CPL 2021 | TKR vs GAW: Guyana hold nerves to start campaign on positive note

ENG vs IND | 3rd Test, Day 2: Phenomenal Root, commanding Malan put Kohli's men on the brink

India needed a remarkable turnaround, on the line of what England had on the first day after Lord’s Test, on the second day to get back in the third Test against England in Leeds. England batsmen had learnt some lessons from their and their counterparts’ failures to bat with discipline and flair to deny them any opportunity for a backdoor entry. India were not disciplined enough with the ball to keep the run-scoring down and it meant that the England batting lineup was never under real pressure. They already had the big cushion of lead and inaccurate bowling from India in patches, and Ishant Sharma, in general, made their life easier. The tourists clogged the momentum back with some quick wickets towards the final hour of the day but the game might well have slipped out of their grasp by then. From an overnight score of 120/0, England batted strongly to go past the 300-run mark before a mini-collapse hurt their progress. However, Craig Overton ensured an elongated misery for the tired Indian bowling attack and some more opportunity to add on to an already humungous lead of 345 runs. Root, the run machine is back England skipper Joe Root has had the magnificent luxury of watching his openers bat confidently against Indian pacers, something he has not been lucky to witness in the recent past. As Burns and Hameed started pressing on with confidence against pacers, Root waited for a long long time as the returning man Dawid Malan too did not want to miss out on the chance to pile on the misery. He has had two scores of 100 and one fifty in the four innings before the first innings at Headingley and there could have been some sense of optimism for Indian fans based on the “law of averages”. However, the moment he came out to bat, the fluency of strokes coming out of his bat showed that he did not have any failure in the second innings at Lord’s and that he was batting with the same touch after scoring a century. The skipper looked in awesome touch and displayed a completely different style of batsmanship compared to the likes of Virat Kohli while trying to combat swing and seam. He has been batting without too much front foot stride and has also been reluctant to come forward unless Indian pacers have asked him to drive. The trend of scoring in the area between gully and point region continued as Root carried on playing deliveries right under his eyes which showcase his commanding form and awareness of where his off stump is. He reached his century with a remarkable strike rate and equalled the record held by Michael Vaughan and Denis Compton as the England batsmen with the most hundred in a calendar year. He has six to his name this year and the kind of form he has been in, one can’t rule out the figure reaching 10 or beyond that mark. Malan’s comeback party Dawid Malan has not had too many opportunities to bat in red-ball cricket before being called up to play Test cricket in more than three years time. He has been picked purely on promise based on a century against Australia in Perth. His record in England was terrible and the first Test against India at Edgbaston in 2018 led to his departure from the side. He was caught all over the place by an impressive Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami, and hence a return match against a struggling Indian side was a perfect fateful return for the left-hander. He always bats with a touch of flair and has been known for being severe against the short ball. He was offered plenty of those deliveries by pacers, especially Mohammed Siraj, and the new number three got in the groove pretty quickly. As he got his eyes in, flamboyant drives also followed and he passed his only second fifty in his 10th match on home soil. He was determined and at the same time very bullish against loose balls before a strangle down the leg side curtailed his near-perfect return to the Test arena. He missed a deserving century but his 139 run partnership with skipper Root obliterated whatever chance India had of a comeback in the game. Also, his confidence and fluency will leave the England team management relieved and confident about their prospect in the series and the Ashes series later at the end of the year. Ishant’s horrible rhythm, Kohli’s rigidity Ishant Sharma has not been at his best in this game and it was evident from his first spell where he could barely manage to bowl in the channel around off stump. The length was also terrible for someone who has his career built on the credentials of accuracy and consistency. He was handed the new ball in place of Siraj or Shami at Lord’s as well and the trend continued in this game. The move did not pay well for Kohli as the pacer was all over the place in his run-up and line of attack. It should have been clear to Kohli that the bowler of choice to start the second day was two among Bumrah, Shami or Siraj. However, the skipper went for Ishant and the result was nothing different one more time. He started with another obnoxious wide delivery that also turned out to be a non-ball and the downhill curve for him never stopped till the penultimate ball of the day. An off day or struggle for rhythm for a pacer is not a crime but Kohli should have shown flexibility in choosing the best two bowlers based on the current rhythm. Ishant has been India’s go-to man on pitches friendly for pacers due to his consistency and not allowing batsmen free balls to leave or score but all those virtues were absent in the game and Kohli should not have been rigid about his tactics right at the start of the day that started on an ominous note for the Indians. Looking forward to the third day England would believe they have enough in the bank to force outright innings win over India but they are unlikely to declare their first innings. They would be looking forward to adding as much as they can to the 345 run lead and the able bats of Overton and Ollie Robinson can frustrated Indians further before they will start the battle for their survival. India will near marathon innings from at least a couple of batsmen in case they want to compete in the game. Surpassing England’s lead will take a monumental effort considering their recent form and if they can produce their best performances with the bat, the match can get slightly more even than the currently heavily stacked in the favour of the hosts. The experienced trio of captain Kohli, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, in particular, will have to bring their best to the pitch on the third day if India can dare to escape this game without squandering their 1-0 lead.

