Key events
9th over: England 78-3 (Bethell 18, Banton 18) Shreyas gets it right again, keeping Axar on for a third over and seeing him concede only two singles. Too good. England were up with the rate one over ago: not any more – they’ve been going along at 8.66 an over, now they need 10.27.
8th over: England 76-3 (Bethell 17, Banton 17) Shreyas turns to his third spinner, good going in eight overs. It’s Varun Chakravarty, whose fingers may still be stinging from the terrific catch he took to remove Buttler. Banton opts to attack him, using the reverse sweep to pick up a four and a two.
7th over: England 67-3 (Bethell 17, Banton 9) Axar continues, with more protection now that the powerplay is over. The batters settle for a bit of milking: four singles and a clip for two from Bethell.
6th over: England 61-3 (Bethell 13, Banton 7) Bishnoi continues with his distinctive run-up, so flamboyant that it could be a paragraph from Barney Ronay. Tom Banton plays a nice square drive for four, but India end the powerplay well on top. England have lost the three batters most likely to see them home.
“Kevin Pietersen said that he always downed a can of Red Bull before going out to bat,” writes Andy Flintoff. “It seems like Brook has it on an IV drip.”
5th over: England 51-3 (Bethell 11, Banton 1) Well done Ishan Kishan, well done Axar Patel, and well done Shreyas Iyer for being brave enough to bowl two spinners in the powerplay. Brook and Bethell put on 50 off 23 balls, but that’s a price India would happily for Brook’s wicket – which, yet again, came at a discount.
WICKET! Brook c Kishan b Axar 39 (England 51-3)
Brook steps back to leg, then plays a sweep and misses – or has he gloved it behind? The Indians are convinced, and so, after a review, is the third umpire. That could be the killer blow.
4th over: England 49-2 (Brook 38, Bethell 10) Feeling the heat from this counter-attack, Shreyas Iyer turns to spin. Ravi Bishnoi comes on with his florid leg-breaks and starts with a back-foot no-ball. It’s not easy to play second fiddle in a heavy-metal band, but Bethell shows promise by pulling the no-ball for four and following up with a sweep for four more. And the Indians keep Brook quiet by depriving him of the strike.
“I’ve thought for a while,” says Tim Sanders, “that Harry Brook is more solid when batting in a T20 than a Test. He doesn’t feel the need to make extravagant or disruptive gestures, or throw off the shackles of tradition; he just plays to his considerable strengths of watching the ball and hitting it.”
3rd over: England 38-2 (Brook 37, Bethell 1) Jacob Bethell gets off the mark, as Brook did, with a nice calm push for a single. Brook is playing a different game now: facing Arshdeep, he cuts for four, pulls for four, flicks for six, straight-drives for six… and then clips for what – four, six or a catch? Six!! That’s 27 off the over, and Brook has raced to 37 off just 12 balls. Do the Indians not know that you just need to bring the keeper up to the stumps?
“Interesting take on Harry Brook and captaincy,” says Brian Withington, with good timing. “He’s easily caricatured as a gormless dolt by Antipodean critics, but I used to think the same of Ben Stokes.”
2nd over: England 11-2 (Brook 11, Bethell 0) Facing Harshit Rana, Brook soon finds his groove. He plays a lovely flick for four, adding some whip with his wrists, and then gives Harshit the charge to flat-bat for four. He adds a pull for two, before Harshit dig deep and bowls a better lifter that draws a bottom edge.
“I was struck by the some of the names of the India cricketers,” says Colum Fordham, drily. “After losing their first two wickets in four balls, I would suggest that England are somewhere between Arshdeep and Harshit.”
1st over: England 1-2 (Brook 1, Bethell 0) In between those two calamities, Harry Brook got off the mark with a nice calm push to mid-off. After treating a Test like a T20 last weekend, he may have decided to treat a T20 like a Test.
Wicket! Buttler c Chakravarty b Arshdeep 0 (England 1-2)
One brings two! After playing and missing twice outside off, Buttler sees a nice friendly half-volley on his pads and clips it straight to the man at midwicket. England, who always have a collapse up their sleeve, have started early even by their standards.
Wicket! Salt c Kishan b Arshdeep 0 (England 0-1)
Out first ball! Salt tries to cut a ball that’s too close, or on him too fast, and he just nicks it behind.
First it’s going to be Phil Salt to face Arshdeep Singh, in a black patka.
Any mathematicians in the house? We need to know what comes next in this sequence: 26, 21, 3, 3, 7, 2, 0, 25.
Those were Jos Buttler’s scores in the T20 World Cup, and the 20s were so scratchy that they were even worse than the failures. But after that he was close to his carefree best in the IPL, so let’s see which Jos comes out to bat now.
