Shubman Gill's record-breaking 269 puts India in control at Edgbaston

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — India backed up Shubman Gill's phenomenal 269 with three cheap England wickets on a dream day of test cricket for the visitors at Edgbaston on Thursday.

After Gill's 8 1/2-hour innings led India to 587 all out — its highest score in England in 35 years — pacers Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj found life in a seemingly lifeless pitch to reduce England to 25-3 with three edges into the slips cordon.

By stumps on day two, Harry Brook and Joe Root rebuilt England to 77-3, trailing India by 510 runs on the first innings.

Brook was 30 not out and Root 18 not out, but the day was dominated by Gill, the new India captain who calmly binged on a flat pitch to smash India test records.

England was knackered, understandable after sending the Indians into bat first then needing 151 overs and more than five sessions to bowl them out.

“Spending 151 overs in the dirt in any scenario is pretty tough. There's some tired minds and tired bodies,” England assistant coach Jeetan Patel said.

“You put in that much effort and it's not just physical, it's mental as well. Credit to Shubman for the way he's batted over two days, it was a masterclass in how to bat on a good wicket. The guys threw everything at them, and rightly so, but they're very tired for their efforts.”

Gill took on the biggest load, responding to losing the first test in Leeds last week by taking on the responsibility of giving India a chance to tie the series.

He resumed the day on 114, back-to-back centuries in the series, and cruised through the morning and afternoon and never giving England a chance.

India was 310-5 overnight, he and Ravindra Jadeja saving them from 211-5. They extended their partnership on a serene morning to 203 until just before lunch when Jadeja, on 89, tried to fend off a Josh Tongue short ball that reared up, and gloved it to the wicketkeeper.

India's tail was a weakness in Leeds but bowling allrounder Washington Sundar, brought in to help the batting, supported his skipper with 42 in a stand of 144. It ended just before tea when Sundar's middle stump was hit by Root.

Gill went to tea on day two still looking as fresh and unfazed as he did when he first walked out to the middle just before lunch on day one.

Day one for Gill was about saving India. Day two was about turning a big score into a position of authority. It came with records.

On 148 he passed his previous best test score of 147 in Leeds last week.

On 180, he had the highest test score by an India captain in England, eclipsing Mohammad Azharuddin's 179 in 1990 at Old Trafford.

On 200, he became the seventh visiting captain to a test double century in England. He got there with a single to fine leg to his 311th ball faced, and his reaction was ecstatic, capped by a customary bow.

He'd upped his tempo as the day got older. The first 100 came off 199 balls, the second 100 off 112.

On 222, he had the highest score by an India player in England, passing Sunil Gavaskar's 221 in 1979 at the Oval.

On 236, he had the second highest score by an Indian against England.

He reached 250 from 348 balls with his 29th boundary.

On 255, he grabbed the highest test score by an India captain, passing Virat Kohli's 254 in 2019 against South Africa.

Gill came out of tea on 265 and reached 269, his highest first-class score, when his knock came to a tame end. He paddled a short ball by Tongue straight to Ollie Pope at square leg.

His 269 off 387 balls, including 30 boundaries and three sixes, earned him a couple of handshakes from England players and a standing ovation from Edgbaston's crowd.

England took the last two wickets in about a half-hour, spinner Shoaib Bashir leading the bowlers with 3-167 from 45 overs.

Without its premier bowler Jasprit Bumrah — rested for the match — India's attack had question marks. But Bumrah's replacement, Akash Deep, silenced them in his second over when he dismissed first test centurions Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope for ducks in successive balls.

Siraj then knocked out Zak Crawley on 19 at 25-3.

Siraj almost had Harry Brook, too, but the batter survived a close lbw appeal on 1. Brook had another life in the last over, when he chopped on against Prasidh Krishna and shouldered the ball off the stumps that he almost then stepped on.

