Day three report
Updated
That’s it from us today, thanks for your company and correspondence. Join us tomorrow for what will be, by ‘ook or by crook - the final day of this Test match.
A chastening day for England. Stokes’ side would have started it hoping for a sizeable first innings lead of over a hundred runs but a classy 90 from Dhruv Jurel in partnership with a dogged Kuldeep Yadav (28) meant that they had to make do with a lead of just 46. Their batting was then a real struggle – India’s spinners tied England’s line up in knots on a pitch that was providing plenty of assistance at times. Yadav took 4-22 and Ashwin 5-51 as England slid to 145 all out, losing their final seven wickets for just 30 runs.
“For all the inexperience of England’s bowling attack it’s really the much vaunted batting which has failed in this series” Writes Dean Kinsella. I’m not sure ‘failed’ is the right word at all. England’s batting has been electric at times and majestic at others (in the notable cases of Ollie Pope and Joe Root) but they haven’t had a star performer consistently in the mould of Jaiswal who has more than 600 runs in the series. That is sort of what you need to prosper on a tour like this. England’s batters were certainly put under the microscope by a mighty fine bowling line up in tricky conditions today and it could be that the series is now out of their reach – barring a minor miracle tomorrow.
As much as this series has been about England & their quest to cement their Bazball legacy with the biggest scalp of beating India in India, today’s play was the perfect illustration of how challenging it is to break India down in India, regardless of your approach #IndvEng
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) February 25, 2024
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STUMPS: India 40-0, require 152 more runs to win.
7th over: India 40-0 (Rohit 24, Jaiswal 16) Root bowls the last over, there are signs of variable bounce but no wicket to give the visitors some succour at the close. India will come back tomorrow with a series victory well within their grasp.
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7th over: India 38-0 (Rohit 24, Jaiswal 14) Shoaib Bashir replaces Root and is impressively on the button from the outset. Just a Jaiswal single off it. We might get one more over in before the close. Unless there are some dramatics at the last then this has been India’s day and then some, they’ve roared back into the game after staring down the barrel in their first innings and look set to claim a series victory tomorrow.
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6th over: India 37-0 (Rohit 24, Jaiswal 13) Stokes doubles down on Hartley, another full toss follows but the boundary rider sweeps up. A tidier over follows from the lancs spinner but India still pocket easy runs to the spread field.
5th over: India 33-0 (Rohit 22, Jaiswal 11) Four singles off Root, India look untroubled… until the final ball which spits off a length and hits Jaiswal on the arm guard. England imploring the demons in the pitch to make themselves known.
4th over: India 30-0 (Rohit 20, Jaiswal 9) Hartley gets one to slide on and into Rohit’s pads but it was heading down past leg stump. Stokes wisely opts against the review. Gah! Hartley show his greenness by sending down a gift of a full toss that Rohit clips to the fence. This is tough for Hartley with the new ball, I might be inclined to go to Anderson and call on his decades of experience here, take Hartley out of the firing line. Another full toss – another boundary! India rollocking to 30 in no time at all and with significant ease.
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3rd over: India 20-0 (Rohit 12, Jaiswal 8) The difference between the start of India’s innings here and the end of England’s is marked. Jaiswal sweeps Root for four with aplomb and India already have 20 runs on the board.
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2nd over: India 13-0 (Rohit 11, Jaiswal 2) “Delicately poised isn’t it? writes Avik Pramanik. “The match. The series. With just a sliver of advantage to India. 25 minutes left to play before the stumps. 4th inning on a tricky wicket. Everyone thinking of just get settled and tomorrow morning will be the key. Times like these we miss Virendra Sehwag. Just come out and go hammer on tongs. End of the day 67 for 1 and the suddenly 192 target isn’t that far...”
Rohit isn’t doing too bad a job of a Sehwag impression – skipping down the track to belt Hartley for four through midwicket and then repeating the shot the very next ball. Poor start from Hartley – I’ll say it again - it’s a much tougher gig to try and spin your side to victory inside the pressure cooker, for any spinner.
1st over: India 4-0 (Rohit 3, Jaiswal 1) Root skips in with the new ball which looks a particularly deep cherry red in colour. Rohit nudges off his hip to open his account. Jaiswal drives down the ground to open his. A sweep to the leg side fence brings two more. India are looking to consolidate what has been a terrific day for them, remember they started it it 134 runs behind England with just three wickets left in the hutch. They are now definite favourites. Can England winkle a wicket or two before the close to level things up?
Here come the players. An exciting 20 minutes in store. Rohit and Jaiswal stride to the crease, Joe Root is going to take the first over. Buckle up knuckleheads.
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WICKET! Anderson c Jurel b Ashwin 0 (England All Out 145)
Anderson goes to a sharp catch by Jurel behind the stumps, the reverse-sweep hitting his pad on the way through and pin-balling into the keeper’s gloves. Despite the Foakes tortoise act of the last ten overs – England have lost seven wickets for 30 runs and now have to bowl India out to stay in the series.
India require 192 runs to win!
India need 192 to win, and have to be big favourites. England will have about 25 minutes to bowl tonight.
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) February 25, 2024
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WICKET! Foakes c & b Ashwin 17 (England 145-9)
Gone now! Foakes vigil comes to an end as he chips a catch back to Ashwin after failing to read the carrom ball. Here comes James Anderson, England down to their last man – time to hit out or get out and have a dart at India for a few minutes before the close?
