In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy and Stu look back at the first two days of the final India v England Test, and day one of the Black Caps v Australia at Hagley Oval.
Ravichandran Ashwin took 4 wickets in the first innings of his hundredth Test, but it was Kuldeep Yadav who stole the show with 5 delightful dismissals as he ripped out England's top order.
When it was India's turn to bat, centuries for Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, plus fifties for Sarfaraz Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal and debutant Devdutt Padikkal have put India right on top at the end of day two.
At Hagley Oval, the Black Caps won the first hour, but then Josh Hazlewood's relentless pressure took its toll and New Zealand crumbled to 162 all out. Matt Henry showed his class again, and Ben Sears bamboozled Steve Smith, but a return to form for Marnus Labuschagne edged Australia towards parity with six first innings remaining at stumps.
We'll be back again in the next day or two with more news from both tests, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.
You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.
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Thanks for listening.
0:00 Intro
0:35 Day 1 at Hagley Oval - Black Caps skittled again
1:45 First hour of the day - Tom Latham looking fluid
3:55 Quality seam bowling, led by Josh Hazlewood
5:35 Australia's relentless pressure with the ball
7:50 Is Marnus Labuschagne back?
9:05 Ben Sears debut, a good selection?
11:20 Baldy's high standards
13:00 Hopes for day 2
15:55 India v England
16:55 Which of these English spinners will stick?
20:05 How many of the young Indian batters will be there once Kohli and Rahul return?
23:00 Kuldeep Yadav's fab five
26:40 Hopes for day 3
29:05 Natural variation