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Following questions regarding his decision during the toss in England’s epic victory over India, captain Ben Stokes responded, “Test cricket is played over five days.

On the opening day of the first Test at Headingley, Stokes chose to field despite the club’s ideal batting conditions.

India’s first innings totaled 430-3, but England fought back to finish with a superb run chase of 371 late in the fifth day.

According to Stokes, “you make a decision and don’t know what will happen.”

In the crucial moments of this game, we performed what we needed to. Not just the dressing room’s attitude contributed to this victory, but also its talent.

Stokes’ captaincy opted to field in accordance with a trend. Since he became England’s captain in 2022, England has won the toss nine times and have finished first.

If it had rained in the final two days of those nine games, they would have won seven, lost one, and drawn one. In the latter game, Old Trafford, they probably would have won against Australia in a game in 2023.

Headingley is also a suitable pitch for second base. Leeds is the only one of the 81 Test venues that has consistently produced more runs per wicket and innings per innings throughout a match.

When asked whether his faith in his choice ever faltered, Stokes responded, “Imagine thinking that way before we even had the chance to bat on a wicket.”

The second morning saw India’s fall from 430-3 to 471. Only one team in Test history has conceded more runs in their opening two innings before losing.

Before any cricket is even half an hour old, “you never know what a wicket will play like,” Stokes said.

It appeared to have a lot of top moisture, but it actually felt like it. You place your best bet on winning the game in the first place.

Headingley generally does quite a bit early on. In the first hour, I believed there was a good chance to win three or four. The opponents have the opportunity to play well.

On July 2nd, Edgbaston’s second test will take place.

For his first Test appearance in more than four years, England could return pace bowler Jofra Archer.

The 30-year-old’s first first first first-class game since 2021, the County Championship match against Sussex, which he won this week after recovering from a string of injuries.

Jofra playing for England and Sussex is always a great feeling, Stokes said.

Despite losing in the series opener, coach Gautam Gambhir says that India will continue to play star bowler Jasprit Bumrah in only three of their five Test matches this summer.

Bumrah was India’s best bowler at Headingley, taking 5-83 in the opening overs, but was unable to stop England leading by 371 in a remarkable five-wicket victory on day 5.

After missing four months with a back injury earlier this year, India made the decision to limit Bumrah’s impact by only participating in three Test matches.

Gambhir remarked, “We won’t change it.”

Gambhir said it is still a mystery which of the series’ other two Test matches will Bumrah, who is the top bowler in the world rankings and is a key format player, will play.

Only three days have passed between the scheduled conclusion of that match and the start of the third Test at Lord’s before the second Test in Edgbaston, which will take place on July 2.

Between the third and fourth matches, there is an additional eight days between the third and fourth, but this time just three before the series finale at The Oval.

Let’s examine his body composition, Gambhir remarked. He said, “We haven’t decided which two additional matches he’ll play.”

As England attempted to get a 371 on day five but still looked a class above his team-mates, Bumrah did not take a wicket in his 19 overs in his first red-ball game since he was unable to bowl in the second innings of the fifth Test against Australia in January.

Mohammed Siraj, India’s second-most senior seamer, took a 2-173 total in both innings, while Shardul Thakur, who was chosen to add batting depth at number eight but was unavailable for one and four, returned figures of 2-89 in 16 overs.

However, Gambhir defended his pace bowlers and criticized Ben Duckett’s dismissals of Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, and Thakur for being caught at cover and Harry Brook strangled down the leg side.

Gambhir praised Prasadh’s ability to bowl well and score crucial wickets. We chose him because we believed he had a unique bounce, and he did so brilliantly in his first innings.

Shardul was reportedly used less. We anticipated that Ravindra Jadeja would take our place.

“I’m not going to lie and say that they didn’t bowl well,” I said.

As he impressively defeated Italian fifth seed Flavio Cobolli at Eastbourne, British number two Jacob Fearnley brushed off a agonizing late-fall slump as “just a little tweak.”

In one hour and five minutes, Fearnley won the first round of the men’s singles with a 6-2, 6-2 victory.

However, Fearnley made a nasty slip while hitting a baseline backhand, which raised concerns from the crowd, the umpire, and Cobolli when the match was 5-1.

Fearnley said he was hopeful that the win was nothing serious despite the fact that he had been hurt.

After the game, the 23-year-old Scot said, “Not too sure, it was just adrenaline getting me over the line.”

Following his successful run to the quarter-finals at Queen’s last week, the world number 51 came out on top again on grass.

Fearnley won the Italian’s world number 24 title with 21 wins, seven of which were won by the Italian.

Cobolli produced an unflinching display with 29 unforced errors while complaining to the unsympathetic Eastbourne crowd.

Billy Harris, the semi-finalist of 2024 Eastbourne, made a strong start to his campaign this year by defeating Cameron Norrie, a fellow Brit.

In Tuesday’s third match on center court, Harris defeated former Wimbledon semi-finalist Norrie 6-4 6-4 to earn a spot in the competition for the first time this year.

With the impressive victory over 61st-ranked Norrie, world number 142 Harris had only won once in his previous appearance against a player in the top 100.

Englishman Harris said, “I knew today would be a difficult match.” I had to play a strong match in the wind, and I did just that.