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53rd over: England 144-8 (Foakes 16, Bashir 1) Umpire Dharmasena has told India to get a wriggle on. Kuldeep is nudged for a – you guessed it – single off the fourth ball by Foakes.
Hello Peter Salmon:
“Hi Jim – not just proper criggit, but proper criggiter. I feel like you could drop Foakes into any side of the last 100 years and he’d slot in perfectly and then quietly go about his business. Makes the Buttler/Bairstow years seem a fever dream. That said, I assume he’ll be dropped soon, so the selectors can see if the ‘Bairstow keeping’ thing works.”
52nd over: England 144-8 (Foakes 16, Bashir 1) Rohit now slows the game down to England’s tempo – with just seven overs left in the day now perhaps he is mindful of having a tricky period to bat before the close if England lose these last two wickets quickly? An intriguing passage of play – Foakes on a go-slow, both sides sizing each other up. The lead is 191 runs.
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51st over: England 142-8 (Foakes 15, Bashir 1) Aswhin to Foakes. Five probing dots and then… struck on the pad and given LBW! Foakes reviews – this looks straight but he might have got a tickle on it? He did! A tiny murmur on the snicko saves Foakes.
50th over: England 142-8 (Foakes 15, Bashir 1) Back after drinks, Foakes takes a single off the fifth ball of the over this time – just to shake things up a little.
“I’m loving Foakes approach here. He’s managed to nab a single off the 4th ball for 7 consecutive overs. I wonder what the record is for such a Herculean feat?”
Tom V D Gucht is all over this approach.
50th over: England 142-8 (Foakes 14, Bashir 1) Nine runs in nine overs. Proper criggit. Time for a drink… and #EggChat courtesy of Harry Lang.
“Dear James,
Making breakfast for my family whilst catching furtive glances of the score on my phone. Turns out the perfect soft boiled egg time is exactly 1 England wicket, around 6 minutes. I won’t risk putting the toast on for soldiers until Bashir is out in 1 egg’s time.”
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49th over: England 141-8 (Foakes 13, Bashir 1) The telly shows a slo-mo replay of the spinning seam position on the ball once Ashwin has released it from his long fingers. It’s a thing of beauty. The ball rotating like a top and the seam oscillating like the rings of Saturn. I could watch it all day.
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48th over: England 140-8 (Foakes 12, Bashir 1) Another over, another Foakes single off the fourth ball and a Bashir block for the final two. Not for me, I like it.
47th over: England 139-8 (Foakes 11, Bashir 1) Kudeep fizzes one past Foakes’ edge. Things have quietened down after the pre and post tea drama.
Jamie Henderson has had his say:
“Dear Jim, everytime a long update about coffee appears wickets tumble. Please stop. Horrible, jittery, populist stuff anyway. Literally liquid nerves.
Perhaps if you were to talk at length about tea we could build a decent partnership?”
I’d drink a vat of Lapsang Souchong if it means we get to see a series decider in Dharamshala, Jamie.
46th over: England 138-8 (Foakes 9, Bashir 1) Another over, another single off it.
Steve Hudson is clear in his mind.
“Declaration: No.
Someone to belt 20 off 6 balls: Yes. It might just be enough.”
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45th over: England 137-8 (Foakes 9, Bashir 1) Kuldeep is coming between the umpire and the stumps and round the wicket. A man after my own thirteen year old heart. Foakes uses his feet to get to the pitch and collect a single.
G’morning Simon McMahon:
“Morning Jim. I’m telling myself already that India will knock off however many they require with minimum fuss to complete a series win. But anything over 200 won’t be easy … If only there was a pithy quote or clip for the OBO that neatly captures the unique pleasure of being an England cricket fan, eh?”
44th over: England 136-8 (Foakes 8, Bashir 1) Foakes takes the single off Jadeja’s fourth ball, he’s happy to let Bashir face a couple of balls. The youngster is stout in defence to see out the over.
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43rd over: England 135-8 (Foakes 7 Bashir 1) Kuldeep trots in with a significant pep in his step. He’s got 4-15 and his eyes on blowing England away and taking a five-fer in the process. Bashir gets off the mark with a work to square. Fokaes gets another precious run down the ground. Appeal! But a stifled one – the ball was missing leg stump. On we go. The England lead is 181 runs.
42nd over: England 133-8 (Foakes 6, Bashir 0) Jadeja keeps Foakes tied down, six dots stitched together as the tension mounts.
Not sure about this from ‘Ground Force’:
There’s genuinely a case to be made for England to declare here, given how much harder batting has got as days two and three have gone on
— Ben Gardner (@Ben_Wisden) February 25, 2024
WICKET! Robinson lbw b Kuldeep Yadav 0 (England 133-8)
Gone this time though! Kuldeep pins Robinson in front – the batter goes upstairs again but to no avail. What an over from Kuldeep, a double wicket maiden. The left arm magician is bowling his side into the dominant position in this Test.
Shoaib Bashir is the new batter, can he hang around with Ben Foakes and eke out another 20 or 3o crucial runs? It’s the end of the over so the senior man will be on strike.
