England v India 2nd Test Match at Edgbaston July 2-6
Neil Whitaker reports
Day 1July 2, 2025 7:46 pm
SHUBMAN Gill showed his class by hitting his second Test century as India’s captain in his second match as captain.
Gill swept Joe Root for consecutive boundaries in the last over with the old ball. Early in his knock he delicately late cut Chris Woakes, who was England’s best bowler on the day, to the third man boundary and two balls later the ball flew through the slips for another boundary from a thick outside edge.
The ball after Gill backed away from Brydln Carse, because he thought Carse was going to pull up, all the England players went up for a left before which was turned down by Umpire Chris Gaffeney. England reviewed it and the replay showed Gill had got an inside edge to it.
He clipped Woakes off his toes to the mid-wicket boundary. Gill lofted Shoiab Basher straight for a one bounce four to bring up his 14th Test 50. This one came from 125 balls, his slowest Test 50, with seven fours.
Woakes said: “ I thought Gill played very well but we were close on a couple of occasions to getting him leg before twice but I felt that he was in control of everything and full credit to him.”
Gill received support from opener Yashasvin Jaiswal who hit 87 and Ravindran Jadeja who at the close had added 99 with Gill.
Jaiswal drove Josh Tongue to the cover boundary and drove the next ball straight to the boundary to bring up India’s 50. He hit three consecutive boundaries off Tongue to bring up his seventh Test 50: the first he pulled to the square leg boundary, then he slashed him over cover and the third was a late cut to the third man boundary.
He took a couple of paces down the pitch to Shoaib Basher and lofted him over extra cover for a boundary. With his second century in two Tests looking a certainty he fell on the Australian unlucky number of 87 when he top edged a cut off Ben Stokes and stumper Jamie Smith took an catch. With Gill they added 66 in 22 overs.
Jaiswal said: “I thought the England bowlers bowled really well with the new ball. We are trying to bat at session by session and we are in a very good mindset. I thought Gill has been amazing as captain and a batter. I think that we’ve ended up on a very good score and both batters are doing a good job.”
Woakes had a couple of leg before shouts turned down and had both openers playing and missing but eventually in the ninth over Woakes got the breakthrough when KL Rahul chopped him on.
At first Karun Nair played as he did at Headingley and was lucky to survive a leg before shout from Woakes when he offered no shot, the appeal was turned down but England reviewed it. The replay showed it was umpires call, after that he played a couple of gorgeous drives. Woakes added: DRS has been good for the game but if a batsman leaves a ball and it’s hitting he should be out.”
The disappointment of Jaiswal’s wicket was replaced by an expectant hum which descended on the crowd as Rishabh Pant walked to the crease. The Indian fans were to be disappointed. His innings today was more restrained than at Headingley. It took him 22 balls before he went down the pitch for his first shot in anger when he went down the pitch to Shoaib Basher and smashed him over the long-on boundary for a six.
Pant played his trademark shot, going down on one knee and pulling Shoaib Basher to the fine leg boundary, to bring up the 200. He tried to hit Shoaib Basher straight out of the ground but found Zak Crawley on the long-on boundary.
Six minutes before lunch Karun Nair gloved a short ball from Carse and Harry Brook at second slip dived forward to take the catch. With Jaiswal they added 80 in 15 overs, it only took them eight overs for their 50 partnership.
Kaki Nithish-Kumar Reddy left one from Woakes then Woakes angled one in at him a bit and kissed the top of his off stump. The Indian fans were now fearing another collapse to match the two collapses at Headingley. But Jadeja joined Gill and eased their fears. Jadeja's best shot was when he drove Tongue off his back foot to the extra cover boundary. He drove Shoaib Basher for a classical drive to the extra cover boundary.
Jasprit Bumrah was absent due to injury from India’s line-up at Edgbaston in a match that India must avoid defeat if they are to win the series he was replaced by Akash Deep.
There were two other changes from the team which lost at Headingley. Kaki Nithish-Kumar Reddy replaced Sai Sudharsan, and Washington Sunday came in for Shardul Thakur. Jaiswal added: “There is no confusion about team selection.”
