Ali Martin has filed his report from Rajkot, which is my cue to go out for some fresh air. It was a day when India’s young stars shone and England’s hopes turned to dust. Or they would have if Ben Stokes hadn’t imprinted his team with his own self-belief. Thanks for your company and correspondence: the OBO will be back in the morning, ready for the 4am GMT start. Meanwhile, here’s Ali and Jim:
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Here’s Ben Duckett, talking to Graeme Swann. It’s a Northants-Notts stitch-up!
“You’ve got to give credit to the way they played this evening,” Duckett says. “They gave us nothing this morning. We were attacking like we were yesterday, it just didn’t work.”
He defends Joe Root, who got out to a ramp shot for the second time in his Test career. “Rooty’s a freak, he plays shots that a lot of us can’t do… Rooty plays that shot so well. In my eyes it’s just like playing a drive and nicking off.”
This game is not out of reach, Swann suggests. “No, 100 per cent not. Even sending in a nightwatchman when you’re 330 ahead shows that they’re slightly wary of us. We’re going continue the way that we play. If we get two or three blokes getting in on that pitch, scoring quickly, you never know what can happen.” The optimism is admirable. The problem today wasn’t that England were aggressive: it was that they collapsed, just as they often did in the dull old days.
“Humble Aussie?” says Brendan Murphy. “Dumb Aussie more like. England were not in a winning position – they were over 200 behind at start of play.” True, but they had won the second day, almost as conclusively as India have now won the third.
And here is our Aussie, sounding genuinely humble this time. “Apologies Tim,” he writes, “My name is Finn. If I’m going to give an entire country a bit of cheek, I should, at the very least, give my first name.
“PS Hartley is a good find. I hope he makes it to our shores next year.”
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“England are right back in this,” says Tom van der Gucht. “One more wicket now and they are in with a sniff of a hint of a chance. I’m pretty confident that after a good night’s sleep and a decent portion of Weetabix in the morning, England will be up and at ’em! When I tune in around 6am, England will be batting again, you mark my words, and Duckett will be biffing his way towards a second century in the match.” Of course.
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The day belongs to Yashasvi Jaiswal. And so does the series: he has made 80 and 15, 209 and 17, and now 10 and 104 retired hurt. That’s 435 runs already, which is 150 more than the next man (Duckett). Jaiswal, who was brutal for a brief spell after tea, may even feel that his back injury was a price worth paying.
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On the predictor at CricViz, India are now given a 96pc chance of a win. England have 4, with no possibility at all, apparently, for the draw.
Stumps! It's India's day as England implode
51st over: India 196-2 (Gill 65, Kuldeep 3) Gill takes one more single, Kuldeep survives the last four balls, and that is that. England have had a very had day at the office and India have been merciless, turning a lead of 126 into 322. The game is almost up.
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50th over: India 195-2 (Gill 64, Kuldeep 3) Kuldeep sees out a maiden from Hartley, just, though he flirts with danger by shouldering arms to a ball turning in from the rough outside off. England appeal for LBW – not given. Stokes decides against a review, perhaps because it’s just the nightwatchman. HawkEye shows that the ball would have missed the leg bail by a whisker.
49th over: India 195-2 (Gill 64, Kuldeep 3) Gill is happy to take a single off Rehan and leave the stage to Kuldeep, who springs a surprise with square drive for three.
“And greetings England, saviours of cricket,” writes a reader who wishes to remain anonymous. Not something we encourage but this is worth a read. “Normally, I would not bother to watch England unless they were trying to regain the Ashes after God knows how many years (actually I do know how many years it has been).
“But, such is their quiet smugness, I really have enjoyed tuning in to watch their hubris cause them to play themselves out of a winning position in a little under six hours. True, I am watching. Perhaps they really will save Test cricket. Love, a humble Aussie.” A humble brag?
48th over: India 191-2 (Gill 63, Kuldeep 0) So now we do have the nightwatchman. And yet another wicket for Tom Hartley, England’s main weapon in this series. Before making the breakthrough, Hartley beat Gill with a ball that turned so much, it went straight to Root at slip.
Rajat Patidar will be kicking himself. He got a long hop from Hartley and slapped it to midwicket. To be fair, it may have kept a bit low.
Wicket! Patidar c Rehan b Hartley 0 (India 191-2)
One (sort of) brings two!
47th over: India 190-1 (Gill 62, Patidar 0) Just a single off Rehan. Graeme Swann, the only contrarian in the commentary box, is saying it might be only seven more wickets that England need here, with Jaiswal on the treatment table and Ashwin on compassionate leave. “Better and better for England!” Up to a point, Lord Copper.
46th over: India 189-1 (Gill 61, Patidar 0) Hartley keeps it simple to the new batter, Patidar, and picks up a maiden. It’s the first one in this innings from a spinner whose name is not Root.
45th over: India 189-1 (Gill 61, Patidar 0) With six overs left today, India perhaps thought about a nightwatchman before realising that they hardly need to worry here. They’ve seen off Mark Wood, who gives way to Rehan. Gill, now the main man, waits for the bad ball and eases it through the covers for four.
Jaiswal retires hurt for 104! (India 185-1)
Yes, he’s leaving the field. He gets a big hand, half sympathy, half admiration.
44th over: India 184-1 (Jaiswal 104, Gill 57) Jaiswal is still looking pained. He should surely go off: his job is done.
“Far be it from me,” says Rudrarpan Chatterjee, “to interrupt a visiting team committing harakiri, but I do feel Root having to bowl 20 overs each innings is taking away from his batting massively. Even if it doesn’t dim the skill, your reflexes are bound to be a little bit slower if your muscles are swimming in lactic acid.”
43rd over: India 184-1 (Jaiswal 104, Gill 56) Wood continues, so Jaiswal knows the next ball will be a short one. He’s ready for it with a deflection that gets him off strike. Gill takes centre-stage, flicking Wood for six to reach 50 off 98 balls. He’s been very measured, but now he looks to break loose, adding a cut for four, then mistiming a pull and picking up a single. The cut takes the partnership past 150, and the lead is 310. These two have all but batted England out of the game.
Jaiswal injured
The bowlers have barely bothered Jaiswal, but now his back is giving him some gyp. He lies down on the field, feeling for his spine just above his waist, and sends for the physio, who flips him over onto his stomach, stretches his left leg and administers a pain-killer. “It’s the jump!” says Ravi Shastri as a replay shows Jaiswal jumping for joy when he reached his hundred. He’s OK to continue.
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42nd over: India 172-1 (Jaiswal 103, Gill 45) Hartley, replacing Root, aims for the rough and beats Jaiswal with a shooter. Maybe the pitch isn’t so flat after all: England are going to have a tough time chasing something beginning with a 4.
41st over: India 171-1 (Jaiswal 102, Gill 45) Wood is still racing in. He’s been one of England’s two stars in this Test, second only to Duckett: taking four wickets, pulling off a fine run-out, left high and dry on 4 not out when he looked like producing one of his knockabout 30s. But it’s not happening for him in this innings. For all Stokes’s creativity, this attack is just too bland on a flat track.