41st over: England 133-8 (Foakes 6, Bashir 0)
Updated
NOT OUT: A glance on the glove saves Robinson.
REVIEW: Ollie Robinson is given out LBW first ball! He’s sent it upstairs and is suggesting he’s hit it…
WICKET! Hartley c Khan b Kuldeep Yadav 7 (England 133-7)
Hartley tries to club Kuldeep down the ground but the spinning ball means he doesn’t get a decent piece on it and Sarfaraz takes a fine diving catch at mid-on – turning to blow a kiss to the crowd in his celebration! England lead by 179 runs and have three wickets left.
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40th over: England 133-6 (Foakes 6, Hartley 7) Jadeja whizzes through an over, curls bobbing over his headband as he turns on his heels and darts them in. A maiden.
39th over: England 133-6 (Foakes 6, Hartley 7) Three singles worked off Kuldeep. Close! Hartley is nearly cleaned up by a sharply spinning ball.
England 110-3 to 120-6pic.twitter.com/tVMSwNgNPr
— Cameron Ponsonby (@cameronponsonby) February 25, 2024
38th over: England 130-6 (Foakes 4, Hartley 6) Foakes punches a single to bring Hartley on strike. SIX! Hartley does open his shoulders and lofts Jadeja down the ground and into the stands. Lovely strike. Seven off the over and the lead up to 175. Don’t go anywhere. You wouldn’t though, would you?
37th over: England 123-6 (Foakes 2, Hartley 0) Foakes drives well down the ground to add a single to the score. Another scuttler! Yadav gets one to spin sharply at ankle height but it evades leg stump. Just. Can’t do owt with those, Ben.
36th over: England 122-6 (Foakes 2, Hartley 0) Foakes gets a single into the leg side. Jadeja rattles through his over in about 8 seconds flat.
“James my dear old thing”
Back at you Kim Thonger.
“I’m not too concerned about the size of the target. The scene is now set for Stokes to have a bowl, charging in like Bob Willis, nostrils flaring, breathing fire, stumps and bails flying hither and thither. Can’t wait.”
Stokes’ hair surgeon on Wimpole St will be very pleased with the Willis comparison there I reckon…
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35th over: England 120-6 (Foakes 1, Hartley 0) Foakes gets off the mark with a quick single to mid on. Slightly risky but makes his ground. Hartley is nearly scuttled by a ball that shoots through low. The pitch is still being a pickle, I wonder if England’s best form of defence is attack – poking forward on this wicket doesn’t seem like a good option.
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34th over: England 120-6 (Foakes 0, Hartley 0) Here comes Tom Hartley, he can certainly wield a blade. England need some of his humpty now. A quick cameo of 30 or 40 could make all the difference. He blocks out the over from Jadeja. Two new batters at the crease and plenty of fielders and chatter close to them.
WICKET! Bairstow c Patidar b Jadeja 30 (England 120-6)
Trouble! Trouble Trouble Trouble. Jonny Bairstow is undone by a ball that bounces more than he expected and turns away from his driving blade, his shot tamely popping up to Jadeja at short cover. Bairstow can’t believe it – he eyes his bat, the pitch, anything with suspicion but he has to go. India are now on top, the lead is still 166 but England only have four wickets left now.
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Huge moment first ball after tea – Jonny Bairstow is OUT!
Time to delve into the OBO mailbag:
“Hi Jim, I don’t think I’d want England to give India anything less then 300 to win with the way they have managed to accumulate runs in the first innings, especially with Jaiswal in fine fettle. But it seems England have other ideas. I just hope it’s a total that keeps the game in the balance for the fourth innings and the excitement going unlike the last Test.”
I think they’d snatch your hand off for a 250 lead, Michael Fry.
David Ballard weighs in on coffee and cricket matters:
“You’ve obviously never tried a stove top Bialetti. Just enough time to get the milk on and frothed (2 or 3 mins max) and the wonderful noise of the coffee reaching its - well, not to be gross I’ll say, ‘completion’. Two cups of wonderful espresso. And no gross litter like Nespresso. Could be compared to Joe Root on a good day. Quick and very classy. Instant is more like French cricket. Have a good day! Will 250 be enough? Doubt it.”
The pitch was a riddle once more in that session. After an hour or so of relative calm it then started to misbehave like a toddler jacked up on e-numbers. History tells us that anything over 200 will be a very tricky target to chase in fourth innings Indian conditions but England will want as many as possible, they need to make these last five wickets count. Their own spinners bowled admirably in the first innings but it’s a different kettle of Koi when it comes to bowling your side to a Test victory in the fourth dig with all the eyes, hopes and expectations on you.
33rd over: England 120-5 (Bairstow 30, Foakes 0) Ben Foakes blocks out the three remaining balls in the over. That’s tea. A breathless and brilliant session comes to a close. England lead by 166 runs but have lost half of their wickets. We’re on for a nerve chewin, bum squeakin’ hum-dinger here aren’t we!?
England lead by 166 runs with five wickets remaining at tea.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) February 25, 2024
Another enthralling session in Ranchi - what's a good fourth innings target?#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/DIdy6S2c9D
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WICKET! Stokes b Kuldeep Yadav 4 (England 120-5)
The big one! Stokes is undone by a flighted ball that turns off the pitch and hits his back pad before trickling onto the stumps. It’s slightly unlucky but also brilliant bowling by Kuldeep, beating Stokes in the air and off the pitch. India are jubilant, they’ve got rid of the dangerous Stokes cheaply on the stroke of tea.
