Jadeja marshalled India’s lower order before they fell 23 short of the target in the final session

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jul-2025

Mohammed Siraj was inconsolable after he was the last man dismissed in the final session•Getty Images

India captain Shubman Gill took pride in his team’s resilience during the gripping final day of the Lord’s Test.After India were reduced to 82 for 7 just before lunch, their lower order fought valiantly to drag the game into the final session. India eventually fell short by 22 runs as England took a 2-1 lead in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.”I’m extremely proud, this is as close as a Test match can get,” Gill said at the post-match presentation. “Five days of hard-fought cricket, comes down to the last session, last wicket. I’m extremely proud.”Related

• India ponder the what-ifs after Lord's heartbreak

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• Sledging, swearing, send-offs – Lord's needling promises explosive series ahead

When Shoaib Bashir dismissed Mohammed Siraj to seal victory, Ravindra Jadeja was left stranded on 61, a heroic vigil that lasted 181 deliveries, with the standout aspect being his marshalling of the lower order. He put on 30 with Nitish Kumar Reddy, 35 with Jasprit Bumrah, and 23 with Siraj.”He’s very experienced,” Gill said of Jadeja. “We didn’t want to give him any message. He was batting brilliantly with the tail. Wanted him and the tail to bat as long as possible.”Gill said India had let themselves down late on the fourth day when they lost three quick wickets – Karun Nair, Gill himself and nightwatcher Akash Deep – in a dramatic last half-hour, slipping from 42 for 1 to 58 for 4. Gill felt that one “50-run partnership” from the top order could have helped them knock off the target.3:47

Gill: Pant’s run-out was the turning point in the Test

“The last one hour that we played [on day four], I think we could have applied ourselves a bit better, especially the last two wickets that fell,” Gill said. “Even this morning, the way they came up with a plan, we were hoping for one 50-run partnership, if we got it from the top order, it would’ve been easy for us.”Did they have any hope after Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Washington Sundar all fell in the first half-hour on Monday? “There was always hope, as long as there’s batting,” he said. “[Needed] one 50-run partnership. The target wasn’t massive, one 50-60-run partnership and we were right back into the game.”Gill also identified Pant’s run out in the first innings, by a direct hit from Ben Stokes, as a pivotal moment in the game. Pant and Rahul had added a century partnership, putting India on track for a sizeable lead. However, in a bid to get Rahul on strike so he could reach his century before lunch, Pant attempted a quick single only to be run out for 74.”Definitely,” Gill said when asked if the run out proved crucial. “At one point, I thought if we get a lead of 80-100, it might be crucial. We knew on the fifth day on this wicket, it won’t be easy to chase 150-200. Thought if we can get a lead of 80-100, we would be in a good position.”

Batter rewarded for impressive form for Oval Invincibles, en route to their third Men’s Hundred title

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Sep-2025Jordan Cox has been rewarded for his Player-of-the-Tournament display in the Men’s Hundred with a belated call-up to England’s T20I squad to face Ireland later this month.Cox, 24, topped the Hundred averages with 367 runs at 61.16, and a strike-rate of 173.93, as Oval Invincibles lifted the trophy for the third consecutive season with an emphatic 26-run victory over Trent Rockets in the final at Lord’s on Sunday.Cox himself made 40 from 28 balls in the final, after which he said he would continue to “bang the England door down”, after a series of luckless near-misses in recent months, including a broken thumb sustained on the eve of his designated Test debut in New Zealand, and a side strain sustained while making a century for Essex earlier this summer.He has previously played two T20Is, making scores of 17 and 0 against Australia in September 2024, as well as three ODIs on the subsequent tour of West Indies in October and November.His recall comes as part of a second-string England squad, captained by Jacob Bethell, that is due to play three T20Is in Dublin on September 17, 19 and 21. The original 14-man squad had been notably light on specialist batting, with the likelihood that a bowling allrounder – Liam Dawson, Rehan Ahmed or Jamie Overton – would be carded to come in at No.6.The news comes just 24 hours after England’s 50-over squad were bowled out for 131 in 24.3 overs at Headingley, to slump to a humiliating seven-wicket loss to South Africa in the first ODI.

