Sports
Root holds the fort with unbeaten 99 as India put brakes on Bazball
Shubman Gill declared the return of “boring Test cricket” but England did not care. They scored uncharacteristically slowly – at just 3.02 runs per over – and ground their way into the ascendancy on their slowest-scoring full day of the Bazball era, as Joe Root reached the close a run short of his 37th Test century and his eighth at Lord’s.
“Baz-Baz-Bazball! Come on, I want to see it,” Mohammed Siraj was heard telling Root over the stump microphones, as England put their attacking shots away during a wicketless second session. “No more entertaining cricket, lads,” Gill told his team-mates, after Ollie Pope left the ball alone outside his off stump. “Welcome back to the boring Test cricket.”
Boring suited England just fine. The crowd at Lord’s were probably anticipating a very different day when they cheered Ben Stokes’ decision to bat first after winning his third consecutive toss, but a sluggish surface and a disciplined bowling effort from India’s seamers – including the returning Jasprit Bumrah – led England to scale back their usual aggressive intent.
But India will be heartened by the fact that after a long day in the field, they have kept England in check. The bowling heroes of their 336-run win at Edgbaston, Siraj and Akash Deep, both went wicketless, but timely scalps for Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, and two in an over from Nitish Kumar Reddy ensured that England never got away from them.
Root walked in straight after Reddy’s first over, which accounted for both England openers and saw Gill drop a tough chance off Pope in the gully, and quickly got his head down. He put on 109 with Pope for the third wicket, then an unbroken 79 with Stokes for the fifth – though Stokes’ apparent groin issue could become a major worry.
India had their own injury problem to worry about: Rishabh Pant tried to grimace through the pain after being struck on the index finger as he tried to gather a rare loose ball from Bumrah, but instead spent the last 49 overs off the field. But Dhruv Jurel proved an able deputy, taking a fine catch to dismiss Pope as Jadeja found his outside edge with the first ball after tea.
Brendon McCullum ordered a pitch with “plenty of life in it” after England’s heavy defeat at Edgbaston but his plea either arrived too late or fell on deaf ears. It was clear within an over that this was a slow surface, with Ben Duckett edging through to Pant on the half-volley; Bumrah, who replaced Prasidh Krishna, immediately called for the slip cordon to stand closer.
Duckett was repeatedly struck on the body in the first hour as Bumrah nipped the new ball off the seam, while Zak Crawley was frenetic. He changed his guard several times and threw his hands at the ball; while he nailed three cover drives, he slashed another over the slips and regularly played-and-missed at both Akash Deep and Siraj.
But it was Reddy, wicketless in Birmingham, who made the breakthroughs. He struck first with perhaps the worst ball of the morning, a long-hop on Duckett’s hip which he under-edged to Pant on the pull, but then dismissed Crawley with one of the best, a wicked outswinger which angled in then shaped away late the take the outside edge.
Pope was reprieved by Gill in between those two dismissals and batted as though determined to live up to his tag – coined by Steve James in the Times – as “the worst starter since prawn cocktail”. But he made it through to lunch unscathed, and dug in alongside Root after the interval; early in the second session, they went 28 consecutive balls without scoring.
Root, the senior pro, recognised that the best way to play Bumrah was from the non-striker’s end: he faced only two balls of his five-over spell after lunch, pinching singles from both to give Pope the strike back. They added 70 in a sleepy second session, as India’s seamers hung the ball wide outside off stump and waited for a mistake which didn’t come.
It finally arrived straight after tea, as Pope flashed hard at Jadeja and edged through to Jurel. He stood disconsolate, bent over his bat handle in disbelief that he had thrown his wicket away. India had another soon after, as the battle between the ICC’s No. 1-ranked Test batter and bowler ended swiftly: Bumrah nipped one back off the seam to peg Harry Brook’s off stump back.
Stokes was underway early with consecutive cuts for four, but looked uncomfortable against spin once more and survived an lbw shout from Reddy via DRS thanks only to the on-field umpire’s call. He was in obvious discomfort after a leave against Akash Deep, but batted on getting treatment from England’s physio during another long delay.
