Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceShubman Gill given a hearty welcome<\/p>\n
The India captain was booed as he came out to bat\u2026 There\u2019s plenty of needle in this series now, and it\u2019s all the better for it. <\/p>\n
Read the captain\u2019s full thoughts about England\u2019s actions at Lord\u2019s here<\/a>. <\/p>\n How Liam Dawson came in from the cold to make Test return for England<\/p>\n Read John Westerby\u2019s full article<\/a> on the return of Liam Dawson, who had effectively called time on his international career despite dominating the County Championship.<\/p>\n GEORGE FRANKS\/PROSPORTS\/SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n And he\u2019s back \u2014 Liam Dawson jumps with delight as he gets his first Test wicket for eight years. A bit of turn and bounce and Jaiswal\u2019s defensive shot is a bit late. There\u2019s an edge to Harry Brook who takes a simple catch at slip and that is a big breakthrough. The dangerous opener is gone for 58.<\/p>\n Shubman Gill is greeted to the crease with quite loud boos from the Old Trafford crowd \u2014 a hangover from the needle in the Lord\u2019s Test.<\/p>\n Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.<\/a><\/p>\n Enable cookiesAllow cookies once<\/p>\n Dawson\u2019s first over went for five. It is slow and steady going for India \u2013 the run rate is just more than three an over. Jofra Archer is continuing from the Statham End. There\u2019s a pretty stiff breeze across the ground and it is still a bit grey, but it\u2019s not cold and should stay dry all day.<\/p>\n Ben Stokes turns to spin and Liam Dawson has the ball in hand at the Sir James Anderson end for the first time in a Test since 2017. He last played on July 17, 2017 at Trent Bridge against South Africa. He\u2019s getting a slip, a short leg and a short fine leg for the left-handed Sudharsan.<\/p>\n And he\u2019s going to bowl in his sunglasses. <\/p>\n Brydon Carse keeps toiling<\/p>\n Brydon Carse is coming round the wicket from the Sir James Anderson end to Sudharsan which is a better angle to try and get the edge. <\/p>\n England are just going to need to be patient here, wickets are not going to be easy to come by. <\/p>\n This is a bit of a toil for England but they are at least containing well \u2014 the run rate is under 3 and India are by no means finding it easy to get the ball away.<\/p>\n Jaiswal brings up his 12th Test match half-century off Brydon Carse, coming off a scampered single. There\u2019s a direct hit from a sharp bit of fielding but Sai Sudharsan is safely home \u2014 just.<\/p>\n CONOR MOLLOY\/PROSPORTS\/SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n The touring side have brought up their hundred for the loss of one wicket. Sudharsan moves to two not out and Jaiswal is on 49. <\/p>\n England beating outside edge<\/p>\n Brydon Carse is finding a bit of joy out there after lunch. There\u2019s a bit of nip and a bit of seam, and Jaiswal is living dangerously. A fair few deliveries have flown close to the outside edge.<\/p>\n Chris Woakes loves bowling in Manchester. In Test matches he\u2019s bowled 238 overs, taking 37 wickets at 18.7 with two five-fors in there for good measure. He is only more effective at Lord\u2019s, with an average of 14.38 there.<\/p>\n KL Rahul is out for 46. It\u2019s taken a while but England have made the breakthrough via Chris Woakes, who has been consistent on a fourth stump line, and it has paid off. Rahul tried to drive off the back foot and got a thick edge to Crawley at second slip.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a dogged performance from Woakes so far today \u2014 he\u2019s bowled a good line and found a bit of movement.<\/p>\n Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.<\/a><\/p>\n Enable cookiesAllow cookies once<\/p>\n We\u2019re all fed and watered and ready to get going again. India resuming on 78-0 after 26 overs in the first session. Rahul will take strike and Carse has the ball in hand. He wasn\u2019t at his best this morning, but a change of ends to the Sir James Anderson end might help.<\/p>\n Statement from Lancashire County Cricket Club<\/p>\n Lancashire have blamed supporters for arriving \u201cvery late\u201d after multiple complaints about long queues outside Old Trafford.<\/p>\n A statement from the club said: \u201cWe are aware that some supporters experienced queues getting into Emirates Old Trafford this morning, which we apologise for. We saw nearly 9,000 supporters arrive at the ground very late despite encouraging early arrival, with all bags subject to searches on entry.