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How the cricketing world responded to India’s 336-run win against England in the second Test

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jul-2025

Shubman Gill picks up a souvenir after the win•Getty Images

Shubman Gill, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj stole the headlines as India won their first Test in Edgbaston with a 336-run victory — their biggest away victory by runs. Gill registered scores of 269 and 161, while Akash Deep became only the second Indian bowler to return a 10-wicket haul in England. Siraj also played his part, with figures of 6 for 70 in England’s first innings. Cricketers, both current and retired, took to social media to congratulate India on a famous triumph.

Great victory for India at Edgbaston. Fearless and kept pushing England to the wall. Brilliantly led by Shubhman with the bat and in the field and impactful performances from everyone. Special mention to Siraj and Akash for the way they bowled on this pitch. @ShubmanGill…

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) July 6, 2025

Ngarava’s maiden Test five-wicket haul handed the hosts their first innings win since 2001

Sreshth Shah22-Oct-2025It took Zimbabwe less than three hours on the third day to claim their first home Test win since 2013, their first innings win since 2001 and their biggest Test win. Richard Ngarava was the star, where in overcast conditions he took his first five-wicket haul in Tests. His movement through the air and off the pitch never looked exaggerated, but it was relentless enough to break the game open and leave Zimbabwe with a win by an innings and 73 runs against a listless Afghanistan batting unit.The day began with Zimbabwe’s Test squad lining up for a group photo, a clear suggestion they were keen to finish the contest on Wednesday itself. And they started with a surprise by giving the ball to Tanaka Chivanga ahead of Blessing Muzarabani.It turned out to be a good decision as Chivanga’s third over of the morning saw Rahmanullah Gurbaz flicking one down the leg side, and Tafadzwa Tsiga, alert behind the stumps, did the rest. Three overs later, Ngarava produced almost the same dismissal when Ibrahim Zadran, who had reached 42 with measured strokes, flicked another ball going down leg, and Tsiga took his second of the morning.Hashmatullah Shahidi lasted briefly. A full delivery from Ngarava drew a hard-handed push that went to Craig Ervine at slip. Bahir Shah and Afsar Zazai then gave the innings some momentum. Bahir found six boundaries but his counter-attack ended after Muzarabani cramped him with a short ball. The fend popped up and Ben Curran swooped in from short leg. Zazai followed soon after, easing a half-hearted drive to backward point to end the morning session at 127 for 6.The sun broke through after lunch but offered little relief to Afghanistan. Chivanga thought he had Ismat Alam caught, only for a front-foot no-ball to intervene. Ngarava corrected it soon after with a length ball outside off that induced a cut from Alam. Tsiga flung himself to his right and pulled off a one-handed catch that drew gasps even from the slips. Two overs later Sharafuddin Ashraf edged to second slip, giving Ngarava his fifth.Muzarabani, quiet through much of the innings, finished it off with precision. First he flattened Khalil Gurbaz’s leg stump, then beat Ziaur Rahman with a yorker that split middle stump. Those wickets gave him six for the match and ended a game Zimbabwe had controlled from the second hour of the first day.Ibrahim Zadran top-scored for Afghanistan with 42•Zimbabwe Cricket