Root, meanwhile, cruised along as he does, only once putting his foot down with a rasping slog-sweep off Jadeja. He was a boundary away from his hundred in the final over of the day but could only manage a two and then a single. History bodes well: the previous 16 men to sleep on 99 in Test cricket have all reached three figures the following morning.
Brief scores:
England 251 for 4 in 83 overs (Ben Duckett 23, Ollie Pope 44, Joe Root 99*, Ben Stokes 39*; Nitish Kumar Reddy 2-46) vs India
[Cricinfo]
Omar Artan, who was set to be the first Somali to referee at the World Cup finals, has been dropped from the list of officials after he was denied entry to the United States.
Artan, the 2025 Confederation of African Football (CAF) men’s referee of the year, was barred from entering the country at Miami International Airport and is currently in Turkey.
No reason for Artan’s repatriation has been issued by US immigration authorities, but Somalia is one of several countries on a travel ban list introduced by President Donald Trump’s administration.
After speaking to the US authorities, world governing body Fifa said Artan will miss the tournament.
“Fifa can confirm that match official Omar Abdulkadir Artan will be unable to train and officiate at the Fifa World Cup 2026 after he was denied entry into the United States,” read a statement.
“Fifa is not involved in host country immigration processes, including visa adjudications, and has been informed by authorities that Artan’s status will not be changed at present.
“In line with previous Fifa events, a host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and who is admitted into their country.”
A senior adviser to Somalia’s ministry of youth and sports confirmed the denial of entry to the BBC and said Artan had been travelling with valid documents.
A Somali embassy official in Nairobi told the BBC that Artan’s diplomatic passport had been issued specifically to ease his travel after earlier visa difficulties.
The Somali Football Federation (SFF) has contacted Fifa seeking urgent clarification.
Speaking to BBC World Service, Andrew Giuliani, who leads the White House Task Force on the World Cup, said: “While I can’t go into the derog [derogatory information] on that I can tell you it was the right decision by customs and border patrol and I support that decision.”
Artan was among the 52 referees announced by Fifa to officiate at the World Cup finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States, which runs from 11 June to 19 July.
An official in the Somali national football league championships, Artan became a Fifa referee in 2018 and has officiated at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
[BBC]
England captain Ben Stokes and pacer Gus Atkinson are under investigation by the England and Wales Cricket Board for breaching team protocols after the team’s 115-run win over New Zealand in the first Test at Lord’s.
[Cricbuzz]
In the end, the Afghanistan batters did not die wondering. Their lower order swung away, time and again. Their patience was worn down in the sweltering New Chandigarh heat and India sealed a win by an innings and 300 runs, their biggest in Test cricket.
Afghanistan were up against it right away on the morning of day three of this one-off Test, only their second against India in the format. Debutant Manay Suthar resumed overnight on a three-for, and bowled with turn and guile on a pitch that had flattened out for everyone else. He ended with figures of 6 for 33 – the third best figures for an Indian bowler on a Test debut – and bundled out Afghanistan for 152.
India enforced the follow on. In their second effort, trailing by 412 runs, Afghanistan pushed Suthar back from his attacking lines by stepping down the pitch to him. Sediqullah Atal, who scored 42, led the charge by smashing him for a six and a four right before tea. In many ways, however, Suthar had already won the match for India by then.
Consistently bowling around the 90 kph mark, Suthar plucked out Sharafuddin Ashraf in Afghanistan’s first innings, spinning one past him. Then, he accounted for Rahmat Shah’s crucial wicket – the middle-order batter had brought up a stoic fifty off 100 balls, resisting India through the first hour and a half. Suthar bowled him around the legs, an expansive sweep was his undoing.
