Vic Marks's report of day three
Close of play: India need 84 runs with five wickets remaining
36th over: India 110-5 (Kohli 43, Karthik 18) Karthik, who has played really well under a lot of pressure, takes most of Stokes’s last over to end another memorable day in this classic Test match. India will be slight favourites tomorrow but both teams will wake up with hope in their hearts, if not necessarily their legs. It’s been a draining three days. For one team, it will all have been worth it.
Thanks for your company and emails, although the cricket was so compelling that I could happily have done it on my own. No offence. Goodnight!
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35th over: India 109-5 (Kohli 43, Karthik 17) Effing ‘ell, it’s Adil Rashid! He’s going to bowl his first over of the innings. It’s a crafty move from Joe Root, because India surely won’t risk any attacking shots with the close only minutes away. Saying which, Karthik slams the ball towards mid-off, where Root does well to save three runs. There are four singles from the over, and we’ll only have time for one more tonight.
34th over: India 105-5 (Kohli 41, Karthik 15) Stokes has decided to pepper Karthik, with two men out on the hook and another at leg gully. I’d like to have seen Curran get two overs before the close but that’s not going to happen now.
“Let’s be honest,” says our own Ali Martin. “It’s Graham Gooch at Lord’s in 1990 isn’t it?” Hmm, that was immense but it was on the flattest of pitches in the middle of the definitive summer of runs. What sets Kohli apart, if he wins this with something like 102 not out, is that it’s been such a low-scoring game.
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33rd over: India 104-5 (Kohli 40, Karthik 15) Kohli is beaten for the first time in a while, pushing at a fine legcutter from Broad. After that disgraceful show of weakness, he defends the rest of the over immaculately.
“Colum Farrelly (30th over) is not the first to suggest this,” says Niall Mullen. “It may be that my fixation on sport has affected my success in other areas of life but I regret nothing*.”
“*everything.”
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32nd over: India 103-5 (Kohli 39, Karthik 15) The indefatigable Stokes surprises Karthik with a well-directed short ball that is expertly defended. There’s just over 15 minutes’ play remaining. England would take stumps now I think.
“Regardless of the result, India will surely bring Pujara back in for the next Test,” says Anand. “Was really shocked that he was dropped. Wonder who is going to be left out - Dhawan or Rahul....”
I’d drop Dhawan, who looks like a walking wicket against the moving ball. Mind you, it might not move much at Lord’s.
31st over: India 103-5 (Kohli 39, Karthik 15) England are just starting to look like a team who would be happy to come back tomorrow. Kohli, who played and missed a fair bit early on, looks immovable now and Karthik has been positive in both attack and defence. I’d get Sam Curran on for Stokes; I’m not sure it’s worth risking Adil Rashid at this stage.
Thanks for all your emails about the greatest match performance by a batsman in a Test. A couple of you have suggested VVS Laxman at Kolkata in 2001, when he batted very well in the first innings and immortally in the second. Alec Stewart in Barbados in 1993-94 is another one that has been mentioned.
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30th over: India 101-5 (Kohli 38, Karthik 14) Hardik Pandya, the next man in, is dancing round the dressing-room with his headphones on. He is fooling precisely nobody. That said, this is a good little spell for India, who were 78 for five not so long ago. A leg-bye brings up their hundred. It might be time for Sam Curran to replace the weary Ben Stokes, who has another LBW appeal turned down when Karthik gets outside the line to another booming inswinger.
“I know Test cricket is magnificent, the King Of Sports,” says Colum Farrelly, “but I think Niall Mullen (18:03) has a bit of work to do on his orgasms.”
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29th over: India 98-5 (Kohli 36, Karthik 14) Stuart Broad, who was rampant in his first spell, replaces Jimmy Anderson. Karthik is beaten, feeling optimistically for a wide one, and then snicks wide of third slip for four.
“The greatest match performance by a batsman,” writes Oliver Bierhoff. “Rahul Dravid at Adelaide in 2003?”
Ah yeah! That’s right up there.
28th over: India 94-5 (Kohli 36, Karthik 10) Karthik drives Stokes through the covers for four, a classy and confident shot. India are almost halfway to their target of 194. England are already halfway to theirs, but it won’t feel that way with Kohli at the crease.
27th over: India 89-5 (Kohli 36, Karthik 5) Anderson continues to ram his head against the brick wall that is Virat Kohli. India’s batting line-up is like a Panini swapshop: GOT, GOT, GOT, BLOODY WELL NEED LIKE I’VE NEVER NEEDED ANYTHING IN MY LIFE, GOT, GOT, PRETTY SURE I CAN GET, PRETTY SURE I CAN GET, PRETTY SURE I CAN GET, PRETTY SURE I CAN GET, PRETTY SURE I CAN GET.
