Sports
India’s gaffes overshadow Bumrah’s jaffas, Pope ton makes it England’s day
Saturday in Leeds was a day of opportunities taken and spurned. Unfortunately for India, it was their contribution to the latter on day two that has changed the complexion of this Test match.
Having begun the day with Rishabh Pant’s thrill-filled 134, the third of the innings, they proceeded to lose 7 for 41 to cap their first innings at 471. And yet more profligacy in the field not only allowed Ollie Pope to move to his ninth Test century, but England to close on 209 for 3.
Pope, unbeaten on 100, rests satiated with a consecutive Test hundred following his 171 against Zimbabwe, at a time when his place has been questioned with the precocious yet century-less Jacob Bethell waiting in the wings.
Pope rests dreaming of mimicking his Hyderabad epic that dug England out of a similar sized hole. But India will rue a drop on 60 by Yashasvi Jaiswal at third slip, after Pope had played in the air through that region earlier (on 48) and fourth at the very start of his innings when on 10. That he had made all three errors off Jasprit Bumrah was no surprise, particularly as the demonic quick ended up accounting for all three wickets.
But just when it looked like Bumrah would head to stumps with a clean record, a third front-foot no ball in his final over of the day ended up giving Harry Brook a life on 0. A brutal short ball was clothed amateurishly by Brook towards midwicket. Umpire Chris Gaffaney, having stuck his arm out for the previously delivery, put his hand to his ear before doing so once more as news of another infringement came through from the television umpire.
That would have made it 208 for 4 at stumps. India’s frustration was carried in spades by the searing bouncer Bumrah delivered to close out a thrilling day’s play. They could have batted a victory out of England’s reach but instead, the hosts have seven wickets left to claw back more if not all of the remaining deficit of 262.
Was it a lack of ruthlessness on Shubman Gill’s first day in the field as India’s Test captain? If so, it was not something anyone could have predicted when he and Pant recommenced India’s first innings on 359 for 3. The first 90 minutes of play was a reassertion of their day one dominance, with Pant at his mischievous best.
He was a one-man circus of heaves and tumbles, the first of them coming when he greeted Shoaib Bashir’s first delivery with a fall-away paddle over his shoulder. The second was more choreographed after lifting Bashir over wide midwicket to bring up his sixth hundred as wicketkeeper, from his 146th delivery. Only MS Dhoni has as many for India, with this a third century on these shores – no other keeper-batter has more than one – that also sits top of his three-figure knocks for most sixes (six).
There were no chances offered, per se, until, on 124, he ran past a delivery from Bashir and was forced to reclaim his ground on his hands and knees, having flung the bat away towards fine leg. Jamie Smith failed to capitalise on the error, but his blushes were saved when Josh Tongue, hidden in the field for most of this session, was able to catch Pant not playing a shot to trap him lbw.
By then, Gill’s own century had been cut off at 147, when he lifted Bashir to Tongue at deep square leg, angling for his second six and 21st boundary, ending the fourth-wicket stand on 209. Karun Nair had also come and gone, an eight-year hiatus amounting to a four-ball duck when he was plucked gloriously out of the air by Pope at cover.
And so, with lunch looming, the thought was India would take it to the break and regroup. Alas, Shardul Thakur brought about an early break when chasing a very wide delivery through to Smith. It gave Ben Stokes figures for 4 for 66, once again the England captain standing out as the best bowler on show.
He was soon joined on a four-for by Tongue, who wagged when the tail did not to clean up some untidy figures. The Nottinghamshire quick went from nursing 0 for 78 from 17 to parading 4 for 86 from 20.
A tame but delaying shower meant England’s first innings only began at 2:55pm, with ominous looking clouds and a ground illuminated by the floodlights promising movement for Bumrah. He needed just six deliveries to get one bending reality; Zak Crawley turned inside out with a one that swung in late and seamed away later, flying through to Nair at face height at first slip.
That he would only take 1 for 21 in his opening five overs was through no fault of his own. Though Gill kept a packed cordon for the first 20 overs, the desire to cover more than one position with just one fielder led to Pope’s initial pseudo life on 10 – a Schrödinger’s fourth slip, if you will. But it was at the end of his fourth over that Bumrah had Ben Duckett dropped on 15, by Ravindra Jadeja of all people at backward point.
Duckett would end up moving to his 19th score of fifty or more from 68 deliveries with a fine sweep off Jadeja, marching forward with Pope in a stand of 122 that for the most part actually felt easier than it maybe should have been.
On 62, Duckett drove a thick edge onto his stumps to hand Bumrah his third, met with an exclamation from the 31-year-old that spoke of the fact his frustration was steadily morphing into anger. From that point on, it was Pope who seized the initiative a little more, dwarfing Joe Root (42 to 28) in an 80-run stand where he seemed like the more established pro.
