England shock Kohli and co, Kapil Dev sends special message to to-be Pak PM Imran Khan - Cricket News Today, August 4, 2018

The cricketing world was abuzz on Saturday, August 4, 2018. The England cricket team defeated India by 31 runs in an extremely close-fought encounter at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

Dinesh Karthik was dismissed early on in the day, with Dawid Malan taking a catch in the slip cordon to a James Anderson delivery.

Virat Kohli fought on and scored a half-century but fell to an in-swinging delivery by Ben Stokes, who took out Mohammad Shami in the same over.

From there, there was no turning back for England, who got rid of Ishant and Pandya as well.

So, let's take a look at the news of the day:

#1 England shock India; Kohli, Root, and Curran's post-match reactions

With this win, England have now taken a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. The second Test will take place at Lords from August 9.

Ben Stokes' four-wicket haul was the turning point of the match. If Kohli had stayed at the crease for longer, India would have definitely been in with a chance to win the match.

However, they will now look to go out all guns blazing at Lords - a ground at which they have achieved some success.

Here is how the captains and the man of the match, Sam Curran, reacted after the match:

Virat Kohli:

It was a great game of cricket. Glad to be a part of such an exciting Test match; there were a couple of moments when we came back. A team like England is relentless, they made us work very hard for our runs. Our shot selection could have been better. We definitely need to apply ourselves better with the bat, but England came back superbly and we need to take the positives and move forward

Joe Root:

I am thrilled to bits. It has been a fantastic team performance despite the ups and downs the credit must go to the bowling unit. Coming into today, it was going to be stiff challenge and we knew that if we stayed calm throughout, we would give ourselves the best chance to win

Sam Curran:

I can't take it all at the moment. Obviously, when Jimmy took Karthik out first up it gave us a lot of confidence. I just try to take it like another game, but it is quite hard with the Barmy Army chanting out there, but I look to take it all in.

#2 Ishant Sharma fined for send-off

Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma was fined for his send-off to Dawid Malan on the third day's play between India and England in Birmingham.

Ishant Sharma was fined 15 percent of his match fee. In addition, he was also awarded one demerit point, as he has been discovered of being guilty of a Level 1 Breach of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel.

Ishant had turned the tide in India's favour with three wickets in a single over, however, Sam Curran got them back into the game with a half-century. In the end, India lost the game.

#3 Nepal defeat Netherlands by 1 run

The Nepal cricket team defeated the Netherlands by 1 run to achieve their first ever ODI win in the second ODI of the two-match ODI series held at Amstelveen in the Netherlands.

After losing the first match, Nepal bounced back in the 2nd ODI to create history. Nepal batted first and scored 215, with Sompal Kami scoring 61 runs.

The Dutch were 185-9 at one point but a last wicket partnership got them back into the game. However, Nepal held their nerve and won the match in the end.

#4 Deepak Chahar hits back at Gregg Chappell for his comments

Indian cricket team pacer Deepak Chahar made his debut against England in the third T20I which India won.

He is currently playing for the India A side. While speaking to Sportskeeda, he opened up about the comments made by former India coach Gregg Chappell on him many years ago.

"What he said was his own opinion. Not a single person can tell me that I will become something I am not. Even if 100 people tell me I won’t become a cricketer, I won’t listen to them. I know I’ve worked hard and will achieve what I want to. It doesn’t matter what anyone says about me," said Chahar to Sportskeeda during the TNPL.

#5 Kapil Dev sends special message to to-be Pakistan PM Imran Khan

Kapil Dev, who was taking part in Louis Phillipe Celebrity Pro Am, an international Professional Golf tournament held in Bengaluru, spoke to the Press after the event.

He opened up about how golf helps cricketers and on him representing India in the Asia Pacific Senior event.

He also opened up about Imran Khan, who is set to become Pakistan's new Prime Minister, and sent a special message to him.

"Imran has worked very hard for 20-odd years and he selflessly worked for his country and today he got reward for that. I hope he can keep working in the same manner."

"Imran was a very good captain, for it was not easy to lead a team like Pakistan. Because of his brilliant captaincy, Pakistan did well. I hope he does the same for his country as Prime Minister," Kapil said