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Club will be looking at increasing the number of gates for the rest of the Test Match. We strongly encourage ticket buyers to only bring bags if required, and if doing so to arrive as early as possible. Gates will be open at 9am for the rest of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul have been near constant sources of trouble for England, with at least one of them making a half-century or more in all but one innings before today\u2019s match began. <\/p>\n England have some work to do to remove them before they do any more damage after lunch.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s lunch. India will be very pleased with having got there without losing a wicket after being put in by Stokes. It\u2019s not been easy and they\u2019ve played and missed a fair bit, but have the chance to keep building.<\/p>\n The battle between Archer and Jaiswal is fun \u2014 a very sharp well-directed bouncer forces the India opener almost down on to his backside trying to duck beneath it. But manages to get his blade there and ramp the ball over the slips. It hurried him though \u2014 not sure he knew exactly what was going on, but the ball found the middle of the bat, much to Jofra\u2019s irritation.<\/p>\n Archer is back at the Brian Statham end as England look for the breakthrough. We\u2019re 20 minutes from lunch.<\/p>\n Sore one for Jofra Archer<\/p>\n A slight moment of concern as Jofra Archer dives to save a boundary and lands in a heap. He takes a moment to get back up again. It looked as though he jarred his knee in the soft ground after all the rain, but he\u2019s up and about again and seems fine.<\/p>\n Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.<\/a><\/p>\n Enable cookiesAllow cookies once<\/p>\n The next ball is a short one, banged in by Brydon Carse. It\u2019s hooked aerially by Jaiswal but it lands safely in the deep. <\/p>\n Alastair Cook: It\u2019s not as if this is Old Trafford\u2019s first Test<\/p>\n The issue with people not being able to get into the ground is being discussed on Test Match Special on BBC Radio 5.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not as if this is their first Test match\u201d Sir Alastair Cook says. \u201cSomething has gone very very wrong\u201d. <\/p>\n Read the full story on the Times website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Massive lbw appeal against KL Rahul \u2014 an inswinger from Stokes strikes him on the pads, but Jamie Smith advises his captain against reviewing, thinks it\u2019s darting down past leg stump which it probably was. <\/p>\n India are 48 without loss after 17 overs. <\/p>\n Ben Stokes into the attack<\/p>\n England staying on the attack with three slips and a gully and it\u2019s a testing period for the India openers \u2014 the run rate is a very sedate 2.9 an over, but crucially no wickets yet. <\/p>\n Stokes has brought himself on to try and get the breakthrough but KL Rahul is looking very solid in defence \u2014 he plays with soft hands and likes playing the ball late.<\/p>\n Second bite of the cherry…<\/p>\n Quite an amusing scorecard in the England v India U-19 youth Test at Chelmsford this week\u2026 In the first innings, both England openers fell for a duck, with BJ Dawkins being dismissed with the first ball of the match. <\/p>\n The second innings, however, couldn\u2019t be more different. The same pair have put on 160 for no loss. Makes you wonder why they couldn\u2019t do it the first time.<\/p>\n On the Indian side, everyone\u2019s favourite youngster Vaibhav Suryavanshi made 20 from 14 balls, including two sixes and a four. <\/p>\n Great spot for a tea break<\/p>\n There\u2019s been plenty of building work going at Old Trafford in recent years, and these workers surely have one of the best viewpoints at the ground today.<\/p>\n India\u2019s openers survive the first hour. A couple of scares but nothing too troubling, it\u2019s been fairly even out there. They are 42-0.<\/p>\n Woakes hits Jaiswal on the pads, it\u2019s given not out on the field and Ben Stokes decides not to review. Woakes reckons he heard two noises. It\u2019s a good decision from both the umpire and Stokes \u2013 the bat was close to the pad but he\u2019s absolutely cracked an inside edge. <\/p>\n Brydon Carse replaces Jofra Archer from the Sir James Anderson end. Just waiting for the Barmy Army trumpeter to strike up Cars.<\/p>\n CONOR MOLLOY\/PROSPORTS\/SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n Josh Tongue is going to leave the squad at Lunch time and play for Nottinghamshire in the last two days of their championship match. Jacob Bethell, is, however, staying with the team and won\u2019t go and play for Warwickshire.<\/p>\n There are some serious issues with people being able to get into the ground, the queues are snaking all round the ground and right up the Great Stone Road for about a mile. I went out and talked to a few people. <\/p>\n One woman said to me \u201cthis is f***ing ridiculous we have been queuing for 45 minutes, no one will come and talk to us and no one has even come to explain what is going on.\u201d <\/p>\n Another man wearing an India shirt said, \u201cI\u2019ve paid a lot of money for my tickets, I was here by 10.30 and I am still not in the ground and I am missing the cricket. What is going on?\u201d<\/p>\n Old Trafford have said to me that it is because of bag searches. Every bag is being searched but that is standard at all grounds and didn\u2019t cause an issue at any of the other venues so far in the series. The ECB have been approached for comment. <\/p>\n A bouncer from Woakes has smashed into the bat handle of Yashasvi Jaiswal, and the opener has to call for a new one. Shows how much zip there is in this pitch.<\/p>\n Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.<\/a><\/p>\n Enable cookiesAllow cookies once<\/p>\n A cut that flashes between gully and cover point to the fence brings up KL Rahul\u2019s 1,000th Test run in England. He\u2019s having a great series.<\/p>\n CONOR MOLLOY\/PROSPORTS\/SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n Steady start from Jaiswal and Rahul<\/p>\n The England bowlers have found a bit of movement off the deck, but the openers have survived so far. Meanwhile, fans are struggling to get in the ground, hence the big number of empty seats around Old Trafford this morning.<\/p>\n The sun is breaking through here in Manchester and the 12th man has had to run out to collect six jumpers that have been discarded by the England players (Elizabeth Ammon writes). Here in the press box I might even have to take my cardi off. <\/p>\n Chris Woakes\u2019 strong record<\/p>\n Chris Woakes has a very good record at Old Trafford \u2014 he averages more than 35 with the bat and has taken 35 wickets in eight matches at an average a little over 17.<\/p>\n India survive opening two overs<\/p>\n Four from the first over off Woakes from the James Anderson end, all of which a streaky edge through the slips to the fence from Jaiswal (Elizabeth Ammon writes). <\/p>\n Archer from the Brian Statham end is getting some late swing away from both the left and right handers. <\/p>\n In 85 Old Trafford Tests, no team has opted to bowl first and won. No pressure, Ben Stokes…Jofra Archer opening from Brian Statham end<\/p>\n Jofra Archer has the ball and KL Rahul, one of the players of the series, is on strike. Archer will be hoping to continue his good form after a four-year break from Test cricket.<\/p>\n Farokh Engineer rings the bell<\/p>\n The Lancashire legend, who today has had a stand named after him at Old Trafford, gave the five-minute bell a ring this morning. A talented wicketkeeper-batsman, he also played 46 Test matches for India. Sir Clive Lloyd joined him, and also had part of the stand named after him.<\/p>\n The 36-year-old has the ball in hand, and Yashasvi Jaiswal is on strike. He fell cheaply twice at Lord\u2019s. <\/p>\n It\u2019s filling up steadily here, although by no means have all the spectators got themselves into the ground yet.<\/p>\n Players and officials are lined up on the field and Laura Wright is in place to lead the national anthems. It\u2019s not warm out there and every England player has either a long sleeve or short sleeve jumper on. <\/p>\n With that result in the middle this morning, India have lost 14 international tosses in a row\u2026 <\/p>\n According to Benedict Bermange, the Sky Sports stats guru, the odds of that happening are 16,384\/1. When your luck\u2019s out\u2026<\/p>\n The importance of a wagging tail<\/p>\n Our own Steve James has already written in this series about the importance of lower-order runs, inspired by Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse<\/a> (Elgan Alderman writes). It is notable that the addition of Liam Dawson to England\u2019s XI has strengthened the tail further.<\/p>\n Infamously, England fielded a tail of No11s in Ed Giddins (first-class average 5.28), Alan Mullally (8.59) and Phil Tufnell (9.69) at the Oval in 1999, with Andy Caddick (14.89) a cut above at No8. <\/p>\n Now, behind the impressive Smith at No7, England have Dawson at No8, with a first-class average of 35.29 and 18 centuries. Below him are Chris Woakes (31.05, 10 centuries), Carse (29.34, two centuries) and Jofra Archer (22.56, six fifties) at No11 \u2013 albeit Archer\u2019s Test returns are worthy of that status at the very bottom. Has the tail ever been so promising?<\/p>\n A look at India\u2019s debutant…<\/p>\n Anshul Kamboj, the 24-year-old who is making his Test debut this morning, took ten wickets in an innings for Haryana against Kerala in a Ranji Trophy match last season. <\/p>\n Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.<\/a><\/p>\n Enable cookiesAllow cookies once<\/p>\n That is four out of four tosses that Stokes has won this series \u2014 he says the pitch is a \u201ctypical Manchester one\u201d \u2014 firm, bit of grass on it (Elizabeth Ammon writes). <\/p>\n But every County Championship match that has been played here this season has been a draw \u2013 so potentially flat, flat, flat. It\u2019s totally overcast overhead England will be hoping to find a bit of swing.<\/p>\n A reminder of the morning\u2019s crucial stat<\/p>\n No team has ever won a Test match at Old Trafford having won the toss and electing to bowl first. Ben Stokes clearly backs him and his team to make history \u2013 they\u2019re getting used to doing that.<\/p>\n Team news from India camp<\/p>\n Shubman Gill confirms that Sai Sudharsan is back, replacing Karun Nair at No3. Injury issues in the bowling department \u2013 Nitish Kumar Reddy and one of the standout players at Edgbaston Akash Deep are ruled out through injury, so Shardul Thakur comes in, and there\u2019s a debut for the all-rounder Anshul Kamboj.<\/p>\n Shubman Gill: It\u2019s a good toss to lose<\/p>\n The India captain tells Ravi Shastri in the middle that he\u2019d had a look at the forecast and the pitch and he reckons it\u2019s a good toss to lose\u2026 <\/p>\n \u201cThe surface looks pretty good, nice and hard.\u201d<\/p>\n Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.<\/a><\/p>\n Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceBen Stokes wins the toss and bowls<\/p>\n The England captain wins his fourth toss of four and wants to have a go at making history\u2026 he\u2019s elected to put India in under cloudy skies.<\/p>\n Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.<\/a><\/p>\n Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceShubman Gill: England\u2019s time-wasting was not in spirit of the game<\/p>\n The India captain criticised Zak Crawley\u2019s tactics during the third Test at Lord\u2019s when the England opener limited bowling side to only one over before close of play on day three.<\/p>\n More from Elizabeth Ammon here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The England batsman Harry Brook said this week that the coach Brendon McCullum had told his team that they were too nice, so the home side took a decision to \u201cgo back at India\u201d.<\/p>\n Read the Yorkshireman\u2019s full quotes here<\/a>.<\/p>\n From betting ban to key Ashes weapon, the redemption of Brydon Carse<\/p>\n A close relationship with his captain has helped the Durham bowler overcome off-field issues to become an integral part of England\u2019s attack for both this series and the winter down under \u2014 and he was even prepared to lose a toe for the cause.<\/p>\n Read Steve James\u2019s full piece on the fast bowler here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Carse, left, and Stokes are mates from Durham, and have a close relationship<\/p>\n DARREN STAPLES\/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n There isn\u2019t any yet. Unlike England, who announce their team two days before each Test, India wait until the toss to finalise their XI. <\/p>\n What\u2019s almost certain however is that the world\u2019s best bowler Jasprit Bumrah will play the last of his allotted three Tests here, with the series on the line. <\/p>\n Bumrah has been managing his workload during this series<\/p>\n ALEX DAVIDSON\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n India have lost the two Tests Bumrah has played during this series at Headingley and Lord\u2019s.<\/p>\n No team has won opting to bowl first at Old Trafford: over to you, Ben<\/p>\n Ben Stokes loves to bowl first in Test matches on home soil, but he will fly in the face of history if he wins the toss and puts India into bat on Wednesday. Old Trafford has been staging Tests since 1884 but remarkably no team has ever won here after electing to bowl (Simon Wilde writes).<\/p>\n GARETH COPLEY\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n Stokes went against his usual instincts in choosing to bat first at Lord\u2019s last week and it paid off as strokeplay became harder as the game went on, England winning a hard-fought game by 22 runs<\/a>, but on ten of the previous 11 occasions he had won the toss at home since being appointed permanent captain in 2022, he had opted to bowl.<\/p>\n![\"England](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/\/ef13020e-bda3-4af0-9edb-ef73023a4bb4.jpg\")
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Jofra Archer back in to attack<\/p>\n![\"England](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/\/c772f1ed-2719-4dce-a1fc-f6b591e73c0e.jpg\")
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Chris Woakes to open the bowling <\/p>\n![\"Carse,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/\/d974d5cf-0488-4282-b121-a4b51169dbba.jpg\")
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