I had some wonderful memories last year here, so I hope I can make the most of it this week.

With a double break, Harris jumped into a 4-1 lead in the first competitive singles match, taking both of the break points in set one.

Even though the opener, which had only five winners overall, was partially ruined by Norrie’s 13 unforced errors, who had a wildcard for Eastbourne but was below par in this instance despite being able to beak Harris’ serve in the eighth game. In the one-hour and 24-minute encounter, he also failed to hit an ace.

Harris then broke in the seventh game of the second set, going over four Norrie break points in the final game.

Former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Bernard Tomic also won the first ATP match since 2021.

The 32-year-old Australian defeated compatriot Rinky Hijikata 3-6 7-5 6-2 at the Mallorca Open from behind, which had previously placed her 17th in the world but is currently ranked 249.

Tomic’s attitude has drawn a lot of criticism throughout his career because he has frequently boasted about his lifestyle and income.

As he impressively defeated Italian fifth seed Flavio Cobolli at Eastbourne, British number two Jacob Fearnley brushed off a agonizing late-fall slump as “just a little tweak.”

In one hour and five minutes, Fearnley won the first round of the men’s singles with a 6-2, 6-2 victory.

However, Fearnley made a nasty slip while hitting a baseline backhand, which raised concerns from the crowd, the umpire, and Cobolli when the match was 5-1.

Fearnley said he was hopeful that the win was nothing serious despite the fact that he had been hurt.

After the game, the 23-year-old Scot said, “Not too sure, it was just adrenaline getting me over the line.”

Following his successful run to the quarter-finals at Queen’s last week, the world number 51 came out on top again on grass.

Fearnley won the Italian’s world number 24 title with 21 wins, seven of which were won by the Italian.

Cobolli produced an unflinching display with 29 unforced errors while complaining to the unsympathetic Eastbourne crowd.

Billy Harris, the semi-finalist of 2024 Eastbourne, made a strong start to his campaign this year by defeating Cameron Norrie, a fellow Brit.

In Tuesday’s third match on center court, Harris defeated former Wimbledon semi-finalist Norrie 6-4 6-4 to earn a spot in the competition for the first time this year.

With the impressive victory over 61st-ranked Norrie, world number 142 Harris had only won once in his previous appearance against a player in the top 100.

Englishman Harris said, “I knew today would be a difficult match.” I had to play a strong match in the wind, and I did just that.

I had some wonderful memories last year here, so I hope I can make the most of it this week.

With a double break, Harris jumped into a 4-1 lead in the first competitive singles match, taking both of the break points in set one.

Even though the opener, which had only five winners overall, was partially ruined by Norrie’s 13 unforced errors, who had a wildcard for Eastbourne but was below par in this instance despite being able to beak Harris’ serve in the eighth game. In the one-hour and 24-minute encounter, he also failed to hit an ace.

Harris then broke in the seventh game of the second set, going over four Norrie break points in the final game.

Former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Bernard Tomic also won the first ATP match since 2021.

The 32-year-old Australian defeated compatriot Rinky Hijikata 3-6 7-5 6-2 at the Mallorca Open from behind, which had previously placed her 17th in the world but is currently ranked 249.

Tomic’s attitude has drawn a lot of criticism throughout his career because he has frequently boasted about his lifestyle and income.

Breakout Roland Garros star Lois Boisson saw her hopes of a maiden Wimbledon main-draw appearance ended in the first round of qualifying.

The 22-year-old rose to 65 in the world following her fairytale run to the French Open semi-finals as a 361st-ranked wildcard at the French Open.

However, the cut-off to enter the main draw is about six weeks before the tournament – when Boisson was still ranked outside the top 400.

That meant she had to go through qualifying, where on Tuesday she suffered a 6-2 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 defeat by Canada’s world number 197 Carson Branstine.

Branstine will face compatriot and long-time friend Bianca Andreescu for a place in the third and final round of qualifying.

Former US Open champion Andreescu, currently ranked 147th following a series of injuries and illnesses, comfortably beat Brazil’s Laura Pigossi 6-2 6-1.

The pair won the Australian Open girls’ doubles title together in 2017 and will face each other in a senior singles match for the first time.

Britons Emily Appleton and Amarni Banks progressed to the second qualifying round in the women’s draw.

Appleton, 25, completed a comeback victory over Swiss player Simona Waltert, winning 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-3 to set up a meeting with Czech player Barbora Palicova.

The 22-year-old Banks also went the distance in a 6-4 1-6 6-3 victory over Austria’s Julia Grabher.

But Katie Swan, Yuriko Miyazaki, Ella McDonald, Ranah Akua Stoiber, Amelia Rajecki and Katy Dunne all lost their respective matches.

Swan lost 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (8-6) to Spain’s Leyre Romero Gormaz, while Miyazaki forced a third set but eventually fell 6-4 4-6 6-2 to Russian Oksana Selekhmeteva.

McDonald lost 4-6 7-5 6-1 to Latvia’s Darja Semenistaja, Stoiber was beaten by Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa 5-7 6-4 6-1 and Rajecki exited in a 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-2) defeat by Belarusian Iryna Shymanovich.

Dunne, meanwhile, lost out 6-4 6-3 to experienced French player Alize Cornet, who came out of retirement this year.