As is England’s wont, Stokes won the toss and put India into bat. Woakes added: “It’s a decision that we all commit to and once the decision has been made we all buy into it.There is still a bit of grass on the pitch. I think a good day for us would have been 300 for seven. It’s a very good batting surface and hopefully we can get batting as soon as possible.”
Before play started a minute’s applause was held in memory of former England, Northamptonshire and Durham opener Wayne Larkins who died on Sunday.
Day 2
IT was a day of records for India captain Shubman Gill as he hit the highest score in a Test match in England by an Indian captain beating the 179 made by Mohammad Azharuddin at Emirates Old Trafford in August 1990.
He became the first Indian player to hit 150 in a Test at Edgbaston, it was Gill’s highest Test score beating his 147 in the first innings of the first Test at Headingley and it was his highest First class score, his previous highest First class score was 268. It was the seventh highest individual Test innings by an Indian player. And just for good measure he shared in two partnerships of 100 plus. His first with Ravindra Jadeja was worth 203 and with Washington-Sundar they added 144 for the seventh wicket.
Jadeja said: “Gill has been scoring plenty of runs for us and we need someone who can bat long. And we need players in the top five who can score big runs. We looked to play normal cricket and everything fell into place. We wanted to get a good score on the board but we were worried about out batting.
”Gill beautifully drove Chris Woakes to the cover boundary and he threaded Brydon Carse wide off mid-on’s right hand and mid-wickets left hand to the mid-wicket boundary.
He pushed Shoaib Basher to his right who got a hand to it as he dived in the air but parried it to mid-on allowing Gill a single. In his next over Gill reversed swept Shoaib Basher to the third man boundary.Jadeja turned Woakes off his legs for a single to bring up his 23rd Test 50 from 80 balls with six fours. He pushed Ben Stokes off the back foot to the cover boundary and pulled Carse to the square leg boundary. Jadeja went down the pitch to Shoaib Basher and launched him into the Birmingham end to take India past 400.
Gill swept Shoaib Basher over square leg boundary for a six to bring up the 200 partnership with Jadeja from 276 balls. The pair added another six before Jadeja fended off a short ball from Josh Tongue that was going into his ribs and Jamie Smith had to move several yards to take the legside catch.
Gill went down the pitch to Shoaib Bashir and gently hit him for a six over long-on.He gracefully stroked Tongue to the extra cover boundary then he glanced Tongue off his legs to the square leg boundary dissecting Joe Root, on the fine leg boundary, and Zak Crawley on the square leg boundary, for a four.
Washington-Sundar glanced Shoaib Basher off his legs for his first boundary. In the next over he glanced Tongue off his legs for his second boundary to bring up the 50 partnership with Gill off 74 balls. Then he helped the next ball for a six into the crowd.
Now there was no stopping Washington-Sundar; he even kept Gill off strike for 12 minutes. When Gill got the strike back he paddled Tongue to fine leg for a single to bring up his 200 from 311 balls with fours. He celebrated his 200 by kissing his helmet and bowing in Shane Warne style.
Gill hit Harry Brook for three consecutive fours: the first was a late cut, the next two were both straight. He flat batted Carse to the cover boundary to bring up India’s 500. Now England’s performance in the field went down, a wide ball down the legside from Carse went through stumper’s Smith’s legs to the boundary.
Gill’s partnership with Washington-Sundar was broken when Washington-Sundar was bowled by Root’s arm ball after adding 144 in 21 overs with Gill. His departure sparked a mini collapse but India wanted to bowl and if they could reach 600. Gill had to fetch a wideish ball from Tongue and hit it straight to Ollie Pope at square leg.
Shoaib Bashir tossed one up to Akash Deep who couldn’t resist the temptation to have a big swing and found Ben Duckett at wide long-on. He wrapped the India innings up when Mohammed Siraj came down the pitch to him but he fired it wide and Smith took an easy stumping.