Ngarava’s five, Chivanga’s pace, and Muzarabani’s closing spell combined for a win that was both rare and easily earned. Curran’s day-two performance of 121, which earned him a Player-of-the-Match award, and Sikandar Raza’s 65 were the other highlights of their comfortable win.After the game, Zimbabwe captain Ervine said a win in their final Test match of the year was satisfying.”I’m ecstatic. A lot of credit to the boys for fighting and winning to end a tough year of Test cricket,” Ervine said. “The way we started, in the first hour of day one wasn’t good, but the way the boys pulled things back was excellent. Then with the bat, Curran’s innings – full of composure and discipline – was outstanding.”The wicket offered something throughout, so the boys did well to put on some good partnerships. The boys have learnt with the Test cricket they’ve played in the last six-seven months to find their game. Brad [Evans] with the five-for in the first innings and Richie [Ngarava] stepped up in the second innings. TK [Chivanga] was superb and Bless [Muzarabani] was unlucky not to take a few more wickets.”Shahidi, the Afghanistan captain, rued the batting collapse on the first day when Afghanistan slid from 77 for 1 to 127 all out.”They played really good cricket, it was supporting the fast bowlers,” Shahidi said. “Ball was seaming around but overall, we didn’t play good cricket. We started the Test well with 80 for 1 [77 for 1] in the first innings, but that collapse let us down. I feel the lack of our Test-playing experience cost us since we kept losing back-to-back wickets. In Test cricket, winning the first day is very important.”The two teams now meet for the three-match T20I series starting October 29.

Paul Scholes has shared details on how Manchester United have treated club legends at Old Trafford in what he described as a “very different” club under INEOS.

The Old Trafford legend retired in 2013 and has since watched on as both a pundit and fan as the Red Devils continue to struggle. Whilst his generation stole headline after headline by winning Premier League title after Premier League title, current stars are simply hoping to take United back into the top four.

Mbeumo upgrade: INEOS want to sign "best player in the world" for Man Utd

Manchester United could be about to target another elite-level talent for Ruben Amorim in the months ahead.

By
Ethan Lamb

Nov 25, 2025

There’s no doubt that Ruben Amorim would love to have a player of Scholes’ calibre these days. Where there was a big occasion, there was so often a big moment from the legendary midfielder.

Legends don’t get much bigger than Scholes at Old Trafford, but as Nicky Butt revealed, the Red Devils haven’t always treated their former players well in recent years.

Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football, Butt revealed: “I’ve had an email saying ‘you’re having your ticket taken off you’. So I rang them up and said can I speak to somebody about this please? And they go ‘who am I speaking to please?’, and I go Nicky Butt and they go, ‘OK, well who’s that?’”

It’s not the first time that Man United have cut former players off, either. Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS reportedly cut an annual £40,000 charity donation to the Association of Former Manchester United Players last December in a controversial decision.

INEOS then went and spent over £120m on reinforcements in the summer transfer window to add insult to injury for those former players.

Now, Scholes has shared a problem that he’s had with the club to follow on from Butt’s admission and INEOS’ decision to end United’s charity donation.

Scholes shares disappointment at "very different" Man Utd

Also speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football, Scholes admitted that he has to use ticket touts for some Man United games after running out of season tickets to use.

Some would argue that the midfielder’s goal against Barcelona should have been enough to ensure free entry for life, let alone his 11 Premier League titles and two Champions League wins, but his struggles beg a greater question.

If a club legend is struggling to attend games, then how much are the fans struggling? The last thing that INEOS need is to potentially shut their own fans out, and that includes the likes of Scholes and Butt.

Man Utd surge into race against Liverpool and Arsenal to sign £123m superstar

Marlins rookie Maximo Acosta had a moment he'll never forget in Miami's win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night and making things all the more special was that his family was in the crowd to witness it firsthand.

Acosta, the No. 25-ranked prospect in the Marlins' organization, not only got his first career hit in the victory but he did in style, sending a 1-0 pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning well over the wall in straightaway center field.

Acosta's family was shown on the broadcast going nuts in celebration of his incredible achievement as he circled the bases.

This was a pretty awesome scene at LoanDepot Park:

Acosta had gone hitless in his first eight at-bats in the majors before crushing that home run.

What a night for the Acostas.

With less than two months to go before the January transfer window opens for business, there is already speculation about what Leeds United are going to do to their squad.

The Whites have picked up 11 points in 11 Premier League matches and sit one point above the relegation zone as a newly-promoted team, which is a respectable, but not ideal, position to be in.

Daniel Farke may want to bolster his squad with more quality in the offensive areas, because the team has only scored 11 goals in their 11 top-flight matches so far this season.