40th over: India 168-1 (Jaiswal 100, Gill 44) Shubman Gill, who’s been on second fiddle, suddenly plays a solo, lofting Root for six and adding two tucks off the hips for two. The partnership has somehow swollen to 139.
39th over: India 158-1 (Jaiswal 100, Gill 34) The crowd greet the hundred as they always do, with childlike delight.
A hundred to Jaiswal!
Jaiswal cuts Wood for four to reach a highly unusual hundred off 122 balls. He went very slowly at first, then lightning-fast, then sedately again. It’s his second hundred of the series: by making a name for himself, he has ensured that India have barely missed their big names.
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38th over: India 149-1 (Jaiswal 94, Gill 30) Root again does well in a supporting role, restricting Jaiswal to a lofted paddle for two. By hook or by crook, Stokes has got the run rate down again – India have added only 11 off the past six overs.
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37th over: India 146-1 (Jaiswal 92, Gill 30) Yes, it’s Wood, and it’s bodyline. No slips, no short leg, three men out for the hook, and three in the ring on the leg side for the mis-hook. Jaiswal, refusing to take the bait, plays with a straight bat in front of his nose. Stokes responds by bringing in a short leg. Jaiswal steps away to leg, like a tailender, but can’t get his cut past the one fielder on the off side. It’s a good contest, not so much between bat and ball as between bat and brain – the ideas always brewing in the head of Ben Stokes.
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36th over: India 144-1 (Jaiswal 91, Gill 29) Root continues and finally takes Graeme Swann’s advice from about two hours ago by going over the wicket to the right-hander. But only for three balls, for some reason – “those three balls were very good,” says Swann. Again there’s a single for each batter, and now it looks as if Mark Wood is coming back.
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Drinks: England in dire straits
35th over: India 142-1 (Jaiswal 90, Gill 28) Rehan takes his cue from Root and also gets through an over for two runs. But the past hour still belongs to India, who have added 98 since tea. Most of those runs – 71 – have been scored by Yashasvi Jaiswal, who started like a snail and is now going like a cheetah. India lead by 268, and England’s day has gone from bad to worse.
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34th over: India 140-1 (Jaiswal 89, Gill 27) England sorely need a moment of calm. Root, in his role as the senior spinner, provides it with an over that goes for just two singles.
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33rd over: India 138-1 (Jaiswal 88, Gill 26) India’s 12th man is in the middle again, bringing fresh gloves and perhaps some instructions from Rahul Dravid. To go by what happens next, he’s saying “try the reverse sweep”. Jaiswal, facing Rehan, swaps his hands round and helps himself to two more fours.
“Is it too soon,” asks Gary Naylor, “to speak of Jaiswal as the next great Test batsman? He appears to have everything, especially the cold blood that sits at the heart of his shot selection. Great feet, mental picture of the field for every ball, timing and an immaculate sense of when to attack and defend. That feels like early Viv or Brian to me.” Not quite convinced by those parallels, but the point about cold blood is a very interesting one.
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32nd over: India 130-1 (Jaiswal 80, Gill 26) Jaiswal, suddenly addicted to sixes, gets a cheap one as Root bowls a full toss. Root bites back with a ball that lifts and spits out of the rough, beating the bat, but even that will only have the Indian spinners licking their lips.
31st over: India 123-1 (Jaiswal 73, Gill 26) It’s too easy for Jaiswal now. Seeing Rehan give his leg-break a bit of air, he slogs it for another six. India lead by 249, and the last 48 of those have come off five overs. To add insult to injury, bottles of water are brought out for the batters and offered to the umpires too, but there’s not a drop for the fielders.
30th over: India 116-1 (Jaiswal 66, Gill 26) It’s a double change as Hartley, who bowled a bit better than 10-0-39-0 might suggest, gives way to Root. Ravi Shastri points out that Root has bowled more overs in this series (89) than he has scored runs (70). Jaiswal, seeing it like a beach ball now, goes back to a slider and whips it for four to midwicket.
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29th over: India 111-1 (Jaiswal 61, Gill 26) Stokes gives Anderson a breather and a chance to ponder some uncharacteristic figures (6-1-32-0). For the first time in this innings, Rehan Ahmed gets a bowl. He starts pretty well but can’t stop Gill playing an elegant late cut for four. That makes 67-0 off 13 overs since tea.
28th over: India 107-1 (Jaiswal 61, Gill 22) Jaiswal has turned into a completely different person. Spying a full toss from Hartley, he reaches his fifty with a swing for six. And then does it again! After inching to 35 off 73 balls, he has blasted 26 off the last eight.
“There’s been something of an inevitable and extreme pile on for England having a (very) bad day,” says Geoff Wignall. “Overall judgements are probably better left until the series ends. But at what point does Bairstow’s position become questionable, if not untenable? He’s produced little since his extreme sports misadventure and now seems to be doing no more than keeping the seat warm for Harry Brook.”
Jaiswal goes crazy!
27th over: India 94-1 (Jaiswal 49, Gill 21) A single to Gill off Anderson brings up the 50 partnership off 90 balls. Young guns, old school… But then Jaiswal plays a pull for six! He may have been provoked by Stokes, who had given him a whole cordon of semi-silly mid-somethings. He follows the six with a slice for four over slip and another whipped pull, for four this time. Nineteen off an over from Anderson!
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26th over: India 75-1 (Jaiswal 35, Gill 20) Hartley beats Jaiswal again, with lift rather than turn, as he misses a cut. But before that each batter takes a single, so India lead by 201.
“As others have said, it’s disappointing but this was always priced in to this side,” writes Guy Hornsby. “It’s going to happen when you’re playing positive and aggressive cricket. Also, the tail has got runs most innings in India so far, so it could’ve been much closer with a couple of breezy 20s from Ahmed and Hartley. Even with Root and Bairstow’s lack of runs, 5 for 20 was a blow. But this is still a class Indian side who seem to have endless batting prodigies. All we can do is keep plugging away. But Jesus you have to feel for Jimmy and Wood in particular, he doesn’t deserve this.”
25th over: India 73-1 (Jaiswal 34, Gill 19) As well as that short midwicket, Anderson now has a mildly silly mid-on. He gets his metronome working again and collects a maiden, but can’t find enough reverse to bother Gill.
24th over: India 73-1 (Jaiswal 34, Gill 19) As far as I remember, there hasn’t been a sweep shot in this innings – until now. Jaiswal, facing Hartley, plays one and it’s very good, fast and decisive, worthy of Duckett. Next ball, Hartley retorts by turning the ball out of the rough, beating the bat and appealing for leg-before (not given, nor reviewed). More significantly, there’s a puff of dust – not a good omen for England, who have to bat last.
23rd over: India 67-1 (Jaiswal 29, Gill 18) Wood’s place as the reverse merchant is taken by Jimmy Anderson, who has much the same field, one slip and a short midwicket. As with the new ball, he begins by bowling too short: Gill cashes in calmly with a cut for four.
22nd over: India 63-1 (Jaiswal 29, Gill 14) Hartley, getting no joy, goes over the wicket for the last ball of this over and beats Jaiswal, who suddenly tries a big heave, perhaps seduced by Stokes leaving a gap at long-on. This may be the only way back for England – making things happen by messing with the minds of the young batters.