We know all about the greatest innings in Test history – Lara, Gooch, Smith etc - but what is the greatest match performance by a batsman? Whatever it is, it may lost its status in the next 18 hours.
(One contender would be this from Allan Border, which is beyond ridiculous.)
26th over: India 87-5 (Kohli 35, Karthik 4) Play is scheduled to finish at 1850 local time, so in about 45 minutes, but either team could claim the extra half-hour if victory is possible. Stokes, who dismissed Karthik in the first innings, has a big LBW appeal turned down after another booming inswinger. It was probably doing too much and England decide not to risk their last review. Hawkeye shows it would have been umpire’s call on point of contact with the leg bail.
A soft-handed edge from Kohli then falls short of Jennings, who does well to save three runs with a dive to his right.
25th over: India 83-5 (Kohli 34, Karthik 1) Kohli, the astonishing Kohli, works Anderson off the hip for four. While he is at the crease, England will be uneasy. This isn’t as good as cricket gets; it’s as good as life gets.
With that in mind, Niall Mullen has been thinking about the Scottish film.
“What’s Test cricket like?”
“Take the best orgasm you ever had, multiply it by a thousand and you’re still nowhere near.”
I’m glad you picked that quote rather than the other one.
WICKET! India 78-5 (Ashwin c Bairstow b Anderson 13)
Justice for Jimmy! The ball after being snicked for four, Anderson finds Ashwin’s outside edge with another classic outswinger, and Bairstow does the rest. That’s his first wicket of the innings and the third of the match. He deserves at least twice that.
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24th over: India 73-4 (Kohli 29, Ashwin 9) Curran’s reward for that wicket is … an unwelcome breather, with Stokes coming on to replace him. The dangerous Ashwin clouts a square drive for four before playing and missing outside off stump. The ball has beaten the bat so much in this game. There are even unconfirmed reports that Virat Kohli played and missed. Stokes ends the over with a huge inswinger to Ashwin that brings an unsuccessful shout for LBW. It was going down the leg side, and there may have been an inside edge.
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23rd over: India 69-4 (Kohli 29, Ashwin 5) It looks like Ashwin has been sent in to have a dash and try to unsettle England. Anderson beats Ashwin with consecutive hooping outswingers. He has two wickets in 31 overs in this match; there are lies, damned lies and bowling figures.
“That Bairstow catch was identical to the earlier Dhawan catch with main difference being the soft signal,” says Sunil Bishnoi. “Great debate by commentary team about how there should be no indication from field empire to influence the final decision if he is not sure. Both decision should have been out.”
Yes, agreed, the soft signal makes it a bit of a mess. But if there’s no soft signal, surely more would be given not out? I don’t know enough about the technology but the situation is not ideal. Still, at least it’s not VAR!
22nd over: India 67-4 (Kohli 28, Ashwin 4) Well, this is interesting: Ravi Ashwin has been promoted to No6. He’s not a nightwatchman as there is still at least an hour’s play remaining. He gets off the mark with a solid punch through the covers for four.
WICKET! India 63-4 (Rahane c Bairstow b Curran 2)
Sam Curran strikes! Rahane, set up by a couple of inswingers, chased a wide one and inside-edged low to Bairstow. The catch went upstairs, but crucially the soft signal was out and the third umpire upheld the on-field decision.
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21st over: India 63-3 (Kohli 28, Rahane 2) Anderson to Kohlli, who resists the usual variety of outswingers. Another maiden. This is some battle of wills between Anderson and Kohli.
20th over: India 63-3 (Kohli 28, Rahane 2) Curran ends a brilliant over with a swinging lifter that hits the gloves off Rahane. This is wonderful stuff. You can keep your “narcotics”: I’ve got Test cricket.
“Gary Naylor’s sage observation about the distorting impact of Virat Kohli (17th over) prompts the thought that cricket needs some sort of formal handicapping system to even things up a bit where the greats are concerned,” says Brian Withington. “England have already pioneered the construct of a slip cordon that can’t catch to limit Jimmy Anderson’s effectiveness. About time VK was required to bat with a stick of rhubarb and/or wear flip flops at the crease?”
Given his recent form, he could start every innings on minus 100.
KOHLI IS NOT OUT!
Kohli pushed around a terrific inswinger from Curran, with his bat getting stuck behind the pad. It hit the flap of the pad, and replays showed it was bouncing over the top: Kohli is not out and England also lose a review. But it was worth the risk.
ENGLAND REVIEW AGAINST KOHLI!
Calm down, I don’t think it’s out.
19th over: India 62-3 (Kohli 27, Rahane 2) Anderson replaces Stokes, who will probably change ends. His first delivery is a gorgeous outswinger that beats Kohli, who push-drives the next ball classily for three. Lovely cricket from two absolute champions. I’d kill to be a fly on the wall when they sit down for a chat at the end of the series.
