key events
Match 60: India 228-2 (Gill 83, Kuldeep 17)
Match 59: India 225-2 (Gill 82, Kuldeep 15) Kuldeep drives top edge off Anderson and lands safely. “He’d probably give up 100 Test wickets to bounce someone off again,” laughed Graeme Swann on commentary.
Anderson wasn’t smiling when Gill ended the game with the sweetest push through extra cover for four. At his best, he played with a calmness and grace that was arguably unparalleled in world cricket.
Match 58: India 219-2 (Gill 77, Kuldeep 14) Another short ball from Hartley, who looked mentally exhausted, was easily pulled away for four by Gill. He was about to score another second innings century.
If you’re an England fan and you’re just starting to wake up, don’t do this.
Match 57: India 214-2 (Gill 72, Kuldeep 14) Anderson allowed just one goal for the third straight game. His bowling was accurate but nothing moved and he didn’t look like he was dismissing night watchman Kuldeep, let alone Gill. It’s still a pretty good course.
Match 56: India 213-2 (Gill 71, Kuldeep 14) A drag down from Hartley is slammed to the cover boundary by Kuldeep. This England team is overly optimistic, but even they struggle to project positive body language. India leads with 339 runs.
Match 55: India 208-2 (Gill 70, Kuldeep 10) Another tight ball from Anderson. England will have to take their medicine on the pitch over the next few hours. They have never been in this position since Ben Stokes became captain: India’s lead is 334 and at some stage today England will be asked to chase over 400 for the first time since 2021 total.
Match 54: India 207-2 (Gill 69, Kuldeep 10) The first big hit of the day came from night watchman Kuldeep, who raced towards Hartley and drove in beautifully from long-on. six. These were the first six games of his international career.
Match 53: India 200-2 (Gill 68, Kuldeep 4) There are rumors that Ravichandran Ashwin is on his way back to Rajkot and might play some role in the tournament. That would be good news, especially because it meant his mom was okay.
Jimmy Anderson started at the other end, aiming to improve on unfashionable bowling figures of 6-1-32-0. He did, a little bit: By the end of the game, their record was 7-1-33-0.
That fast single inside Gill, India was in no rush. They want to crush England, degrade the pitch and put more overs in the legs of Anderson and Mark Wood. The fourth Test is less than a week away.
Match 52: India 199-2 (Gill 66, Kuldeep 4) The day got off to a lively start with Gill hitting a quick single to Stokes midway off Hartley’s first ball. Three from top to bottom.
players on the field Tom Hartley will open the bowling. Let’s play darts.
Preface
Then put your little hand on mine
There’s no hill we can’t climb
Hello and welcome to live coverage of day three of the third Test in Rajkot. England will resume on 207 with two wins and one loss and are currently 238 runs behind, with a good chance of taking control of the game and the series. India are without Ravichandran Ashwin and will have no way to go if England bats all day long.
Yes, I hope so. England will be hoping to wake up this morning with Sonny and Cher, like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, and have the chance to relive yesterday. While their batting performance was far less irresponsible than some of the more qualified critics suggested, they did miss a great opportunity to clinch a potential victory. Or rather, they were deprived. India is great, a great team that has reestablished its supremacy in the face of extreme adversity. Joe Root’s ill-timed scoop gave them an opportunity. They walked a mile.
India would continue on at 196 for 2, leading by 322 runs. Effectively, the game is already England’s, but the fourth Test starts here: the way it fails will have repercussions, so England need to do something positive: provide wickets for their spinners, Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel scored lower runs, Root and Jonny Bairstow fell short of the Indian bowlers mile. They will take anything.
