England should win at Leeds but might just take longer than they thought: Michael Vaughan

Former cricketer Michael Vaughan has said that he believes England will win the ongoing Test at Headingley against India but the win might take longer to come than they would have expected. After dominating the Test for the first two days, England was not able to wrap up India or put immense pressure on them to seal the match.

On day one, India was bowled out for just 78 runs in 40 overs. England batted brilliantly as the wicket got easier to bat on. They piled up 432 runs in their first innings and thereby getting a lead of 354 runs. But, India showed tremendous fight back and ended day three on 215 for 2.

By just looking at the numbers, one can hope England will win this match as they are well ahead. India still needs 130 runs (at the time of writing) to level scores, before they start building a target for England’s second innings. “History tells you that India isn’t going to win it,” Vaughan was quoted as saying by the BBC.

India have to win every minute of this Test if they are going to win: Michael Vaughan

Vaughan noted that the hosts have not won a great deal of Test matches in recent times. In fact, their last Test win came in February when they toured India. “England is way ahead. They should win convincingly. It might just take longer than they thought. England just has to be patient. They are not used to winning, and when that is the case you can sometimes panic,” he said.

Vaughan further said that it will take a lot of time to get India out but England bowlers have to be consistent with their lines. “It might take an hour. It might take an hour and a half. But you have to stay patient on or around the fourth-stump line, bringing the batsmen forward,” he added. Vaughan further suggested that India can’t even lose their temperament for even 30 mins.

With India still being so far in the game, by the context of runs and wickets, Vaughan said that they have to win every minute to this Test moving forward. He also gave a roadmap of what could give a scare to England. “India can’t afford a half an hour blip. They have to win every minute of this Test if they are going to win this Test. England will know that. India needs to score another 280 runs and leave England a chase of 140. With England’s batting line-up, you never know,” he said.