18th over: India 59-3 (Kohli 24, Rahane 2) A wide delivery from Curran is driven gloriously for four by Kohli. This bloke has nigh-on perfected batting, and he is starting to intimidate Curran. It looks like Anderson is going to come back on.
Meanwhile, this is a terrific bit of recall from my colleague Jason Deans, who compares that Stokes jaffa to dismiss Rahul to one of the many magic moments of 2005.
17th over: India 54-3 (Kohli 19, Rahane 2) Stokes was all over Rahane in the first innings, which will be in the mind of both men. The floodlights are back on, which is good news for England as the ball may swing more as a result. A quiet over from Stokes passes without incident worthy of being recorded in the contemporary liveblog format.
“You look at the scoreboard and you think England are ahead: you look at the middle and you think India are ahead,” says Gary Naylor. “Test cricket eh?”
Virat Kohli, bloody hell.
16th over: India 51-3 (Kohli 18, Rahane 0) Kohli survives a huge shout for caught behind from Curran! The bowler and slips were sure there was an edge, but Bairstow insisted the noise was bat on pad and replays showed he was right. Excellent work from him and more importantly the umpire Chris Gaffaney. A good over is tarnished by a poor delivery that Kohli times through the covers for four. This is exhilarating stuff, a 20-year-old in his salad days against an all-time great in a never ending purple patch. Curran responds with another fine inswinger that Kohli inside edges onto the pad.
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15th over: India 46-3 (Kohli 13, Rahane 0) That was the last ball of the over.
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WICKET! India 46-3 (Rahul c Bairstow b Stokes 13)
What a snorter from Ben Stokes! KL Rahul is squared up by a beautiful delivery that kicks off the the seam, takes a thin edge and is pouched by Jonny Bairstow. Rahul had to play at that, even though it was unplayable.
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14th over: India 45-2 (Rahul 13, Kohli 12) A double bowling change, with Sam Curran replacing Broad. As my colleague Tim de Lisle points out, we thought this match would be Kohli v Anderson and it’s turned out to be Kohli v Curran. His first delivery is a lovely inswinger that Rahul inside-edges onto the pad, negating the inevitable LBW appeal. A couple more inswingers make it a really promising first over.
13th over: India 43-2 (Rahul 12, Kohli 11) There is a bowling change - but it’s Stokes, rather than Curran, who replaces Anderson. Kohli offers no stroke to an outswinger that kicks nastily to smack him just above the elbow. There will always be good and bad with Stokes, and the next ball is a swinging half-volley that is scrunched through the covers for three. It would have been four but for a marvellous piece of fielding from Buttler. We’ll remember that if England win by one run.
12th over: India 39-2 (Rahul 11, Kohli 7) Anderson and Broad know they can’t bowl much longer – they’ve had six overs each - but will be desperate to take Kohli with them. I’d be tempted to bring on Sam Curran at Anderson’s end and give Broad two more. Broad appeals unsuccessfully for LBW when an inducker shaves the pad of Rahul, who like Vijay offered no stroke. This time it was too high and didn’t come back enough.
Here’s John Withington. “John Starbuck’s “slow bowler with a fast mouth” makes me beg for a sharing of the legend of the late and much loved Robbie Horsnell of Hornchurch cricket fame. A lovable catweasel of a cricketer, he frequently turned out in carpet slippers which he would park behind the stumps at the bowler’s end during spells of his ultra-slow right arm filth. Easily exhausted after a brief spell of boundary chasing with keys jangling in his cardigan pockets he once famously achieved three F words in a five-word sentence .... ‘F me I’m F’in F’ed’!”
I presume his hero was John Emburey.
11th over: India 35-2 (Rahul 10, Kohli 5) Anderson v Kohli, the main attraction in the first innings, almost feels like filler while we wait for another Stuart Broad over. As in that first innings, Kohli is playing Anderson with a lot of respect and ignoring as much as possible outside off stump.
“Kohli’s first innings is possibly the best I’ve seen in England in the past 7/8 years but he may need to surpass that now,” says Andrew Hurley. “On a side note, India are number one in the world with one great batsman (I realise Rahane’s figures are good but...)”
10th over: India 31-2 (Rahul 10, Kohli 1) Rahul survives a big shout for LBW from Broad after getting in a bit of a tangle. England do not review on the advice of Ben Stokes, who says there was an inside-edge. Replays confirm that Ben Stokes does not need to go to Specsavers. Broad is threatening with almost every delivery at the moment, and later in the over Rahul inside-edges over the top of the stumps for four. The Edgbaston atmosphere is getting more primal.
