Team India had a bizarre outing in the third Test match against England at Headingley, Leeds. The Indian team had a poor outing both with bat and ball. Winning the toss batting first turned out to be a horrible decision for Team India as they got bowled out at the score of 78. James Anderson started the match with a bang dismissing KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Virat Kohli early on in the match.
Meanwhile, Speaking to BBC Test Match Special after the day’s play, English pacer James Anderson admitted they had a low week at Lord’s. Notably, India defeated England at Lord’s by a huge margin of 151 runs. Anderson further said they were hungry to show the fight against India. Also, he praised England’s bowling and batting unit for doing a good job in the 3rd Test against India.
“We had a really low week at Lord’s, certainly the last day, but we had a good few days off to let that pass and concentrate on good things we did. We played well for four days there and came here hungry and ready to show fight. We did that with the ball, the whole attack did really well. Then the two guys with the bat showed so much skill and fight. We knew it’s an important Test so wanted to start well. – James Anderson
Every ball from *that* sensational new ball spell this morning from @jimmy9! 👑
Day 1 Highlights: https://t.co/0h6LQe9pxh
🏴 #ENGvIND 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/A1XJVniULP
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 25, 2021
The 39-year-old further revealed that they got good seam and swing movement when they were asked to ball first. Anderson asserted:
” Losing the toss and choosing to bat which is always tricky. We weren’t sure how the wicket was going to play. I thought we adjusted to conditions really well. We got seam and swing movement, and we asked questions and got our rewards. I still feel fresh. After the first two Tests, bowling a lot of overs, it is nice to have an innings or two to get some rest, especially when the Tests are so close together.”
The Veteran pacer once again lavished praise on the whole England bowling and batting unit. Also, he highlighted days like these don’t come around very often so he is enjoying the day.
“It doesn’t get much better than that. We’ve talked about trying to bowl as a unit, and we just absolutely nailed it today. Then the way the openers played at the end was outstanding, and exactly what we’ve been asking for. These days don’t come around very often, so you just have to be happy when they do.”
“We know they (India) are a good bowling attack” – Craig Overton
Many expected Saqib Mahmood to be part of England’s squad in the 3rd Test match against India. However, Craig Overton was the one to replace injured Mark Wood. He had an amazing outing as he bagged 3 Wickets. Talking to Sky Sports he said
“It’s obviously a great day for us, topped off by the boys being none-down overnight and giving us bowlers a bit of rest break overnight.
“There’s obviously still a long way to go – we know they are a good bowling attack and we’ve got to come back tomorrow and do our job with the bat and hopefully bat long and bat them out of the game.
Further, Overton added that England did a good job in the Lord’s Test except Day 5 at Lord’s. He also revealed England came in the match with the same mindset and Anderson started off very well after picking quick wickets. He stated:
“We felt for a lot of the days at Lord’s we were very good but we obviously got the morning session of day five very wrong. We thought if we did the same we’d come out on top and we started off very well with Jimmy taking those three early wickets. We stuck at it as a bowling group, trying to keep them dry and getting the rewards from there.”
A tough day at the office for #TeamIndia 🇮🇳 as England 🏴 lead by 4️⃣2️⃣ runs at Stumps on Day 1️⃣.
Join us tomorrow for all the action from Day 2️⃣. #ENGvIND
Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/FChN8SDsxh pic.twitter.com/GnGOb7Iycg
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 25, 2021
