodlights. Blaring short snatches of very loud beat music and yelling, hyper-excited cheerleaders on amphetamines is not my idea of a day at the cricket. I think I heard some version of this ‘entertainment’ between overs at a test match recently (on the tv). Call me an old fuddy duddy if you like but thats just because....I’m an old fuddy duddy.”
You’re totally right. And completely unnecessary here anyway, the crowd more than make enough noise without any need for a warm-up man.
Fifteen minute delay
while they locate a local sparky with a good line in floodlight repair.
Make a peanut butter sandwich, but still no play. We’ve returned to the studio where they’re drooling over Rohit -as they should. Matt Prior, “The ease of the strokeplay, a check drive over extra cover for a 90 m six – he’s just an incredible talent.” And Steven Finn: “He’s so difficult to bowl at as he’s incredible at the short ball, so then you think let’s challenge the top of the stumps but then he’s able to step towards the ball and whack it over extra – your margin for error is very small.”
The players leave the field....bust floodlight stops play
Gill and Adil Rashid chat earnestly as they wander away.
The crowd have all put the lights on their mobile phones and are waving them in encouragement. We are all set to go again, and then it re-fails. Rohit marches down the pitch with purpose. The commentators think he’s saying we’re ok to play if you are…
6.1 overs India 48-0 (Rohit 29, Gill 17) Electrics sorted, we continue. Gill angles Saqib down to deep third ….and then the floodlight fails again. Rohit is not happy.
Problems with the floodlights
One is misbehaving: flashing on, then off again, so everyone takes a break. Gill removes his helmet, strolls down the pitch. This break in the batters’ concentration could be helpful to England.
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6th over: India 47-0 (Rohit 29, Gill 16) Atkinson again. Buttler puts his hand to his mouth and shout-whispers words of encouragement. The stadium announcer warms up the crowd with a bit of to and fro – I’m not convinced it is needed. Gill mishits four, tries to go over mid-wicket but gets an outside edge which merrily flies behind him and beats the fielder.
5th over: India 39-0 (Rohit 27, Gill 10) Graeme Swann muses that he would have liked to see Mark Wood on by now, new white ball in his hand and then…Rohit – wow – blasts Saqib on the up straight into the inky black sky for six. The blue-shirted roar sends tingles down by spine from continents away.
4th over: India 30-0 (Rohit 20, Gill 8) Almost a gift for England as a mix-up in the middle leaves Gill stranded, but Rashid just misses. Gill then flicks four to leg with a cock of the leg and a twist of the wrists. Beautiful. He then almost removes Atkinson’s legs with a straight drive, but Atkinson prevents the boundary.
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3rd over: India 24-0 (Rohit 19, Gill 4) Ecstasy from the crowd as Rohit drives a half volley from Saqib for six – so perfect as to be straight out of Sadler’s Wells. His 333rd six in ODIs – only Shahid Afridi (351) lies ahead. Gill then pulls four, with minimal movement, and nods to himself in approval. Saqib knits his eyebrows and purls a dot to finish the over.
2nd over: India 13-0 (Rohit 12, Gill 0) Gus Atkinson at the other end. Someone has told him to tuck his shirt in. Starts with a wide, a scrambled seam then hits Rohit high on the thigh. After three dots, Rohit’s frustration gets the better of him and he clunks Atkinson high for four. Bigger, better, next ball – six caressed legside off his ankles.
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India innings - need 305 to win
1st over: India 1-0 (Rohit 1, Gill 0) Rohit waits for the stadium announcer to countdown; Saqib Mahmood smooths down his fringe. He runs in, lovely rhythmic approach. Rohit shows the bat face to the first ball, swings at the second -which Saqib is lucky to get away with as it wings away wide of the stumps. Just a single from the over.
As we wait for India to pad up, Tom Hamilton messages: “I think we are the only England fans at Cuttack today, incredible atmosphere! Fear we are 50 or 60 short here…” You lucky things! It feels electric, and that’s just through the television – please keep the OBO updated.
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Just echoing Tim’s comment on Gill’s catching - that sprinting, diving effort to dismiss Brook was wonderful. Astonishing that he managed to hold on, he landed on that hard ground with quite a thump.
