Cricket

One of the eternal fascinations of Test cricket, especially in these Bazballistic times, is that there are almost infinite ways for interpreting what has happened. In losing 4-1 in India, did England just get thrashed, and end the series utterly dominated? Did they give the Ravichandran Ashwin-Ravindra Jadeja-era India one of the toughest challenges they have faced in a home …

England’s hopes of salvaging a final victory from their tour of India are already in grave danger after an awful batting collapse on day one of the fifth Test in Dharamsala. The tourists were spun out for 218, losing their last eight wickets for 81 runs and at one stage a calamitous 5-8 in 37 deliveries. Opener Zak Crawley made …

Ben Stokes says his England team have “massively evolved” on the tour of India, despite losing the series. England are 3-1 down going into the fifth Test and will suffer a first series defeat under Stokes’ captaincy whatever the result in Dharamsala. “Just because the scoreline at the moment reads 3-1, it doesn’t mean that we’ve gone backwards,” said Stokes. …

England threatened to pull off a famous victory only for India to seal the series with a five-wicket win on the fourth day of the fourth Test in Ranchi. Shoaib Bashir took two wickets in two balls just after lunch to leave India five down and 72 runs short of their target of 192. But Shubman Gill made a chanceless …

England captain Ben Stokes said he was “proud” of his team despite a five-wicket loss in the fourth Test that sealed a series defeat in India. The tourists are 3-1 down despite winning the first Test and having opportunities to win the other three. India have stretched a 12-year unbeaten home record while inflicting Stokes’ first series defeat as captain. …

Scotland did not get out of third gear but England’s capitulation was disappointing after how well they started. It’s not a huge worry, but it’s a gentle reminder to the coaching staff that they need to slightly shift the way they play if they want to match the top five teams in the world. Scotland were wobbling in the first …

England’s hopes of forcing a series decider faded dramatically in the face of a stirring India fightback on day three of the fourth Test in Ranchi. With dogged lower-order resistance and spin bowling of the highest quality, India turned the match on its head. From beginning Sunday 134 behind with only three first-innings wickets in hand, the hosts ended 40-0 …