England suffer historic two-day defeat in India
Premiership and European champions seeking a significant improvement at Sale
ENGLAND were on the wrong end of cricketing carnage in Ahmedabad as they succumbed to the embarrassment of a two-day defeat by India.
When Rohit Sharma clubbed the winning six to seal a 10-wicket home win under lights it ended a dizzying day of activity that added up to a hopelessly uneven contest between bat and pink ball but also a deserved victor.
Two-day finishes are rare for a reason - there have been only six others in the last 75 years - and it took a mixture of fine bowling, deeply flawed batting and a pitch unsuitable for long-form matches to add to that list.
To dismiss any of the three factors would be myopic and unhelpful, but while 17 wickets in the first two sessions made for high-octane entertainment it was a mostly unedifying spectacle.
England have been frustrated by the surfaces and some of the umpiring but could hardly complain about the result having lost all 20 wickets for 193 and lasted less than 80 overs across two innings.
After one session things had looked very different for the tourists, when a hot streak of seven for 31 saw them dismiss India for 145 - just 33 in front.
It had taken a staggering haul of five for eight from Joe Root’s parttime spin to create that unexpected note of optimism, but the same conditions which had turned Root’s occasional off-breaks into unplayable hand grenades soon left England batsmen on the canvas at 81 all out.
Axar Patel took five for 32 to finish with a match haul of 11, with Ravichandran Ashwin bagging four, including his magical 400th.
Left needing just 49 to take a 2-1 series lead, Rohit charged for the line and ended things with a booming six off Root, whose side cannot now qualify for the World Test Championship
final. India began the day on 99 for three in reply to their opponent’s 112, moving into the lead after 15 undramatic minutes at the start of the day. Things would never return to that kind of calmness, with Jack Leach setting in motion a staggering phase of trial by spin.
Any highlights package of dismissals would show an abundance of players on either side misreading, misjudging or simply missing deliveries that went straight on but that would unfairly discount the huge number either side that ragged sharply to sow the seeds of doubt.
Ajinkya Rahane was first to fall, pinned in front by Leach, before the left-armer had the overnight halfcenturion Rohit lbw on the sweep for 66.
After an initial blast of James Anderson, Root bowed to the inevitable conclusion: that his side should have gone in with another specialist spinner and he would be needed to fill the gap.
It is hard to imagine the overlooked Dom Bess or the departed Moeen Ali could have done better than the skipper, though, as he snapped up three wickets without conceding a run.
His first ball was good enough to take care of the dangerous Rishabh Pant, tossed up into the left-hander’s rough and snaring the outside edge, and his next was one to treasure. Drifting in from round the wicket to Washington Sundar, he got some serious bite off the pitch, beat the bat and pinged the top of off.
Patel took a different route to the same destination, swinging heartily at his second ball from Root but picking out the man at short cover. Root won the race with Leach to complete a first career five-for, with Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah falling into his trap.
At the change over England must have felt a mixture of joy at their comeback and trepidation at what awaited them. The joy would soon be gone.
Patel was relentless as he picked vast holes in the visiting side, pounding away mercilessly and cashing in on a mass inability to distinguish between big turners and skiddy arm balls.
He started in stirring style by cleaning up the source of almost half of England’s first-innings runs - Zak Crawley - with the first ball of the innings.
Patel thought he had a hat-trick, dating back to his last ball on day one, when he won an lbw decision against the sweeping Jonny Bairstow but when that was overturned he simply bowled the Yorkshireman outright at his next attempt.
England were still in arrears when Dom Sibley followed but Root and Ben Stokes shared a precarious stand of 31 to ensure there would be some sort of chase.
The pair joined the long list of lbw victims, Ashwin getting Stokes (25) for the 11th time in Tests and Patel finally worming his way through Root’s defence.
Once Ollie Pope lost his off stump to Ashwin, the end was nigh and none of the last five got to double figures as the spinners ran riot.
Sharma and and Shubman Gill knocked off the slender target as Leach and Root tried in vain to create some drama, leaving three days to commiserate behind closed doors.
Third Test, Ahmedabad (day two)
PLYMOUTH Argyle are working on bringing some ‘big-hitters’ to play them in pre-season at Home Park this summer, writes Chris Errington.
The club want to come up with a way of repaying the Green Army who have not been able to attend games this season due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Manager Ryan Lowe revealed the Pilgrims were also trying to get an away game against ‘one big hitter’ in pre-season as well.
The hope is that by July restrictions on attending games will have been fully lifted.
With Premier League clubs possibly less likely to travel abroad this pre-season as a result of the pandemic, there could be a good opportunity for Argyle to attract them to Home Park instead.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out a four-step roadmap for the easing of lockdown restrictions in England on Monday.
As part of step three, sports events can resume with spectators from May 17 at the earliest, but with capacity limits.
That is nine days after Argyle’s final League One game of the campaign, away to Gillingham.
Lowe was asked for his reaction to the fact that Argyle’s remaining games this season would be played behind closed doors. He replied: “I’m gutted. It’s not the same. I can’t wait for the season to be over, in the nicest possible way, so we can get the fans back.
“Obviously, we have still got a long way to go - 15 games and so many weeks - and we want to try and make them proud while they are not here.