“Who replaces Malan?” sniffs Jonathan Taylor. “I would have thought the answer was simple – the leading run scorer in the County Championship: Rory Burns. He can either open & Cook/Jennings can bat at No3 leaving Root to bat in his favoured spot or Burns can go in at No4. That aside it can hardly be a surprise that a bloke that can hardly buy a run in Division 2 this summer has struggled at Test cricket.”
I like Burns, and more importantly so does Dale Steyn, but I doubt England will want to reshuffle the batting order again. Whoever comes in surely has to bat No4, even if it is Burns.
9th over: India 27-2 (Rahul 6, Kohli 1) Oof! Kohli is beaten by a jaffa from Anderson that pitches on a fourth-stump line and straightens past the edge. For the rest of the over Kohli is happy to leave everything, so it’s a maiden. This is the game, right here. If England get Kohli in the next 10 or 20 minutes they will be favourites.
“Is something brilliant happening?” asks Stephen Byrom. “Almost certainly not. It’s 2018 and England are playing a test match. Get a grip, Rob.” Two words, one syllable: Headingley 81.
8th over: India 27-2 (Rahul 6, Kohli 1) Kohli v Anderson yesterday was electric. Kohli v Broad might be even better, because Broad is rampaging in and looks right in the mood to produce one of his devastating spells. Hoo hoo, it’s good to be alive. His first ball to Kohli is straight and clipped away for a single; then Rahul, after being beaten outside off stump, flicks confidently for four. This is wonderful cricket.
WICKET! India 22-2 (Dhawan c Bairstow b Broad 13)
Broad is registering high on the kneepumpometer, which is always a good sign for England. And now he’s got his second wicket! Broad tempted Dhawan into a loose drive with a full outswinger from around the wicket, and Jonny Bairstow did the rest. Broad has two wickets and is on one. Is something brilliant happening?
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7th over: India 21-1 (Dhawan 13, Rahul 1) Rahul gets off the mark with a tight single to mid-off. Sam Curran hit the stumps from mid-off but Rahul was comfortably home; Aleem Dar went upstairs just to make sure.
“He hasn’t scored the runs and is becoming a liability in the slips,” says Adam Roberts. “Any reason for Malan to keep his place?”
His temperament. Giving him a fair crack. Lord’s is his home ground. England have already made lots of changes this summer. I don’t think it’s an obvious decision but I’d probably leave him out for Lord’s and I suspect that’s what will happen. Who replaces him though?
6th over: India 19-1 (Dhawan 12, Rahul 0) Hawkeye confirms that delivery was hitting the top of middle, so Vijay was right not to review. Broad’s first ball beats a tentative push from KL Rahul. He might just be getting on a roll here.
“I was in a team which had a bowler removed for ungentlemanly conduct by the umpire for ******* **** ********* swearing as he delivered it,” says John Starbuck. “He was a slow bowler with a fast mouth.”
WICKET! India 19-1 (Vijay LBW b Broad 6)
England have their first wicket! Vijay pads up to a fullish delivery from Broad that jags back to hit the pad. He was outside the line but that doesn’t matter as he didn’t play a shot. It looked really close and, though you sense Vijay wanted to review, Dhawan politely advised him to do one and use his bat next time.
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5th over: India 16-0 (Vijay 4, Dhawan 11) Vijay is dropped by Malan at second slip! It was a sharp chance to his right when Vijay drove at a seductive outswinger from the luckless Anderson, and Malan could only clang it towards third man. Ach! Fielding has been the difference in this match. Poor Malan has had a nightmare in what might turn out to be his last Test. Anderson ends the over by beating Vijay with a beauty. He is magnificent.
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4th over: India 9-0 (Vijay 1, Dhawan 8) An outswinger from Broad is left by Dhawan and bursts through Bairstow for a bye, a rare bit of poor wicketkeeping from him. Nothing much else to report. It’s been a great start for India. Jonathan Hungin points out that England were chasing the same target, 194, when Curtly Ambrose bowled them out for 46. But by the time they have nine runs on the board they’d lost three wickets, and the collective noggin.
3rd over: India 8-0 (Vijay 1, Dhawan 7) There is a bit of swing for Anderson; the ball is mumbling rather than talking at this stage. Vijay defends a series of outswingers.
“On the subject of batsmen changing hands I feel compelled to share one of my now fading batting memories, again from the days at Hornchurch Athletic CC,” says John Withington. “Playing a Sunday game against a far stronger team they batted too long and scored too many. After a couple of early setbacks our reply was falling short of a chase but was, I thought, still respectable. Amidst some early examples of sledging their opening bowler, a feared paceman from a higher league, took to mockingly jogging back to his mark and reeling back in for the next delivery without pause after I’d blocked another straight one. So I decided to bat left handed. He saw it mid run up and got predictably huffy and predictably short pitched ... leading to me hooking him for a boundary. His expletive-peppered followthrough wasn’t helped by the umpire calling no-ball as all the slips had become leg slips due to my changed stance and he had too many behind square!”