ENG vs IND | 3rd Test, Day 2: Joe Root hits third century of series to punish Virat Kohli's side

Joe Root scored his third century in as many games of the series and took England’s lead past the 250-run mark on the second day in Leeds. Root has been the best batsman across both sides throughout the series so far and has a perfect conversion rate with three centuries from three Tests. It was his sixth century this calendar year and he is making the best use of the purple patch that started in the series against Sri Lanka earlier this year. He has gone past the 1,300-run mark so far this year and equalled the record of Denis Compton and Michael Vaughan as the batsmen with the most number of centuries in a year. He walked out to bat after the fall of Haseeb Hameed against Ravindra Jadeja and carried on from where he left at Lord’s. His eagerness to rotate strike after defending good balls from Indian pacers and cashing in on the loose balls set a perfect standard of batting and making big scores on the second day at Headingley. Root has been on fire with the bat and been the lone-man warrior for the hosts so far in the series before others stood up in this Test. England would be desperate to bat big and just once in this Test to ask some of the tough questions that India asked of them in the last game at Lord’s.

CPL 2021 | BAR vs SKN Preview: Barbados seek royal start against St Kitts' big guns

Barbados Royals and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots will be up against each other in the second encounter of the Caribbean Premier League. Both the teams have some aggressive hitters of the ball in their line up and a high-voltage drama can be expected. Earlier, the franchise was renamed from Barbados Tridents to Barbados Royals after the owners of the IPL side Rajasthan Royals purchased the majority of the stakes. “The idea of creating a global network behind the Royals brand is something that we are keen to do for many years. It was an opportunity too good to miss” owner of EM Sporting Holdings Ltd, Manoj Badale asserted as reported by ESPNcricinfo earlier. The Royals would be looking to kickstart the tournament on a positive note especially after the way they fared in the last edition. They were placed at fifth spot after the conclusion of the league stage. Barbados have some prominent names such as Jason Holder, Mohammad Amir and Thisara Perera in the squad who bring a lot to table when it comes to providing stability. On the other hand, St Kitts have some ruthless batsmen in the line up. A side is always riding high on confidence when it has the services of Chris Gayle on offer. The left-hander has notched up huge runs in T20 cricket and can be brutal against any bowling attack on his day. To add to the strength, they now have Dwayne Bravo in the squad as well whose slower deliveries in the death overs trouble the batsmen thoroughly. While Bravo is someone who can put a halt on the scoring rate of the opposition, he can himself chip in with some runs at a brisk pace at any given stage. The match will feature some huge names in the business who have played all around the globe. Match Details: Match: BR vs SNP, 2nd Match, Caribbean Premier League 2021 Date: Friday, August 27, 2021 Time: 4:30 AM (Aug 27) Venue: Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts Telecast: Star Sports Network, Hotstar, Fancode App Pitch Report The track at St Kitts would have something on offer for the batsmen. The bowlers will find it difficult to stop the run flow especially in the later stages of the game as the dew can also play some role. Overall, a high-scoring match can be expected especially with the kind of batting the two sides comprise of. Probable XI Barbados Royals: Jason Holder (C), Shai Hope, Johnson Charles, Kyle Myers, Glenn Philips, Thisara Perera, Raymon Reifer, Hayden Walsh Jr, Ashley Nurse, Mohammad Amir, Oshane Thomas St Kitts And Nevis Patriots: Rayad Emrit (C), Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Sherfane Rutherford, Devon Thomas, Joshua Da Silva, Asif Ali, Dwayne Bravo, Fabian Allen, Sheldon Cottrell, Fawad Ahmed Fantasy XI Shai Hope, Chris Gayle (VC), Johnson Charles, Evin Lewis, Glenn Philips, Dwayne Bravo (C), Ashley Nurse, Jason Holder, Fawad Ahmed, Sheldon Cottrell, Hayden Walsh Jr.

ENG vs IND | 3rd Test, Day 2: Dawid Malan celebrates return to Test cricket with classy fifty

Dawid Malan celebrated his return to the England Test team with a classy fifty on the second day of the third Test against India in Leeds. He was trusted to bat at an all-important number three position and did not disappoint the team management with crisp strokes all around the wicket. The Leeds Test is his first Test since the first Test of the series against India in 2018. The return to the side and form in the longest format augurs well for the hosts who were looking quite shaky at the top of the order. He was added to the England squad after the failure of Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley in the first two Tests and the hosts will be delighted for him coming good with the bat. He came out to bat after a 100-run partnership between the openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed and brought another three-figure partnership with skipper Joe Root put India way behind the game. At the other end, Joe Root carried on his merry way and brought yet another fifty of the series. Earlier, India hit rock bottom on the first day after getting bowled out for a mere 78 and not being able to take even a single wicket on the first day. James Anderson, Craig Overton and Ollie Robinson ripped the heart out of their batting lineup.