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21st over: India 62-1 (Jaiswal 29, Gill 13) Wood continues and his plan, Knight reckons, is to get Gill playing round his front pad. There is a little reverse swing, but when Wood spears the ball in Gill meets it with a broad blade and a cover drive for four.
“Just catching up on the OBO,” says Deepak Puri, “and I see Bairstow was out for a duck in four balls. Last time he toured India, my partner (hello Ali - putting in a long shift today for the NHS) and I coined the term ‘back in a Bairstow’ as a measure of a very short period of time. Seems it still applies.” Ha.
Bairstow’s Test average in India is 27, his lowest in any Test-playing country (in UAE, it’s 22).
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20th over: India 56-1 (Jaiswal 28, Gill 8) Jaiswal shows his first sign of aggression against the spinners, dancing down the track to cover-drive Hartley for four. “All the work done by the feet,” says Nick Knight, his voice glowing with admiration.
19th over: India 50-1 (Jaiswal 23, Gill 7) Wood continues and does that thing of his, hurling himself to the ground. Jaiswal keeps taking a single off the first ball of the over, which is fine by England as they want to have a go at Gill – but this time Gill is busier, finding a single himself with a crisp push and a firm call. The over ends up going for four singles, although the last one, also from Gill, is an inside edge. Wood then heads off the field, to be replaced by Dan Lawrence.
Meanwhile a TV caption has a hint for Ben Stokes. “Shubman Gill in Tests,” it says: “five times dismissed by James Anderson.”
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18th over: India 46-1 (Jaiswal 21, Gill 5) At the Joe Root end, Stokes takes Root off and brings Hartley straight back. Hartley manages a moral victory over Gill, who comes down the wicket, fails to reach the pitch and ends up having to improvise with an inelegant prod.
17th over: India 45-1 (Jaiswal 20, Gill 5) Play resumes from the Wood-Hartley end, where Ben Stokes replaces Hartley with Wood. Just one slip now, plus a short midwicket. Jaiswal dabs a single off the first ball and gets a telling-off from Kumar Dharmasena for running down the middle of the pitch – the crime that cost India five runs in the first innings.
Here’s Ewan Glenton. “I think this Bazball England team has earned enough respect – i.e. they’ve managed to turn things around and do well often enough – to give them at least a few sessions of leeway: the existential conversation about that rubbish collapse and how significant it might be is one we should surely be having not now but after the match, no? If they manage again to pull something out of the hat and get a result (we know it’s not beyond them, far from it) we’ll all be accepting that with this approach we just have to take the lows with the highs and ask ourselves how happy we are with the high points; there’s an element of gambling to it all, without which the whole thing couldn’t possibly work. If it doesn’t work and the end result is no different from the last tour, then of course it needs to be looked at.”
In the studio, Alastair Cook is saying “England have to shock their way back into this game.” Narrator: Cook has never shocked his way into anything.
“Tim, my dear old thing,” says Kim Thonger. “Having carefully considered the Root dismissal, I can only assume it’s part of a grand Stokesian masterplan to induce over-confidence in the Indian attack. Chasing 499 to win, Root will suddenly transform himself into the hyperconcentrating old-fashioned Root we used to know and love as he guides us home to victory with a chanceless knock of 250. It’s written in the stars.” Of course it is.
Tea: India right on top
16th over: India 44-1 (Jaiswal 19, Gill 5) Jaiswal, facing Root, finally locates the boundary off his 49th ball, sending an elegant square drive into the gap at cover point. And that’s tea, with India not dominating yet in this innings, but absolutely lording it in the match. They lead by 170 runs. The story of the day is that England collapsed, losing their last eight wickets for 95. They not only threw away a golden opportunity, with India missing most of their big names: they also badly let down Ben Duckett, whose finest hour now seems destined to go down as a heroic failure.
Time to go and get the papers, which will be full of dramatic irony.
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15th over: India 39-1 (Jaiswal 14, Gill 5) Stokes takes Wood off after one over and brings back Hartley, who goes for just a single. Is he turning into Jack Leach?
“A fever dream,” says Amit Agarwal, “that’s what the England innings was. A delulu Root out to a reverse sweep. Then Bairstow playing like a lulu. Duckett kicking the bucket. Stokes losing his head, and his wicket. And so on… For an Indian, it was so good to see Bazball self-imploding and blown to smithereens, going down in flames like a Raavan ka putla on Dussehra – hollow from inside. Oh is there a feeling more joyous than to see the English being beaten.”
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14th over: India 38-1 (Jaiswal 13, Gill 5) Root continues and, for Gill, Stokes gives him two short legs and a shortish midwicket. "It’s a good field,” Swann says, “but I’d like to see Joe Root go over the wicket to get the ball in the rough outside off. Land it in the omelette!”
13th over: India 35-1 (Jaiswal 11, Gill 4) That wicket has turned Stokes back into Stokes. He takes Hartley off (3-0-9-0) and brings on Mark Wood for some pace. Gill is positive again, getting well forward, but Wood is on the spot, stringing together five dots after letting Jaiswal have a single with his loosener.
12th over: India 34-1 (Jaiswal 10, Gill 4) Stokes does post a few catchers now and Shubman Gill meets attack with attack, stepping out to loft Root over midwicket. But Root’s figures are still excellent: 6-2-11-1.
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Stokes is only being aggressive with his reviews. And this time it works. Rohit went for a big sweep, missed, and wasn’t given LBW, perhaps because the umpire thought the ball from Root (going around the wicket) had pitched outside leg. But it was in line, straightening, and up came the three reds. So, for the first time in this match, England have got rid of a senior Indian batter for fewer than 100.
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WICKET! Rohit Sharma LBW b Root 19 (India 30-1)
Rohit upRooted!
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11th over: India 30-0 (Sharma 19, Jaiswal 10) Three singles off Hartley. Graeme Swann, one of the more original thinkers in the commentary box, is saying something that is hardly ever said about this England: that they are being too defensive. He feels they have to create some theatre, crowd the batters, risk going for 100 quick runs in an effort to take five quick wickets. But the ball isn’t passing the bat, says Deep Dasgupta. “The bowlers bowl to their fields,” Swann replies. “I’d get rid of that cover sweeper.”
10th over: India 27-0 (Sharma 17, Jaiswal 9) More dots from Root to Jaiswal, who has now made half as many runs as Rohit off almost twice as many balls (38-22).
“Getting up early to watch this débâcle,” says Harry Lang, “brought to mind The Hollow Men, by TS Eliot.
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats’ feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar
Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion …
“This opening verse feels particularly apt, but the entire poem could be copied and pasted into the OBO…” Steady on! “…and it would be a near perfect match for this morning’s capitulation. Many thanks to Daniel for keeping things light as England head into the dark (again).”
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9th over: India 27-0 (Sharma 17, Jaiswal 9) For Jaiswal, Stokes gives Hartley a second close catcher – Ollie Pope at short leg. This perhaps preys on Jaiswal’s mind as he is tentative propping forward. Stokes calls for a review for caught behind as the ball pops up off the pad, but it wasn’t even close to the bat, and was doing too much to be leg-before. So England lose a review, and Rohit celebrates with a breezy chip over cover.