Mohammed Siraj emerged from a patchy first spell to hold his own and both ends, and seemingly had Root on toast. For a moment, he thought he had him outright, lbw for 7, with the impact in front of the stumps and the right-hander selling it well with a stumble over to the off side. Alas, a review would take that from Siraj, with HawkEye projecting the delivery would miss leg stump, forcing umpire Paul Reiffel to overturn his decision.
Pope, though, was making hay while Bumrah was powering back up. He had already got away with a flinch outside off that Jaiswal, diving low to his right, should have held. Bumrah’s reaction was to open his arms out to the cordon as if to ask “WHY?!” Understandably given he had opened the evening session and been immediately dabbed through a vacant third by Pope, who moved to 52 from 74 deliveries.
The remainder of the No.3’s crisp 100 took just 51 deliveries more, helped by Thakur’s lack of pace, which allowed him to drive on the up through cover, before a stylish back cut off Krishna’s extra pace. The latter decided to be more forceful in his approach to Pope, offering a few choice words along with some short stuff. Pope responded with a well-executed pull-flip over to the fine-leg fence for a one bounce for, clearing the man up around the corner with ease, and taking deep square leg out of the game entirely.
Bumrah’s return for two overs at the end was always going to give us a final shot of drama. A thick inside edge into the leg side brought Pope his century, and as good a reason as any to let the frustrations of talk in the media and behind his back flow out in a cathartic, satisfying roar, punching the air with a mix of relief and glee. It was by no means a convincing way to move to such a landmark, but the fact he walked at Bumrah was an apt reminder of the guts he showed throughout this knock.
Joy was short-lived when Root finally succumbed to a teaser outside off. But an over later, Bumrah’s journey to anger had been completed. Brook’s reprieve was all the more irksome for India considering the efforts of Siraj to take the catch running back at midwicket.
India still have the surer footing in this match, with England resuming on Sunday 63 off the follow-on target. But they have relinquished the opportunity to be the sole drivers of this match.
Brief scores:
England 209 for 3 in 49 overs (Ben Duckett 62, Ollie Pope 100*, Joe Root 28; Jasprit Bumrah 3-48) trail India 471 in 113 overs (Vaishaswi Jaiswal 101, KL Rahul 42, Shubman Gill 147, Rishabh Pant 134; Ben Stokes 4-66, Josh Tongue 4-86) by 262 runs
[Cricinfo]
Aiden Markram, Laura Wolvaardt and Simon Harmer were the biggest winners at the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Awards 2026, picking up the highest individual honours after stellar seasons across formats. Fast bowler Lungi Ngidi and wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock also went home with multiple awards.
Harmer, 37, was named Test Player of the Year after spearheading South Africa’s red-ball attack during the awards cycle, between April 2025 and 2026. The offspinner enjoyed a prolific return in this period, where he took 30 wickets in four matches. After taking eight wickets in the Rawalpindi Test against Pakistan to help draw the series, he led South Africa to a famous series sweep against India with match hauls of 8 for 51 and 9 for 101 in Kolkata and Guwahati respectively.
Wolvaardt, meanwhile, continued to set the benchmark in women’s cricket. South Africa’s captain was named the Women’s Player of the Year, SA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year and Women’s ODI Player of the Year, completing the awards sweep. Across the eligibility period, she piled up runs in all conditions and played a key role in South Africa’s run to the ODI World Cup final in 2025, finishing as the top scorer of the tournament with 571 runs at an average of 71.37, including centuries in the semi-final and final. Wolvaardt was South Africa’s leading run-scorer in the ODI series in New Zealand before dominating the home T20I series against India, where she scored 330 runs in five matches and was named Player of the Series.
The biggest winner among the men’s all-format awards was Markram, who claimed both the SA Men’s Player of the Year and SA Men’s Players’ Player of the Year awards, after a season in which he led South Africa to major success across formats, most noticeably in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia last year.
Ngidi, meanwhile, collected the Men’s T20 International Player of the Year award and the SA Fans’ Player of the Year prize. His dismissal of Jos Buttler during South Africa’s second ODI against England was also voted the Best Men’s Delivery of the year.
Matthew Breetzke’s breakthrough campaign earned him the Men’s ODI International Player of the Year award, while Dewald Brevis and Kayla Reyneke were recognised as the International Men’s and Women’s Newcomers of the Year, respectively.
The SA20 awards reflected the competition’s standout performers. De Kock, the tournament’s leading run-scorer, was named both SA20 Batter of the Season and Betway SA20 Player of the Season (MVP). Ottneil Baartman collected the SA20 Bowler of the Season award after finishing as the leading wicket-taker, while Jordan Hermann was named SA20 Rising Star of the Season.
