‘We can chase anything': Tongue bullish as England look to overhaul India total
After blowing away India's tail for the second time in the game, pocketing a three-wicket maiden in the process, Josh Tongue said England were confident of scoring the 371 runs they need to claim victory in the opening Test, insisting: 'With our batting lineup we can chase anything.'
England survived six overs before stumps to reach 21 without loss, leaving 350 to get on what is forecast to be a rain-affected final day. Should they reach their target it would be the highest successful run chase at Headingley – or for that matter anywhere in England – for 77 years, beating by nine the 362 they scored in the extraordinary Ashes encounter here in 2019.
Advertisement
Related: KL Rahul, the anti-Pant, torments England with precision of a maths nerd | Simon Burnton
'We're really confident,' Tongue said. 'If you look at our batting lineup it's obviously very strong. We play a positive brand of cricket. So I think chasing 371 is going to be a good thing for us to do. I feel like with that batting lineup we can chase down anything. Their bowlers are obviously going to bowl well in periods of the game. It's just soaking up that pressure and then reapplying it back on to them.
'We'll go for the win. That's the clear message in the changing room. It's just being as positive as we can. I don't see why we can't chase that down.'
Tongue said of the wicket that 'when they were batting it flattened out', but KL Rahul, one of two Indian centurions alongside Rishabh Pant, said that had not been his experience across 247 balls at the crease. Forecasting 'a blockbuster finish', he warned England that their aggression could be their undoing.
Advertisement
'There's definitely going to be a result. That's what England have said very openly and their style of cricket suggests that,' he said. 'That gives us a good opportunity to pick up 10 wickets. It was a very tricky wicket – I spent a lot of time batting out there and I didn't feel set at all at any stage. With this wicket you never know what to expect.'
Though both enjoyed considerable success Rahul's precise strokeplay contrasted markedly with the charismatic and unconventional approach of Pant. 'You just stand there and admire and sometimes scratch your head about the shot selection and the cricket that he plays,' Rahul said.
'He's a unique player and you just let him be. He obviously has a method to his batting, which none of us understands but it seems to work for him. You just let him be Rishabh Pant.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
England rally after Pant heroics to set up thrilling finish to India opener
India's Rishabh Pant celebrates reaching his second century of the match in the first Test against England (Darren Staples) Rishabh Pant became the first India batsman to score hundreds in both innings of a Test against England on Monday's fourth day at Headingley before the hosts hit back to set up a dramatic finale to the series opener. England, with all their wickets standing, will head into Tuesday's final day needing a further 350 runs to reach a target of 371 as they bid to go 1-0 up in a five-match series. Advertisement India were threatening to bat England out of the game while Pant, who made 134 in the first innings, completed a 130-ball century, including 13 fours and two sixes, before falling for 118. The swashbuckling wicketkeeper received excellent support from opener Rahul, who made 137 in a fourth-wicket partnership of 195 that started when India were faltering at 92-3 in their second innings. But from the relative safety of 333-4, India lost their last six wickets for 31 runs as they slumped to 364 all out. Fast bowler Josh Tongue did the bulk of the damage in a burst of three wickets in four balls. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett survived a potentially tricky six-over spell to take England to 21-0 at stumps. Advertisement - 'Blockbuster finish' - "It's a blockbuster finish waiting tomorrow (Tuesday)," Rahul told Sky Sports after stumps. He added: "Someone's got to win tomorrow, it'll be an interesting day. The wicket is not as easy as the first innings, they (England) won't find it as easy to hit the ball on the rise. "Even if they get a big partnership, if we get a couple of wickets we'll be right in the game." Tongue, meanwhile was proud of England's resilience, saying: "It's very exciting. To get them all out at the end of the day and to not lose a wicket was crucial." Advertisement Tongue, who finished with innings figures of 3-72 in 18 overs, added: "I do enjoy bowling at the tail, it's a good opportunity to get wickets." India also collapsed in the first innings. Despite hundreds from captain Shubman Gill, Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal, they were dismissed for 471 after losing their last seven wickets for 41 runs. The outstanding Jasprit Bumrah, the world's top-ranked Test bowler, took five wickets in England's first-innings 465 and will be the danger man for India on Tuesday. England, however, have succeeded in pulling off some dramatic run-chases in their 'Bazball' era under coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes Advertisement They reached a target of 378 -- their record successful fourth-innings chase in Test cricket -- against a Bumrah-led India attack at Edgbaston three years ago. Pant is just the second wicketkeeper in Test history to score hundreds in both innings of the same match following Andy Flower's scores of 142 and 199 not out for Zimbabwe against South Africa in 2001. After a morning session in which India skipper Gill was the only batsman dismissed, Rahul and Pant upped the tempo in their contrasting styles. Pant completed an 83-ball fifty before driving Shoaib Bashir for two soaring sixes in three balls. Advertisement Rahul took 202 balls to reach his century, featuring 13 fours, with a trademark cover-drive -- his ninth hundred in 59 Tests. Pant, severely injured in a life-threatening car crash in December 2022, was stuck in the 90s before a quick single took him to his century. Rahul eventually played on to Brydon Carse before Tongue dismissed Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj with successive deliveries. Bumrah survived the hat-trick but was bowled next ball by Tongue with Prasidh Krishna out for a duck as well when he holed out off Bashir to end the innings. jdg/kca/nf
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘We can chase anything': Tongue bullish as England look to overhaul India total