Thank you Tim for guiding England to a (possibly) defendable total. A decent effort – Duckett and Root providing the ballast, with fireworks from Rashid and Livingstone taking them past 300.
(My swim was reluctant but I’ll grudgingly agree to feel better afterwards.)
England finish with 304
That was an innings of two halves. For 38 overs England made serene progress, by their low standards on Indian soil. Ben Duckett gave them a fast start and then Joe Root brought his usual touch of class. Jos Buttler looked in glorious form but when he was out for 34, England produced the collapse that is always in their back pocket, losing their last seven wickets for 85. Nearly half of those runs came from the bat of Liam Livingstone, who, without being at his blistering best, at least made sure that they reached 300. For India, Ravi Jadeja was masterly with three for 35 and Shubman Gill took three catches, two of them outstanding.
The ground is small, which suggests 304 is not enough. But the wicket is two-paced, which says the opposite. England have certainly given themselves a chance, but the Indians will know that one big partnership should be enough to seal the series.
That’s my cue to clock off. Thanks for your company, correspondence and views on Barney Ronay’s prose. Tanya, refreshed by her swim, will be here shortly.
WICKET! Wood run out 0 (England 304 all out)
And another! Rahul throws down the stumps at the striker’s end, and that is that.
WICKET! Livingstone run out 40 (England 304-9)
It’s another run-out, as Livingstone’s full-length dive isn’t quite enough to beat a powerful throw from Shreyas Iyer.
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England reach 300!
Livingstone, facing Shami, has a look in his eye that says he is hitting this one straight. And he does, crouching in his crease and crunching a straight drive for four to bring up the 300. On this ground, that feels like the least you need.
49th over: England 297-8 (Livingstone 34, Wood 0) Ah well, Mark Wood is always fun to watch. And England still managed ten off that over.
WICKET! Rashid run out 14 (England 297-8)
Oh no! A mix-up going for a second run, a fine pick-up and throw from the unstoppable Jadeja, and Rash is gone. That was one of the great cameos: 14 off five balls.
48.4 overs: England 296-7 (Livingstone 33, Rashid 14) Rashid has 14 off five balls with no dots. Livingstone has plenty of dots, but when he hits it, it stays hit. He wallops another six off Harshit, but then …
48th over: England 287-7 (Livingstone 26, Rashid 13) Cometh the death, cometh Adil. Facing Shami, he shows Atkinson how it’s done with three fours in a row – a smack over extra-cover, a whip to midwicket and a slash past the cover sweeper. Lovely stuff.
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WICKET! Atkinson c Kohli b Shami 3 (England 272-7)
Perhaps Atkinson too feels that it’s Adil time. He falls to a heavy ball from Shami, which he can only mis-time into the hands of Kohli at deep mid-on.
47th over: England 272-6 (Livingstone 25, Atkinson 3) Gus Atkinson may have a Test century but, in white-ball cricket, I’m not sure why he is coming in ahead of Adil Rashid, who is so experienced and so adept at using the pace of the ball to squeeze a few fours from the final overs. Livingstone is struggling too – or was… he heaves the last ball of Harshit Rana’s over for six.
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46th over: England 260-6 (Livingstone 16, Atkinson 1) Jadeja finishes with 3-35, a quiet masterclass. And England, who were 219-3, have now lost three more wickets for only 40 or so. Ah Mr Collapse, we’ve been expecting you.
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WICKET! Overton c Gill b Jadeja 6 (England 258-6)
Another skyer, another fine catch from Shubman Gill. He could be Man of the Match for his fielding.
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44th over: England 256-5 (Livingstone 14, Overton 5) Varun steps up for his last over. Livingstone does his best to get out, sweeping in the air without much conviction, but he doesn’t succeed, so Varun finishes with 1-54.
“I thought Barney’s article was a gem,” says Paul Lakin. “The description of cricket as ’essentially a picnic that has got out of hand, monetised standing around’ was pure Ronay (though that won’t stop me passing them off as my own in the pub).” Ha. I would go further and say that the first half of that – the picnic that has got out of hand – was pure genius.