The lack of goals for the Championship champions has not been because of a lack of creativity, though, as they have missed too many high-quality opportunities in the final third.

As you can see in the table above, Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been particularly wasteful with the chances that have been created for him in the Premier League.

Former Leeds striker Patrick Bamford signed for Sheffield United earlier this week, and the Whites need to be looking for their next version of the English forward.

Why Leeds need to find their next Patrick Bamford

The experienced marksman left Elland Road on a free transfer in the summer after he failed to score a single goal in 18 appearances in the 2024/25 campaign, per Sofascore.

It is not last season’s Bamford that Leeds need to find a new version of, though. Instead, the 49ers need to find Farke’s own version of Bamford from the 2020/21 campaign under Marcelo Bielsa.

After Leeds were last promoted to the Premier League, in the summer of 2020, the former Chelsea and Middlesbrough attacker played a pivotal role in the club’s survival and eventual top-half finish in their first season back in the big time.

The left-footed centre-forward scored 17 goals, including a hat-trick against Aston Villa in the highlights above, and provided seven assists in 38 appearances in the division in that term.

Since that impressive season from the former England international, no Leeds player has scored more than 13 goals in a single Premier League campaign.

As you can see in the table above, the club’s top three scorers in the current term have all managed just two goals, which speaks to the lack of outstanding goalscorers within the squad.

This illustrates how badly the Whites need to find their next version of 2020/21 Bamford, due to their lack of goalscorers, and they are reportedly interested in a star who could be exactly that.

Leeds chasing move for Eredivisie star

According to LeedsUnitedNews, the Premier League new boys are eyeing up a swoop for AZ Alkmaar centre-forward Troy Parrott in the upcoming January transfer window.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

The report claims that the Whites are now looking at signing the Ireland international to bolster their options at the top end of the pitch, as they chase a winter deal for the marksman.

It adds that Leeds had scouts in attendance to watch his performance for the Republic of Ireland against Portugal earlier this week, when he netted twice against Roberto Martinez’s side.

The same outlet has posted an update on Farke’s future at Elland Road, explaining that the 49ers are not ready to pull the plug on him yet, but that they could be forced to make a decision if results do not improve.

With this in mind, Leeds could save themselves from having to remove the German head coach from his role by signing Parrott to save his job in January.

Why Leeds should sign Troy Parrott

The Whites should swoop for the Irish centre-forward because his performances in the Netherlands this season suggest that he has the quality to be Bamford 2.0, which would help to push the club up the table.

Per FotMob, Leeds are 10th in the Premier League for xPTS (15) and have underperformed their xG of 13.2 by 2.2, as they have only scored 11 goals. This suggests that Farke and his coaching staff have not been rewarded for the performances that they have coached, due to poor finishing.

These statistics indicate that it is not the German boss who should be under fire for where the team are in the division, and that signing a clinical striker could change the perception of the job that he is doing in the dugout.

Parrott, as shown in the graphic above, enjoyed an incredibly prolific first season with AZ Alkmaar in the 2024/25 campaign, netting 20 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions.

The former Tottenham Hotspur youngster, once dubbed “phenomenal” by former boss Ryan Lowe, has proven that his form last term was not a flash in the pan, as he has carried his exceptional goalscoring exploits into the current season.

As you can see in the table above, Parrott has scored 13 goals in 14 appearances in all competitions for AZ Alkmaar, on top of the two goals that he scored for Ireland against Portugal.

This means that the striker has already scored an eye-catching 15 goals for club and country in the 2025/26 campaign, whilst no Leeds player has scored more than twice in all competitions.

Parrott, per Sofascore, has scored 37 goals from 30.67 xG in the Eredivisie since the start of the 2023/24 season, which suggests that he is the clinical striker that Leeds are crying out for at the moment.

Therefore, the Ireland international could be the next Bamford to fire the Whites to safety with his prolific goalscoring, whilst saving Farke’s job in the process by making the most of his coaching to improve the results picked up by the team.

