Key events
11th over: India 58-2 (Gill 29, Shreyas 6) Tongue changes ends to replace Archer, so England are still hunting wickets. Might as well, it’s their only chance of winning. Shreyas wallops a cover drive that is brilliantly stopped by the diving Duckett.
10th over: India 56-2 (Gill 28, Shreyas 5) Sam Curran has a zingy bouncer that could be awkward on this pitch. He tries one to Gill but it’s too short and called wide. Three singles complete the scoring for the over.
9th over: India 52-2 (Gill 26, Shreyas 4) Archer beats the new batter Shreyas Iyer, then throws his hands out in frustration when Shreyas flicks between the keeper and leg slip for four. It was in the air but also in the gap. Archer has bowled far better than figures of 5-0-30-1 suggest.
“For any readers wanting to know,” writes Eddy Nason, “this week’s lottery numbers will be 3, 15, 22, 48 and 72…”
You missed one. It’ll be 58, Sam Curran’s shirt number.
WICKET! India 48-2 (Kohli LBW b Archer 5)
With Kohli on strike, Archer is given a fifth over – and it pays off! Kohli has gone for 5. It was a classic set-up, a short ball that Kohli gloved for four and then a full, straight delivery. Kohli missed a flick to leg and was plumb LBW, so plumb that he and Shubman Gill barely discussed a review. Excellent bowling.
8th over: India 44-1 (Gill 26, Kohli 1) Kohli denies Curran a wicket maiden by turning his third ball round the corner for a single. He’s probably already eyeing an unbeaten century.
WICKET! India 43-1 (Rohit c Brook b S Curran 11)
Sam Curran, never in doubt. He strikes third ball when Rohit gallivants down the pitch and slices the ball high to Harry Brook at mid-off.
Rohit’s dismissal is greeted by huge cheers from the India fans; here comes Virat Kohli.
7th over: India 43-0 (Rohit 11, Gill 26) Rohit flick-pulls Archer delightfully over square leg for four. There’s still plenty in this pitch, as Archer proves with a sharp lifter that beats Gill later in the over. Gill responds with successive square drives for two, both high-class strokes.
“What are your thoughts on Sam Curran’s bowling on this track?” writes Eddy Nason. “He normally manages to find a way into a game (and it definitely wasn’t with the bat today).”
I’d prefer Vincent van der Bijl’s bowling on this pitch for sure, but Curran has become an important part of the team so I wouldn’t have left him out. Had they played an extra seamer I think it would/should have been instead of Jacks or Dawson.
6th over: India 32-0 (Rohit 4, Gill 22) A short ball from Tongue is picked up for six by Gill. There was a hint of top edge but the line (too straight) and the length (not short enough) made it a fairly safe shot.
Two balls later, Gill plays a stunning back-foot punch through extra cover for four more. That’s an unbelievable stroke!
5th over: India 22-0 (Rohit 4, Gill 12) The bounce in this Edgbaston pitch evokes the West Indies Test of 1995, when England were bulldozed inside two-and-a-bit days and Robin Smith batted with extraordinary skill and courage. That pitch was worse, downright dangerous, but we haven’t seen too many Edgbaston surfaces with such extreme bounce since then.
4th over: India 19-0 (Rohit 4, Gill 9) The extra bounce continues to cause trouble, with Rohit cutting Tongue just short of gully. Another threatening over from Tongue – but another wicketless one too. If India get through this new-ball spell unscathed, they will almost certainly win the game.
3rd over: India 18-0 (Rohit 4, Gill 8) Rohit is beaten twice by Archer – a spectacular whiffy lifter and a nipbacker that cuts him in half. England would love to have another quick bowler, either Saqib Mahmood or Gus Atkinson, on this pitch; then again, that would have meant leaving out Liam Dawson, so they might be defending 180 rather than 258.
2nd over: India 16-0 (Rohit 2, Gill 8) Josh Tongue takes the new ball on his ODI debut. His last List A game was in August 2022, when Glamorgan’s batters left him with figures of 9-0-87-0.
His first over starts unpromisingly when Gill flicks imperiously through midwicket for four. But Tongue is in the team to take wickets and almost does so with consecutive deliveries. First Gill gloves a lifter short of gully; then he slices fractionally short of the diving Jacks at point.
Gill’s response is to back away to the next delivery. Tongue tries to follow him but overdoes it to the tune of five wides.
1st over: India 6-0 (Rohit 1, Gill 4) In the T20 series, Jofra Archer was bowling to a 15-year-old opener. Now it’s a 39-year-old, Rohit Sharma, who gets off the mark with a single to mid-off. Just before that he tried to leave outside off stump and deflected the ball past the stumps.
The captain Shubman Gill clips his first ball to fine leg for four. A poor delivery to end an otherwise good over.
Cheers Jim, hello everyone. I come bearing stats: since his recall to the ODI side in 2025 – he didn’t play a game in 2024 – Joe Root is averaging 71 with a strike rate of 93. He has also scored nearly 200 runs since his last ODI dismissal.
The problem for England is that most of the other batters are still working out their best ODI tempo, and until they do not even Root will be able to stop them from posting under-par totals. Even allowing for a pitch that is spicier than expected, India are strong favourites to chase this down. England need wickets plural with the new ball.
James Wallace
Right, I’m off. Rob Smyth will be along in a short while to bring you India’s chase.
Ta and Ta-ra.
Here’s a Guy Hornsby I prepared earlier:
“Considering the muck we were in after 22 overs, this is an excellent recovery to something that’s defendable. But having got to 225-odd it didn’t feel smart cricket from Jofra going for a second six. We end up all out for under 260 when 280+ was on. And with that batting line-up, India will probably have fancied chasing 300, too. But chapeau to Joe Root and especially Liam Dawson. We’ve seen Joe do this in 50 and red-ball formats so many times, we forget how hard it is to do that. I have loved watching him more than any other batter in this century, and I will be distraught when he’s gone. But Dawson has really shown his worth. He may not be a big hitter but he’s no nurdler, so I hope he can take that impetus into the India innings. He’s a canny spinner in the same vein as the excellent Axar. This isn’t over yet, however much India will feel content. Tongue and Archer with the new ball(s) will feel crucial to the result.”
England all out for 258!
Bowled him! Tongue is cleaned up and so are England. Root remains unbeaten on 76 and can polish his halo a bit more as they walk off. Without him and the gutsy knock from Liam Dawson England wouldn’t have a hope in heck. As it stands they have a wafffer thin chance IF they get on a roll with the ball as India did.
WICKET! Adil Rashid st Rahul b Patel 1 (England 258-9)
Rashid dance down, misses. Stumped. Josh Tongue arrives as the last man for England.
Brar has to depart, hopefully it is just a bad dose of cramp. Axar Patel comes on instead and…
Gurnoor Brar pulls up with cramp as he runs in to start the 48th over. The physio comes on for a stretch and no doubt a slurp of something.
47th over: England 257-8 (Root 75, Rashid 1) Lovely from Root, Bumrah goes short and Root ramps over the keeper for four. Seven off the over and crucially zero wickets.
46th over: England 250-8 (Root 69, Rashid 0) Four overs remain and Jasprit Bumrah will bowl two of them. Adil Rashid strolls out to join Joe Root.
WICKET! Jofra Archer c Washington Sundar b Patel 12 (England 250-8)
Valuable runs from the over as Root shimmies down and hits Axar for SIX only to see Jofra match him with a meaty pull over midwicket and into the crowd! Ah, fun is over for Archer, he holes out to Sundar in the deep on the leg side.
45th over: England 235-7 (Root 61, Archer 5) Shot! Archer smashes Krisha past point for four… and then nearly runs himself out with a stuttering single – Rohit Sharma missing with the throw at all three from backward point.