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32nd over: England 120-4 (Bairstow 30, Stokes 4) Bairstow is beaten twice in the over by Jadeja, this pitch is now doing all sorts again and India’s bowlers are so skilful that it feels like this innings is now a ticking time bomb.
30th over: England 120-4 (Bairstow 30, Stokes 4) Bairstow steers Kuldeep away for a couple. The tv replay is now showing a replay of the final ball of Jadeja’s last over that India didn’t appeal for – it looked like Stokes had defended a straight ball with his bat but it actually hit pad first and was stone dead in front!
29th over: England 117-4 (Bairstow 27, Stokes 4) More drama! Jadeja goes up for a huge appeal thinking he has trapped Stokes LBW on the front pad. It’s one of those histrionic appeals that has about three waves of increasing noise to it. Rohit calls for the review with one second left on the timer… CLOSE! It was clipping the leg stump but remains not out on umpires call. Ben Stokes loves umpires call these days.
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28th over: England 112-4 (Bairstow 24, Stokes 2) Stokes gets off the mark with a couple, a cut to the man on the off side fence. Crikey! A fizzing delivery from Yadav beats the England captain, the ball spitting like a stroppy camel and narrowly pass past the edge of the bat.
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WICKET! Crawley b Kuldeep Yadav 60 (England 110-4)
Kuldeep Yadav bowls Crawley through the gate! An enticing gap at cover and a flighted delivery that rips in sharply to skittle the stumps. Crawley has to drag himself off the pitch, India punching back. Here comes Ben Stokes!
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27th over: England 109-3 (Crawley 60, Bairstow 24) Jadeja extracts some huge turn and bounce. England won’t mind seeing that, the pitch has settled down a bit but is still capable of a few surprises…
26th over: England 109-3 (Crawley 59, Bairstow 24) A couple of singles off Kuldeep. Enthralling cricket.
“Hi James. Power to those fingers of yours!”
Much obliged Daryll Accone.
“Going back to an OBO conversation yesterday about coffee-making and its array of favoured and disdained devices, it seems clear that a mini-manual on Making Proper Coffee is needed a lá George Orwell’s celebrated essay on how to make tea, when to add milk, etc.
But couldn’t the divide in the UK between trendy/ trendoid coffee and traditional tea also be seen as an analogue for Bazball versus “proper Test cricket”? One can’t imagine Duckett, say, having the patience or inclination to fiddle with a Bialetti Moka Express stove-top coffee maker and then having to wait for the water to heat and be drawn up through the ground coffee. Too slow, also, the Aeropress and even the cafetière (French press/ plunger/ “Bodum”). Better the Nespresso machine and knock-offs thereof, an almost-instant provider of proper coffee. But for Duckett and no doubt Crawley and the other young and not-so-young guns, best would be instant coffee: just add hot water and you have a simulcram of the real thing.
Verisimilitude is not verity, however. For the genuine product take Root and Stokes: slow-brewed, the bitter grounds of experience yielding a blend of fulfilling and infinite maturity. They are like coffee made the ancient Ethiopian way: for each cup, beans are slow roasted on the spot, then ground by hand and brewed. Rather like tea leaves infused/ steeped/ brewed for the exact time. And after that satisfaction, action, like Root’s unforgettable hundred yesterday, both instant classic and an innings for the ages.
Ciao,
Darryl Accone (Placing Bialetti on stove plate)"
I can’t add anything to this Darryl. Sublime. Oh, apart from this – one of the great music vids for my moolah.
25th over: England 106-3 (Crawley 57, Bairstow 23) Zak Crawley plays a length ball with velveteen hands and the ball runs away for a welcome boundary in the gap wide of slip. The batters combine for three singles before – DRAMA KLAXON – Bairstow is dropped by keeper Jurel! A thick edge playing forward but the man with the cymbals can’t take the catch, more than that, Bairstow was well out of his ground too so it is also a missed stumping opportunity. Big moments.
24th over: England 99-3 (Crawley 50, Bairstow 22) Kuldeep Yadav into the attack. Charlie Chaplin haircut and fizzing left arm spin. Bairstow splices a sharply lifting ball in the air but does well to keep it away from the close fielders. Crawley takes a single down the ground to take the lead to 144 runs.
“Morning Jim, welcome to the tension palace! Sitting here pretty gutted with that wicket of Root that’s really put things in the balance after India’s fight back. We’ll feel a 50 run lead wasn’t what we should have had. But Jaiswal apart, very few have scored big runs consistently this series, just look at Pope’s boom and bust. There’s always a ball with your name on it, but this pitch feels it hasn’t really broken up really badly, so England will want to get at least 250 ahead. Batting time is going to make that better and better. We just need to keep playing straight. Across the line feels wait too much of a gamble. Basically, I’m terrified.”
Guy Hornsby’s inner monologue echoing plenty of England fans’ this morning I reckon.
23rd over: England 97-3 (Crawley 50, Bairstow 21) Crawley tucks Jadeja off his pads to go to a brilliant fifty – The camera cuts to Stokes (still in his vest like Onslow) and co on the team boundary giving him a hearty round of applause.
“Morning James”
Isn’t it just Brian Withington. A scintillating Test match on the telly and sun beaming in through the living room window.
"You join proceedings in the middle of the middle session of the middle day of this match. Need we ask what anti-jinxing guard you are taking?”
Middle please, ump.
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23rd over: England 95-3 (Crawley 49, Bairstow 20) Ashwin is picked off for a couple by the long levered Crawley, a single scampered into the covers take the tall opener to the brink of a thirteenth (and vital) Test fifty. Shot! Bairstow plays a deliciously late cut off the back foot and the ball races away for four runs!
22nd over: England 88-3 (Crawley 46, Bairstow 16) Spare a thought for my digits which are about to be reduced to dust as Jadeja replaces Siraj and whistles through a maiden at warp speed.
21st over: England 88-3 (Crawley 46, Bairstow 16) Ashwin continues, every ball feels like an event at the moment. Bairstow drives for one and Crawley soaks up the rest of the over before nurdling a couple off the last to keep the lead ticking upwards.
20th over: England 85-3 (Crawley 44, Bairstow 15) Thanks Tanya and hello everyone. Gripping stuff this morning. Siraj steams in to Bairstow and is greeted with a blistering pull for four! Bairstow has got his ‘Jonny eyes’ well and truly on. A couple picked off into the leg side and a handsome drive for three through the covers make it nine runs off the over. England lead by 131 runs and counting.
19th over: England 76-3 (Crawley 44, Bairstow 6) Bairstow sledgehammers Ashwin down the ground. And with that, I’ll hand over to Jim Wallace who will take you through to stumps. Thanks so much for the company, and sorry I didn’t have time to get to all the emails. Bye!
18th over: England 71-3 (Crawley 44, Bairstow 1) They take DRINKS at the fall of the wicket. Out strides Jonny – time for a big one from him. Sharma gives Siraj a pep talk that is less horse whisperer and more school prefect. Crawley turns his last ball round the corner for four.
“Following you since start of play from poolside @ Radisson Blu, Galle.” writes Graham Anderson. “G&Ts to balance the jitters, so my collapse may precede England’s.”
Chin, chin!
WICKET! Root lbw Ashwin 11 (England 65-3)
17th over: England 64-2 (Crawley 38, Root 11) Ashwin starts his over with a thing of beauty that bounces past Crawley’s busy bat. LBW appeal off the last ball, hits Root low on the front pad. Given not out on the field… and a sensationally grumpy exchange between Ashwin and Rohit Sharma results in Sharma going for the review – and it is OUT!!!!
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16th over: England 64-2 (Crawley 38, Root 11) A bowling change, from spin to seam, as Siraj replaces Jadeja. A single to Crawley, but Root is studiously watchful.
Joey Eley reports that there is no baby waiting in Hong Kong “Just to settle yours and my conscience.” In that case…
15th over: England 63-2 (Crawley 37, Root 11) Ashwin bowling round the wicket, with some venom.
“Namaste Tanya,” Hello there Deepak Puri.
”India supporter here. I was talking to my friends, Ed and Doug (England supporters), at close of play on day one. I refused to make a prediction for day two citing the well known jinxing rule. Doug convinced me that the rule did not apply between days when play had ended.
”I blithely went ahead predicting a big score, and an innings win for my boys. Well, you can see how that turned out. I’m seeing them later, and boy, I am going to give them both barrels from my passive/ aggressive gun.”
14th over: England 62-2 (Crawley 36, Root 11) Another glorious text-book extra-cover drive from Crawley for four off Jadeja, whose seven overs have gone for 31. Root is just quietly accumulating.
13th over: England 55-2 (Crawley 30, Root 10) The lead has already stretched to 100, and we’re only half an hour or so into the England innings. Just trying to do a quick back of the envelope calculation: Rohit is due a big hundred, Jaiswal is seeing the ball like a toffee – how many would they be happy chasing?
12th over: England 52-2 (Crawley 28, Root 9) Nudge and nurdle.
“Hi Tanya, whenever I move location we seem to have a collapse. Just stopped for a beer on the way back from the shops in Hong Kong. Do I stay and get the wife angry or let the country down?” Joel Eley, I’m staying out of this one (though if there is a baby at home, I’m ordering you a taxi this minute)
11th over: England 49-2 (Crawley 26, Root 8) Ashwin, stern, with a remarkable flat top squared off at the back, wheels in. The field has started to spread already, tip and tap from England.
10th over: England 45-2 (Crawley 25, Root 5) As dawn breaks over northern England, another four for Crawley, driven just north of mid on.
8th over: England 38-2 (Crawley 20, Root 3) Plonk, big foot forward, Crawley clonks four over long off. Bold. And two more quite lovely drives follow. Very nicely done.
8th over: England 24-2 (Crawley 7, Root 2) Jadeja floats through another, two singles from it.
7th over: England 24-2 (Crawley 7, Root 2) Crawley stops Ashwin mid hat-trick ball stride because of something moving behind his sight line. He survives, a touch jittery though. A growing crowd is rapt.
6th over: England 22-2 (Crawley 6, Root 1) What you love to see: the Joe Root forward defensive.
5th over: England 19-2 (Crawley 3, Root 0 ) Pope goes back to one that doesn’t turn and is caught on the back leg. Worth burning a review for, but it leaves Ashwin on a hatt-rick.