Leeds have "standout" teen who could end Aaronson's career & it's not Gray

Leeds United have a promising young attacking midfielder who could end Brenden Aaronson’s career at the club.

By
Dan Emery

Nov 15, 2025

And in conditions that didn’t offer the bowlers much, this exorcism was distinctly Australian: disciplined, clinical, perfect

Alex Malcolm30-Dec-2024Australia’s cricket team performed an exorcism at the MCG on Monday. They exorcised the ghosts of the Gabba.Modern Australia is one of the most secular societies in the world. Most wouldn’t know what an exorcism is, let alone ever need one performed.Cricket isn’t a religion like it supposedly is in India. But it is fundamental to the national psyche, even if at times Australians show a clear indifference.Related

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• Stats – A sorry end to 2024 for India and Rohit

Regardless, this exorcism wasn’t sacramental. It was very Australian; disciplined, clinical, perfect. A bowling unit working as a collective. No dropped catches. No wasted reviews. Some Joel Wilson decisions got in their way, like at Headingley in 2019. Australia might have exorcised that ghost as well keeping all three reviews intact and overturning two key decisions that made victory possible.It was fitting too that Nathan Lyon claimed the winning wicket. Having been denied at Headingley and nullified at the Gabba, there was special feeling in the celebrations of both his wickets, snaring India’s first-innings hero Nitish Kumar Reddy before pinning Mohammed Siraj lbw for the win.That it all happened in front of a final-day crowd of 74,362, in a week where the Australia-Test-attendance record was smashed, added to the sweetness of the victory for Pat Cummins and his team.”When you take all that into account, it’s probably the best Test match I’ve been involved in,” Cummins said. “Eighty thousand [each] in the first three days, don’t know what the crowd was today but it was huge. It felt like [the Test] swung a lot as well, never felt like we were so far ahead of the game that it [a win] looked certain. So overall, just one of those great wins.”Sam Konstas and Pat Cummins celebrate Australia’s win•Getty ImagesIt was clear that the Gabba ghosts weighed heavily on Australia’s minds. This surface did not appear to suggest a similar chase was possible. Plenty of rational judges thought Australia were exceedingly conservative in not declaring last night, and even batting on again on the final day with 333 already in the bank. But three of the four key bowlers had been in Brisbane in 2021. They knew what Pant was capable of, what India was capable of. Only two days earlier they had India 221 for 7 and Nos. 8 and 9 combined for a 127-run stand to drag them back into the game.In the end Australia had around 13 overs up their sleeve and didn’t even need the second new ball to take all ten wickets.”I thought the wicket was pretty good,” Cummins said. “You saw our tail bat reasonably comfortably on it. So I felt like we needed at least 300-odd. It wasn’t playing too much tricks. You saw today, it didn’t really spin heaps, didn’t play too many tricks.”We had 90-odd overs that gave us 12 or so overs with potentially a second new ball today. So I felt like there was enough time. And also it felt like the way it had played out, [if] we had a good first session and kind of took the win out of the equation for them, then we could really go in for the attack with plenty of catchers, and didn’t have to worry about the runs as much.”

“Eighty thousand [each] in the first three days, don’t know what the crowd was today but it was huge. It felt like [the Test] swung a lot as well, never felt like we were so far ahead of the game that it [a win] looked certain. So overall, just one of those great wins.”Australia captain Pat Cummins