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43rd over: England 250-5 (Livingstone 11, Overton 1) So Jadeja strikes again. What a cricketer he is.
WICKET!! Root c Kohli b Jadeja 69 (England 248-5)
He;’s the one that they want and they’ve got him! After receiving those gifts, Root offers one in return – a mis-timed chip that loops up and presents Kohli with the simplest of catches at deep mid-off.
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42nd over: England 247-4 (Root 69, Livingstone 9) Another gift for Root: Varun tries a quicker ball that ends up as a full toss. Root square-drives, gets a thick edge and picks up four. The 300 is on.
41st over: England 238-4 (Root 63, Livingstone 7) Hardik continues and gives Root a freebie, a fullish ball on leg stump that is just asking to be glanced for four.
Here’s Brian Withington. “Just catching up,” he says, “and was amused to discover that Tanya’s uncanny ability to initiate a wicket extends even before she takes up the reins of the OBO. Elsewhere I see that Barney Ronay has now pegged the England set up as a death cult, and approvingly (but rather selectively) references a Mike Brearley interview in 2023. Reflecting on the two, I found the MB interview typically insightful and compassionate. Barney Ronay’s piece similarly … typical.” Oof.
We can agree about Brearley, but I felt Barney’s column was fascinating, and more nuanced than the headline might suggest. Glad you’ve mentioned it because I forgot to link to it earlier.
40th over: England 230-4 (Root 56, Livingstone 6) Root, looking to lift England’s spirits, tries an un-Root-like stroke, chipping Shami over midwicket. He doesn’t time it but gets two, and England add a few singles.
Here’s Krish again. “Answering your question, ‘Have you been reading Rob Smyth?’ Is there a sports lover who has not?” Ha. Rob is so talented and so modest – I hope he reads that.
39th over: England 223-4 (Root 51, Livingstone 4) Buttler stepped away to leg to off-drive a slower ball from Hardik, but didn’t time it as well as his other shots and gave Gill, at mid-off, the chance to swoop again with his swallow dive. The partnership between England’s two veterans was 51 off nine overs. Just before the wicket, Root had reached fifty for the 56th time in one-day internationals. His celebration was perfunctory: he knows that another fifty is required, and all the more so now.
Liam Livingstone comes in and gets straight down to business, cutting Hardik for four.
WICKET!! Buttler c Gill b Hardik 34 (England 219-4)
Another great catch from Shubman Gill!
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38th over: England 216-3 (Root 49, Buttler 33) Rohit sees the seamers doing better and decides to replace Jadeja with Mohammed Shami, who has had a good long rest. England manage nine off the over without a boundary as Buttler, running hard, picks up two twos.
“England’s white ball batters,” says Gary Naylor, “seem to be intent on avoiding collapses rather than driving on to unassailable leads. It may just be my memory playing tricks, but under Eoin Morgan, I seem to recall a lot more tonning up (see Glenn Phillips for NZ yesterday for the impact). England won’t win global tournaments without centuries – who’s going to make them?”
It’s a good question, though if you were trying to sum up this tour in two words, “avoiding collapses” might not be the first ones that came to mind.
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37th over: England 207-3 (Root 48, Buttler 26) A good over from Hardik Pandya, only four from it.
And here’s Krish Krishnamoorthy. “If there is one thing that India has not learnt, it is how to ease the yesterday’s superstars through a door marked Do One.” Krish, have you by any chance been reading Rob Smyth?
“It started with Kapil Dev clinging on, refusing to go, knowing he was past his best days, and the selectors who would not wield the machete. And it continues. Indian cricket, formidable and powerful as it is, can go to the next level ONLY if Rohit and Virat leave. Their failures (consistent of late) are papered over by wins delivered by the heroics of a Bumrah or a Pant. They have had their day and it is time they went. Here BCCI can learn a few tricks from Cricket Australia or even England for that matter.” It’s a good point, but the Aussies are ageing too, aren’t they? And doing quite well.
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36th over: England 205-3 (Root 45, Buttler 25) Another over from Jadeja, another five singles.