Who says T20 doesn’t bring us ebb and flow? England were on top at first as Archer was too hot to handle, then India as the openers got going, then England as they both fell, then India as Kishan and Iyer added 65, then England as Curran won the late-middle overs, then India as Tilak Varma added a late flourish. The commentators feel that 190 is below par, if anything, but it gives India’s bowlers plenty to play with – and so does the pitch, which is offering a little bit of everything, from pace to turn.
India finish on 190-7
20th over: India 190-7 (Tilak 24) Jofra Archer needed some treatment on his hand after not quite taking that excellent catch, but he’s fit to bowl the last over. He may wish he wasn’t as Tilak Varma goes six, six, four! Archer retorts with a snarling bouncer and a wide yorker – a dot and a one. And so to the last ball… Wicket! Harshit Rana c Buttler b Archer 6
19th over: India 173-6 (Tilak 7, Harshit 6) Josh Tongue has been having a torrid time on debut. This over is much better, mixing chin music with yorkers, but it ends with a full toss that is clumped for six by Harshit Rana. Are India still eyeing 200?
Wicket! Axar Patel run out Buttler 2 (India 165-6)
A happy accident! Buttler takes a glove off and aims for the stumps at the striker’s end, misses … and hits the bowler’s end. Nasser says there’s no telling which end he was aiming at, but Buttler’s wide smile shows that it was a fluke.
18th over: India 162-5 (Tilak 3, Axar 2) So Curran gets his third wicket and makes sure that India have two new batters in at a vital juncture. He nearly grabs a fourth as Tilak swings to deep square, where Archer, sliding in, seems to take a blinder – but it’s scrubbed off by the third umpire, who feels that the ball burst through Jofra’s fingers. That seems fair enough to my untrained eye, and Archer showed that he wasn’t sure himself by making the universal sign for a TV screen.
Still, it’s another fine over from Curran, who talked the talk at the press conference yesterday and has now walked the walk with three for 32 off four overs of fiercely intelligent allsorts. Those are his best figures in a T20 international in England.
Wicket! Ishan Kishan c Dawson b Curran 49 (India 157-5)
Ishan has been the top scorer, but he’s lost his fluency in the past 20 minutes and now he too holes out, to Dawson at extra-cover.
17th over: India 153-4 (Kishan 45, Tilak 1) Brook opts not to change the bowling! He keeps faith with Jacks, who is finding just enough turn to keep the batters honest, and to have the Indian attack licking its lips. Kishan asserts himself with a stylish reverse sweep, but it’s the first four for 14 balls and the over goes for just seven. The last three overs have brought only 15 runs, a small triumph for England and for Harry.
Wicket! Dube c Banton b Curran 5 (India 146-4)
16th over: India 146-4 (Kishan 39) The bowling? Yes, it’s changed again as Brook keeps a bit of Archer up his sleeve and summons Sam Curran. Bowling to Ishan, he’s on fire – dot, wide, dot, dot, dot, one… Suddenly Kishan is doing well if he can nick it, and when he manages a single, Dube is done for! Deceived by one of Curran’s 32 slower balls, he ends a drive up into the grey sky and gives Banton another catch at mid-off.
“Afternoon,” says Simon McMahon. “I’m pretty sure I have stuff in my freezer that is older than Sooryavanshi. Even the OBO predates him by a good few years! And so does the iPhone, and the IPL.”
15th over: India 144-3 (Kishan 38, Dube 5) Yet another change as Brook turns back to Will Jacks, who took the first wicket, several days ago. He does well, emulating Dawson with the T20 spinner’s maiden – 111111. Dube has been struggling to find his timing, so it’s all down to Kishan to lift India past 200.
14th over: India 138-3 (Kishan 35, Dube 2) Harry Brook is such an interesting captain. He seems to have no feel at all for the gravity of the post, but he does have a feel for the music of the game. He responds to the wicket by bringing back his sharpest weapon, Jofra Archer – who bowls a very good over for no reward, rushing Shivam Dube into a chip with a bouncer and then drawing an edge from Kishan that races away for four.
Archer (3-0-23-0) is well on his way to one of the all-time great none-fors.
13th over: India 130-3 (Kishan 29, Dube 0) England needed that. After coming together at 65-2, Iyer and Kishan doubled the score.
Wicket! Shreyas Iyer c Banton b Dawson 37 (India 130-3)
Clever from Dawson. After being swung for six by Iyer, he sees him coming down the track and snares him with a wide ball outside off, slogged to deep extra and well held by Tom Banton, running in.
12th over: India 118-2 (Kishan 26, Iyer 28) Brook, who does love a bowling change, replaces Curran with Tongue. He’s faster, fuller and, in a T20, easier for top players to face. Iyer plays a lovely guide for four, then takes a blow to the hand which needs some treatment. Happily, he’s OK to continue.