8th over: India 22-0 (Sharma 13, Jaiswal 8) Root draws Jaiswal into a false shot, but the edge goes low and wide of slip. Anderson saves two by going after the ball like a dog in the park.
7th over: India 19-0 (Sharma 13, Jaiswal 5) The commentators thought England would stick with seam from one end and spin at the other. Ben Stokes, always proactive, decides otherwise, replacing Anderson with Tom Hartley. He makes a steady enough start but has only one slip, because England are 140 behind. They’re desperate for wickets but not even Stokes feels able to set an attacking field. They have blown a great chance here – Ashwin not here, Bumrah not firing, Kohli and Shami still missing, the pitch still flat.
6th over: India 18-0 (Sharma 13, Jaiswal 4) Root’s 18th ball of the day is his first bad one, a full toss on leg stump, but Jaiswal can only clip it for a single.
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5th over: India 15-0 (Sharma 12, Jaiswal 2) Anderson keeps Rohit quiet, but England need a burst of wickets and there’s been no sign of one so far. Here we are at the halfway point of the series, and it’s all reverting to type. England are scoring faster than ever before in India, and making things happen out of nothing in the field – but the results, so far, are just like last time.
4th over: India 13-0 (Sharma 10, Jaiswal 2) Root keeps it steady, allowing only a single. I wonder how he’s feeling: he and Jonny Bairstow have been the weak links for England in this series. Bairstow has had some bad times in India before, but Root is usually England’s rock in this part of the world.
3rd over: India 12-0 (Sharma 9, Jaiswal 2) Anderson finds a better length and concedes just a single to each batter, plus a leg-bye.
2nd over: India 9-0 (Sharma 8, Jaiswal 1) Thanks Daniel – that shift was a game changer. Joe Root shares the new ball and starts with a maiden, “right on the money” as Graeme Swann says. Jimmy Anderson may not be able to keep the runs down, but Root can.
That’s all from me. Glad I got to see England’s innings come to a close (more for narrative than my own personal pleasure, please don’t @ me).
Tim de Lisle will take over for India’s second dig. Get in touch and let him know what a gettable target would be for Stokes’ boys.
Thanks for the company. Speak soon.
1st over: India 9-0 (Sharma 8, Jaiswal 1) Phew, that is some start. Two boundaries for Sharma – one a swivelled pull, the other a stiff punch through cover-point – and a single for Jaiswal means Jimmy Anderson’s opening set is a rather costly one.
The more things change, etc…
Darryl Accone: “Bazzball eh! You can take England out of the grunting attritional grind but you can’t take the headless calamitous collapse out of England.”
Tom V d Gucht: “No-one can refute the excitement and frission England generate when playing, but there seems to be sense of predictably in their seemingly inevitable collapses too. Watching them brings to mind the lyrics to Three Lions
“They’ve seen it all before
They just know, they’re so sure
That England’s gonna throw it away,
Gonna blow it away
But I know they can play,
“Hopefully leading to a 3rd and 4th innings fightback... Then again, we are ranked 7th in the world test championship for a reason.”
John Withington: “Well, that was quick. My last word on the issue before a day of lament …. To be fair India bowled very tidily. But with their main spinner out, and seemingly Bumrah not available to bowl this afternoon, that could be a defining innings for English cricket. Not only does it likely end this match and with it the chance of a series win, but it also echoes all the doubts and international criticism of England’s approach. That Root’s crazy dismissal was the obvious turning point is unavoidable and might make it the single most negligent act on the cricket field in living memory.”
“Morning Dan.”
Hey Simon McMahon. Did you catch all that?
“This is tremendous stuff to wake up to on a Saturday. An old fashioned England batting collapse. You’ve got to hand it to them. Some things are just innate, aren’t they?”
I suppose there’s comfort in familiarity.
England started the day with momentum behind them, a set batter on a ton and eight wickets in hand on a flat deck.
When you look at it like that it’s hard not to feel they’ve thrown away a golden chance to stay amp their authority on the match and indeed the series. Those eight wickets all fell for 112 runs. What’ll frustrate England fans most of all is the manner of those dismissals.
Root was out reverse-scooping when a more pragmatic approach would have sufficed. Duckett spooned a pie to cover. Stokes gifted a catch out in the deep while on the slog and Foakes chipped a seemingly innocuous ball to mid-on. Apart from Bairstow, who misjudged the length of a lovely spinner from Kuldeep, every other England batter today was the primary culprit in his own demise.
Let’s not take anything away from India. Bumrah, as always, was fantastic in the morning session with Kuldeep casting spells at the other end. Siraj took a while to get going but once he found his radar he was probing throughout a four-wicket spell. Jadeja grabbed a couple of key wickets as well to help India grip the wheel of this contest.
What’s a big enough lead here. Bazball might have been tamed today, but the threat of a fourth innings chase will loom large. Anything south of 350 and we could have a game on.
WICKET! Anderson b Siraj 1 (England 319 all out)
That’ll do! Siraj has his fourth. Another yorker, on the angle, that’s too good for a No 11. England trail by 126 runs after losing eight wickets for 112 today.
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71st over: England 319-9 (Wood 4, Anderson 1) Don’t call these two tailenders. Anderson gets off the mark with a reverse sweep and Wood gets going with a delicate tickle to fine leg. A hundred more of those and England will be well on top.
WICKET! Hartley st Jurel b Jadeja 9 (England 314-9)
They’re tumbling like dominoes! Hartley, looking to be proactive and perhaps buoyed by his boundary in the previous Jadeja over, charges out of his crease and swipes at the ball. He’s nowhere near it and it’s a simple stumping for Jurel who has had a tough time with the gloves today. That’ll give him a confidence boost. England started the day on 207-2. They’re now one wicket away from a truly disappointing slump.
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70th over: England 314-8 (Hartley 9, Wood 0) Two balls before he was bowled, Ahmed played a Tendulkar-esque back-foot punch. Minimal movement, pure timing, it was textbook stuff. But one good shot doesn’t make you a master and Siraj won out in the end with an inch-perfect yorker.
WICKET! Ahmed b Siraj 6 (England 314-8)
Bowled him! A perfect yorker. Squeezed under the bat, that meets the base of the off-stump. There’s no cartwheeling timber. Just the timid plop of the bail. That’s more than enough to send Ahmed on his way. I keep calling for Siraj to get yanked out of the attack and every time he comes up with a wicket.
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69th over: England 310-7 (Hartley 9, Ahmed 2) This England innings isn’t over just yet. Hartley is showing fight, and skill, as he moves his feet with confidence to come down the track and meet Jadeja’s flighted ball with a swish of his bat as he picks the gap on the inside of mid-on. Who doesn’t love a bit of spinner on spinner action? Ahmed also looks comofrtable as he pushes s single through the off side.
68th over: England 305-7 (Hartley 5, Ahmed 1) Swift work from a diving Jadeja in the covers prevents Ahmed from getting off the mark with a boundary. That was a textbook back-foot punch. The kid can play, no doubt about it. He does get his first run of the innings with an inside edge that dribbles down to backward square leg. Time for Bumrah to arrow a few in at the toes I reckon.
Silver linings:
Well, England are 141 behind. So this will be their smallest first innings deficit of the series...