WICKET! Pope lbw Ashwin 0 (England 19-2)
A pair for Pope! Ashwin has two in two as Pope reviews but to no avail.
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WICKET! Duckett c Khan b Aswhin 15 (England 19-1)
Sarfaraz Khan poaches a catch at short leg as Duckett prods defensively!
4th over: England 17-0 (Crawley 3, Duckett 14) The speed of England’s accumulation is going to be tricky for Rohit Sharma who doesn’t want many to chase. Turn from Jadeja, England busy
“Morning, Tanya and I am enjoying the coverage from Melbourne, late Sunday afternoon.” Thank you Stephen Hodson! “ From the success the India tailenders have enjoyed in the morning session, it would certainly suggest that the wicket is playing fairly easily, despite the dire predictions and outlook from earlier in the match.
“Granted, England have winkled out a couple, but this surely bodes well for England prospects of batting later, with the majority of the pitch gremlins banished back to whence they came?
I feel deeply unqualified to read this pitch. It has so many cracks but they are as yet unmoved. Just beginning to be more turn though, so I definitely wouldn’t want to bat last on it and have to chase more than 200.
3rd over: England 13-0 (Crawley 2, Duckett 11) No time to think for England, or your correspondent, with India ripping through these overs. Duckett picks up another boundary with a sweep from Ashwin.
2nd over: England 7-0 (Crawley 1, Duckett 6) Jadeja, who would have definitely been a cavalier ( Wrong but Wromantic) in 1066 and all that, opens from the other end. A dinky paddle sweep brings Duckett four, the last ball turns past Crawley’s outside edge.
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Afternoon session
1st over: England 2-0 (Crawley 1, Duckett 1) More Jerusalem from the barmy army, as the long-legged Ashwin starts his long-legged approach. The very first ball slips past Crawley’s outside edge.
And hello Paul Harrison. ‘Greetings from Spanish Wells in the Bahamas!
“Mostly: thank you for the coverage! I have no idea how you get up to do this, particularly as I’m assuming you went to bed seething that *I know you so well* wasn’t on the set list. Reminds me of seeing Dylan in Benicàssim. Not a single known song was sung.”
No! I was gutted, especially as she was selling T-towels decorated with the words “He dries them so well,”
“So: do you and the OBO crew keep averages of what happens wicket-wise on your watches? I can’t help feeling that things always take a turn for the worst for England fans when you’re at the helm. I thought it was just me, until yesterday you breezily suggested that England were going to “tick past 400” and promptly collapsed. Any empirical evidence either way?” Outrageous! But no, I don’t think so… I better ask Rob…
And already the players are out on the pitch, Ashwin has ball in hand.
Coffee, coffee, coffee. With five minutes till the start of the afternoon session, everything feels in the balance. Hello there Mohammed Yaser:
“With regards Bashir and his movement to the floor, as is common with Muslim cricketers, this is a prostration to the ground where the forehead is placed on the ground with the nose, not kissing the ground; it’s not that scared, though does admittedly render the act questionable.”
Ah, of course – thank you. And hello to Pananjady Swathi, whose email is entitled : What a contest!
“Test cricket at its best
All attrition, no rest
Ask no quarter, give none
A little lapse, you’re gone
That’s what makes it a great contest.”
After an intriguing session, time for lunch in Ranchi, and breakfast in Manchester. Magnificent from Jurel, who has taken India to near equality, though the 46 run lead could still be crucial if those cracks ever show their teeth. And huge congratulations to five-wicket Shoaib Bashir. What a gut-pick he was.
WICKET! Jurel b Hartley 90 (India 307, trail England by 46 runs)
A ripe peach of a delivery from Hartley, spins past the outside edge and eventually does it for Jurel, who allows himself a small frown of disappointment. Is immediately congratulated by Joe Root, and applauded off the pitch. A superb match-evening innings from a man in only his second Test, reducing the deficit from 134 this morning to 46.
103rd over: India 307-9 (Jurel 90, Siraj 0) Four byes takes the deficit below fifty as every defensive prod from Siraj is cheered with pom-poms and pink lemonade.
102nd over: India 303-9 (Jurel 90, Siraj 0) Jurel throwing care to the wind now, muscling Hartley for six over mid wicket and four more: clear, clean, lines. Can Siraj stick around for him to make three figures?
WICKET! Deep lbw Bashir 9 (India 293-9)
101st over: India 293-9 (Jurel 80) Fabulous response from Bashir after being panned for six by Deep from the first ball of his over. Traps him in the crease, clopping him high on the back pad. A first five wicket haul in first-class cricket. Bashir kisses the ground, then – after waiting for a review to upheld the on-field umpire’s decision - holds up the ball for all to see. Delicious!
100th over: India 287-8 (Jurel 80, Deep 3) A maiden from Hartley, who is lovely and loopy.
Lovely to hear from you Colum Fordham:
“Hello from a dark and dismal Naples as I set off on an early morning flight to that sun-kissed land known as Britain.
This stand is really rather annoying and Jurel may not be as thrilling to watch as the wonderful Rishab Pant - glad to hear he’s due to make a comeback - but he’s doing a great job for his team.Hope we manage to get through the tail for decent lead.”