That is where this exorcism was distinctly Australian. Unlike the Gabba four years ago where India made an aggressive start reaching 132 for 1 to set up the chase, Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland sucked the life out of India’s chase with a suffocating spell of sustained fast bowling. For 26.1 overs before lunch the trio hammered away with pristine lines and lengths, and only four overs of support from Mitchell Marsh and Lyon. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma survived 16 overs without losing a wicket, but had progressed to just 25 for 0. Starc, bowling in pain with a sore back, beat the bat eight times, all past the edge of Jaiswal with 140kph outswingers. Boland beat the edge five times and Cummins once.Rohit was 9 off 39 and his patience eventually cracked, slicing a catch to gully trying an expansive whip wide of mid-on. Cummins breached the resolute defence of KL Rahul five balls later. Starc got his reward on the stroke of lunch as Kohli nicked another wide one. Usman Khawaja, who had dropped three critical catches early in the series, pouched two sharp ones at first slip. India were 33 for 3 and going nowhere.”I reckon that first session today was close to perfection from a bowling point of view,” Cummins said. “I thought we were excellent. All the guys didn’t really give any bad balls away. I don’t know what their plan was going to be but, honestly, I don’t think we really gave them a chance to fight back at us too much.Two hours later though the win looked improbable. India were still three-down at tea with Jaiswal and Pant cruising. Australia had one moment where they could have lost all hope. Starc thundered one into Jaiswal’s pad only to see Wilson shaking his head to a huge lbw shout. The review showed two reds and an orange. You could almost see Australia’s souls leave their bodies as the ball-tracking projection showed what looked like 49% of the ball smashing leg stump.Australia fans in the stands react to a close call•Associated PressThe pitch looked slow and flat. On the same surface yesterday Australia had been cruising at 85 for 3 and Jasprit Bumrah took three wickets in 11 balls to change the course of the match. Australia did not have Bumrah. They instead conjured some ethereal magic from an unlikely source: a Travis Head long hop, which Pant hoicked down Marsh’s throat at long-on.It opened the door and Cummins seized the moment. He pulled Head from the attack and brought back Boland. The MCG specialist extracted life from a lifeless surface to spit one at Ravindra Jadeja’s gloves on the way to Alex Carey.Lyon then roared as Steven Smith held a gem at slip to claim Reddy.Then Cummins dug deep as only he can. A brute of a bouncer off the pillow-like surface hurried Jaiswal hooking on 84. Wilson kept his finger down. Cummins, armed with three reviews had no hesitation. Jaiswal protested the third umpire’s finding but even Rohit admitted he had hit it after the match.

The pitch looked slow and flat. On the same surface yesterday Australia had been cruising at 85 for 3 and Jasprit Bumrah took three wickets in 11 balls to change the course of the match. Australia did not have Bumrah. They instead conjured some ethereal magic from an unlikely source: a Travis Head long hop

A similar sequence happened when Boland had Akash Deep caught at short leg. Smith then held another beauty at slip to remove Bumrah before Lyon roared again. It was shades of Old Trafford in 2019 when Australia got to celebrate twice, first with Michael Gough’s raised finger and then again when the DRS showed three reds.But just like 2019, Australia’s job is not done. They blew a 2-1 lead with an emotional let down in the final Test on a short turnaround. They face the same challenge here.”It’s a short turnaround,” Cummins said. “I think we’ll definitely savour this one. You work so hard over five days to win a Test match like this, and I’m sure there’ll be a lot of sitting around tonight and a couple of beers, a couple of boys might have a beer, some others might have water and some protein shakes and an early night. But we’ll savour this for a couple of hours at least, and then it’ll be recovery for the next few days. I’m sure the batters will have a hit. The bowlers, I dare say, will be very light on [training], and then you gear up again for the last Test of the [home] summer.”The ghosts of Gabba might have been exorcised, but the Border-Gavaskar series and a World Test Championship final is still up for grabs. A weight has been lifted off Australia’s shoulders for now, but they must put their shoulder to the wheel again in Sydney if they want to claim the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time in a decade.