2nd over: India 7-0 (Vijay 1, Dhawan 6) Stuart Broad shares the new ball. He has been unwell and there’s an argument for giving it to Sam Curran, but if anything the ageing ball has swung more than the new one in this match. Dhawan gets the first boundary, timing a half-volley sweetly through the covers. Early days I know, but this has been a calm, authoritative start from India.
“All said and done, with the multiple swings in momentum, 190 odd seems like a ‘fair’ target to chase,” says Anand. “Pretty nervous about India chasing it down. The batting order did not really inspire confidence in a chase (barring Kohli).”
Yes, if England get Kohli in single figures, I think they’ll win. But that’s an elephantine ‘if’.
1st over: India 2-0 (Vijay 1, Dhawan 1) James Anderson gets a little bit of swing in a largely uneventful first over. Dhawan survives a gentle LBW enquiry from a ball that pitched outside leg and might have missed leg. England have a third man, thank goodness; they conceded a lot of runs down there in the first innings.
I think England think this will be really close. It might even finish tonight, Melbourne ’98 style: as Mikey Holding points out on Sky, play could go on until 7.20pm.
Thanks Nick. There’s no time for perambulation because the players are out on the field. India need 194; England’s three swing bowlers need to make the ball talk like Brian Blessed.
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That’s me for the day. Rob Smyth is your man for the remainder. A tense one or a procession? Your emails to Rob.Smyth@theGuardian.com.
A brief non-cricket interlude...
#Breaking - About 100 goats are on the loose right now in a #Boise neighborhood. They are going house to house eating everything in sight. Nobody has a clue where they came from...updates to follow pic.twitter.com/K0ghUwQEfk
— Joe Parris (@KTVBJoe) August 3, 2018
Here’s that six. What a shot.
63 vital runs from only 65 balls & what a way to go to your maiden Test fifty.
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 3, 2018
Well batted Sam Curran - Game on @edgbaston
Our @Schroders Selection from the afternoon session.#EngvInd pic.twitter.com/W7SUQppdRW
A compliment, you’d say...
Kohli clapping Curran off there. Decent @NickMiller79
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) August 3, 2018
“Please don’t do that typical English thing,” grumbles Vincent O’Connor, “where a sportsperson performs one act of greatness (and Curran is definitely having a great game) and they immediately get bloated into a national treasure. You’ll be explaining how urn objects are returning home shortly!”
Arguably the opposite of hyping players up is even more boring: if you say a promising young player is promising, or even - lord forbid - good, you immediately get accused of bigging him up too much.
India require 194 runs to win
That will be tea, so India’s chase begins in about 20 minutes. They’ll probably get there, but it is swinging out there...
WICKET! Curran c Karthik b Yadav 63 - England 180 all out
Yadav seems to have decided that short is the way to go at Curran: after a couple he ducks under, Curran hits a pull that goes just - just - over mid-on and to the boundary. But then, trying to get a single to keep the strike, he doesn’t get enough on a guide to third man and nicks through to the keeper. Shame, but a terrific innings that will at least make India work a bit for their (probable) win.
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52nd over: England 176-9 (Curran 58, Anderson 0) - England lead by 189 runs Anderson in now. If Curran wasn’t holding back before, he really won’t be holding back now. That’s five wickets for Sharma, by the way: he’s been terrific.
WICKET! Broad c Dhawan b Sharma 11 - England 176-9, lead by 189
Sharma was searching for the right length on the away dipper all over, and got there eventually, getting Broad to jab at a drive and edge to Dhawan in the slips, who safely takes the catch.
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51st over: England 174-8 (Curran 58, Broad 10) - England lead by 187 runs Still giggling a little at that Curran six. Some great stones on this kid. Three more runs come from slightly more reticent shots, a flick to fine leg then a shove into the covers, and Broad chips in with a few of his own, pushed through point.
And boy is he baby-faced...
The Baby-faced Assassin @NickMiller79
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) August 3, 2018
50th over: England 168-8 (Curran 55, Broad 7) - England lead by 181 runs Curran has belted Ashwin out of the attack: Sharma is back, and you suspect he’ll try some short stuff at Broad. But he jabs a single to point which brings Curran back on strike. And that’s 50! What a shot to get there! He almost casually skips away to leg, and smacks a brilliant inside-out shot over the covers, straight into the confectionary stall and out again. Sharma almost brains Curran with a bouncer that he sways out of the way of, then pushes a single. England lead by 181.
It’s an excellent jib, I agree. I’m an admirer of the cut.