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) February 17, 2024
67th over: England 304-7 (Hartley 5, Ahmed 0) Just before that Jadeja wicket of Stokes I was typing up a spiel about Sharma’s misplaced faith and why Kuldeep should have been bowling. Shows what I know! Anyway, Hartley drilled a good looking cover drive for four as Jadeja gave it a bit of air. The rest of the over is tidy and keeps Hartley on the defence.
66th over: England 300-7 (Hartley 1, Ahmed 0) I hope England’s spinners didn’t have a large lunch because they’re both out there much earlier than expected. Foakes and Stokes looked in complete control but both went – rather tamely - in consecutive deliveries. Siraj is a wonderful operator and it was a slight change of pace that nabbed that Foakes wicket. Hartley, now the senior batter, ends the over with a single off his inside edge to keep the strike.
WICKET! Foakes c Sharma b Siraj 13 (England 299-7)
Two in two balls! Siraj, with his first ball of the over, bowls a slower ball that holds up in the surface and Foakes is through the shot before he can pull out. He’s unlucky in that it catches the middle of the blade so the ball balloons to Sharma at mid-on. Wow! In a flash England are in a heap of trouble as India take aim at the tail.
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WICKET! Stokes c Bumrah b Jadeja 41 (England 299-6)
Another England player chucks his wicket away! Stokes leans back on the slog sweep as he attempts to thwack Jadeja into orbit but doesn’t get enough bat on it. It shoots high into the air and away to wide long-on where Bumrah settles and takes the catch above his head. Every time you think England are about to settle into a rhythm they shoot themselves in the foot.
That’s the end of the 65th over as Tom Hartley makes his way to the middle.
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64th over: England 297-5 (Stokes 39, Foakes 13) Sharma has set a funky field for Foakes. One slip but two catchers in front of the wicket on the on-side. They’re close together around short-midwicket. Neither could do anything though as Foakes leaned into a perfectly balanced punch that looked destined to end in a simple single but kept scampering away off the surface and reached the cover boundary. Wonderful timing. Two more off an inside edge means Foakes is climbing through the gears after lunch.
63rd over: England 291-5 (Stokes 39, Foakes 7) It’s Jadeja, rather than Kuldeep, who opens the other end after lunch. Flatter than the wrist spinner, he’ll challenge the batters in a different way. One to Stokes kept a little low. One to keep an eye on. Foakes gets a single with a delicate cut.
Andrew Benton has gone early on a bold prediction.
Let’s hope you don’t jinx ‘em:
Hello Daniel. Unfortunate dismissals indeed, but Bazball teams don’t let such drawbacks get to them - the last five wickets will surely go for 150 or so (fingers crossed).
62nd over: England 290-5 (Stokes 39, Foakes 6) Siraj gets us going again with a maiden. Round the wicket to Stokes, he’s landing it outside the off stump and testing Stokes’ technique. The England skipper os solid in defence while shuffling across to cover his wickets.
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We’re back. Big session coming up. Then again, they’re all pretty big, aren’t they?
Is England’s hubris the reason they’re facing a mountain? Graeme Arthur thinks so:
Last night I heard Ashwin’s post match interview suggesting the match was ‘neck and neck’. TalkSPORT’s bullish commentary team characterised this as defeatist (which is possibly the reason I haven’t warmed to their coverage). What struck me most was when he suggested that India would keep at it, hoping that “some of these airy fairy shots would go to hand”. It just seemed like a peculiarly Yorkshire vernacular expression I was listening to. Now I’ve woken up and it has come to pass.
“Morning Daniel,”
Hey Anthony White. How are ya?
”Almost nodded back off to sleep waiting for the start of play here in France! A comment with nothing to do with Root or the immediate state of the English team : I’m a great fan of Foakes and since my own father captained a (nondescript!)team from behind the stumps I have a bias for the man in charge to be literally at the centre of play, right up close to what batters and bowlers are doing.
”En plus, I think Foakes has an excellent ability of reading the play, very grown up! As a vice captain and eventually the captain, I would be interested to see his decisions. Ok, what do you expect for a comment having been awake since three o’clock!Thanks for delightful coverage”
Thanks for dropping by and hope you’re getting some rest now. I’m also a fan of Foakes but I winder if his batting is good enough to keep the gloves at home. I mean, he’s obviously a very good batter. But my sense is they want a more explosive batting unit on seaming wickets, rather than a ‘keeper who can handle the unique challenge of the sub continent.
But yes. I’d have no complaints seeing more of Foakes.
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Naturally, there’s more chat about Root’s baffling dismissal:
BTA Miller:
The two Yorkshire players have now batted 10 times in the series for 168 runs. When will this be discussed seriously? If their names were Pietersen or Gower they would be denounced
Yikes. At least Wood and Stokes are doing it for the northerners.
William Vignoles:
Not going to go into the dismissal as i have not had a chance to see it yet, but has everyone forgotten that Root mostly batted beautifully in his last series? He scored a brilliant century in the Ashes opener, and was only denied two more at Old Trafford and Headingley (I think?) by two absurd grubbers that shot along the deck. The bigger problem might be that there weren’t any tests between July and January, and so he had no chance to maintain that rhythm.
Have you changed your mind since watching it?
John Withington:
I find myself disagreeing with the commentators a lot today! It’s not “execution” which is the issue with the great Root debate. Personally I don’t have an issue with Duckett’s seemingly awful dismissal. It was the “right thing” to be going at the ball. It was poorly executed due to any number of random factors, including a fair amount of turn. But pre-meditating a “coin-toss” of a shot at a key moment isn’t random. And these moments are far-reaching. Every time opponents are seemingly under the cosh there’s always the likelihood that they’ll be gifted a way back into the game. It’s draining the positive impact of the aggressive dominance of England’s style of play.
Yeah, agreed. Ducket’s wicket is one of those things that can happen with a set batter. Besides, you earn some leeway after scoring 150.
Will Ellen:
I would take issue with the “perhaps Englands greatest” line about Root. A sporting careervis about more than just statistics. Stokes numbers dont do him justice, and conversely, and arguably, Roots flatter him. The greatest perform when their teams need them the most. And here? When considering the match and series situation, against one of the greatest fast bowlers in history, he deploys a shot that is, frankly, just staggeringly stupid.
I’m sticking with my original thought. Root is absolute class and, as I said before, perhaps England’s greatest ever player. Stokes is up there. Perhaps he’s England’s greatest ever player. They’re both in the ‘Perhaps Greatest Ever’ XI.
Oi Ben! You there? We’ve got some tips for you:
“Message to a baffled Ben Stokes. The (Rolling in) Kuldeep googly is really so obvious to spot … viewed in slow motion and from behind the bowler’s arm. It’s an easy game sometimes.”
That’s from Brian Withington who makes it sound so simple while chucking in a sumptuous pun.
England’s gaffes will hog the headlines, but we shouldn’t forget Kuldeep’s excellent work across that session.
Brilliant spell from Kuldeep Yadav this morning - 12 - 1 - 35 - 2 - varied his pace, judicious use of the wrong 'un, relentlessly asking questions of batter (and keeper) and ultimately stepping up with R Ashwin out of action
— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) February 17, 2024
Lunch: England 290-5 (Stokes 39, Foakes 6)
That’ll be that or a session that lasted 26 overs and contributed 83 runs for the loss of three wickets. Jadeja, into the attack for just one over, concedes a single to Stokes before Foakes sees us to the break.