England’s Assistant coach Jeetan Patel said: “I thought that Gill put on a masterclass. Our bowlers threw everything at him and they are tired but everyone’s fine, just tired minds and bodies. I think a good night's rest will be beneficial.
”India got an early breakthrough when that man took a spectacular catch at third slip when Duckett guided Akash Deep to him. Akash Deep got on a hattrick when Pope tried to turn Akash Deep but got a leading edge and KL Rahul at second slip took the catch at the second attempt. Root survived the hattrick ball.
Crawley, who was looking good edged a drive off Mohammed Siraj to Karun Nair at first slip. Jadeja added: “We tried our best not to drop catches.
” Patel added: “It looks like a new ball pitch, when the old ball gets softer and it doesn’t move sideways. The Indian bowlers had a day and half off the field and they came in fresh.
We’ve got to find another way to get over the line and there are three days of cricket left. We’ve got two of the world's best batters at the crease and they are looking forward to cashing in and will come back tomorrow fresh.
”It could have been worse, Brook on one was hit on his pads and the umpire was unmoved but as the ball flew to the slips one of the Indian players said he had heard two noises so they reviewed it. The replay showed it had missed the pads and was umpires call on the wickets. It was Brook who brought up England’s 50 when he went down the pitch to Mohammed Siraj and launched him into the Birmingham end.
Day 3
WHAT a day for England’s Jamie Smith:he came in at 11.12 on a hattrick, struck his first ball straight to the long--off boundary, hit his highest Test score, narrowly missed out on hitting the fastest Test century by an England player and shared in a sixth wicket partnership of 303 in 61 overs with Harry Brook.
Smith came in after England had lost Joe Root and Ben Stokes while adding only seven to their overnight score. Only the optimistic England or cricket fan would imagine that they would score another 303 runs without losing a wicket. For much of the time Brook became invisible despite some big shots that was how much Smith’s big shots dominated the attention.The impetus came from Smith when he went berserk in a Prasidh Krishna over who persisted with a short ball attack.
First of all he pulled Krishna over backward square leg for a six. Shubman Gill reinforced the legside with three men on the boundary and still Smith found the boundary. He flat batted the next ball to the mid-wicket boundary but Krishna’s next ball was a wide over his head. Smith finished the over by driving Krishna to the long-off boundary.
The short ball attack continued in Krishna’s next over as Smith helped the first ball on its way over square leg for another six. For the first time in England’s innings the batters were in charge. Smith edged Ravindran Jadeja, hitting Gill on his head at slip on its way for a single to bring up the 100 partnership with Brook in 14 overs. He launched Jadeja over long-on into the pavilion for another six.
Brook said: “It was good fun batting with Smudge(Smith), the way he came out and put the pressure back on them. He is awesome and so good to watch from the other end. I was just trying to get him back on strike”
India had a dream start to the day getting rid of Root and Stokes in two balls. Mohammed Siraj strangled Root down the legside after adding four to his overnight score. Mohammed Siraj found himself on a hattrick when he got one to rise at Stokes and take his top edge to Rishabh Pant. Smith survived the hattrick ball by on driving Mohammed Siraj for a couple.
After smashing Krishna about Edgbaston, Smith and Brook attacked the spinners Jadeja and Washington-Sundar and wouldn’t let them settle into a groove and that was the main reason for England’s run spree in the morning.
Smith’s century was England’s equalled the third fastest Test century for England level with Brook, behind Jonny Bairstow and Gilbert Jessop. His century came when he slog/swept Jadeja to the mid-wicket boundary. It came from 80 balls with 14 fours and three sixes.
Brook drove Mohammed Siraj through the covers to bring up his 50 which came from 73 balls with seven fours and a six. He brought up his ninth Test century when he late cut Krishna to the third man boundary. His century came from 127 balls with 12 fours and a six. On 115 he got an inside edge to Mohammed Siraj and the ball could have dropped on to his stumps but luckily for Brook the dropped clear off his stumps.
He added: “I was gutted to miss out on a century last week, it was the first time that I had been dismissed in the 90’s.”
