Archive July 2, 2025

It was, statistically at least, the most secure Test century on record in England.

Rookie India captain Shubman Gill, with all of the noise in the background and on the back of a punch-to-the-stomach defeat last week in Leeds, defied England on day one of the second Test at Edgbaston.

The hosts will have sensed their moment to push further into the ascendency in this series when winning the toss and choosing to ‘have a chase’.

But Gill responded with a controlled 114 not out to better some modern-day greats and help his side close on a respectable 310-5 in Birmingham.

“The way he is batting has been incredible to see,” said team-mate Yashasvi Jaiswal, who shared a stand of 66 with his captain.

Gill would have been forgiven for leaving Edgbaston on Tuesday with his head in a spin.

In his pre-match news conference he fended question after question about his team selection this week – mostly about whether his star bowler Jasprit Bumrah would play.

The travelling India press pack is large and unrelenting and Gill struggled to sate them. The message was muddled. His batting in Birmingham 24 hours later was not.

Having spoken about wanting to compartmentalise batting and captaincy before the series, Gill strolled to the middle and played an innings with a false shot percentage of just 3. 5%. The average in England is 12%.

It makes it the most controlled ton on these shores since analysts CricViz began recording such statistics in 2006.

England run-getting legends like Sir Alastair Cook, Joe Root and Kevin Pietersen were never this controlled using the same metric. Nor were modern-day greats Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting and Kumar Sangakkara, who have all peeled off glorious hundreds on these shores in the last 20 years.

Gill’s innings contained just two outside edges off Chris Woakes – both before he had reached 20 – and an inside edge to Brydon Carse that thwarted an England lbw review.

There were three more false shots – any edge, play and miss or stroke mishit – to Woakes and two to Ben Stokes. Otherwise that was it – as close to perfection as anyone has been in recent years in England.

The pitch was the second easiest on record on a first day at Edgbaston – number one was in 2017 against West Indies in case you wondered – but Gill responded with the most controlled of knocks.

Gill was named Test captain in May despite doubts around the 25-year-old’s record overseas.

In six innings in England he averaged 14. 66 but, batting at number four further from the new-ball movement, he made 147 in his first innings as skipper in the Headingley first Test.

“He has worked on his defence,” Ravi Shastri, India’s coach when Gill made his Test debut, told Sky Sports.

“When he last came to England he played with hard hands and pushed at the ball. Now he allows the ball to come and hit the bat. He is trusting his defence. “

That trust was shown in the middle. He took 125 balls to reach 50 and 199 to reach 100 – both his slowest efforts.

England’s plan to Gill was clear after his success at Headingley: their lines were the straightest they have bowled at a batter in 16 years as the pace bowlers targeted the pads.

“It felt like we were close to getting him lbw where he got a little inside edge,” said Woakes.

“Other than those it felt like he was in control of pretty much everything. Credit to him.

England’s greatest tormentor in the CricViz era has been Steve Smith but even the great Australia does not come close to a century as controlled as Gill’s here.

His lowest false shot percentage in any of his eight Test centuries in England was 9% – a difference of far more than a strip of sandpaper or two.

The previous best came from an unlikely name – former England opener Sam Robson who hit 127 in his second Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley in 2014.

Arsenal encouraged in pursuit of Rodrygo, Atletico Madrid going all out to sign Cristian Romero, and West Ham reject Tottenham bid for Mohammed Kudus.

class=”ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3″>Arsenal have been encouraged in their £70m pursuit of Brazil forward Rodrygo, who is not guaranteed a starting spot under new class=”ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3″>Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso. (Mirror)

Atletico Madrid are willing to go all out to sign Tottenham and Argentina defender Cristian Romero, 27, and are willing to put a deal in place worth about £61m. (AS – in Spanish)

West Ham have rejected a £50m bid from Tottenham for Ghana forward Mohammed Kudus, 24. (Talksport)

Manchester United want £25m for Jadon Sancho, 25, with Juventus still interested in the England winger. (Corriere dello Sport – in Italian)

Sancho is prepared to lower his wage demands to join the 36-time Serie A winners. (Eurosport Italia – in Italian)

Manchester United are stepping up their interest in Aston Villa and England striker Ollie Watkins, 29, and have held tentative talks with the Midlands club who want a fee of about £60m. (Mirror)

Napoli boss Antonio Conte is keen to sign Nigeria forward Ademola Lookman, 27, from Atalanta this summer. (La Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian)

Newcastle are aiming to tie up a deal for Burnley’s English goalkeeper James Trafford, 22, as early as next week and remain in talks with Nottingham Forest for Swedish winger Anthony Elanga, 23. (i paper)

Japan winger Kaoru Mitoma, 28, has told Brighton he wants to stay at the club and sign a new deal despite being linked with Bayern Munich (Sky Sports)