India’s session no doubt thanks to two soft dismissals and one poor shot. But Kuldeep deserves praise for his work. Still, with Root and then Duckett chucking their wickets away, you can’t help but feel England have been the architects of their woes.
Don’t count them out just yet. A certain tattooed lefty with a penchant for a fightback remains unbeaten.
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60th over: England 289-5 (Stokes 38, Foakes 6) Stokes takes a single to start Siraj’s over and Foakes is compact for the rest. There’s a good leave in there as well to one that angled back in off the deck. I’ve liked this spell from Siraj. It’s been controlled after some early radar struggles. Despite the bumps this morning England are still batting at 4.8 an over. For what it’s worth, the West Indies registered 288-9 from as many overs in the 1979 World Cup final. How the game has changed, eh?
59th over: England 288-5 (Stokes 38, Foakes 6) Foakes has played that brilliantly. Tight on defence and with quick feet, when Kuldeep over pitches England’s keeper skips down the pitch and flicks a wonderful shot through midwicket for four. That forces Kuldeep to change his angle of attack but Foakes’ defence remains impenetrable. Top work.
15 minutes to lunch and Kuldeep has potentially a full over at Foakes. A short mid-on and a slip. He’ll look to drag him forward and bring one back in through the gate or onto the pads.
58th over: England 284-5 (Stokes 37, Foakes 2) Stokes is far more comfortable against the seamer. it helps when he’s served a half tracker which he can simply swivel on and despatch for four with a controlled pull. He takes two more with a nudge off his hips but almost drags a wide delivery back on his stumps. Siraj throws his head back and Stokes makes an ‘oooh’ sound. That was an ugly swipe and would have been a sickening way to go. Other than that, though, he was in complete control.
57th over: England 277-5 (Stokes 31, Foakes 2) Kuldeep is producing a jaffa every over. Another ripper from the rough spins and bounces. Maybe too much on both counts as it beats Stokes’ outside edge. He then drags down and Stokes cuts for two down to deep point. A single off the top edge – which had the Indian fielders interested for a second – of a sweep follows before a extra turn to Foakes catches the leading edge. Excellent wrist spin bowling. Could watch this all day.
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56th over: England 275-5 (Stokes 28, Foakes 2) Just a single from the last ball of that Siraj over – a mow from Srtokes behind square on the leg side. England perhaps dropping anchor until the lunch break. At least, that would be the smart play which means we’ll probably see a double-step reverse-sweep from someone.
55th over: England 274-5 (Stokes 27, Foakes 2) Great set from Kuldeep. He starts by almost clipping Foakes’ off-stump and then unleashes an absolute gem from the back of the hand that bamboozled Stokes as it turned back into him and also beat the keeper who similarly didn’t pick the googly. Two singles – one for each batter – keeps the scoreboard ticking. Not that Kuldeep will mind who’s on strike. He’s into a great groove right now.
For those asking about Duckett’s dismissal, refresh your page and the description will be there (though you might not want to read it if you’re an England fan).
54th over: England 268-5 (Stokes 26, Foakes 1) Siraj has pulled his length back. He gets one to climb on Foakes who manages to swivel on a controlled pull that he squeezes down to fine leg for a single. Not sure how much he knew about it but he got enough bat on that to get off the mark. Stokes cops one on the body as he looks to pull in front of square. I quite like that tactic from Siraj. I’ll be interested to see if he keeps hammering that short length in the next over.
A penny for Joe’s thoughts right now
Love Joe Root, love that shot. But the circumstances, both in terms of his form (plus Bumrah's record against him) and the match situation (India down to 10, wickets falling early on day 1 and 2, still so far behind) make it a very difficult choice of shot to justify
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) February 17, 2024
Should Bazball mean different things for different players?
Dan Langdon has an idea:
Maybe the only really positive difference about Bazball is the Crawley/Duckett partnership and the consistently fearless way in which they set the tone for the innings. Other than that nothing should be different. Pope and Root are naturally fast accumulators so should just play their own game. Bairstow/Brook are both ultra-aggressive so clearly don’t need to change their game. Stokes always takes his time at the beginning of his innings regardless of Bazball - before he changes gear directly from first to sixth.
53rd over: England 266-5 (Stokes 26, Foakes 0) Stokes will continue fighting, no doubt about this. He gets down low and drills a sweep off Kuldeep that screams away to the deep midwicket fence. He again keeps the strike as he leans back and cuts with the spin to the sweeper on the off side. While he’s there England will believe.
52nd over: England 261-5 (Stokes 21, Foakes 0) Siraj from round the wicket to Stokes. He’s varying his length but probing around that fourth stump line. Stokes keeps the strike with a single off the back foot that finds a gap in the covers.
Kim Thronger has an intersting proposal:
“Waking up to find Root gone is not a surprise to me, I’ve thought for some time that his poor run with the bat is affecting his principal job in the team, holding up one end as a spinner. Should he drop down the order to 8 or 9 to relieve the pressure on him?”
I’m not sure that is the solution, but I do like the idea of a fluid batting order. However, Root doesn’t need protecting. He needs a psychological recalibration (if I can tip-toe the line between punditry and pop psychology).
He’s obviously a class act. Maybe England’s greatest ever player. I can’t see this run of form going on forever.
51st over: England 260-5 (Stokes 20, Foakes 0) A wicket maiden has India in control now. that might be Kuldeep’s worst ball of the Test but any clubbie will tell you that dross so often gets wickets. So it proved here. Big job for Foakes. England still trail by 185. Can the ‘keeper keep his captain company for long enough?
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I’ve had more correspondence regarding Root’s dismissal, though I feel the chat might shift to Duckett’s own howler. Let’s get the Root chat out of the way:
John Withington: “It’s noticeable that Stokes, as a key architect of the approach, seems immune to the Root interpretation of “Bazball”. Granted, he’s invariably rebuilding the innings after Root and Bairstow these days, but he‘s also playing the moment and to his own strength of building a platform to take advantage later when set. Why does Root seem to so regularly think he has to be the batter that he isn’t in order to fit into the team’s ethos?” – To be fair to John, he sent this before Stokes started unleashing.
Ben Tryer: I‘m still hazily reeling from Root’s decision to get unnecessarily funky with the task at hand, but I think I can understand the logic of the shot. It’s one that brought him plenty of success in those early Stokes-era tests and a way of forcing bowlers off lines and lengths. Bumrah has spent all series popping out of different doors in the corridor of uncertainty to spook Root like a Scooby Doo villain, so trying the scoop felt like his attempt of countering that.”
“I agree with the rest of the OBO community that the shot was a daft one considering the situation. Perhaps a bigger sign of his current batting malaise is his struggle to play what the situation requires rather than his expansive shot selection.
“Thanks for keeping me company while I question my choices of waking up to see England put themselves under the cosh.”
Will Juba: “Interesting to see the reaction of the OBOers…I absolutely understand the frustration at Root’s shot and agree, he doesn’t quite seem to have found his natural place in this Stokes and Baz England set up (though his average is still fantastic and he’s scored some unbelievable tons so it’s not that bad!).
