Summary

  • Pant hits 91 off 88 balls after India fall to 73-4

  • Pujara out for 73 after ball loops off short leg's back and into hands of mid-wicket

  • Bess has Kohli caught at bat pad; Rahane falls to superb Root catch

  • Archer removes Rohit & Gill with new ball

  • First Test, day three, Chennai

  1. 'Gill was a crucial wicket'published at 06:36 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    Abhishek Jhunjhunwala
    Former IPL batsman on The Cricket Social

    Archer celebrates wicketImage source, BCCI

    It was a very good morning session for England.

    The wicket of Shubman Gill was particularly important because he was looking good and in control of his batting. He didn't look in any kind of hurry, despite scoring 29 off 28 balls, he just played some wonderful shots.

    He was ruffled a bit by the short ball that hit him on the finger and after that he was just a bit early on the ball. He was too keen to play the delivery. What a catch it was from Jimmy Anderson to give England a crucial wicket.

    If England can get another three wickets by close they will be in a very strong position here.

  2. The Cricket Social is livepublished at 06:32 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    The team are live once again for the Cricket Social.

    You can tune in for analysis from Michael Vaughan, Phil Tufnell, Jonathan Agnew and others by clicking the audio icon at the top of this page.

  3. Postpublished at 06:30 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    James Anderson took an amazing catch but wasn't at his best with the new ball. I wonder whether he could have another go after lunch in tandem with a spinner?

  4. Postpublished at 06:25 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    Good points, Gaz. They're still exceptional batsmen, though. Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, the two men not out at lunch, are India's best players.

    There's a big spell coming up after lunch.

  5. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 06:23 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    #bbccricket

    Gaz: Plenty of talk about the Indian batting averages being much higher than England’s, but they play most of their matches on high-scoring pitches. England play half of theirs on low-scoring, green pitches. That’s going to make a difference, surely?

  6. Postpublished at 06:21 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    Just as I write that, Yasir Shah falls for 23. Pakistan are 196-8 but they lead by 267.

  7. Rizwan and Yasir frustrate South Africapublished at 06:20 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    Rizwan bats for PakistanImage source, Getty Images

    We've already mentioned an intriguing Test between Bangladesh and West Indies but what about Pakistan v South Africa?

    Well, an eighth-wicket partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Yasir Shah looks to be taking the game away from South Africa on day four.

    The pair have taken Pakistan from 143-7 to 195-7 in their second innings meaning the hosts' lead is now 266.

    South Africa only managed 201 in their first effort. They have dropped a few catches too.

    Follow that game with our scorecard.

  8. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 06:19 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    #bbccricket

    Luke Almond: Interesting start to the Indian innings. Looked like they wanted to be aggressive and send a statement to the England bowlers. Jofra had other ideas though.

  9. What happened in the morning session?published at 06:11 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    England celebrate wicketImage source, BCCI

    It was another good session for England.

    They eked out another 23 runs in 40 minutes of batting before James Anderson was the last man out - bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin. England ended on 578.

    It was then over to the bowlers and that man Jofra Archer has done the business. He bowled a brilliant five-over spell and removed both India openers, Rohit Sharma and then Shubman Gill, who looked very, very good.

    Archer mixed serious pace with high-quality skill.

    India have scored quickly - they have scored 59 runs in 14 overs - but England will be more than happy with their two early wickets.

  10. Postpublished at 06:07 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    Thanks Callum, although you lose some credit for not watching Robot Wars.

    England, then... They're right in this!

  11. Postpublished at 06:05 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    That is me done for the time being.

    Matt Henry will take you through till tea. Hopefully he's able to pick up a couple of scalps too.

  12. Postpublished at 06:05 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    England were able to add 23 runs this morning. But, perhaps more importantly, they lasted 40 minutes which may have seen the pitch deteriorate more.

    They've been very good with the ball too. They've gone at 4.21 runs an over, but they won't mind that too much, and will have been delighted with the two breakthroughs that Jofra Archer was able to make.

    Breaking this partnership between Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli is going to be key after lunch.

  13. Lunchpublished at 06:01 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    Ind 59-2; trail by 519 runs

    A maiden from Ben Stokes and that will be lunch.

    Another excellent session for England. They are in command of this Test.

  14. Ind 59-2published at 13.4 overs

    Ben Stokes is hobbling around a bit already.

    It doesn't look anything serious at the moment but one to keep an eye on.

  15. Postpublished at 05:58 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    A change of ends for Ben Stokes.

    This seems more conventional. He's over the wicket, with a slip, gully and short leg.

    This may be the last over before lunch.

  16. Ind 59-2published at 13 overs

    Tidy start from Dom Bess with just two singles coming off the over.

  17. Postpublished at 05:53 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    It is a double change for England with Dom Bess replacing Ben Stokes.

  18. Postpublished at 05:52 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

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  19. Ind 57-2published at 12 overs

    Jofra Archer's fastest delivery was 91.8mph in that spell by the way. He didn't fully fire in the English summer, but the signs during that spell were massively encouraging for England.

    There's an early indication of why Cheteshwar Pujara averages 159.90 against left-arm spin as he shuffles down the wicket and flicks through mid-wicket for another boundary. Superb shot.

  20. Postpublished at 05:50 Greenwich Mean Time 7 February 2021

    Jack Leach is going to replace Jofra Archer. With only 10 minutes till Lunch I'm slightly surprised but there you go.

    Remember Cheteshwar Pujara averages 159.90 against left-arm spin.