Over the first hour of this match the grass banks on either side of the wicket filled both in numbers and in belief. Dot balls set off boisterous celebrations, wickets provoked delirium. An increasingly joyous crowd whooped as England’s batters trooped dolefully to and from the middle. Mexican waves rippled around a stadium already, and prematurely as it turned out, in full celebration.
England were restricted to just 146 for nine, an innings that revealed few demons in the pitch – for all that it had spent much of the previous few days sweating under covers – but several in their heads. Again they faltered against spin. Jos Buttler remains in dismal form. Tom Banton was run out seeking a make-believe single, victim of scrambled decision making. Jacob Bethell, rather than giving himself a few moments to get the measure of Maheesh Theekshana, attacked the spinner’s first ball of the game and sent a leading edge to short third.