11th over: India 108-2 (Kishan 24, Iyer 20) Rashid returns and has Kishan dropped! He was lured into a loose slog-sweep that went straight to Phil Salt at deep midwicket. Deep but not deep enough, as he was a few yards in from the rope and could only tip the ball over the bar. It dribbled away for four, and Kishan slammed the next ball to the cover boundary. Is that what they call rubbing Salt in the wound?
Drinks! India pegged back
10th over: India 96-2 (Kishan 14, Iyer 18) Off goes Rashid, with 1-0-9-0, and back comes Curran. Kishan cuts him for four with brutally fast hands, but Curran, who can go brutally slow when he feels like it, turns things round with two successive dots. India won the powerplay, narrowly (65-2), but England have done well to restrict these two to 31 in the past four overs.
Asked what would be a good score here, Nasser Hussain chuckles ruefully and says “220?” The average total since 2018 here is apparently 200 or so, but England did get 304 last year.
9th over: India 89-2 (Kishan 9, Iyer 16) Liam Dawson, varying his pace craftily, gets the T20 spinner’s version of a maiden: an over that goes for a single off every ball. The person in charge of the music responds with a burst of Blame It On The Boogie from The Jacksons. Don’t blame it on the sunshine – not that there is any.
8th over: India 83-2 (Kishan 6, Iyer 13) Harry Brook brings on his other veteran spinner, Adil Rashid, so now it’s basically the Fathers’ Match. And the dads are not being treated with total respect. Iyer collects another boundary by crossing a pull with an on-drive.
“Sooryavanshi may be a significantly better cricket player than I was at his age, or am now, ever have been or will be,” says Tom van der Gucht, “but I’m willing to bet that the 15-year-old me would have mopped the floor with him on the battlefield of Citadel Miniatures and I’m had pretty sure I had a more comprehensive collection of Britpop-era copies of NME, not to mention a more encyclopedic knowledge of the Sylvester McCoy era of Dr Who at his age, so I think I know who’s winning in life.”
7th over: India 74-2 (Kishan 3, Iyer 7) Suddenly it’s a different ball game as Liam Dawson comes on and everything calms down. Ishan Kishan gets ’em in singles, while Shreyas Iyer plays a late cut for four. It’s cricket as we knew it before Sooryavanshi was born. But they still get nine off the over.
Wicket! Abhishek Sharma c Banton b Curran 43 (India 65-2)
6th over: India 65-2 (Kishan 1) Brook makes another change, turning to Sam Curran. Like Jacks, he instantly finds himself under heavy fire. Abhishek chops for four, swings for four more, gets away with a top edge, straight-drives for four more – but then holes out! He clipped a full ball, very cleanly, but straight to Tom Banton at deep square.
So the powerplay ends with honours just about even. We’ve had runs and wickets, fours and sixes, a stumping and a catch, many a play-and-miss, and a first appearance from a boy wonder that was short but sweet.
5th over: India 50-1 (Sharma 30, Kishan 0) So Brook’s bold response pays off. The crowd are disappointed to see Sooryavanshi go, but maybe that’s the right start for him: an explosive cameo, showing his promise without giving him anything he will struggle to live up to. Not that he appears to struggle at all.
WICKET! Sooryavanshi st Buttler b Jacks 14 (India 50-1)
The boy wonder is done for! Jacks lures him down the track, he goes back to playing at thin air, and he is easily stumped by a man more than twice his age.
Mid-4th over: India 50-0 (Sharma 30, Sooryavanshi 14) What would you do if you were the captain having to cope with this? Harry Brook decides to switch to spin, which, if he’d done it in an episode of Yes Minister, would have been described as bold, very bold. Will Jacks’ first ball is slapped for four, his second squirted for four more, but then …
3rd over: India 41-0 (Sharma 21, Sooryavanshi 14) Sooryvanshi, in the mood now, hits another six – just a pick-up shot off Tongue, easy as you like. Sharma, not to be outshone, flashes for four, off-drives for six and cover-drives for three. Welcome to T20 internationals, Josh: that’s 20 off your second over.
“I’m sort of OK with the fact that Sooryavanshi is 15,” says Matt Dony. “I mean, some 15 year olds are, indeed, mature and capable and preternaturally talented. But I think you mistyped and stated that he was born in 2011. That can’t be right, can it? Wouldn’t that make him about 5 or 6? If 2011 was truly 15 years ago, that would put me in my mid-40s? Oh. Right. Nuts…”
3rd over: India 21-0 (Sharma 8, Sooryavanshi 8) Archer beats Sharma twice outside off. The wind, if anything, is bothering the batters more than the bowlers. But when Archer tries a yorker, Sharma does well, flicking the wrists to turn a block into a glance for four.
