England need 350 runs more to win the first Test against India at Headingley, Leeds, but besides the target being a mammoth figure, the weather can also play spoilsport on Day 5 and force a draw in the opening game of the five-match Test series.
After suffering another batting collapse where India went from 430/4 to 471 all out, England were handed a stiff target of 371 to win the Leeds Test match. The English openers – Zak Crawley (12*) and Ben Duckett (9*) – negated the last six overs safely on Day 4 to finish on 21/0 at Stumps .
They will look to continue the momentum on Day 5 of the Test match against England, but Accuweather forecasts 84% chances of rain on Tuesday (24 June) in Leeds. As per the portal, there will be “variable cloudiness with a couple of showers; breezy this afternoon” in Leeds.
Leeds Weather: Rain expected to impact Day 5 of IND vs ENG Test
The BBC Weather says “light rain showers and a gentle breeze” are expected in Leeds on Tuesday.
The temperatures are expected to be as low as 15 and as high as 20 degrees Celsius, which means it will be a tough day for batting under breezy and cold conditions. However, the major worry is that rain will interrupt the sessions.
Day 5 starts at 11 AM local time, and the probability of precipitation around that time is 40%. It rises to 47% at 2 PM and over 50% at 3 PM. It’s quite likely that we would experience a rain break during the second session of play on Day 5 in Headingley.
From 4 PM to late evening, the probability of precipitation is expected to be around 48-52%.
This means we could lose overs today at Headingley, but we are not expecting a washout.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThis would also make the chase difficult and a draw becomes the more likely outcome of the match. However, both teams would want to secure a win to give themselves the required momentum in the series.
India would rely heavily on Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja to bowl out England as early as possible.