”However, only England fans could go from the giddy high of yesterday to the depressing low of today! Poor shot yes; but 2 wickets have gone in the first half hour on all three days. Is the way Root got out different to if he’d been caught in the slips? I know the argument is if he sat in, it gets easier and then he goes big. But I do understand the ‘it’s how we play argument’ and am not sure how you can have one (the quite staggering attacking batting) and not the other (the strange dismissals). To just leap between the mindsets and go traditional-attacking-traditional-attacking surely isn’t that easy and we fit the narrative to the result. If that shot comes off then we’d all be waxing lyrical about it.
”That said, bad shot wasn’t it?!”
WICKET! Duckett c Gill b Kuldeep 153 (England 260-5)
Oh no Ben, what have you done? The tamest, weakest, softest dismissal you’ll ever see. A half-tracker that could have been spanked anywhere in Rajkot has been spooned to the man at cover and Duckett, after playing an epic, is on his way. Stokes makes a face as if he’s had something incredibly smelly placed under his nose and Duckett throws his head back. An absolute howler.
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50th over: England 260-4 (Duckett 153, Stokes 20) Bumrah’s spell is over and into the attack comes Mohammad Siraj. He’s picking up where Bumrah left off in that he’s operating from round the wicket, but he can’t get his angles right and Stokes leans into a clib through midwicket that races to the rope for four. Stokes looks on it as he skips down the track and hammers a drive through the covers. That is some cricket shot given the circumstances. Siraj over-corrects for the final two balls and sprays them down leg.
49th over: England 252-4 (Duckett 153, Stokes 12) Pow! Turn and bounce be damned! Stokes gets down on one knee and crunches Kuldeep up and over mid-off for four. It was almost a straight sweep shot. A real stroke of authority. He keeps the strike with a single through point off the back foot. Will we see some counter attacking from the England captain now?
Loads in my inbox regarding Root’s dismissal. Here are a few of the best:
Michael Anderson: “I don’t agree that Root’s “so far away from that level right now”. He looked great this morning, more at ease against Bumrah than I’ve ever seen him. This wasn’t a batsman thrashing his way back into form or taking risks to break a pressure situation. It was just a reckless decision that threw away a brilliantly-earned position of strength. Flippant, and so unsupportive of Duckett, who has now had to change gear. How can someone be so good and so foolish?
“As to the nonsense of “better stats under Stokes”. Sure, his average since Stokes took over is two runs higher than the ten years before. But if you take out that first series against New Zealand and the one-off test in India - where Root continued his impossible form from 2021, batting like a dream... his average since 20 July 2022 is now under 40.
“Ah, how much I was looking forward to simply watching him bat this morning.”
John Withington: “Graeme Swann doesn’t seem to get the distinction that I think is at the heart of the “Bazball” era. Surely the basic premise is breeding confidence to free players up to operate at their best, not to practice their worst at key moments of the game! Suggesting that you can’t have Duckett doing Duckett without Root doing self euthanasia is nonsense. Duckett is playing his way without fear. Root is just being empty headed. There is a difference.”
And Arul Kanhere wants to point out that Root has success in India. Who can forget this epic?
48th over: England 247-4 (Duckett 153, Stokes 7) Bumrah’s maiden to Duckett will bring on drinks and that was unquestionably India’s hour. They were tidy, without being spectacular. But Root’s madness and Bairstow’s misjudgment in the space of six balls handed the initiative to the home side. Duckett remains, though he’s been far more watchful. And Stokes, always a man for a rescue mission, is there with him.
47th over: England 247-4 (Duckett 153, Stokes 7) Stokes nails a back-foot scythe but only gets one to the sweeper. Duckett nails a swishing sweep but only gets a single to the deep square leg. Two crunching shots for just two runs. Between that a tasty floated ball dipped under Duckett’s adventurous drive. Ooohs and aaahs from the Indians. They still have a mighty lead. One more in this session and they’ll be well on top.
46th over: England 244-4 (Duckett 151, Stokes 6) Bumrah seems much happier bowling around the wicket to the lefties than he did to Root earlier (despite the gimme wicket). Angling in towards the off-stump, he’s trying to get one to hold its line. Stokes is up to it, also digging out a yorker. But he nibbles at the final delivery which catches the outside. Soft hands saves the captain as it rolls along the ground to the slips.
Have England earned the right to do what they do?
Brian Withington ain’t buying it: “I’m getting a bit tired of the ‘it’s what they do’ defence of needlessly throwing a key wicket away.
”It wouldn’t wash for a serial liar or adulterer, and England’s best batter in a generation should really know better. The team does not need him to chance his arm so often and so recklessly - his natural tempo is perfectly good enough.”
Punchy stuff.
45th over: England 238-4 (Duckett 150, Stokes 6) Duckett reaches his milestone with a wild reverse sweep. It’s not off the middle. Far from it as it trickles behind the ‘keeper for a single. Duckett won’t care. That’s a superb 150. Kuldeep is into his stride now. A delicious googly splits Stokes in half and catches his elbow before bobbling away for four leg-byes.
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Have we seen this before?
Abhishek Phadnis thinks so: “Lords ‘23, Lyon out of the match, England at 188-1 in first innings, throw wickets away to short-ball ploy. Rajkot ‘24, Ashwin out of the match, England at 219-2 in first innings, throw wickets away to daft shots. I understand that Bazball is about attacking and putting the opposition on the back-foot, but if they’re *already* on the back-foot and without their main bowler, why attack needlessly and let them back into the game?”
Not sure I’d criticise Bairstow for playing playing a “daft shot”. He just misjudged the length to one that turned. But yes, as a consequence of the result, I think it’s fair to call Root’s reverse scoop “daft”.
44th over: England 238-4 (Duckett 149, Stokes 6) Duckett edges but it flies past gully for four. A cutter from Bumrah got some purchase off the deck and brought out a loose jab from Duckett. Bumrah also found Stokes’ edge but this one, from a front foot prod, was played with soft hands so there was little danger of a catch as it trickled through the cordon for four.
43rd over: England 229-4 (Duckett 144, Stokes 2) Stokes is on the board with stiff drive for two towards deep extra cover. Duckett adds one more to the total with a prod that spoons into the leg side from a forward press. Had there been a man at forward short leg he’d be on his way. Nice turn and bounce from Kuldeep from the rough early in the over. That’ll keep the left-handers on their toes.
Joe Root won’t want to read my inbox right now.
Here’s John Withington: “Morning Daniel …. I type as my heart sinks as Bairstow blobs again after Root’s horrific act of self sacrifice. I seem to be bombarded on social media with the mockery of Australians of the Bazball era, no doubt much due to its perfect storm of Anglo/NZ origin. But it feels like Root is doing his best to justify the criticism, using the opportunity to practice circus tent cricket shots. While others are feeling freed to play to their strengths Root insists on playing a shot that he clearly can’t, and throwing away England’s new found top order solidity. Make it stop please.”
And Vivekanand Muthukrishnan: “Can someone take Root aside, calm him down, reassure him that he belongs, that there is no need to turbocharge a batting style that has amassed 11,000 runs? Else, he risks beside cast aside soon. We have already lost a test great in Pujara and Root risks ending up the same way.”
