Shubman is a new captain, will learn a great deal during England series: Kapil Dev
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Al Jazeera
6 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Gill, India keep series alive with drawn fourth test against England
India, led by captain Shubman Gill, batted with great character to secure a hard-fought draw in the fourth test against England and keep the series alive going into the final game. After losing two wickets before they had scored a run in their second innings, India batted for over five sessions for the loss of two more wickets to end the match on 425-4 at Old Trafford in Manchester on Sunday. A courageous hundred from Gill – his fourth of the series – and dogged unbeaten centuries from Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar – gave the home crowd little to cheer on a tough day five for England. A closely fought series remains at 2-1 to England, and the hosts must avoid defeat in the final test at The Oval in London, starting on Thursday, to win it. 'This is no less than a win for us, given we were around 300 runs off the lead. Our batsman put on a great display,' Gill told the BBC. 'As soon as England got the new ball, it was doing a little bit, but our batters did really well, and it was tremendous, with a little bit of luck going our way as some balls can get dragged on, brilliant batting and brave batting.' England captain Ben Stokes, who took five wickets in India's first innings but was not fit to bowl much on Saturday, brought himself into the attack on Sunday morning with India resuming on 174-2. The hosts were firm favourites to seal victory at this point, even more so when Stokes's reintroduction paid dividends. The 34-year-old trapped KL Rahul by lbw for 90, ending his excellent third-wicket partnership with Gill at 188. Gill remained undeterred, however, even after getting a nasty blow on the hand. In his first series as captain, the 25-year-old became only the third skipper to score four hundreds in a single test series. Gill Falls After almost seven hours at the crease, a tired-looking Gill wafted at a Jofra Archer delivery to fall just before lunch for 103. Jadeja was dropped on the next ball by Joe Root, a tough chance at first slip. England still had plenty of time to secure victory, but the home side barely created any chances, with India seeing out the draw in relative comfort. Washington moved along conservatively after lunch, but hit successive boundaries, one a huge six, to move to his fifth test half-century. Jadeja reached his fifty and passed 1,000 test runs against England, becoming the third Indian player to do so this series. After tea, with their chance of victory gone, England offered India the opportunity to call a halt to proceedings early, but Gill kept his team out there. With England rotating their bowlers, Jadeja swept to his fifth test ton under no pressure, before Washington quickly completed his maiden test hundred. India did then agree to a draw – the first non-rain affected draw for England since coach Brendon McCullum and Stokes came together in 2022. 'Another hard-fought test,' Stokes told reporters. 'Another five-dayer. We set the game up really well, the way we put the Indian bowlers under pressure, focusing on batting once. 'We gave ourselves a great chance of bowling them out. We played the game how we wanted to; it didn't just pan out the way we wanted,' Stokes added. 'Mentally, I feel fine; physically, I've been better. It has been a pretty big workload this series.'
Qatar Tribune
13 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
No decision made on Bumrah playing 5th Test: Coach Gambhir
ANI Manchester India's head coach Gautam Gambhir spoke on Jasprit Bumrah playing in the fifth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England starting from July 31 at the Oval. He said there has been no decision made whether Jasprit Bumrah will play in the last test match or not. 'There has been no discussion about anyone and no decision has been made whether Jasprit Bumrah will play in the last test match or not. Ultimately, whoever plays, whether they play or not, they will try and do the job for the country,' Gambhir told media. Bumrah has been the best bowler for the Indian team in the ongoing series, having grabbed 14 wickets with two fifers at an average of 26.00 and an economy rate of 3.04. He also said, 'All fast bowlers are fit, there is no injury.' Gambhir emphasized his focus on results, acknowledging India's 2-1 deficit in the series. Despite the team's inexperience, he considers it the best Indian team currently and aims to level the series to 2-2. 'You're asking someone who only believes in results. And I've always said that in the past as well. I believe in the results. 'We're still 2-1 down in the series. This is an Indian team. Yes, there is an inexperience, but this is still the best Indian team right now. So for me, I think we're still down 2-1, and hopefully we can try and make it 2-2. It would be a great achievement,' he added.
Al Jazeera
16 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Kelly the hero as England sink Spain on penalties to win Euro 2025
Chloe Kelly scored the decisive spot kick as England beat Spain 3-1 in a penalty shootout to win Euro 2025, successfully defending the title they won three years ago after an enthralling encounter that ended 1-1 after extra time. Spain dominated possession in Basel, Switzerland on Sunday and made the breakthrough in the 25th minute as Ona Batlle crossed and the England defence was caught flat-footed, allowing Mariona Caldentey to head the ball past Hannah Hampton. With Lauren James struggling due to an ankle inury, England were struggling, but Kelly came off the bench to replace her just before the break and it proved an inspired substitution from Wiegman. Kelly helped close down England's porous left flank and provided the cross for Alessia Russo to level in the 57th minute, the forward heading home her inch-perfect assist. Spain continued to monopolise the ball but could not find another goal before the end of normal time, and the story continued through extra time as they probed and probed, but could not break through the English defence as the game finished 1-1. The Spaniards got the shootout off to a great start when Cata Coll saved Beth Mead's effort, but England keeper Hannah Hampton stepped up and saved from Caldentey and then from Aitana Bonmati to put England in the driving seat. Coll got Spain back into it with another one-handed stop to block Leah Williamson, but Spain substitute Salma Paralluelo then fired her kick wide of the target. That set the stage for Kelly to repeat her 2022 heroics, when she scored the extra-time winner over Germany that won them the title at Wembley. Kelly made her trademark prancing run-up before smashing the ball into the net and peeling away in ecstasy to celebrate with the rest of the players in front of the England fans. 'I'm so proud, so proud of this team, so grateful to wear this badge, and I'm so proud to be English … I was cool, I was composed and I knew I was going to hit the back of the net,' Kelly said. Spain trailed for only four minutes in the entire tournament – and not for one second against England – yet could not seal their first European title. The final was the first time since the inaugural edition in 1984 that the game was decided by a penalty shootout – a match in which England were beaten by Sweden. Speaking to the BBC, England goalkeeper Hampton said: 'This team is just unbelievable, incredible. 'We've shown throughout this tournament [that] we can come back when we go a goal down. We have that grit. We never say die – we just keep going, and we did that today.'