“I’m disappointed, but hopefully next season we can make them even prouder than we have done so far.
“We have got irons in the fire to get a few big clubs down here in pre-season, and potentially go somewhere else as well to tag our fans along.
“I think it will be a nice gesture for our fans. We are working ever so hard behind the scenes to see if we can get some big-hitters down to Home Park, and maybe get one big hitter away.
“That will be nice. A lot of fans have missed it. I have certainly missed them and I know the players have.
“That’s the plan. We want to pay them back for what they have missed,” he continued.
“We want next season to kick-off with them in. The quicker we can get them in the better. We are looking at loads of things for the fans.
“They need a little bit of a morale boost as well. A lot of them are just sitting at home doing nothing.”
THE Football Association will recommend the curtailment of the season at stages three to six of the National League System with immediate effect, writes Jack Richards.
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic continues to take its toll at the levels of the football pyramid below the English Football League.
Since January 4, the lower divisions underneath the National League North and South have been fully suspended.
Earlier this month, National League North and South clubs voted in favour of their season being declared null and void - a decision which has been passed to the FA for ratification, where the issue of promotion and relegation will be discussed.
However, the ‘top-flight’ National League season continues as planned, after 13 of its 23 clubs decided against declaring the campaign null and void.
Lower down the pyramid which includes competitions such as the Northern Premier League, the Southern League and Isthmian League - a survey was taken to gather views on the continuation or conclusion of the 2020-21 league season, done in addition to the information set out in the Government’s roadmap this week.
The results showed more than 76 per cent of all clubs who responded across steps three to six indicated a preference “to curtail the 2020-21 league season if it could not be restarted with limited spectator numbers and hospitality before 1 April 2021”.
The FA said it was decided extending the campaign beyond the end of May 2021 “would not be a viable option due to various considerations”, which included financial implications, and player contracts as well potential fixture scheduling issues with so many of the games still to play.
A statement from the governing body read: “Taking into account the survey results and the ongoing impact of Covid-19, which continues to adversely affect incomes for clubs due to restrictions on both spectators and hospitality, our alliance and leagues committees have reached a consensus that, subject to the approval of FA Council, the 202021 league season for Steps 3-6 of the NLS should be curtailed with immediate effect, with no further league matches taking place this season.”
The collective recommendations will be presented to the FA Council for ratification in due course.
A potential restructuring at steps four to six, which was previously agreed and has been on hold since the 2019-20 season, is to also be revisited, the FA also confirmed.
ROB Baxter says the short turnaround in games offers his Exeter Chiefs side the perfect opportunity to ‘get back on the horse’ following their narrow Gallagher Premiership at home to Northampton Saints last time out.
Tonight, the defending champions take to the road once more for their latest top-flight assignment against Sale Sharks (7.45pm).
Positioned second in the standings, just three adrift of leaders Bristol Bears, Baxter says having little time to reflect too much on the Saints performance has in a strange way helped his squad, who instead have spent what little time they have had this week on the training pitch preparing for the Sharks.
“It’s always a tough game, yet we have done pretty well there over the past few years,” said Baxter, whose side have won on their last five visits to Salford. “At the same time, we had done pretty well at home to Northampton up until last week, so things do change. At the moment, I just think we are really looking forward to getting back on the horse and going out to play what will be tough game of rugby.
“Last weekend was frustrating, but actually speaking to some of the lads in the changing rooms after the game, quite a few of them said they were glad it was a short week and that they could get back into playing quickly.
“They had frustrations, not just because of the end result, but more by the fact that they didn’t make the most of the opportunities they had in the game. That’s understandable, but that’s also probably the best emotion to have to get ready to go into a short training week.
“As a player, it’s probably the best type of week to have, just because you literally get two training days, a day off, team run and then you jump onto the bus and you’re off up the road. You then spend a bit of time together in the hotel, you play the game, then you have a long weekend off.
“What they have to do, however, is make sure they have their heads in the right place from now. Personally, I think we will go up there and play well, but we have to play well enough to win, and they are different things.”
Certainly, the Chiefs did enough last weekend to extend their winning streak to four against the Saints, but it was the stubborn rearguard resistance of the visitors, coupled with a lack of execution which came back to thwart Baxter’s men.
“Normally possession and territory stats, you can look at them and see if you have won the game,” explained Baxter. “We won on the stats front, yet we have lost on the scoreboard, so that is the frustration. In what we’re difficult conditions, I actually thought we did quite well.
“Are there things we need to improve on? Of course there are, but when you look at the amount of entries we had into the Saints 22, coupled with the time we spent there, we should have won the game. We didn’t and that’s credit to Northampton for the hard work they put in. It’s also an indicator that we got some things wrong and that there are areas we need to work on, which we will do.”
Team news for the Chiefs sees Baxter make two changes to his pack from last weekend. In the secondrow, Sean Lonsdale comes in for his first start of the season in place of Will Witty, while Jacques Vermeulen is also included for the first time this season, having recovered from shoulder surgery. He replaces Richard Capstick at open-side.
Joe Simmonds returns at fly-half, while a switch around in the back three sees Facundo Cordero return on the wing with Josh Hodge switching to full-back as Stuart Hogg is on international duty with Scotland.