I'm increasingly liking the cut of Sam Curran's jib #ENGvIND @NickMiller79
— Steve Pye (@1980sSportsBlog) August 3, 2018
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49th over: England 160-8 (Curran 48, Broad 6) Curran brought back down to earth a little by wafting vaguely outside off for virtually the entire Yadav over, not laying a bat on any of them. The down side of this from an English point of view is that they now lead by 173, which is very firmly in “Weeeeeeell, you never know...” territory.
48th over: England 160-8 (Curran 48, Broad 6) Now then. RUNS. Broad sweeps a single, then Curran takes a few steps down and absolutely murders one high into the stands, and follows it up with a similar shot which bounces once before crossing the ropes. Then a punched single gets almost as big a cheer from the crowd. Lovely stuff.
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47th over: England 148-8 (Curran 37, Broad 5) Yadav beats Broad, with a ball it’s difficult to tell how good it was because Broad ended up facing down the pitch with his bat all over the place. Then, a bouncer: too much of a bouncer, in fact, and it flies way over both Broad and Karthik for four byes. A single, then Curran plays a nicely controlled, open face/thick edge past third man for a boundary.
46th over: England 139-8 (Curran 33, Broad 4) Ashwin v Broad: you suspect this won’t take long. Oh! But there’s a nice sweep - premeditated, so that’s always a slight concern, but Broad keeps it down and gets two for it. Then a single from a tuck off his knees through mid-wicket.
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45th over: England 136-8 (Curran 33, Broad 1) Broad gets off the mark with a thick inside edge, just getting the bat down in time to keep out a fine, full inswinger from Yadav.
WICKET! Rashid b Yadav 16 - England 135-8 (lead by 148)
Brilliant bowling by Yadav, a perfect execution of the oldest trick in the book. He beats Rashid’s outside edge with a couple of away swingers, then goes for the in-dipper which beats the inside edge and makes a mess of the stumps.
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44th over: England 134-7 (Rashid 16, Curran 32) Here’s Ashwin again, into his 19th over. Curran is...not quite going after him, but doesn’t seem shy of playing shots. A couple of well-struck drives bring him nothing as they’re straight at fielders, then he takes a single from the last ball after a clip wide of mid-on.
43rd over: England 133-7 (Rashid 16, Curran 31) Yadav continues, under the vaguest hint of sun. Rashid tucks a single off his hip, Curran takes one more with some smart running into the covers.
Aha! The covers are off. The Indian players are huddling. We’re about to start again. Tea will be at the same time - 3.40pm BST.
The umpires are out. They’re looking at the light. Will we have some cricket? The answer is: maybe.
Cricket doesn’t help itself, part 4,434,325,908,777,888. “What’s happening now would be why aliens might not understand our glorious game,” writes Anand. “We have lights on and go off for bad light. We are then going to come back, play for a bit and then go off for tea (most probably in glorious sunshine)!”
Hello. Nick here. This isn’t ideal, is it? Still...
People are grumbling but it is quite dark. pic.twitter.com/W3fCcNrHUo
— Tom Evans (@TomEvansEcho) August 3, 2018
That’s enough tippy-tappy from me, it’s time to tag in Nick Miller until tea. He’s on nick.miller@theguardian.com. Bye!
“My wife and her friend once got asked to make cricket teas for a league match,” says Mark Palmer. “They weren’t particularly happy for reasons I won’t go into here. They made marmite sandwiches, but layered the marmite so thick that the fielding side was constantly leaving the pitch to drink jugs of water.”
That’s an idea, you could serve Nando’s hot sauce sandwiches to the opposition and tell them it’s, erm, marmalade etc?
“Rob,” says John Starbuck. “Keep the savoury stuff fairly basic like cheese rolls and small pork pies (Dickinson & Morris recommended as really the best). Then a few small skewer-based kebab-type dishes, such as chicken, lamb or beef/mushrooms mix with a choice of spicy dip. Concentrate on childhood sweet favourites like old-fashioned trifle, but add slices of fig tart, mini Bakewell Puddings and, if you happen to have facilities for a camp-stove kitchen, pancakes to order with optional fillings. Let someone else do the drinks.”
“Richard O’Hagan’s wife might like to consider that old Indian staple,” says Geoff Wignall. “English batsmen on toast.”
“The Sky mob have just said that England’s batsman will see a lot of Ashwin this summer,” says John Leavey. “I think they may be wrong on that one.”
Corrections and clarification department Apparently baseballers don’t face a maximum of seven pitches as previously mentioned. Don’t take this the wrong way, but who cares.
“When are we allowed to start talking about Bayliss failing to progress the Test team either mentally, technically…or in any measurable way?” asks Toby Bruce. “Is it now? Please say it’s now…”
Wasn’t it about two years ago?