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India's Mohammed Siraj, right, celebrates after the dismissal of England's Zak Crawley on day two of the second cricket test match between England and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

India's captain Shubman Gill plays a shot on day two of the second cricket test match between England and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

India's Ravindra Jadeja plays a shot on day two of the second cricket test match between England and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

India's Washington Sundar bats on day two of the second cricket test match between England and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

India's captain Shubman Gill celebrates after scoring a double century on day two of the second cricket test match between England and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

India's captain Shubman Gill celebrates after scoring a double century on day two of the second cricket test match between England and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

ADEN, Yemen (AP) — Southern separatists in Yemen said Saudi warplanes carried out new airstrikes Saturday on a military camp in the port city of Mukalla and other areas where their forces are stationed, as Saudi-backed forces moved to retake the city.

There was no immediate Saudi comment. It was the latest direct intervention by Saudi Arabia, which in recent weeks has bombed the separatist Southern Transitional Council, or STC, and struck what is said was a shipment of Emirati weapons destined for it.

The Saudi strikes hit Barshid Brigade camp west of Mukalla in Hadramout, one of two governorates seized last month by the STC, according to the group’s AIC satellite news channel.

Yemen has been engulfed in civil war for more than a decade, with Iran-backed Houthi rebels controlling much of the north and a Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government in the south. But coalition member the United Arab Emirates also supports the separatists, who call for South Yemen to secede again from Yemen.

The latest Saudi strikes came a day after the separatist movement announced a constitution for an independent nation in the south.

Last month, the STC moved into Hadramout and Mahra and seized an oil-rich region. That pushed out allies of the Saudi-supported National Shield forces, a group in the anti-Houthi coalition.

After Saudi pressure and an ultimatum from anti-Houthi forces to withdraw from Yemen, the UAE said early Saturday it had pulled out all its forces.

The tensions in Yemen have further strained ties between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, neighbors on the Arabian Peninsula that have competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area. Ostensibly, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have shared the coalition's professed goal of restoring Yemen's internationally recognized government.

An official with the STC told The Associated Press on Saturday that more than 100 Saudi airstrikes struck multiple locations across Hadramout over the past 24 hours, resulting in deaths and injuries. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief the media.

Mukalla residents Ahmed al-Faradi and Salem Maadan told the AP the city was now controlled by the Hadramout Tribes Confederacy and the National Shield forces.

Col. Ahmed Baqatyan, a military commander in the Hadramout Tribes Confederacy, said that striking the Barshid Brigade camp was necessary because it sits on the route to the southern port city of Aden. He said clearing the camp of STC forces was aimed at preventing them from regrouping and launching a return to Mukalla.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Transportation Ministry, aligned with the STC, condemned Saudi airstrikes late Friday it said targeted the international airport in Seiyun, “exposing the airport to serious risks that could damage its infrastructure, hindering its operation and the resumption of flights.”

Earlier on Saturday, Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said it plans to hold a conference in its capital, Riyadh, to bring together all southern factions in Yemen "to discuss just solutions to the southern cause."

Saudi Arabia was responding to a request for dialogue from Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, the ruling organ of the internationally recognized government.

There were no immediate details about the proposed conference.

The anti-Houthi coalition was showing other signs of strain. Clashes erupted on Friday between National Shield forces and the southern forces in Hadramout and their allies, killing at least eight people, paramedic Ahmed al-Ketheri told the AP.

Hilal Khashan, political science professor at the American University of Beirut, said that when Saudi Arabia and the UAE began a military operation against the Houthis a decade ago, the Saudis were interested in controlling the mountains of Saada, while the UAE wanted to capture Aden because of its importance as a gateway to the Red Sea.

Khashan said the situation got out of control in recent weeks when the UAE-backed STC started capturing areas in Hadramout that border the kingdom.

“For the Saudis that was a red line,” Khashan said, adding that the Saudis felt that they were being “held captive between the Houthis in the north and the UAE in the south.” They ”decided to stop the UAE from its regional expansionism," he said.

Khaled reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

Supporters of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a coalition of separatist groups seeking to restore the state of South Yemen, hold South Yemen flags during a rally, in Aden, Yemen, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo)