Courtesy: BCCI/X
The first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in Headingley saw an abysmal bowling performance by the Indians with every bowler except Jasprit Bumrah lacked the rhythm and consistency most times. The batsmen of England also were able to see through the Indian bowlers as they batted cautiously when Bumrah bowled and attacked the other bowlers, especially the fast bowlers Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur. As a result, Bumrah was overworked by bowling around 44 overs and the other pacers delivered expensive spells with limited strikes when it was too late for India to bounce back.
But in the ongoing Birmingham Test, the tide has turned around as Indian bowlers got off to a dream start on day three. Mohammed Siraj’s length delivery down the leg-side tempted Joe Root to go for a flick to the fine-leg boundary. But the late inward movement combined with a lack of timing from the batsman tickled to the left of Rishabh Pant. The walk of Joe Root back to the pavilion might be the slowest of slow walk offs, that’s how Englands’ best test batter trudged from the field with his team fourdown and in a mighty hole.
On the next delivery itself, what appeared to be a knockout blow took out the England’s skipper Ben Stokes as he edged behind the first ball that he faced. Stokes remained unanswered in what was the brute of a ball. The short of length delivery rose suddenly and confused Stokes as the ball grazed the shoulder of the bat through to Pant.
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2 wickets in 2 balls for the second time for the Indian bowlers in Birmingham Test
This match is becoming a strong comeback for the Indian fast bowlers as for the second time in the same innings, two wickets were taken on two consecutive deliveries. Yesterday, Akash Deep achieved this feat when he dismantled the top order of the English batting lineup, dismissing Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope on a score of zero. The jaffas he bowled to them, left them clueless. After a loose first over, Akash Deep made a comeback and in a fashion no one expected.
For Duckett, he bowled a length delivery outside off-stump line angled around the wicket, Duckett punched it and the thick outside edge flew nicely to Indian skipper Shubman Gill in the slips. On the very next ball, Ollie Pope got out on another length ball. The ball moved away off the seam when he closed the face of the bat. Rahul, while taking the catch at the second slip fumbled once but then he made no mistake.