Bad light stops play
That’s a bit strange, not least because the floodlights are on. Oh well, it’s an opportunity for us all to stand in the corner and think about what England have done.
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42nd over: England 131-7 (Curran 30, Rashid 15) Ashwin beats Rashid with a brilliant outswinger. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: he’s an off-spinner!
“Here you go,” says Phil Sawyer. “This should give Mrs O’Hagan all the inspiration she needs. Warning: may be accompanied by much mocking from Australians.”
41st over: England 130-7 (Curran 30, Rashid 14) Umesh replaces Sharma, who bowled an immense spell of 11-0-41-4 – and Rashid is dropped by Dhawan at first slip! That was a deceptively difficult chance. Rashid launched into a drive at a seductive full-length outswinger and edged it hard to first slip, where the ball hit Dhawan on the chest, bounced onto his shoulder and dropped to the floor as he desperately tried to grab it. He was probably put off by Karthik, who moved towards the ball without actually diving for it.
Here’s Tom Bowtell. “As the OBO campaign to recall Bell gathers irresistible momentum, thought I’d point out that Bell is 36 and 114 days old, and that Graham Gooch scored 4176 Test runs at 51.55 with 12 centuries after that age.”
Yeah but he drank Carling Black Label.
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40th over: England 129-7 (Curran 30, Rashid 13) Ashwin returns to the attack and drops one short to Curran, who whips it firmly through midwicket for four. There is so much to like about this young man. England lead by 142. Don’t even think about thinking it.
“In response to Richard O’Hagan,” begins Angus, “an ex-teammate once brought ‘Chicken and Strawberry Baguettes’ for a club tea. I understand the response was mixed…”
39th over: England 125-7 (Curran 26, Rashid 13) Curran flashes hard at Sharma, slicing the ball over the cordon for four more. He already looks a very handy Test No8; his scores so far have been 20, 24 and 26*, which may trigger some bittersweet memories for the batting coach Mark Ramprakash. Rashid edges four more to the vacant third-man boundary. This partnership of 38 is now the highest of the innings.
“While baseball batters do occasionally switch they only face a maximum of 7 pitches at each at bat and the penalties for getting it wrong are much less severe - isn’t the mark of a good batter in baseball a hit rate of .300 hence they get out 7/10 times regardless!” says Jon Short. “On the teaching yourself to bat with the other hand - Bruce Dickinson, lead singer of Iron Maiden and a pretty handy fencer, discusses in his autobiography how he switched hands in fencing from right to left on the advice of his coach. He had to relearn everything from the ground up but ended up as a better fencer because of it. It’s all to do with which eye is dominant apparently.”
38th over: England 115-7 (Curran 21, Rashid 8) Curran is dropped by Dhawan, a very difficult low chance at first slip from a flashing stoke at Shami. I’m not sure he got a hand on it in fact, and the ball ran away for four. Curran gets another boundary with an edge that bounces between second and fourth slip. I’ll let you know whether these are useful runs in around four hours’ time.
“Is it too trite to claim that England have progressed so spectacularly in ODI cricket by throwing away the rulebook and embracing unorthodoxy (in technique, attitude and expectations) and that such wilful disregard for the old certainties has bled across into the Test team’s batting?” says our old friend Gary Naylor. “As in the first Test against Pakistan in May, batsmen seem reluctant to line the ball up, staying inside it and poking at it with hands as it comes past them, as if the three slips and a gully are actually stationed inside the circle saving one. We know that they can bat ‘properly’, so is it an instruction from above in the pursuit of delivering one’s ‘natural game’? Or is it, as I suspect, a subconscious ‘can’t be arsedness’ because it’s a white ball world these days?”
There’s certainly something in that, and the Sky chaps just made a good point about how Bairstow has changed his technique. But there’s much more to it than that, surely. I think Stokes can definitely be arsed; he puts a high price on his wicket these days. I’d argue maybe he needs to go more the other way, back to the counter-attacker of 2015. Part of the problem is that Bairstow, Stokes, Moeen and Buttler look a lot better on the pitch than on paper. Look at their averages. With Cook declining and No2 and No4 still open, England have only one banker in Root, maybe one and a half with Bairstow. Ultimately, England just aren’t that good.
37th over: England 106-7 (Curran 13, Rashid 7) The good news for England is that batting looks fairly comfortable right now. The bad news for England is that batting looks fairly comfortable right now. Rashid drags a short ball from Sharma behind square for two; it might be time for Sharma to have a rest; he’s bowled a 10-over spell either side of lunch. Saying which, he ends the over with another snorter that beats Curran outside off stump.