After those two early wickets, chances for wickets were sparse. Smith edged Nithish Kumar Reddy but Pant could only get his fingertips to it. On the cusp of tea Washington-Sundar got the ball to spin and Brook took advantage and hit three consecutive boundaries. On the third one Brook missed it the first time but the ball came down and hit the back of Brook’s bat and over Pant’s head and ran for four.
In the first over after tea Brook reversed swept Washington-Sundar but missed the ball and the Indians went up leg before but their appeal was turned down. Washington-Sundar was convinced it was out so Gill reviewed it. But the replay showed the ball to be missing.
Suffering from cramp and still needing one run to avoid the follow-on Brook was bowled by Akash Deep. In the third over with the new ball Akash Deep got one to nip back in at Brook and kiss the off stump. Brook’s innings came from 234 balls and included 17 fours and a six.
Chris Woakes edged a big drive off Akash Deep and Karun Nair at first slip took a comfortable catch in his midriff. Brydon Carse was hit on the pads by Mohammed Siraj who was convinced it hit his pad before the bat. With Gill off the field Pant went for the review. Finally India got one right. Gill ran back on the field and hugged Mohammed Siraj and Pant.
Mohammed Siraj got his fifth wicket when Josh Tongue had a big swing at him missed and was hit on the pads. Tongue was given out and Tongue reviewed straight away. The replay showed it to be hitting. After he was hit on the head by Mohammed Siraj and receiving treatment Shoaib Basher offered no shot and was bowled for the sixth duck. England had lost five wickets for 20 runs in 44 balls.
Their score of 407 is the highest Test innings score to include six ducks.
Smith was unbeaten on 184, the highest score by an England wicket keeper beating the 173, made by another Surrey man, Alec Stewart against New Zealand at Eden Park in 1997.
Leading by 180 India raced to 51 in eight overs when England got a wicket from nowhere. Yashasvi Jaiswal was hit on the pads by Tongue and was given out. Jaiswal decided to review it but Stokes was furious that he had taken too long.The review took place and Jaiswal was plumb leg before. Brook said: “I thought it was out.
They are in front at the moment but if we get a couple of early wickets in the morning you never know. Everything happens so quickly you never know. The Indian bowlers bowled with the new ball and kept all modes of dismissals in play. We didn’t get it right tonight. Hopefully we can do that in the morning.
Everyone in the world knows that we will try and chase down anything they set us.”
Day 4
INDIA captain Shubman Gill became the first Test batter to score a double century and 150 in a Test match before setting England a nominal target of 608 in 3 1/2 sessions by the close England had lost three wickets and need another 536 runs to win.
The last Indian batter to score a double century and a hundred in the same Test was Sunil Gavaskar who scored 124 and 220 against the West Indies at Port of Spain in Trinidad in 1971.
India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel said: “I am very happy for him. As the captain there is a lot of expectation on him but he is comfortable walking around and connecting with the players. He has been exceptional as a young captain.”
Gill’s 161 came from 162 balls with 13 fours and eight sixes in just over four hours. He reached his hundred when he pushed Shoaib Basher to mid-wicket for a quick single. But India’s second innings sprang into life when Gill was joined by his vice captain Rishabh Pant and they added 110 in 17 overs.
It only took Pant three balls to reach double figures, he pulled Josh Tongue for a four over square leg and a straight six over long-off. He should have been out on 10 when he smashed Ben Stokes straight to Zak Crawley at mid-off who dropped a sitter. He flicked Tongue off his toes for a six over square leg for a six. With that six Pant became the leading overseas Test player six hitter against England in England.
Pant tried repeating the shot in Tongue’s next over but his bat slipped out of his hands and ended at mid-wicket. Pant chipped the next ball and Chris Woakes who ran round from cover just got his fingertips to it, maybe on the first day he might have caught it.
After reaching his 50 Pant launched the poor Tongue over long-on boundary for a six to take India’s lead over 400. He swept Shoaib Basher to the mid-wicket boundary to bring up the 100 partnership with Gill off 92 balls.