Rahmat was the eighth wicket to fall and it sealed Suthar’s five-for. A while later, he pinned Mohammad Saleem on the pads for his sixth. This last dismissal was the latest in a line of bad reviews (or lack thereof) from either side throughout the day. Suthar had pitched the delivery outside leg. For some reason, Saleem did not review and he was animated at the dugout as he walked back.
The tall Prasidh Krishna had begun the day from the other end, along with Suthar. Prasidh stuck to back-of-a-length deliveries, utilising the angles off the pitch to create jeopardy for the batters. He also struck the first blow for India, when he got the ball to jag back in, catch the inside edge onto the stumps, and send back Azmatullah Omarzai.
Mohammed Siraj came on for a spell of three overs, for five runs, the highlight of which was when he comically reviewed a clear inside-edge into the pads for an lbw. Soon, Washington Sundar came on from his end, and Kuldeep from the other, bowling in tandem. Kuldeep hesitated to put revs on the ball and for a period, both bowlers looked innocuous in comparison to Suthar.
However, Ashraf visibly struggled to bat with a groin injury. Kuldeep began lobbing up balls that Ashraf needed to step out to deadbat. Suthar returned to take advantage of his limited reach, and had him edging behind.
Washington also picked up the final wicket of Afghanistan’s first innings, when he had Ziaur Rahman going for a huge swipe across the line. Pant ran in to complete a catch. This would be his sole wicket in the first innings, but Suthar’s prodigious spin – and six-for – ensured that Sundar, the wily offspinner, would get his own turn in the spotlight next.
After lunch, Atal continued walking down the pitch, once in a while, to negate Suthar’s more threatening options. But India’s other two spinners, Washington and Kuldeep – who just could not get it to spin as much on a flat track – showed their versatility instead.
Washington was the star spinner in the second innings, using his drift through the air instead of big turn off the pitch. He picked up 4 for 36, bowling with smarts against an Afghanistan line-up that tried to follow Atal’s lead by attacking the spinners. Kuldeep struggled to hit consistent lines, but kept lobbing the balls up and waited for the Afghanistan batters to hit him across the line.
After lunch, Atal receded into a shell. On the other hand, his partners chose rash shots to force the issue for Afghanistan. Siraj had already prised out Atal’s opening partner, Abdul Malik, after a patient 40-ball eight by getting a delivery to jag into his pads. Then, Rahmanullah Gurbaz swiped Kuldeep across the line in a rush of blood, mistiming the ball straight to long-on. The wicket came against the run of play, with him already on 24 off 23, bossing a tiring India spin attack in the blistering heat of New Chandigarh.
Next, Rahmat – Afghanistan’s best batter from their first innings – danced down the pitch to Washington and holed out at wide mid-off. Fifteen minutes before tea, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi edged a tentative prod to Shubman Gill at first slip and Washington got his second wicket of the innings. Both these wickets were a result of a consistent line, attacking batters in the outside-off channel.
Afghanistan’s resistance broke down completely on the last ball before tea. Atal, who had batted patiently thus far, leaned into an ill-judged lofted drive, off Washington, hitting it straight to point.
When they returned to bat after tea, Afghanistan’s lower-order batters were in no mood to stick around. Suthar plucked out one last wicket, pinning Afsar Zazai on the pads off a front-foot defense. On the other hand, Azmatullah Omarzai, Nangeyalia Kharote, and Mohammad Saleem all fell while miscuing lofted shots. Saleem’s edge to B Sai Sudharsan at covers sealed an innings-win for India.
Scores:
India 564 for 8 dec in 127 overs (KL Rahul 100, Sai Sudarshan 81, Shubman Gill 126, Rishbah Pant 81, Washington Sundar 52*; Mohammed Saleem 6-140) beat Afghanistan 152 in 58.4 overs (Rahmat Shah 60; Prasidh Krishna 3-37, Manav Suthar 6-33 ) and 112 in 35.5 overs (Sediqullah Atal 42; Manav Suthar 1-29, Washington Sundar 4-36, Kuldeep Yadav 3-30) by an innings and 300 runs
[Cricinfo]
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