Nice goalkeeper Marcin Bulka, 25, is set to join Saudi Arabian side Neom, despite Sunderland having a £12. 8m bid accepted for the Poland international. (Meczyki – in Polish)

Sunderland have turned their attention to signing Chelsea’s Serbian goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic, 25, but face competition from Aston Villa and Bournemouth. (Times)

The Black Cats are also nearing the capture of Union Saint-Gilloise’s DR Congo player Noah Sadiki, 20, who can play in defence or midfield. (Sunderland Echo)

Italy striker Ciro Immobile, 35, is to terminate his contract with Turkish club Besiktas and join Bologna on a free transfer. (Corriere dello Sport – in Italian)

class=”ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3″>Valencia’s Spanish defender Cristhian Mosquera, 21, has turned down a lucrative new contract with the La Liga club because he wants to join Arsenal. (Las Provincias – in Spanish)

A gutsy Cameron Norrie produced one of the best performances of his career as he fought back to beat Frances Tiafoe in a thrilling encounter and reach the third round at Wimbledon.

The former British number one, who got to the semi-finals of the Championships in 2022, won 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-5 and will next face world number 73 Mattia Bellucci of Italy.

But there was disappointment for compatriot Katie Boulter as she was knocked out in a surprise 7-6 (9-7) 2-6 1-6 defeat by lucky loser Solana Sierra from Argentina.

British wildcard Billy Harris lost 6-3 6-4 7-6 (9-7) to world number 37 Nuno Borges, while the last home player in action on Wednesday, Arthur Fery, will return on Thursday after his match with Luciano Darderi was suspended due to fading light on Court 2, with the Italian leading 4-6 3-6.

Sonay Kartal had earlier become the first Briton to go through on day three, comfortably seeing off Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova 6-2 6-2.

Norrie’s win did not come as easily but was just as impressive as he battled back from losing the first set to win the next three, undoing the American 12th seed with some brilliant tennis that had the Court One crowd on their feet.

Norrie climbed as high as eighth in the world three years ago but he is now 61st, with injury and poor form dropping him down the rankings.

“When I was in the top 10 and the top 20, everything was very automatic. It was on to the next thing and the next thing,” he said.

“I think it’s a good thing to go through, being injured, not winning, then having the resilience to back yourself. “

The pivotal moment in his tie came in the fourth set when, after having a break that would have put him on the cusp of victory immediately wiped out, Norrie dug in to get another and go on to seal the success.

It was the second match in a row he has had to come through four sets, having overcome Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut in sweltering conditions on Monday.

But this was a performance to give the 29-year-old encouragement he can progress beyond the third round at Wimbledon for only the second time.

“I’m enjoying my tennis more than ever,” added Norrie.

“It was really nice coming up to get into the top 10 but it’s just tough, really tough, to stay there.

Boulter had been hoping to continue the British success on Court One as her match followed on from Norrie’s.

Hopes were high when the 28-year-old made an eye-catching start to her Wimbledon tournament with a rare victory over a top 10 player, upsetting Spain’s Paula Badosa.

Boulter went into that match as the underdog, but faced Sierra – ranked 101st in the world – as the favourite and that change in expectation and pressure may have played a part in this disappointing loss.

She found herself 5-2 down in the first set but drew on the home support to battle back, winning the next three games before coming out on top in a tense tie-break.

But it was deja vu in the second set as Boulter was broken again and there was to be no response this time as she went down 6-2.

Too many double faults on her serve proved costly and Sierra raced into a commanding 4-0 lead in the decider.

That was too much for British number two Boulter to come back from as her 21-year-old opponent sealed the impressive win, dropping just one game.

Sierra originally lost in qualifying before being invited to the main draw as a lucky loser.

The victory does present her with a dilemma – albeit a welcome one – as her longer-than-expected stay means she has had to keep finding somewhere to stay.

Kartal continued her impressive form at Wimbledon by becoming the first British player to reach round three this year with a dominant victory over Tomova.

After two days of blistering heat, the start to Wednesday’s play was delayed by more than two hours because of rain in the morning.

But once the action did begin, Kartal followed up her impressive first-round win against 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko by quickly despatching Tomova.

It is the second year in a row the British number three has reached the third round at Wimbledon.

“I felt good in the warm-up and on court I felt good. I was seeing it and hitting it very clean. It was one of those good days in the office,” said Kartal.

“I wanted to back up the run I had last year. I wanted to show I am at this level now and I can consistently play.

“The last couple of months I have thrown myself on the scene. This year I made a conscious effort to only play the bigger matches. I am feeling much more confidence in my game. “

After getting the first break of serve in the sixth game of the opening set, Kartal really got into her stride, hitting impressive winners before breaking again at 5-2 up to take the first set.

It did not get any better for Tomova in the second set as the 23-year-old home favourite won the first four games to asset her dominance.

Tomova managed to break serve in the fifth game, but it only delayed the Briton’s march to an excellent win.