Pant’s innings ended when he smashed Shoaib Basher to Ben Duckett at long-off but in the process his bat slipped out of his hands again and nearly hit Bryden Carse at mid-wicket.
Gill helped a short ball from Tongue on its way to the finer leg boundary for a six. He flat batted the next ball to the long-on boundary and smashed the next so hard that it went through Ben Stokes to the mid-wicket boundary. In Tongue’s next over, with six men on the legside, Gill pulled him for another six. He flat batted Tongue to the long-on boundary to bring up his 50 from 57 balls with two sixes and six fours.
Gill went down the pitch to Shoaib Basher and clipped off his legs and over the mid-wicket boundary for a six.
With Pant’s dismissal Ravindra Jadeja was promoted above Nithish Kumar Reddy but nobody knew why. Was it to score runs quickly if it was, the plan failed because Jadeja and Gill only added 68 in 17 overs before tea but after tea it was a different story as they added 107in 14 overs. But when would the declaration come.
Gill swept Joe Root over the mid-wicket boundary for a six to take their lead over 550. He swept the next ball over the square leg boundary for another six. He reached his 150 with a big six off Root and should have been out on the next ball when he pulled Root. Pope ran in from fine leg and completely misjudged his run in and the ball went over him. Gill was eventually dismissed when he played a tired shot to Shoaib Basher and flat batted it in the air and Shoaib Basher ran five yards to take the catch. Still no declaration.
Nitish Kumar Reddy made one before he used the long handle to Root and found Crawley on the long-off boundary. Jadeja cut Root to bring his 50 from 94 balls and swept the next ball to the fine leg boundary. The declaration came at 5.00 just as the players were about to take drinks.
In the morning session after driving Carse to the cover boundary KL Rahul edged him wide off Harry Brook at second slip to the third man boundary it would have been an easy catch for third slip. Karyn Nair was hit on the grill and he edged the next ball between Root and Brook for another boundary.
Nair clipped Carse off his toes to the square leg boundary and guided the next ball gracefully to the extra cover boundary. But before the over was out Nair was on his way back to the hutch when he edged a wider delivery to Jamie Smith.
England lost a review despite Stokes saying that Gill had got an inside edge to Carse but he was convinced by the other players to review it and Stokes was proved right.
KL Rahul reached his 50 from 78 balls with nine fours but in the next over he should have been on his way back to the hutch when he edged Stokes to where third slip should have been, Stokes responded by moving Brook at second slip wider. In the next over KLRahul lost his middle stump when he was yorked by Tongue.
England’s battle to save the match got off to a poor start when they lost their first wicket in the second over when Crawley sliced a cover drive off Mohammed Siraj to substitute Sai Sudharsan at gully. Duckett blitzed his way to 25 from 14 balls before he got an inside edge to Akash Deep which cannoned into his stumps. Akash Deep got the prized wicket of Root with the best ball of the match with one which moved away after it was angled in.
Morkel said: “The three wickets we got were a bonus but we need to be in the money in the morning but I think that we are in for an exciting day of cricket. We were worried about England getting the runs if they did, then full credit to them. England have done well chasing down scores of 400 and the more they do it teams will start to become weary of setting them 400.”
England’s Assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said: “We are always trying to be as positive as we can but we know that it’s a lot of runs to score. It’s a very challenging score to try and chase. I expected a target of 550 but it is what it is and they made their own decisions.
We have done things that have been different to what England teams did before. We are trying to give players the best opportunity to win games. If we bat better than in the first innings you never know.”
Day 5
INDIA beat England by 337 runs to win their first Test match at Edgbaston and draw level in this five Test match series for the Anderson/Gavaskar trophy.
Indian captain Shubman Gill said: “I don’t believe in statistics or history but I believe that this is the best Indian team to come to England and it will be a series to remember. I thought that getting through their top order last night was the turning point and that spell from Akash Deep gave confidence to the team that we could win.
This is a magnificent achievement for us after there were a lot of questions about how we were going to get 20 wickets. But I believe that any bowling attack we have can take 20 wickets.