Somerset out of contention for knockouts after slipping to heavy defeat between showers

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay07-Sep-2025Sisters Kathryn and Sarah Bryce scored half-centuries to guide The Blaze to a 44-run bonus point victory over Somerset on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in a rain-shortened Metro Bank One Day Cup match at Taunton Vale Sports Ground.Sarah Bryce top-scored with 68 from 54 balls, hit 12 fours and shared in an opening stand of 76 inside 10 overs with Georgie Boyce as The Blaze posted 252 for 6 in a contest reduced to 33 overs-a-side. Kathryn Bryce then made 63 not out from 60 balls with eight fours, staging a partnership of 72 with Orla Prendergast, who weighed in with a forthright 46. Charlie Dean did her best to keep Somerset in contention, returning figures of 3 for 50 from seven overs.Chasing a revised target of 214 in 26 overs, Somerset never recovered from the wreckage of 9 for 4, Cassidy McCarthy taking three wickets in a devastating eight-ball burst that all but settled the outcome during the powerplay. Amanda-Jade Wellington raised a defiant 28-ball 53 and Fran Wilson hit 33, but McCarthy finished with 3 for 12 as the home side were bowled out for 169 in 22.2 overs.Victory cemented The Blaze’s position in the top three and materially improved their prospects of making the final stages of the 50-over competition, but Somerset are now out of contention with two games remaining.Making the most of short boundaries and a quick outfield, Boyce and Sarah Bryce accrued 11 boundaries on their way to 61 without loss from a seven-over powerplay after being put in on a drying surface. When the seamers struggled to contain the flow of runs, Somerset turned to spinners Dean and Wellington in an attempt to turn the tide.England international Dean struck in her second over, persuading Boyce to drive to mid-off and depart for a run-a-ball 31 with the score 76 for 1 in the 10th over. But there was no dislodging Sarah Bryce, who went to an assured half-century from 40 balls with 10 fours, the Blaze wicketkeeper-batter growing in stature all the time.There was a sense of relief within Somerset ranks when offspinner Chloe Skelton bowled Bryce in the act of cutting in the 18th, her dismissal providing the home side with much-needed respite. Thereafter, Prendergast and Kathryn Bryce proved adept at finding the gaps, the pair combining clever placement and forceful running in staging a third-wicket stand of 73 in eight overs.Ireland international Prendergast seized on anything wide or short of a length, pulling Alex Griffiths for the first six of the innings and then driving Skelton for four as returning rain rendered control difficult for the bowlers. She had raised 46 off 31 balls and helped herself to five fours and a six when she skied a catch to backward point off the bowling of Wellington as The Blaze slipped to 195 for 3.Somerset continued to fight back, Dean bowling the dangerous Georgia Elwiss and then pinning Ella Claridge lbw to further reduce their opponents to 212 for 5 in the 29th. But Kathryn Bryce continued to carry the fight to Somerset, raising her 50 via 52 balls with her sixth four and putting on 34 for the sixth wicket with Michaela Kirk, who contributed a useful 17 from nine deliveries.A further downpour caused seven overs to be lost and, when Somerset resumed their innings, they were required to score a further 209 at 8.36 an over. Their task quickly became even more difficult, Bex Odgers pulling McCarthy’s first ball to square leg and fellow opener Niamh Holland nicking a catch behind off the bowling of Grace Ballinger.Generating pace and swing aplenty, McCarthy bowled Sophie Luff and Dani Gibson with successive deliveries, at which point she had taken three wickets in eight balls and the home side were deep in trouble on 9 for 4. Kirstie Gordon then had Dean held by Kirk on the midwicket boundary as Somerset slumped to 22 for 5.Wilson and Wellington did their utmost to make a game of it thereafter, staging a face-saving alliance of 69 in 6.5 overs in the late-afternoon sunshine. Not afraid to play expansive strokes, these two raised a quickfire 50 from 33 balls in a blaze of boundaries, Wellington plundering five consecutive fours off the bowling of Prendergast to put the visitors on the back foot for the first time.Elwiss accounted for Wilson, caught at short fine leg, but the defiant Wellington went on to post a rapid 50 from just 26 balls with 10 fours. She was run out by Kathryn Bryce soon afterwards, her dismissal signaling the end of meaningful West Country resistance.