Such an odd situation. He’s clearly England’s best player (when operating at his peak) but he’s so far away from that level right now. Does he biff and scoop and reverse his way back to form? Or does he grind it out? Whatever he’s doing now isn’t working.
42nd over: England 226-4 (Duckett 143, Stokes 0) Bumrah will be glad to bowl to two left-armers and will come from around the wicket to both. Duckett gets off strike first ball which means Bumrah can look to set up Stokes for the remaining five. He finds a tight, probing line before pushing in a yorker to end the over. Stokes digs it out.
Reader David Williams is not happy with Joe:
“While I’m a big fan of Bazball, Joe Root should know better - read the situation. No Ashwin, Bumrah only a few overs and he plays a completely unnecessary shot. Embarrassing lack of read of the game.”
I think I agree with you David. Flat deck too. I reckon that’s why Root was so livid with himself. Then again, maybe he was just annoyed he didn’t thwack the reverse scoop for six.
41st over: England 225-4 (Duckett 142, Stokes 0) Out of nowhere, Duckett has a rebuilding job on his hands. He’s lost two partners in six balls. Brilliant from Kuldeep who toyed with Bairstow, bringing him forward before pinning him back. Stokes, not for the first time, has to dig his side out of a hole before he can think of counter attacking.
WICKET! Bairstow lbw Kuldeep 0 (England 225-4)
GONE! Bairstow doesn’t even wait for the three reds to show on the big screen. He was on his way after just one look at the replay. Plumb as plumb can be. The previous ball was flighted and dragged Bairstow forward, almost squeezing through bat and pad. This one was fizzed flatter but Bairstow played it off the back foot. It turned and thudded his pad dead in front of his stumps. In a flash India are in control.
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The finger goes up and Bairstow is given! Looks plumb. They review but that pitched outside his off-stump and turned back into his pads from Kuldeep’s left-arm wrist spin. I’ll be astounded if this doesn’t stick.
40th over: England 224-3 (Duckett 141, Bairstow 0) Yet again it’s Bumrah who nabs the breakthrough in the morning session. Root’s gone and Bairstow, the new man, digs out a searing yorker first up.
WICKET! Root c Jaiswal b Bumrah 18 (England 224-3)
Unreal! What a remarkable wicket! Root, as he does, unfurls a reverse sweep to Bumrah’s seamer but he can’t get the lift needed to take it beyond the cordon. Instead, Jaiswal at second slip, clings on to a screamer. That was moving at a rate of knots. Root’s poor form continues and he has to go, admonishing himself as he leaves the scene.
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39th over: England 223-2 (Duckett 140, Root 18) Duckett gets out the broom and nails his first sweep of the day. Lofted, in control, and sweetly timed; that’s been swatted in front of square for four. He then almost runs himself out. In fact, a direct hit from the scampering Jurel – who did well to whip his ‘keeper glove off before shying at the bowler’s end – would have ended Duckett’s stay despite the desperate dive. Three singles from the remaining four balls makes that a productive over for Engkand.
“Morning Daniel,” Good morning Brian Withington. Thanks for joining me nice and early.
”Brother just texted to say that Finn is a ‘surprisingly’ insightful pundit. At the risk of generalisation I opined that bowlers often are. One for the OBO community to consider? As random exhibit A I would offer KP vs Shane Warne; exhibit B, Ponting vs Broad (closer to call).”
An interesting hypothesis. I’d say Punter is one of the best in the business. But you might be right. My favourite Saffa player-turned-commentator is Shaun Pollock. Your brother might be on to something.
38th over: England 216-2 (Duckett 134, Root 17) Bumrah hasn’t quite located his range yet. He’s too wide outside Root’s off-stump. One back of a length delivery ios expertly steered behind square for four. Root’s playing that away from his body but he’s in full control. He then picks up an easy two off his pads. If Bumrah can’t get on top of Root this could get out of control for India real fast.
37th over: England 210-2 (Duckett 134, Root 11) Kuldeep’s left arm wrist spin gets things going from the other end. Remember, there’s no Aswhin today or the rest of the Test. Kuldeep is aiming for some rough outside Root’s off-stump. He can’t quite find it. He’s a little too straight and Root tucks a single out to the leg-side sweeper off the back foot.
36th over: England 209-2 (Duckett 134, Root 10) Bumrah starts from round the wicket into the left-handed Duckett who steers a comfortable single into the covers off the second ball. That brings Root on strike. The former England skipper has had his troubles against Bumrah – who shifts to over the wicket for the righty. Root’s trigger brings him out of his crease. Perhaps he’s looking to smother any lateral movement? An inside edge gets him a single down to fine leg. Duckett is solid in defence for the rest of the set.
Right then. Bumrah has the ball. Duckett and Root have bats. The Test, indeed the series, is delicately poised. Away we go!
Where do we rank Aswhin in the great pantheon? The numbers don’t lie, but he hasn’t always had the love (I think) he deserves.
Glad his record will now stack up against the elites. Another, more sobering, question: Will he be the last member to join the 500 Club?
For another day. For now, enjoy Tanya Aldred’s lovely piece on the man:
Now Sir Alastair Cook – on TNT – is waxing lyrical about “Ducky”. The former England skipper and left handed opener is commending Duckett’s bravery against the Indian spinners but also his accuracy on the sweep. When defending he looked like, well, a sitting duck. But on the sweep he was in control. “A brilliant hundred”, says Sir Alastair. Too right!
“A phenomenal talent”
That’s Ravichandran Ashwin – the latest member of the exclusive 500-club – speaking about Ben Duckett after the England' opener’s spell-binding hundred.
The last time the lefty batted in India, he averaged in the single figures across a tour that, for him personally, never made it past the third Test. Now he’s leading the Bazballers into uncharted territory. Can he kick on today?
Preamble
Oooooh, we’re halfway theee-ere! At least, at some point in the second session today, we’ll be halfway through this five-Test series and, whisper it quietly, it’s shaping up to be an epic.
England arrived in India with a question hanging over them. Could they Bazball in the meanest backyard in cricket? Ben Duckett’s staggering Test ton, the fastest by an Englishman in India, has firmly answered that query.
It was unreal batting. The sheer chutzpah of the approach was worthy of praise. That it counted for 133 unbeaten runs off a mere 118 balls places it firmly in contention for the best knock by a tourist in India (and we’ve already had one of those in the series).
Duckett will have Joe Root – nine off 13 – for company but won’t have to face Ravichandran Aswhin. India’s premier spinner became the ninth player to reach 500 Test wickets but has had to pull out of the match after a family medical emergency.
It’s a cruel blow for India and possibly places England in the driver’s seat despite the 238-run deficit. If Duckett and Root can build a partnership, and if the aggressive middle order can crank into gear, and if the tail can contribute with some handy runs, then England might have a sizeable lead.
That’s a lot of ifs and a maybe. But this is a team that has challenged what we thought we knew about this sport. Love or hate England cricket, there is no denying the bravery of this latest iteration that is setting a new standard with the bat.
Play resumes at 4am UK time/9:30am in Rajkot.