The target I had in mind yesterday was 500 to 600 so I thought it was important that we got a big partnership and to score quickly you need to have two batsmen who are set. Sometimes when you are captain you have to lead by example and put the team first. When I am at the crease I want to bat as long as possible.
”Askash Deep took his first five wicket haul in a Test innings as he took six for 99 and also claimed his first Test match 10 wicket haul as he took four wickets for 88 in England/s first innings.
Play didn’t get underway until 12.40 because of morning rain with 80 overs in the day but in the end they only needed 52 of them. India got an early breakthrough in the fourth over of the day when Akash Deep, who the experts were saying was bowling from the wrong end, the Birmingham end, got one to rise at Ollie Pope and brushed his glove and dropped on to his stumps.
Gill added: “He wasn’t supposed to be bowling from that end but Prasidh Krishna bowled well from the pavilion end last night that I kept him on that end.
”England lost their second wicket of the morning two overs later when Akash Deep after bowling two out swingers got one to zip back in at Harry Brook who was given out. Brook reviewed it and the replay showed it was umpires call. At that moment It looked like it would be a very early finish to the day despite the late start.
England captain Ben Stokes said: “I thought that Akash Deep exposed the cracks in the pitch last night and this morning. Brook couldn’t do anything about the ball that he got.
”Stokes, who survived the King Pair, was joined by Jamie Smith, and after the first hour when Akash Deep and Krishna looked like they were going to take a wicket with every ball they managed to get the scoreboard moving. Stokes swept Ravindra Jadeja to bring up England’s 150.
The left arm spinner Jadeja bowling into the rough had both batsmen in trouble with Smith deciding to play the line and hoping for the best. He ended up England’s top scorer. Jadeja bowled the penultimate over before lunch quickly so they could get an extra over in and it worked. First India went up for a catch behind off Stokes but decided not to review it. Stokes was hit on the pads before it hit his and was given out. Stokes decided to review it and he was given out. Stokes and Smith added 70 in 19 overs.
In the first session England added 81 in 24.3 overs losing three wickets.
Smith's fifth Test match 50 came from 73 balls with seven fours. He took a couple of paces down the pitch to Washington Sundar and smashed him over the long-on boundary for his first six of his innings. Two balls later he hit his second, this one was flatter and straighter.
On 71 he missed a pull of Krishna and was given out, Smith reviewed it and the replay showed it to be missing. He hooked Akash Deep over the shortest fine leg boundary, and then he pulled the next ball over mid wicket. Going for another six Smith got through his shot quickly and found Washington Sundar on the square leg boundary. Stokes said : “He felt that was the best way for him to bat.
”After defying India’s bowlers for 42 minutes, which was worth more than runs, Chris Woakes top edged a pull shot off Krishna to Mohammed Siraj at mid-wicket, Woakes started to walk before Mohammed Siraj took the catch.
On 13 Bryden Carse edged Jadeja but KL Raul at first slip couldn’t take the catch because he was unsighted by Rishabh Pant. In the next over Carse pulled Krishna for a six over mid wicket. He decided to have some fun and sprayed the ball around Edgbaston, he became England’s second top scorer before he was the last man out.
Josh Tongue clipped Jadeja to mid-on and Mohammed Siraj took a great low catch diving to his right.Stokes added: “There were two big moments in this game: having them at 200 for five and letting them get 507.
We had a chance to bowl them out for 250, it turned out to be a pitch that wasn’t going to turn out as we planned. But full credit to Gill, he’s had two special matches. He managed to get an inside edge on to the ball but credit where it’s due. And when we were 83 for five. At 83 for five it’s always tough to get back into the game and push on to win.
We had a big task in front of us when we went out to bat last night and the task today was to bat out 80 overs which was always going to be hard. I think the way we’ve batted before made India push for a lead of 600.
We didn’t over celebrate our victory at Headingley so we have to flip this on it’s head and get ready for Lord’s.
”India scored 1014 runs in this Test, the most runs they’ve scored in a Test match.