Off Topic Ist Test v India

On a brighter note England have made an excellent start to the 1st Test, winning the toss and batting closed on 311-4, Root made 124, Moen 99 not out, the young lad Hameed made 31 on debut.

Hopefully England can push on towards 500+ tomorrow to put India under pressure......

Not so doomy and gloomy after all....

 

It's a very good start.

 

I was up very early to catch up with the election results, but quickly switched to the cricket. A good toss to win and excellent knocks from Root and Ali. England really should make 500 from here with a batting line-up without a tail.

 

Root superb again & glad Ali getting runs & about time, looks good toss to win.

 

Good start. Unexpectedly good.

 

Looks like a good test wicket. Solid start from India. Hopefully a bit more in it for our bowlers tomorrow.

 

Could be a long day in the field tomorrow, although Moeen did get one ball to break through the pitch which could indicate that it's beginning to deteriorate and would make batting on days 4 and 5 a bit more difficult.....

 

Can't see much further than a draw unless we get through quick tomorrow.

 

I'd take a calm draw where we have the upper hand.

 

England scoring 500+ in the first innings and India not looking like losing wickets quickly, I would say a draw would be a decent bet.

 

Pitch looks to be getting flatter making batting very easy at the moment......India 291/2.

If India get a lead of 150 going into day 5 it could be tough for England to see it out for a draw.....

 

2 wickets in the last over see India close on 319-4, still 218 runs behind.....draw still looks the mostly likely result.

 

Could be an interesting finish here - England lead by 49 on first innings. Hard to see how England can win from here, but they could lose.

 

Two top class spinners, or one world class and one good one, could win it for us. Sadly we just don't have them.

 

No we don't, although we bowled pretty well in the first innings.

The young opener Hameed looks absolute class. He'll be around for a long time.

 

Looking very drawish, England haven't got enough time to set a challenging target especially with the quality of India's top order.

Elsewhere, how the mighty have fallen, Aussies skittled for 85 by South Africa who already lead the series 1-0...

 

Maiden 50 for Hameed, great stuff. Let's hope we give him time to develop into the class opener he clearly has the potential to be. A tour in India has to be one of the toughest ways to debut in test cricket, if he can do well there we've got a real prospect.

 

Can't see much further than a draw, although I think England will make them bat for about a session maybe two.

 

They nicknamed him 'Baby Boycott', looks the part...

 

Hope Hameed makes a ton. What a prospect.