99th over: India 287-8 (Jurel 80, Deep 3) Such poise from Jurel, who carpet-bags Bashir for another six, then a glorious shot through the covers for a single to turn the strike. And Ali confirms that it was Robinson who dropped Jurel at midwicket – just went straight through his hands. He was moved, immediately, by Stokes.
98th over: India 280-8 (Jurel 73, Deep 3) A hurried single leaves Akash scrabbling in the dust. Less than 20 minutes till lunch. Andrew Crossley, time for another one of your “Truth telling or cheap attempt at tempting the Gods…
but there’s no wicket happening in this session, is there?” emails?
Updated
97th over: India 279-8 (Jurel 72, Deep 3) Bish! Bashir is clubbed by Jurel with huge stride down the ground for six. Bash! Four more pancaked next ball. England’s lead has been ground down to 74.
96th over: India 268-8 (Jurel 61, Deep 3) The late over scurried single and we go on.
95th over: India 267-8 (Jurel 60, Deep 3) Deep is tempted because mid-on is up, and has a fling which flies just out of reach of the flying Stokes (?). Then Jurel momentarily loses concentration next ball, swinging leg side and – I think – through the hands of Ollie Robinson.
94th over: India 265-8 (Jurel 59, Deep 2) Stokes fiddles with his field, in, out, here, there. Jurel sweeps Hartley’s fifth ball for four, but that leaves Deep to face potentially six balls from Bashir, who replaces Anderson.
93rd over: India 261-8 (Jurel 55, Deep 2) Anderson again, the sixth, and probably last, of this spell. Tries a bouncer, which Jurel ducks. “Another MSD in the making” says on comms. “A street smart cricketer.” I wonder where that leaves Rishabh Pant – who google tells me is due to return to the IPL this year after that terrible car crash in December 2022. Such a wonderful player to watch, hope he can come back.
92nd over: India 260-8 (Jurel 54, Deep 2) Jurel tries sweeping Hartley, but to no avail. They take a single to the fourth ball, and on we go.
91st over: India 259-8 (Jurel 53, Deep 2) Jurel’s is the first fifty by a keeper this series. A game of cat and mouse out there now, as Stokes offers singles, and India turn them down.
A note drops in from the Philippines, hello there Andrew Benton
”Hope you’ re having a lovely Sunday morning so far. Are the stars out, or is the rain hammering?” Dark and dry at the moment.
“England are doing a very good job of bouncing back - the Bazball bounce, perhaps. It’s great to see such competitiveness from the team, even as India are not at full strength.”
Fifty for Jurel!
90th over: India 256-8 (Jurel 50, Deep 2) And with a single to mid-on, that’s a terrific maiden fifty for Jurel, who showed great patience in a sticky situation for India. He salutes with a gentle smile. Deep off the mark with a couple towards the rope on the legside, the ball caught up by Bairstow.
89th over: India 253-8 (Jurel 49, Deep 0) Kuldeep and Jurel together reduced the deficit to 100 this morning. How long can Akash Deep stick out there?
And for the first time ever ( I think), I tap the words, good morning Rocket
“When playing Tests in India it’s always worth checking the First Class stats of ‘second line’ players India bring in.
“Jurel - highest score 249, five other 50s. Kuldeep - highest score 117, six other 50s.
“Also following Jurel I can’t help but think he’s doing a ‘super’ effort out there - like his pseudo-namesake Jor-El (father of Superman).
“In Australian Rules Football we have a ‘father-son’ (and now ‘father-daughter’ also) rule to recruit offspring to the same club - if this applied in cricket would Superman play for India?” Please insert joke here about Tendulkar etc, but my brain isn’t quite up to it this morning.
WICKET! Kuldeep b Anderson 28 (India 253-8)
From nowhere! The unlucky Kuldeep plays the ball down onto his boot, from where it rolls backwards and hits the stumps. He throws his head back in despair, after a vigil over 131 balls. Job very well done, and out on the field they take DRINKS.
88th over: India 252-7 (Jurel 48, Kuldeep 28) And one tall, spindly, English spinner replaces another tall spindly English spinner. And no change to the accumulation strategy from India, just a push and a trotted single.
Love this stat from yesterday:
Shoaib Bashir's last two four-fers, separated by just nine months:
— Nick Friend (@NickFriend1) February 24, 2024
Northants 2s: James Sales, Arush Buchake, Simon Kerrigan, Huw Evans
India: Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal
Insane story, brilliant selection, terrific captaincy.
87th over: India 251-7 (Jurel 46, Kuldeep 28) A brief frisson of excitement for England when Foakes rolls over for a caught behind off Anderson, but no bat on it. A pushed single brings Jurel his highest Test score.
“Disaster! taps Stephen Dobbie. “Willow TV livestream goes down!Does anyone have the radio commentary link ( that works in the US)?Thank you kindly.” Talksport is on youtube – but I don’t know if you can pick that up in the US?
86th over: India 250-7 (Jurel 46, Kuldeep 28) The English fans in the crowd looking more pensive than the Indians. Another over for the tireless Bashir, and India pick off three singles.
85th over: India 247-7 (Jurel 44, Kuldeep 27) India play tip and run with Jimmy.