After leaking ten runs off the first two balls of the 20th over, Fareed roared back to close out the game successfully

Alagappan Muthu05-Sep-202515:43

Can Afghanistan make the final of the Asia Cup?

Afghanistan had the game sewn up. They were playing a second-string side with even their captain Rashid Khan among six players sitting out. But Asif Khan threatened to rip it wide open. A dead rubber had burst to life. Fareed Ahmad started the final over with 16 to defend and was bashed for 4 and 6 off the first two deliveries. An upset was looming and the left-arm quick felt it. Asif felt it, batting on 40 off 25. It never came to be.Fareed had three chances to influence the outcome and he came up with the perfect option each time to close out the match: 4, 6, 2, dot, dot, wicket. And so, UAE ended the tri-series winless but they came so very close. The emotions at the end were excruciating, particularly for Asif and the captain Muhammad Waseem. They’re going to make the Asia Cup very interesting.

Eye-catching Ibrahim

Ibrahim Zadran was captaining Afghanistan for the 10th time in his career. Four of those games were against UAE. It is easy to see why he was the stand-in. He was cool when the runs didn’t come – 5 off 9 – and resplendent when they did. He looks so technically correct that even the shots in anger carried a stamp of class.There was one moment when he looked totally out of place though. He was utterly deceived by left-arm spinner Haider Ali’s change of pace and trajectory – the flatter ball making the batter think he should play back when the length was fairly full. Ibrahim lost his stumps for 48 off 34. He might feel a lot better about his contributions in the pointy end of the chase, where soon after he went up to have an arm around Fareed, the bowler switched from bowling over the wicket to round the wicket and gave away no more runs.Sharafuddin Ashraf conceded 20 runs in four overs and took a wicket•Emirates Cricket Board

Afghanistan slow down, Janat ramps up

It was a slow pitch and it showed when Afghanistan lost three wickets in 3.1 overs after a 98-run opening partnership. Karim Janat was 10 off seven balls at the time. He hit the only boundary during this spell too – a six, which are sometimes easier to pull off in these conditions especially against a bowling attack that didn’t camp in the good length spot for long enough. Often, they were too full or too short and that allowed Janat and the rest of his team-mates down the order to get underneath the ball.So it didn’t matter that overs 13, 14 and 15 went for only 16 runs. The next three yielded 36. Afghanistan finished on a healthy 170 for 4. Haider (2 for 23) and Simranjeet Singh (1 for 24) were the pick of the bowlers. Left-arm quick Muhammad Rohid was desperately unlucky with both of UAE’s dropped catches coming off his bowling. Rahmanullah Gurbaz enjoyed his second life going from 14 off 16 to 40 off 38.

UAE almost, but not quite

UAE took to the chase with gusto, scoring almost twice as many boundaries as Afghanistan did in the powerplay (7 vs 4). Waseem was enchanting, depositing Mujeeb Ur Rahman inside out over cover for six. He produced another lovely piece of innovation, upper-cutting the debutant Abdollah Ahmadzai over deep third as he stalks Rohit Sharma on top of the six-hitters’ table in T20Is and it was looking like UAE had the firepower to earn the consolation win that they desperately wanted.However, in trying the same shot, Waseem feathered an edge behind and the greenest member of a side that was saving most of its firepower for the final had punched through an opening. Afghanistan rallied to turn an equation that read 67 off 48 balls into a rather more troubling 43 off 18. Mujeeb and Noor Ahmad, bowling in tandem from the 14th to the 17th overs, were virtually unhittable. Then it was the debutant’s turn but Abdollah leaked 16 runs all to Asif and the UAE bench started to stir.Four more boundaries – one of them a dropped catch – across the last two overs kept the contest alive and created tension among the Afghanistan coaching staff but in the end, they just about squeezed through.

Mauricio Pochettino is one of the world’s best football managers. An expert at developing young players and balancing his squad, he has taken Tottenham into genuine title contention for consecutive seasons. He has done so without the sort of flamboyant spending of their rivals, and with a core of young, improving players. The only way is up from here for Spurs, you might think.

Form, as is natural with a young squad, has fluctuated. A dire run during last autumn saw them eliminated in the Champions League group stages and they needed a poor Stoke side to end a dodgy run over the last few weeks. Pochettino, unlike many managers in similar situations, has managed to redirect the Spurs ship when it has become seemingly stuck in choppy waters. Injuries to key players – Toby Alderweireld, Danny Rose and Harry Kane particularly – have hurt at times this season, but Pochettino has juggled his squad to keep results at an acceptable level.

The challenge from here for Tottenham is a difficult one. With Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs lined up to spend heavily this summer, the purse strings at White Hart Lane are tighter than ever. A new stadium, the failed investment in Moussa Sissoko last summer and a far smaller amount of revenue make it impossible for Spurs to compete. In the 2015/16 season, the Lilywhites generated over £130 million less than Liverpool, who generated the least of the other clubs in the Premier League’s top six.

Competing financially is not an option for Tottenham. Their current approach of buying young and developing players must continue, but it does not reap instant rewards. Their transfers over recent seasons have still been hit and miss, with players like Sissoko and Vincent Janssen unlikely to be at the club next season. Revenue will increase for Spurs once they have their new stadium and if they can maintain a position in the Champions League each year, but, for now, they are a way off financial parity with their top six rivals.

That leaves them hoping that coaching can succeed over investment. The squad has depth throughout and Pochettino – as has been seen in the impressive displays of Harry Winks – continues to place faith in their best youngsters.

This is where their expectations may be limited. Winning a title is plausible, of course, but they will be unable to build a deep, experienced squad like many of their domestic rivals. For now, consolidating their position in the top four and developing this squad is the best way forward for Spurs.

Cup success is now an increasing necessity, too. With only one trophy since 1991, Pochettino must deliver silverware of some kind as reward for the leaps forward they have taken under his stewardship.

The greatest fear for Tottenham is that their Argentine manager is poached by a club who can offer him riches and a more realistic shot at big trophies immediately, and perhaps that’s what Pochettino should do: if he’s one of the best managers in the world, surely he should be at a club with the resources to match.

While Spurs do still have their manager and the talent to win silverware, they will have to struggle against a significant financial tide if they are to hold their own with Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs in the mid to long term. For just how long will Pochettino fancy that fight?

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Saido Berahino has displayed impressive form since bursting on to the scene for West Brom in the 2013-14.

The young striker immigrated to the UK as a child to escape the horrific Burundian Civil War that had tragically taken the life of his father in 1997.

He has since gone on to represent England internationally at all youth levels from U16 through top U21 and this season will be looking to debut for the senior side.

His progress, however, has been halted slightly by an ongoing transfer saga in which Tottenham Hotspur have been open about their admiration of the young striker. Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino has recently gone so far as comparing his pursuit of the striker to a love affair.

He said: “It’s like when you’re in love with some lady.

“There are a lot of other women around the world, but you only want one.”

Spurs’ publicly open attempts to sign the striker have angered Baggies manager Tony Pulis, who lamented that Berahino was not in the right frame of mind to play as he was dropped from the squad for their 3-2 defeat at home to champions Chelsea.

The situation has soured even further this week, with Albion rejecting Berahino’s transfer request along with Spurs’ latest bid. Baggies chairman Jeremy Peace has informed the striker that he will not be allowed to leave the club during the transfer window.

“I have informed Saido that he will not be transferred during this summer window and that he will be staying,” he said.

West Brom insist Spurs have not yet met their valuation of their player with offers including various appearance and performance based add-ons that are not a reflection a Berahino’s ability and potential, according to the chairman, which suggests Spurs may be successful if they significantly improve their offer.

However, the north London club may now drop their interest in the young England striker with the recent capture of the similarly skilful and electric South Korean forward Son Heung-min.

Some Baggies fans may be eager for the club to take the money for the want-away striker as his relationship with his boyhood club is becoming intolerable, with Berahino recently un-following the club on Twitter despite still being contracted with the club for what looks to be the foreseeable future.

With the recent addition of Venezuelan striker Salamon Rondon for a record fee, along with Rickie Lambert and Nigerian powerhouse forwards Victor Anichebe and Brown Ideye , it seems as if now would be a good time for the Baggies to cash in on the striker.

However, chairman Peace has stated “selling our top goalscorer was never on our agenda this summer.” \

The England U21 international scored 20 goals in a breakthrough season for West Brom and many think he could form a lethal partnership with fellow young England striker Harry Kane, who had a similar breakthrough at White Hart Lane last season.

If the partnership does indeed come to fruition it could have an immensely positive impact on the future of England’s strike force, as well as Tottenham’s top four aspirations.

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Manchester United need to sign a big name attacking player with “arrogance” in his approach to the game, according to former Spurs midfielder Jermaine Jenas.

Although the Red Devils are only two points adrift of joint-Premier League leaders Manchester City and Arsenal, the style of football at Old Trafford this season has been roundly criticised.

Wayne Rooney’s late effort in Champions League action against CSKA Moscow last week ended a worrying run of 404 minutes of action without a goal, during which time a large section of United supporters could be heard chanting ‘attack, attack, attack’ in the ground in a bid to alter Louis van Gaal’s approach.

And ex-Tottenham player Jenas, who works as a pundit nowadays, believes that the Manchester giants need a world-class attacking player with “arrogance” if they are to start playing the sort of football supporters want to see:

“I think the easy thing to do will be to get another striker in but whether he will fit in to what seems to be a rigid style of attack and be able to perform, I don’t know,” he is quoted by the Daily Star.

“There’s talk about bringing in a star, an Ibrahimovic, a Cavani, a Neymar. These players would change things because they’re of a certain mentality where they probably wouldn’t buy in to Van Gaal’s methods.

“They’re that big that they would go onto the pitch to play the way they want to and that may be something that Manchester United need.

“They need someone with that arrogance about them, like Cantona use to have, who just goes and plays the way they want to and makes the side brilliant and everyone else just works around that.

“They’ve already got the players [to play attacking football] so I don’t think there is a big problem.”

United currently lack options up front, with Wayne Rooney and rookie summer signing Anthony Martial Van Gaal’s only genuine options.

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New Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce is watching West Ham pair James Tomkins and James Collins ahead of January and is considering moves for free agent duo Kevin Nolan and Carlton Cole as he looks to keep the Black Cats in the Premier League, according to reports from the Sunderland Echo.

‘Big Sam’ was officially named as Dick Advocaat’s successor at the Stadium of Light on Friday following the Dutchman’s decision to leave the club.

After keeping Sunderland in the top tier with a fantastic late run last term, the ageing tactician made an appalling start to the current campaign, with only bitter rivals Newcastle’s inferior goal difference keeping the winless Wearsiders from the foot of the table

WANT MORE? >> Sunderland transfer news | Latest transfer news

Allardyce – who left West Ham at the end of last season – is known for his abilities in the lower reaches of the Premier League, and reports suggest that he already has transfer plans in mind.

The ex-Bolton and Blackburn gaffer is considering free agents Nolan and Cole, both of whom he coached at Upton Park, who could make an immediate impact at the club.

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Meanwhile Tomkins and Collins are two of Allardyce’s trusted defensive players, making them appealing as Sunderland have already shipped a division high of 18 goals in eight games.

However, the North East club will have to wait until January for the pair, and may have trouble persuading West Ham to sell Tomkins in particular.

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Jurgen Klopp’s arrival at Liverpool has been a little strange. In truth things weren’t catastrophic under Brendan Rodgers, but towards the end fan unrest was growing, while the football on show was, if not terrible, pretty uninspiring. Since then ‘Kloppmania’ has stretched its arms around the whole club and embraced the Reds in a tight hug – akin to those Jurgen gives his players on the touchline – and the ‘feel-good factor’ is certainly back.

What Klopp has managed to achieve so far at Anfield is nothing short of miraculous, with the 48-year-old German having been parachuted in just about as far from a transfer window as was possible and handed a squad of stars not living up to potential. He’s revived players who looked to have lost their way such as Jordon Ibe and Roberto Firmino, but it’s clear that he will need his own signings at some point.

January and the transfer window that grips the month are now firmly on the horizon, and among the names being linked with Liverpool one stands out above others… Leroy Sane. While a goalkeeper to replace/challenge Simon Mignolet or another centre-back may be options fans want more, the 19-year-old is certainly exciting.

Is there interest?

In a word, yes. German tabloid Bild have already claimed that a £10m offer has been made, while respected Liverpool Echo journalist James Pearce told Anfield HQ that the teenager is “certainly a player Liverpool have scouted”. With Klopp fully aware of the talent in German football, this seems to be a case of 2+2 adding up to 4.

Is he worth the effort?

This season is the first in which Sane has been a ‘first-team regular’ at Schalke, and he’s certainly delivered thus far. Four Bundesliga goals and assists in 13 games (eight starts) is a solid return for a wide attacker, while he’s also shone in the Europa League with a further goal and assist in just over four hours of play. 1.8-shots-per-game is also encouraging in terms of his attacking output and confidence, while Sane’s three dribbles-per-match show that he’s willing to get on the ball and drive at opponents – which is the sort of threat Klopp has only from Ibe at the moment.

Does he fit

Both in terms of playing position and profile… yes. Able to play on either flank or as a ‘No. 10’, Sane is well suited to the 4-3-2-1 and the 4-2-3-1 formations Klopp has been using and his pace could offer the sort of threat from wide that the German boss is missing – the likes of Adam Lallana, Philippe Coutinho and Firmino all want to drift inside. As well as fitting on the pitch, his age and sell-on potential fit with Fenway Sports Group’s model.

Worth it?

Depending on the fee, he certainly is. Much more than the mooted £10m would be too large of a risk, but for a respectable figure (somewhere below £15m) a deal makes sense. Getting Sane so early is a gamble, but Liverpool are operating in a niche that requires some speculative moves, and Klopp is in need of some pace and guile.

Stats via WhoScored

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As pressure mounts on Louis van Gaal’s job, the January window seems like an ideal time for him to splash the cash and hope to buy his way out of the sack.

I guess this logic is flawed, as he has already tried this, but the Dutch manager should surely be looking to add a central defender of Terence Kongolo’s quality as soon as possible.

While his side continue to bore us to tears on the pitch, Van Gaal continues to provide stubborn responses to any questioning of his style and his players continue to look about as miserable as is humanly possible.

Whilst players like Chris Smalling have impressed, the rest of the Manchester United side has been struggling to even put the ball in the net.

The defence might have been secure, but there is no reason to say that the Red Devils shouldn’t be looking to replace several shaky centre-halves.

Here are FIVE reasons Kongolo could be that man…

Blackburn to blame

Blackburn clearly pulled a blinder in convincing United that Phil Jones could make it at the highest level.

The long-term faith then placed in the English centre-back has been hurtful to the club for a long period of time and the Rovers, although lingering outside the Premier League, are still haunting the biggest club in the country.

Little Daley

Although Blind does a decent job at centre-back, his height makes him an obvious target for the opposition and the Dutch utility man would be far better used as a left-back at the moment.