Sooryavanshi hits his first six! Off his first ball from Archer, his fellow Royal. He gets down low, plays something between a pull and a ramp and sends tha ball whirling into the crowd. After four or five balls, he has made his presence felt already.
2nd over: India 10-0 (Sharma 4, Sooryavanshi 1) Second ball: another lavish play, another miss. Third ball: yet another miss, as Sooryavanshi shapes to whip, but it’s a wide outside leg, in fact five wides. When he finally gets bat on ball, to his third legitimate delivery, he jams down on a yorker, and gets his first run for India from an inside edge! Tongue then beats Sharma outside off too.
Somewhere in the crowd, a Lancashire member of a certain age may be muttering, “Not much to him, this lad. What’s all the fuss about?”
Sooryavanshi faces his first ball in international cricket… and misses! He flashed outside off at Josh Tongue, whose lift was too much for him.
1st over: India 4-0 (Sharma 4, Sooryavanshi 0) Never mind the prodigy, Abhishek can play a bit too. Archer starts well, beating him with a lifter, but the next ball is swished over slip for four, with one hand off the bat. Archer beats him again, and again, before finishing with a rap on the glove. The wind assisted both the bowler’s movement, away from the left-hander, and the lone scoring shot.
Sooryavanshi is out there, waiting to face his first ball in international cricket … which may well be from Jofra Archer, his team-mate at the Rajasthan Royals. But it will be Abhishek Sharma who faces the first ball of the day.
Fun fact. Adil Rashid, England’s senior pro, was playing international cricket before Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was conceived. Rashid made his debut for England’s T20 team on 5 June 2009; Sooryavanshi was born on 27 March 2011.
The teams
England have a debutant of their own – Josh Tongue, making his first appearance for them in a red shirt after doing taking dozens of wickets in a white one. Jofra Archer returns too. It’s always good to see him and Tongue is well worth a go, but it’s bizarre that there is no room for Saqib Mahmood. He shone in the gloom on Wednesday and would surely have relished the chance to maintain his red-hot form in front of his home crowd. The decision feels premeditated, rather than a response to the situation.
India 1 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ishan Kishan (wkt), 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Harshit Rana, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.
England 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (wkt), 3 Harry Brook (capt), 4 Jacob Bethell, 5 Tom Banton, 6 Sam Curran, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Liam Dawson, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Josh Tongue.
The first email comes in from Guy Hornsby. “I know this may be down for some as another meaningless bilateral,” he says, “but even before Sooryavanshi’s debut was announced, this feels bigger than that.
“Two teams packed with stars, all the Test players back for England, and a raucous Old Trafford full of blue shirts all urging on their team to show England who is boss in the white ball game. I am certainly buzzing, and I’ve only had an ice cream!”
Iyer’s decision allows the crowd to see Vaibhav Sooryavanshi right away. His fearless hitting has already made him a superstar in the IPL: now we’ll see if he can do it on a blustery Saturday in Manchester. He will become India’s youngest-ever cricketer, beating the record held for decades by Sachin Tendulkar. He was born in 2011, for goodness’ sake. You couldn’t make him up.
Toss: India win and bat first
It’s so windy at Old Trafford that Shreyas Iyer’s cap blows off in mid-toss. But he doesn’t lose his composure, calls right and decides to make England’s bowlers cope with the gale.
Sooryavanshi starts!
They’ve seen sense and selected him! At the tender age of 15. What a moment.
Preamble
Afternoon everyone and welcome to England’s smallest game of the weekend. It’s smaller than the football, it’s smaller than the rugby, and it’s way smaller than the women’s cricket. While Nat Sciver-Brunt’s team have a World Cup final, the men are playing the second game in a T20 series that started with a wash-out and may be forgotten before it has even been noticed.
But every international fixture is big for somebody. This second game between England and India is big for the ECB, whose profits for the financial year hinge on hosting India for these two white-ball series. It’s big for English cricket, which is still reeling from Ben Stokes’ shotgun retirement. It’s big for Harry Brook, who needs to carry himself like an England captain, rather than the figure he cut last Sunday – the man at the stag weekend who’s still drunk on the flight home.
It’s big for Sam Curran, belatedly being recognised as a realistic option to succeed Stokes as the Test all-rounder and, if they really are going to burden Brook with the Test captaincy, to take over the white-ball teams. And it’s big for Jos Buttler, who, since a buccaneering 83 in his last appearance for England at Old Trafford, has gone 20 innings without a fifty – or even a forty.
It could be big, too, for someone who is not expected to play: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the teenage wonderboy who had to watch on Wednesday as his elders and lessers at the top of the Indian order limped to 6 for 2. The signs are that Sooryavanshi won’t be picked today either, but his international debut is surely just a flop away.
As always with international sport, there are subplots to spare, so do stick around if you can. The weather forecast is good for Manchester, and I’ll be back at 2pm (BST) with the toss and the teams.