35th over: England 200-3 (Root 45, Buttler 22) Hardik returns to find Buttler in lovely touch. He gets the commentators purring with an off-drive, on the up, so well timed that it beats the dive from the man at long-off.
34th over: England 186-3 (Root 44, Buttler 14) Rana’s lively third spell ends as Rohit goes back to Jadeja. Five singles off his over.
And here’s Simon McMahon. “I hope Tanya is going wild swimming in freezing cold water, which seems to be a bit of a thing these days,” he says. “And is very much in keeping with the Bazball ethos. Once you get over the initial shock, very pleasant. Though not without risk.”
Drinks: England haven't collapsed!
33rd over: England 186-3 (Root 42, Buttler 11) Varun reckons he’s got Root LBW and Rohit goes for a review. It takes so long that you wonder if it has been referred to Stockley Park. After several hours, the third umpire spots that Root got a glove on the ball. He celebrates with a reverse sweep for four and another for two. And that’s drinks, with England – so far – avoiding the cluster of wickets that is always beckoning to them in India. Whether they have enough, I rather doubt, but they’re giving it a good go. They now need more from these two old hands: ideally, a hundred from Root and a quick fifty from Buttler.
32nd over: England 180-3 (Root 36, Buttler 11) In the mood or not, Buttler can’t cope with this snorter from Rana – short, fast and seaming away. Rana has steam coming out of his ears and shows it with a shy at the stumps that goes for four overthrows. Quite an achievement to hit a four off your own bowling. And deny yourself a maiden.
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31st over: England 176-3 (Root 36, Buttler 7) Buttler is in the mood, crunching Varun through the covers for four. But there’s not much to come after him, with Bethell injured and Livingstone out of form. It feels as if England could end up with 320 or 250.
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30th over: England 169-3 (Root 35, Buttler 1) Jos Buttler gets off the mark right away with a fluent push for a single, back past the bowler. But that is a big wicket for India. Brook thought he was safe, calling for two, but Gill did brilliantly. And so did Rohit, showing faith in Harshit Rana after Brook had hit him for those two fours in his previous over.
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WICKET!! Brook c Gill b Rana 31 (England 168-3)
This is a wonderful catch. Brook hits a slower ball into the deep blue sky. Gill has to run back, and dive, and hold on, and to the crowd’s delight he makes it all look easy.
29th over: England 165-2 (Root 33, Brook 30) It’s still spin at one end with Axar, who is pulled for four by Root. England have managed to get into fourth gear, but on a ground with such short boundaries, they surely need to find fifth.
28th over: England 158-2 (Root 27, Brook 29) Brook’s struggles on this tour have had a lot to do with having to start his innings against spin. (He might be better as an opener in India.) Now Rohit goes back to seam, giving Harshit Rana a third spell, and Brook celebrates with a lovely four through the covers, no more than a well-timed push. Rana responds well – dot, dot, dot – and Brook, feeling the need for another four, goes down the track to blast the last ball over extra cover.
The first of those fours brought up the fifty partnership off 69 balls. Sedate but effective.
27th over: England 150-2 (Root 27, Brook 21) Axar continues and after a couple of singles, Root goes deep in the crease and plays a whipped pull for four. He has done pretty well with 27 off 36 balls, while Brook, even with that fabulous six, has only 21 off 42.
Note to younger readers: this is what one-day cricket was like from 1971 to 1996.
26th over: England 143-2 (Root 22, Brook 20) When Rohit sees the replay, he throws his hands up in frustration, looking like Ruben Amorim. Meanwhile Jadeja continues and the batters do better, finding five singles.
In the crowd, men with hoses spray the crowd with gentle jets of water to cool them down. “How good is that?” says Ravi Shastri. “Let’s hope the liquid coming out is nice and fresh.”
25th over: England 137-2 (Root 18, Brook 18) Root, facing Axar, shows Brook how it’s done by playing a late drive for two, then hanging back to flick the next ball for a single. But still, only three off the over. And there was an LBW shout in there which might have brought a wicket on review had Rohit gone for it – Root was down the track, which rather obscured the fact that the ball was hitting leg stump.