Due to the injury to Luke Shaw, Blind is being used in a number of positions and we have even seen Borthwick-Jackson fill in at full-back.

Dry spell

United’s poor goalscoring form has been highly publicised, but not many would consider signing a new centre-back to help this.

A signing of Kongolo’s calibre might convince LvG to take the shackles off of some of his midfielders and remove some of the protection for the central defence.

Currently, the defence is not in a settled system and they are benefiting from the two holding midfielders the manager continues to deploy. Ideally, signing Kongolo might see Van Gaal free his side up – but don’t get your hopes up!

Argentine Backstage

Amid personal differences, Marcos Rojo has been marginalised at Old Trafford.

Injuries have not helped his cause, but the Argentine has largely impressed when he has been given the opportunity for the Red Devils and it seems as though his days at numbered.

Unless van Gaal is going to show some surprising faith in Rojo, a replacement is needed.

Fans onside

Protests have been rife at Old Trafford since Ferguson retired, but they have hardly been as infuriated with their side’s performances as they have been this season.

The lack of goals and passive passing game has seen fans hugely unhappy and it might take a marquee signing or two this January to keep the fans off the back of the manager.

Having always had a soft spot for Queens Park Rangers, without really knowing why, the last couple of years are bewildering to say the least.

Manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has endured a difficult start since taking charge of QPR, and hasn’t been able to enjoy any consistency in terms of results. Victories have been followed by draws and defeats in the second tier, and the Londoners currently sit in 13th after 33 games, 13 points off a play-off place. They’ve won just nine games this season and are the biggest draw specialists in the division.

Despite replacing Chris Ramsey with Hasselbaink in December, QPR remain well off the play-off pace and now they are minus Charlie Austin, who left for Southampton recently.

Austin, 26, scored 18 goals for Rangers despite their relegation from the Premier League last season and went on to score 10 in 16 appearances in the Championship. Rather than lose him for nothing in the summer, the Super Hoops at least got some money for the striker.

Hasselbaink has taken on somewhat of a poisoned chalice. Ramsey came in to stabilise the club after Harry Redknapp’s departure and while Harry did guide Queens Park Rangers to promotion to the Premier League at the start of the 2014/15 season, the Londoners endured a terrible time in the top flight.

At his time of departure, Redknapp stated that an imminent knee surgery was the main reason behind him leaving QPR, but many felt that the 68-year old left the club high and dry by departing amidst a relegation battle.b Now Redknapp’s assistant at QPR, Kevin Bond, has gone on to speak regarding the former Bournemouth manager’s departure and has stated that rather than health issues, the veteran boss decided to call it quits as he was left disillusioned at the club.

Bond said: “Our form at home was very, very good. Away from home was really poor and we couldn’t really find an answer. In the end, Harry didn’t really think he was getting anywhere so he called it a day. But I wouldn’t swap getting to the Premier League at Wembley for anything.”

Redknapp was seen as somewhat of a saviour after the big-spending days of Mark Hughes and the disaster that befell his squad. Big names, lured in for big money and bigger wages did not mean success and in November of 2012, after no wins in 12, Hughes was sacked. Chris Ramsey was sacked this season after relegation last year and a poor start to the current campaign. Instability followed by instability.

QPR have also had legal wrangles against the Football League by challenging “the legality of the Championship Financial Fair Play rules”. The west London club are alleged to have spent more on salaries than rules allowed when they were in the Championship a couple of seasons ago.

Over the past few seasons, QPR have always bounced back from relegation to win promotion, but this year has been one to forget for the stuttering west Londoners.

It would seem as though, at this point, that Hasselbaink will be given more time than his predecessors in turning around the club’s fortunes. The persistent attitude of sacking managers does not help a club and slowly but surely, Fernandes must be seeing that sticking with one man for a decent period of time might just be the way forward.

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