“Morning Tanya, Morning Brian! Morning Stephen in California! Good to know there are at least three of us in here...” Hello there Martin Wright. …”Barbara Dickson, eh? You young soul rebel, you! Taylor Swift, eat your heart out. Meanwhile, anyone else have that pit-in-the-stomach-oh-god-India-are-going-go-past-England-by-lunch-feeling? Or has pessimism struck early?” Oh dear, do you think I’ve ruined my street cred? Outrageously, she didn’t play I know him so well. And yes, India doing to England, what England did to India yesterday.
84th over: India 242-7 (Jurel 41, Kuldeep 25) Next to me, dog sighs, with a hint of fox still about her ruff. Bashir again, confident, measured – outrageously so actually for one so young.
83rd over: India 241-7 (Jurel 40, Kuldeep 25) The old warhorse is summoned, and immediately canters into an immaculate line. India twice nearly get themselves into a pickle over whether to run or not, but eventually pick up a single.
82nd over: India 240-7 (Jurel 39, Kuldeep 25) India’s tail now becoming an irritant, as Kuldeep takes advantage of the new ball to drive Bashir square to the rope.
On comms they nod sagely over the seven minutes of rolling permitted this morning to flatten out the pitch.
81st over: India 235-7 (Jurel 39, Kuldeep 20) And the new ball goes immediately to Robinson, not Jimmy Anderson. Just two slips. Oh that’s a beautiful straight drive by Jurel as Robinson overpitches searching for swing, the first time the ball has crossed the rope this morning, half an hour in.
80th over: India 230-7 (Jurel 34, Kuldeep 20) Dot, dot, another Bashir maiden and here comes the blessed new ball.
Ah, Brian Withington, hello! “You ask if anyone is awake to send an email, and I wonder how you approach the 4am shift? I keep meaning to set an early alarm but invariably end up watching something on YouTube or wherever and find it’s already approaching 3am so might as well keep going. Of course I only have to fire off the occasional email and can nod off intermittently, whereas you are required to read and curate them - whilst summarising every over of the cricket too.”
I have worthy intentions of an early bedtime, but it is so tricky to keep to them. And yesterday, darling, I had a double date of Vanya followed by the final night of Barbara Dickson’s farewell tour as OBO favourite TIm de Lisle’s plus one.
78th over: India 230-7 (Jurel 34, Kuldeep 20) Two no-balls in the first three deliveries of Robinson’s over –and here’s a statastic: he has bowled 77 no balls and taken 76 wickets in his 20 Tests. Rest of the over on the money. The current partnership stretches to an irritating 53.
78th over: India 226-7 (Jurel 33, Kuldeep 19) Kuldeep peers through the grill of his helmet as Bashir wheels in, passing in front of the umpire in his approach, like a youth on a bmx suddenly swerving into your path on the pavement.
77th over: India 226-7 (Jurel 33, Kuldeep 19) It’s overcast in Ranchi, “fresh” reports our man on the ground Ali Martin, who is wearing a hoodie. A nice save by Joe Root at slip stops a glide from Kuldeep running down to the rope, and Robinson bends his back later in the over to dig out a bouncer.
76th over: India 223-7 (Jurel 31, Kuldeep 18) Bashir through another over in the blink of an eye, just a single from it. Kuldeep nicely forward with bended knee – good movement for so early in the day.
Good morning Stephen Dobbie! “Perfect Saturday night entertainment here in California watching the lads. Just wondering if it’s too far from here to Dharamashala if we make it to 2-2!”
75th over: India 223-7 (Jurel 31, Kuldeep 18) With six overs left till the second new ball is available, Ollie Robinson starts from the other end. Almost immediately oversteps again. A relatively easy couple of singles, then some extra bounce which surprises Kuldeep Yadav.
74th over: India 219-7 (Jurel 30, Kuldeep 17) Twinkly approach to the crease, an lbw appeal first ball as Kuldeep pads him away and the Barmy Army run through Jerusalem. A maiden.
Our young Woking hero has the ball.
This was a cracking read by Barney on Shoaib Bashir yesterday:
As I prop my eyelids open, out come the players. If you’re awake, do drop me line, I’d love the company.
Also need to know how Alastair Cook and Steven Finn look so fresh in the studio every day at this ungodly hour. No baggy Ian Ward eyes to be seen, just clean, pressed, boy next door manners.
Young Jaiswal has the microphone, and is asked how he is learning to bat on these wickets ?!“I like to challenge myself all the time, I am learning from my net session and learning from my seniors.” And modest too. But India will need still more fireworks from him in the second innings, facing what seems likely to be a 100-plus deficit.
Preamble
Good morning! Before any of you England fans out there get too excited, remember one thing: at the start of day three of the third Test, England were on top – and went onto take a proper kicking.
Nevertheless, at the start of day three here at Ranchi, the force is once more strong with England. They reduced that Indian line-up to hoovering up crumbs, prevented the immense Jaiswal from getting three figures, and sung small hosannas to their 20-year-old spinner Shoaib Bashir, he with the dip and zip, and whose a 31-over spell of 4-83 is, according to @CricVizdata, the longest spell by an England bowler since Graeme Swann’s 6-90 in 2013. England go into the day with a lead of 134, and India with only three wickets to play with.
I must go and get a few hours kip but see you here shortly before play starts at 4am GMT. Don’t miss a beat.