24th over: England 135-2 (Root 16, Brook 18) Jadeja, bowling to Brook, delivers a maiden! And it only takes 75 seconds. The man is a batter’s nightmare, and a live-blogger’s too.
23rd over: England 135-2 (Root 16, Brook 18) Root, facing Axar, hits his first four too, with a reverse sweep. But when Axar drops short on leg stump, he can’t get his flick through the ring. “These two are batting beautifully,” says Kevin Pietersen, rather surprisingly. I would say – knowing far less about it – that they’re hanging in there and allowing too many dots.
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22nd over: England 130-2 (Root 12, Brook 17) Jadeja to Brook: dot, dot, dot … four! It’s too short, for once, and Brook cuts hard, flashing his hands through the ball, bisecting the two backward points and collecting his first four. But then Jadeja bites back, beating Root with a big turner – pitched middle, went over middle as Root missed with a push to leg.
21st over: England 125-2 (Root 12, Brook 12) Again, only two singles off the bat, although Axar gives England a bonus with a wide that beats KL Rahul and goes all the way to the rope. Harry Brook has already faced 23 balls.
20th over: England 118-2 (Root 11, Brook 11) Against Jadeja, though, it’s back to square one – one for each batter. And here comes Axar Patel, whose bowling is not unike Jadeja’s, slow left-arm and relentlessly accurate.
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19th over: England 116-2 (Root 10, Brook 10) What is Brook going to do, stick or twist? He’s not a sticker, even if he did once score a triple century. Facing Varun, he dances down the track and hits an off-drive, in the air but flat, for six. That’s an extraordinary shot, a killer drop-kick.
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18th over: England 107-2 (Root 9, Brook 3) Another over of spin, another three singles. England are becalmed. All the seamers went for at least a run a ball, but the spinners have bowled seven overs and taken two for 26. The four batters not called Duckett have faced 53 balls and hit only three of them to the boundary. Do you get a vague feeling of doom?
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17th over: England 104-2 (Root 7, Brook 1) Chakaravarty soon bothers Brook, beating his forward prod and going up for LBW. It’s either brushing leg or going down: a shake of the ump’s head, a big conference, but India have burnt one review already and Rohit doesn’t want to risk another. Brook lives to fight another day and gets off the mark with a measured cut for a single.
16th over: England 102-2 (Root 6, Brook 0) So as soon as they face spin at both ends, England are on the slide. That was Jadeja’s fifth ball, and it was angled across Duckett, forcing him to drag it from outside off. Root hasn’t got going yet (six off 11 balls) and Brook has been in poor form by his high standards.
WICKET!! Duckett c Hardik b Jadeja 65 (England 102-2)
The big one! Duckett finally picks the wrong moment to attack, hitting Jadeja high in the air and giving Hardik at long-on the simplest of catches.
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Drinks: England pegged back
15th over: England 98-1 (Duckett 63, Root 5) England’s problem is Chakaravarthy. They take only three singles off this over, so he now has 4-0-16-1. Are they just going to try to see him off? That seems a bit too much respect to pay to a debutant.
I wonder if anyone in the England camp is old enough to know how they dealt with Anil Kumble’s leg-breaks when he first appeared in 1990. Graham Gooch’s team treated him as a medium-pace inswing bowler, and it went quite well: Gooch made 333 and 123 in the first Test. Mind you, that was at Lord’s, not in India, where Gooch duly led England to a resounding defeat two years later.
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14th over: England 95-1 (Duckett 62, Root 3) Harshit Rana continues and bowls the best over from a seamer so far, according to one of the commentators – but Duckett is seeing the ball so well that he still manages to shovel a decent ball over midwicket for four.
Here’s Tom van der Gucht, looking further down the scorecard. “‘d hoped Livingstone had finally turned a corner,” he says, “and was going to start delivering on his potential after the WI tour. But I’m worried that was an outlier and he’s now returning to his norm of slightly disappointing cameos that hint at promise before he gives it away.
“I read that McCullum talks a lot about ceilings, but then seems to stick with players who average 30 with the occasional flash of inspiration (Pope, Crawley etc). It’s unfortunate Bethell is injured as I’d hoped he’d had the potential to edge out Livingstone and one of the above mentioned Test players this winter...” Yes, Bethell is a bit special. And his injury is a real shame, though it shouldn’t affect his chances in Tests, as I don’t think England have any until the summer.
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13th over: England 89-1 (Duckett 57, Root 2) Another good over from Chakaravarthy, just three from it. This is India’s chance to turn the screw: Root is the last man standing who believes in playing himself in.
12th over: England 86-1 (Duckett 55, Root 1) Rohit brings back Harshit Rana and he almost nabs Duckett with a bouncer that climbs steeply on him. Duckett plays a tennis shot over backward point and is dropped in the deep by Shreyas Iyer – a tough chance, to be fair, as he had to dive forwards and risk a broken nose.
A few minutes ago I got a message from Tanya, who will be with you later. “Just going swimming,” she said. “Hope it isn’t done in an hour!” And the next thing that happened was Salt being out.
Fifty to Duckett
11th over: England 81-1 (Duckett 51, Root 0) Chakaravarthy had just sprung a surprise by bowling a no-ball. That gave Salt a free hit, whcih he couldn’t do anything with – he went for a legside heave, much to the disapproval of Kevin Pietersen, who said the ball was bound to be turning the other way, so “don’t hit against the spin”. Salt’s mis-heave brought a single, which allowed Duckett to take a single and reach a fine fluent fifty from only 36 balls. But maybe the mis-heave also made Salt go for the big shot that brought his downfall.
Joe Root starts by missing a straight-ish one. The Indians go up for LBW, the umpire shakes his head, Rohit reviews … and HawkEye agrees with the ump – going down. That may be a big moment.
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WICKET! Salt c Jadeja b Chakaravarty 26 (England 81-1)
Chakaravarty does it again! His first victim in ODIs is Phil Salt, going for a huge slog-sweep and merely sending a top edge into the safe hands of Jadeja at mid-on.
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10th over: England 75-0 (Salt 24, Duckett 48) Pandya starts well again – dot, dot, one – but then Salt spots a slower ball, opens his shoulders and hits a six over long-on. That’s the first six of the day and it won’t be the last. Salt follows up with a late cut for two, which would have been four had Ravi Jadeja not produced some nifty footwork on the third-man boundary. Here endeth the Powerplay, with these two still going serenely.
9th over: England 66-0 (Salt 16, Duckett 47) And here it is, spin time. Rohit gives pride of place to the new boy, Varun Chakaravarthy, who is also an old boy. At 33 he is apparently India’s oldest ODI debutant since Farokh Engineer, back in the mists of the 1970s. The batters treat his Kumble-ish leg-breaks with respect, settling for singles and finding only four of them, to make this the best over so far for India.
8th over: England 62-0 (Salt 14, Duckett 45) Hardik starts his over well – dot, one, dot – but then gives Duckett a freebie on the pads, which he clips for four more. It feels as if England have to get 300 here, and that will hinge on how they handle the spinners.
7th over: England 54-0 (Salt 12, Duckett 39) So how does Salt celebrate that reprieve? By driving the next ball for four. It’s still Shami and, great bowler though he is, that’s fine by the batters on this small ground. Duckett cuts for four yet again to bring up the fifty partnership, the third in a row from these two. Getting a start hasn’t been England’s problem: the question is, can they avoid their customary middle-overs collapse?
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6th over: England 44-0 (Salt 7, Duckett 34) Rohit makes his first bowling change, replacing Harshit Rana with Hardik Pandya. He bowls a fuller length but gives Duckett some width, allowing him to take two, four and one in the cover-point region. Salt faces the last ball as Graeme Swann, on commentary, makes an astute point, saying that being outscored by your opening partner brings pressure and he may go for a big shot now. Salt duly plays a lavish upper-cut, the ball soars into the air over third man – and Axar Patel drops it!
5th over: England 35-0 (Salt 6, Duckett 27) Shami has an LBW shout against Salt, probably going down, and then bowls a wild delivery to Duckett, a wide way down the leg side. KL Rahul does well to get a hand to it and stop it turning into five wides. As Shami switches back to the off side, Duckett cuts for four.
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4th over: England 28-0 (Salt 6, Duckett 22) Rana continues, tall and military, though not medium. Duckett pulls him for four more, hitting it beautifully. Phil Salt is just a passenger in Duckett’s Porsche.
3rd over: England 23-0 (Salt 5, Duckett 18) If you’re going to flash, flash hard. Duckett cuts Shami with venom and collects four more as Chakaravarthy manages a dive but not a clean pick-up. Shami bounces back with three dots in a row as the commentators spot some uneven bounce, which may explain why Jos Buttler opted to bat first. Duckett finishes the over with a clip to long leg for four more. That’s five fours so far, and only three singles.
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2nd over: England 15-0 (Salt 5, Duckett 10) Harshit Rana, so impressive the other day, starts with a loosener. It’s short of a length and Duckett finds the middle of the bat with a crunching pull. Then Duckett gets some more luck as he under-edges an attempted cut and picks up a jammy four to long stop.
1st over: England 6-0 (Salt 5, Duckett 1) Shami finds some swing right away. Phil Salt copes with it, tucking the first ball away for a single. Ben Duckett is less assured, edging the second but getting away with it as there’s no second slip. The first big shot comes from Salt, a slash outside off that connects with a whole lot of thin air – but then he tries again and gets it right, lifting the last ball over the ring.
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The players are out there in the blazing sunshine and Mohammed Shami has the ball.
An email! “Mo Mentum,” says Andrew Benton. “Indeed, once Brendon McCullum has fired things up, it’s essential that Maureen Mentum pops in periodically to keep things moving in the right direction. Hope she’s now a member of the support staff. “ Ha.
Teams: India
At the toss, there was one moment that was greeted by a huge cheer. That was when Rohit Sharma mentioned that Yashasvi Jaiswal – possibly the best young player in the world – was being left out. The crowd don’t have anything against Jaiswal: it’s just that his replacement is Virat Kohli. Rohit announced one other change, with Kuldeep Yadav giving way to Varun Chakaravarthy, who makes his ODI debut. In the T20 series, he tied England up in knots.
India 1 Rohit (capt), 2 Gill, 3 Kohli, 4 Iyer, 5 Rahul (wkt), 6 Pandya, 7 Axar, 8 Jadeja, 9 Chakaravarthy, 10 Rana, 11 Shami.
Teams: England
Three changes for this struggling England side: Jacob Bethell has a hamstring injury, and Tom Banton (remember him?) is flying out to join the squad. Bethell’s place goes not to Rehan Ahmed, the other slow-bowling all-rounder, but to Jamie Overton. Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson also come in as Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse are rested. So England, whose policy of playing three fast bowlers hasn’t been a great success, now have four. That’s Brendon McCullum for you.
England 1 Salt (wkt), 2 Duckett, 3 Root, 4 Brook, 5 Buttler (capt), 6 Livingstone, 7 Overton, 8 Atkinson, 9 Rashid, 10 Wood, 11 Mahmood.
England win toss and bat
Jos Buttler wins the toss and, unusually, wants to bat first. “It looks,” says Rohit Sharma, “like a typical Indian pitch.”
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to the second game in the ODI series. This is it, the crunch. If England lose again, another series will be gone. If they win, it’ll be 1-1 and they may even go into the third and final game with a modicum of momentum.
The good news is that this match is taking place at Cuttack, which is traditionally full of runs. The bad news is that India lose only one game in four here: last time England were in town, eight years ago, they made 366 and still lost. The neither good nor bad news is that Cuttack hasn’t hosted an ODI for five years, so it may have changed its ways.
India, as usual, are hot favourites. They are so good at white-ball cricket that they can even get away with recalling their big names. Today, Virat Kohli is due back after missing the first ODI with a bad knee. It’s the kind of thing that can happen when you’re 36 and you’ve got 550 international games on the clock.
The first ball is due to be bowled at 1.30pm in Cuttack, which is 8am in London. I’ll be back about 25 minutes before that with the toss, the teams and possibly some toast.