44th over: England 228-7 (Root 59, Archer 0) Jofra Archer joins Root in the middle, he’ll have a bit of pad rash no doubt.
Loved this from the great Yas Rana on Dawson’s fifty:
Liam Dawson is England’s oldest ODI half-centurion since Alec Stewart scored 60 against Namibia at the 2003 World Cup”
WICKET! Liam Dawson c Sharma b Patel 68 (England 228-7)
Partnership broken finally! Dawson pulls Axar down Rohit’s throat on the leg side fence and a crucial 121 run stand between himself and Root is broken.
43rd over: England 223-6 (Root 57, Dawson 65) Lovely batting from Root, he spots the gap is at fine leg and manipulates a back of a length ball from Krishna for four down to the vacant region.
42nd over: England 214-6 (Root 51, Dawson 63) Gill only gives Bumrah the one over, a sign that he thinks England may well bat through now and he’ll need his star bowler at the death to limit the damage. Root clips Brar for a single to bring up his 46th ODI half century.
In Case of Emergency Break Glass For Joe Root.
41st over: England 210-6 (Root 49, Dawson 61) Dawson sweeps Axar fine to bring up the 100 partnership. Into the last ten overs, I didn’t think we’d get here. Admit it, neither did you. Admit it!
40th over: England 203-6 (Root 47, Dawson 56) Bumrah attempts the yorker but gets it wrong, Joe Root can’t believe his luck as he pings a full bunger away to the midwicket fence. 289 is apparently the par score from the past ten ODIs… do we almost have a game on our hands here?
38th over: England 196-6 (Root 41, Dawson 55) Dawson pulls Brar to the leg side fence. That has forced Gill’s hand, he brings Bumrah back, the big man has got three overs up his sleeve. I’ve misplaced an over somewhere (careless, Jimmy) but a crucial passage incoming. Here’s Jasprit.
37th over: England 190-6 (Root 40, Dawson 50) Root and Dawson are getting England up to something that they could defend if they have a MEGA ONE with the ball in hand. Eight an over from here gets them 285… Liam Dawson has played so well and goes through to a maiden ODI fifty. Batted.
36th over: England 186-6 (Root 38, Dawson 48) Shot! Liam Dawson slog sweeps Axar and gets hold of it nicely for SIX! England’s first since Duckett hot a couple in the early overs.
35th over: England 171-6 (Root 35, Dawson 40) Dawson has 18 first class hundreds, he’s looking comfortable out there now, worryingly for England really, there are no demons in this pitch.
34th over: England 166-6 (Root 34, Dawson 36) This partnership annoying India (and scuppering my chances of a half hour snooze in the garden before a demonstrative five year old re-enters the fray…).
33rd over: England 162-6 (Root 31, Dawson 35) India have been good in the field today, apart from Shivam Dube. Sorry Shivam. Just two runs off Patel’s fourth over.
32nd over: England 160-6 (Root 30, Dawson 34) A couple of boundaries to England as the partnership between Root and Dawson goes past fifty, Root elegantly times Krisha through midwicket for four and Dawson shows his credentials with a crisp cover drive for four more.
31st over: England 150-6 (Root 25, Dawson 29) England bring up the 150, Dawson pulls Axar behind square for four. Time for Bumrah, surely?
30th over: England 143-6 (Root 23, Dawson 24) Dawson looks in decent nick with the bat, he clips Prasidh off his pads for a sweetly time four.
29th over: England 139-6 (Root 23, Dawson 20) Slow and steady from Root and Dawson. Five off Axar Patel’s latest over and time for a drink.
It’s seven years to the day since the 2019 World Cup Final! Forgive the self indulgence (hey if Ben Stokes can do it…) but that’s where this whole gig started pour moi.