Among the domestic awards, Kyle Simmonds and Mignon du Preez were named the men’s and women’s Most Valuable Players, while Robin Peterson, JP Triegaardt and Sandile Masengemi received the top coaching honours in their respective competitions.
CSA also recognised contributions beyond performances on the field. Arno Jacobs was named CSA Umpires’ Umpire of the Year, Lubabalo Gcuma received the CSA Umpire of the Year award, and Sinalo Jafta was presented with the Makhaya Ntini Power of Cricket Award.
[Cricinfo]
Argentina face the prospect of a Fifa fine after their players celebrated the World Cup semi-final win against England with a banner in support of their country’s claims to the Falkland Islands.
The defending world champions produced a dramatic late comeback in Atlanta, scoring twice to defeat Thomas Tuchel’s side 2-1 and book a showdown with Spain in Sunday’s final.
After the final whistle, Argentina players celebrated while holding a banner reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, which translates as “The Falklands are Argentine”.
The Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the south-west Atlantic Ocean, remain the subject of a sovereignty dispute between Britain and Argentina.
The two nations went to war over the group of islands, situated 300 miles off Argentina’s east coast, from April to June 1982.
The 74-day conflict led to the deaths of 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen. Three people from the islands also died.
In 2014, Fifa fined the Argentine Football Association 20,000 pounds after its players held up a banner with the same message before a friendly against Slovenia.
World football’s governing body said the gesture had breached rules on political action and team misconduct.
[BBC]
Lautaro Martinez scored a 92nd-minute winner as Lionel Messi inspired World Cup holders Argentina to a stunning comeback to beat England 2-1 and set up a final with European football champions Spain.
England had been on course to reach their first FIFA World Cup final since 1966 after Anthony Gordon fired them into the lead 10 minutes into the second half of the semifinal in front of 68,239 fans in Atlanta on Wednesday.
The great rivalry between these nations has produced several memorable contests on the World Cup stage through the years, and this will be remembered as the stuff of legends in Argentina as the South Americans denied England with two late sucker punches.
Messi set up Enzo Fernandez to fire in an 85th-minute equaliser, and then, with extra time looming, crossed for substitute Lautaro Martinez to head in the winner in the second minute of stoppage time.
It was maybe not quite up there with Diego Maradona’s legendary display in putting England to the sword in 1986, but the goals this time brought Argentina back from the dead and kept alive their hopes of winning back-to-back World Cups.
No team has retained the trophy since Brazil in 1962, and now, Messi will become just the second player after Brazilian great Cafu to appear in three World Cup finals. Italy are the only other side to defend a World Cup crown.
The 2026 final will take place at New York New Jersey Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday, as the first 48-team World Cup boils down to a confrontation between the reigning champions of Europe and South America.
Messi had waited until the age of 39 to get the chance to play against England, and he will now face Spain for the first time in a competitive game.
His career appeared to be complete when he dragged Argentina to glory in 2022 in Qatar, but he is clearly not done yet.
England, though, will have huge regrets as they head to Miami to play France in Saturday’s third-place playoff, a game neither team will want to contest.
The prospect of a first World Cup final appearance since their sole triumph 60 years ago was a momentous one, and they were so close, but will live to regret sitting back after Gordon’s opener.
Given the deep-rooted rivalry between these nations, this was always likely to be a game with an edge, and there was a palpable sense of tension at Atlanta Stadium.
Argentina’s players were clearly fired up, partly by a determination to hold onto their World Cup crown but also by a sense of what this fixture means.
That translated into a niggly contest, pockmarked by fouls in the first half, including Elliot Anderson being booked for scything down Messi.
There were no real chances to speak of in the first half, but England struck in the 55th minute.
Kane was involved in the buildup as the ball eventually came to Morgan Rogers on the right, and he whipped in a low cross towards the back post where Gordon stole in front of Nahuel Molina to score.
But this was the stadium where Argentina produced a stunning comeback from 2-0 down to beat Egypt in the last 16, and they were not done.
They threw everything at their opponents, as Jordan Pickford made a great save from a Nico Gonzalez header, and Alexis Mac Allister was then denied by the post in the 76th minute.
Fernandez was denied from range by Pickford, but moments later, he equalised, controlling a Messi pass on the edge of the area and letting fly past the goalkeeper.
Argentina smelled blood, and Mac Allister again hit the post before England failed to clear, and Martinez headed in the winner from an exquisite Messi cross to spark chaotic scenes of celebration and leave England completely deflated.
[Aljazeera]
The key men for Thomas Tuchel’s side during this campaign have been Jude Bellingham and captain Harry Kane, yet they failed to deliver on this occasion, and England’s players slumped to the turf at full-time.
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