After blowing away India's tail for the second time in the game, pocketing a three-wicket maiden in the process, Josh Tongue said England were confident of scoring the 371 runs they need to claim victory in the opening Test, insisting: 'With our batting lineup we can chase anything.' England survived six overs before stumps to reach 21 without loss, leaving 350 to get on what is forecast to be a rain-affected final day. Should they reach their target it would be the highest successful run chase at Headingley – or for that matter anywhere in England – for 77 years, beating by nine the 362 they scored in the extraordinary Ashes encounter here in 2019. Advertisement Related: KL Rahul, the anti-Pant, torments England with precision of a maths nerd | Simon Burnton 'We're really confident,' Tongue said. 'If you look at our batting lineup it's obviously very strong. We play a positive brand of cricket. So I think chasing 371 is going to be a good thing for us to do. I feel like with that batting lineup we can chase down anything. Their bowlers are obviously going to bowl well in periods of the game. It's just soaking up that pressure and then reapplying it back on to them. 'We'll go for the win. That's the clear message in the changing room. It's just being as positive as we can. I don't see why we can't chase that down.' Tongue said of the wicket that 'when they were batting it flattened out', but KL Rahul, one of two Indian centurions alongside Rishabh Pant, said that had not been his experience across 247 balls at the crease. Forecasting 'a blockbuster finish', he warned England that their aggression could be their undoing. Advertisement 'There's definitely going to be a result. That's what England have said very openly and their style of cricket suggests that,' he said. 'That gives us a good opportunity to pick up 10 wickets. It was a very tricky wicket – I spent a lot of time batting out there and I didn't feel set at all at any stage. With this wicket you never know what to expect.' Though both enjoyed considerable success Rahul's precise strokeplay contrasted markedly with the charismatic and unconventional approach of Pant. 'You just stand there and admire and sometimes scratch your head about the shot selection and the cricket that he plays,' Rahul said. 'He's a unique player and you just let him be. He obviously has a method to his batting, which none of us understands but it seems to work for him. You just let him be Rishabh Pant.'
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
KL Rahul, the anti-Pant, torments England with precision of a maths nerd
Just 10 balls had been delivered on this fourth day, England had started brightly and had just been buoyed by the wicket of India's captain. For the batters a time perhaps for a little caution. At which point the freshly arrived Rishabh Pant faced his second delivery, bowled by Chris Woakes, hared down the pitch and swung his bat like a particularly clueless novice golfer, the ball spinning off the outside edge and flying over the slips and away for four. From the crowd the reflexive reaction was laughter, not inappropriately given this was the kind of behaviour associated normally less with people wearing cricket whites and more with those sporting outsize shoes, a red nose and plenty of face paint. Advertisement There were plenty more ludicrous moments on Pant's way to a second century of the game, an innings in which the only temptation he did not give in to was the one to perform celebratory acrobatics on reaching triple figures. But if his would have been the name on supporters' lips as they headed out of the gates at the close, the innings put together by the man at the other end was, in an infinitely less showy way, more interesting still – not just because of its quality but because of its contrast, KL Rahul cast perfectly in the role of anti‑Pant. The 33-year-old is by nature particularly well suited to batting with such showmen: there is no need to take any risks when the man at the other end is taking enough for two, and no reason for flamboyance when your partner is so prone to a dance and a swing. He managed to contrast not just with his teammate but even with himself, looking like a rock star, long hair spilling out of his helmet and over his collar, while playing like a maths nerd, all precise angles and economy of force; combining gloriously streamlined, economical movement with what sometimes appears an asinine stubbornness when it comes to budging the scoreboard. This can been seen as a failing, and he has a reputation for losing his way during innings, going through prolonged funks during which the possibility of run-scoring becomes little more than notional. Famously, talking about Twenty20 games, he once insisted that 'strike rates are very, very overrated' – which, given that it is a format in which success is predicated entirely on fast scoring, raised a few hackles (he has, to be fair, also scored the joint second-fastest 50 in Indian Premier League history). Kevin Pietersen once compared the spectator experience when Rahul is at the crease to watching paint dry. 'For me,' Rahul said in that discussion of strike rates, 'it's only about how I can win games for my team.' Here he played from the start as if he knew precisely which path would guide his team towards victory, and he might just have judged it perfectly. For the first hour of this fourth day it was also a path he negotiated very carefully. England sustained their bright start for the full hour, spirits replenished overnight, game in the balance, energy in the field, Brydon Carse straddling it with an outstanding spell. He, and later Ben Stokes, repeatedly located a spot, conveniently positioned if bowling over the wicket from the Kirkstall Lane end towards a right-hander, off which the ball could be relied upon to bounce unreliably, which the left-handed Pant was never bothered by but which allowed Rahul to demonstrate the lightning speed of his reactions. Those same reflexes also allowed him, when the ball behaved less wildly, to appear completely unhurried in his strokeplay. Rahul faced 43 balls in that hour, scoring just seven, before the smoothest of accelerations: 18 off 38 in the second hour of the day, 28 off 45 in the third, 20 off 25 in the fourth (though of course run rates are very, very overrated). Advertisement Related: England v India: first men's cricket Test, day four – live There were inevitable, and very occasional, imperfections, and three times he edged the ball in inconvenient directions: on 58, off Josh Tongue, high to Harry Brook at gully – who got two palms on it but could not hold on – on 71, off Stokes, into a particularly sensitive area of his own body, and then that final attempt to cut Carse that sent the ball into his own stumps, by which time he had scored 137 and slowly, stylishly shunted the match in his team's favour. And along the way such handsome highlights: leaning back to dab Tongue wide of slip, waiting to the last possible moment to cut Carse with a surgeon's precision into the gap between gully and backward point, or pulling the same bowler, again waiting, late enough that the few remaining sceptics suggested it was more accident than design, to open up the perfect angle. He became just the sixth Indian to score three centuries in this country, having spent the crucial part of his innings in partnership with the fifth. Turns out there are similarities between him and Pant after all.