By the time of the final, we were on the Aeolian Islands. You’d struggle to find a more picturesque place. We spent our entire first day there indoors as the whole bonkers game played out. By the time of the Super Over I was losing it, prowling around in my pants, using a curtain pole as a bat, shadow playing every delivery from Boult. T sat on the same cushion, as long as she stayed in contact with that cushion, England were still in it. When Jimmy Neesham launched Archer into the Mound Stand it was a gut punch similar to heartbreak. T looked at me, concerned. “What does that mean?” I couldn’t answer. Couldn’t speak. And then.
Archer. Guptill. Roy, Buttler, Bails! Relief. Joy. Tears.”
28th over: England 134-6 (Root 22, Dawson 16) Dube drops short and Dawson pulls slightly mechanically for four.
“Terrible from England! Sack the coach!” A droll Peter Salmon in the OBO mailbag.
27th over: England 128-6 (Root 21, Dawson 11) Root releases the shackles with a reverse lap for four off Patel. Bumrah is off the field but if I were captain of India – BIG IF – I’d have him back on and try and get this finished off.
26th over: England 122-6 (Root 16, Dawson 10) More singles than a speed dating event in Clapham.
Root has 11 of ‘em in a row. Axar Patel is coming on for his first bowl of the day.
25th over: England 117-6 (Root 15, Dawson 6) As if the crowd don’t love him enough already, Bumrah pulls off an incredible diving stop on the fine leg boundary to prevent a Dawson pull for four. That got as big a cheers as one of his wickets.
24th over: England 113-6 (Root 14, Dawson 3) Three singles off Dube with Rahul stil up to the stumps.
“Do you have any idea why Root and Brook seemingly can’t deal with medium pace with the keeper up?” asks Billy Vignoles.
“They both seem to manage just fine against spinners and yet the keeper comes up to the stumps to a seamer and it suddenly looks like they haven’t held a bat before. Maybe I’m just being a simpleton but surely the extra KpH can’t be making that much difference to their footwork?”
I think it is a rhythm thing more than anything, both like to get out to the ball and cut down the angles but having the keeper up prevents that approach and means you are much more static in the crease, that affects your timing and is why we see so many caught and bowled a la Neser and Boland in the last Ashes. It’s been a fascinating development in the Test game over the last year and I really enjoy watching keeper’s excel at it, like Tom Blundell did for NZ in the Test series just gone.
23rd over: England 111-6 (Root 12, Dawson 2) I wonder how Root and Dawson will approach this? Will they look to occupy and accumulate rather than try and hit out a little? Two singles suggests the former but India’s bowlers are really giving them very little to work with.
22nd over: England 108-6 (Root 11, Dawson 1) Liam Dawson joins Root and is off the mark right away with a compact push into the covers. He can certainly bat and Joe Root needs someone to stay with him, he’s seen the carnage unfold from the other end.
WICKET! Will Jacks c Rahul b Dube 20 (England 107-6)
Flying one handed catch by KL Rahul behind the stumps sees the end of Will Jacks! Outside edge taken with a smidge of extra bounce, Rahul gets it in his pouch mere millimetres above the turf.
21st over: England 104-5 (Root 9, Jacks 19) Brar replaces Prasidh but gets some tap from Will Jacks! A ping off the pads followed by a flick off the toes. Jacks then drives for two into the covers to bring up the England hundred. Yeh, but they’ve lost five wickets.
20th over: England 93-5 (Root 8, Jacks 9) DROP! Shivam Dube replaces Bumrah, KL Rahul calls for the helmet to stand up to the stump and the ploy should have worked right away with Root crease bound and driving on the up, a return catch is plinked back to Dube and he spills it! That’s a bad drop, Dube has been poor in the field on this tour and he’s now shelling them off his own bowling!
19th over: England 89-5 (Root 7, Jacks 8) Jacks edges Krishna past his stumps and away for four. England will take then any which way… and that was loose.
18th over: England 82-5 (Root 7, Jacks 1) India sense the quick kill and keep Bumrah on for the seventh. England survive it, just, and take two singles. Bumrah has 1-17 from his seven overs.