36th over: England 103-7 (Curran 13, Rashid 4) Curran plays another nice stroke, square driving a Shami inswinger for two, but then he’s beaten by a jaffa. England lead by 116. Many of you have suggested multiple changes – we’re belatedly entering the age of rotation, so I think there will be a few. Not sure about Moeen replacing Malan, though: he’s not a top-six batsman and England need to beef up that part of the team. If Moeen plays it should be on merit as a second spinner, with his batting a bonus. The team for Lord’s might be something like: Cook, Jennings, Root, Someone, Bairstow, Buttler, Moeen, Woakes, Curran, Rashid, Broad or Anderson.
“My wife is making tea for my club tomorrow,” says Richard O’Hagan. “She likes to do things a bit differently as she thinks that players must get bored eating the same things every week. I was wondering what things she should definitely not discard from the menu, and what the most exotic thing ever served for a club cricket tea might have been?”
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35th over: England 100-7 (Curran 11, Rashid 3) Sharma has done his job by defenestrating England’s entire middle order, but he deserves a five-for and is steaming in with that in mind. Compared to Sharma, Curran looks like something out of Honey, I Shrunk The Batsman. He is playing nicely, though, and ends the over with a crisp cover drive for four.
“England,” says Adrian Armstrong, “have clearly hit upon the most effective way of managing the workloads of Anderson and Broad over the series.”
34th over: England 96-7 (Curran 7, Rashid 3) Shami replaces Ashwin, with the ball moving a fair bit for the quicker bowlers. Rashid times him through the covers for two. These two are decent lower-order batsmen – Curran average 27 in first-class cricket, Rashid has 10 centuries – so it’s not over quite yet.
“What is going on with Test batting lately?” says Huw Swanborough. “It really does seem that protection of the wicket is becoming a lost art. I wouldn’t describe the game as being overwhelmingly dominated by great bowlers. If the track isn’t an absolute road, it seems increasingly rare that we see a unit of batsmen exert control over an innings. The average number of runs per Test wicket this year is 26.46… the lowest since 1927 when matches where still played on uncovered tracks.”
33rd over: England 93-7 (Curran 6, Rashid 1) Kumar Sangakkara, as suave in the commentary box as he was in the middle, reckons Buttler should have been more positive. I take his point but that was only the second ball Buttler faced. In fact he’s faced four deliveries in the match. I knew the vice-captaincy would affect his batting.
Curran and Rashid pick up a single apiece in Sharma’s over. England can still get a lead of 150, which would give them an outside chance, especially if they dismiss Kohli for less than 149.
32nd over: England 95-7 (Curran 5, Rashid 0) I missed that over as I was still trying to make sense of WHAT THE HELL, but somewhere along the way Sam Curran hit Ashwin for four. England lead by 104. Chase that, Virat.
31st over: England 87-7 (Curran 1, Rashid 0) “I think this series will decide whether India is truly the No.1 side in the world,” says Sambasiva Rao Vejendla. “This is the final frontier to be conquered.”
Surely Australia is the final frontier? I agree a win in England would confirm they are the best team in the world. But a win in Australia would arguably make them as the best Indian team of all time.
WICKET! England 87-7 (Buttler c Karthik b I Sharma 1)
Ishant Sharma finishes the over he started so devastatingly after lunch by taking the wicket of Jos Buttler! It’s another cracking delivery, a big back-of-a-length off-cutter that Buttler fenced at and edged through to Karthik. Sharma has taken three wickets in the over, three huge wickets: Bairstow, Stokes and Buttler.
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“Don’t be so downbeat,” says Domink Hindal. “Rob, India can’t chase more than 150.”
Have I missed something? Did Kohli retire from international cricket in the lunch break? (I know what you mean. It’s not like Brisbane, when England had no chance of defending 170-odd. India have been here before this year, but England have to get to Kohli, and then rid of Kohli, quicksmart to have any chance..
Before play resumes please read this charity appeal, which requires no further comment from me.
#ENGvIND so far is like a flight: there's first class, business and economy.
— Tim de Lisle (@TimdeLisle) August 3, 2018
Kohli averaging 149
Root and Bairstow 48
Everyone else 12@NickMiller79
Thanks Nick, hello ev- oh what’s the bloody point. This is all a bit disheartening if you’re an England fan, though we shouldn’t be too harsh: India have played some blistering cricket today and should win the match before the weekend unofficially starts. Our brittle boys just could not handle it.
England have done a lot of good things in this match, but two things have cost them: poor catching and Virat Kohli’s birthplace. More than anything, we should celebrate a superb game of cricket played in what have effectively been neutral conditions: there has been plenty both for the English-style seamer and the Indian spinner.
It’s been the fairest fight, and when that’s the case the team that loses can have no complaints. But they are allowed as many regrets as they like, and England will have plenty if this pans out as expected.
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Right then. That’s me for the moment: Rob Smyth will take you through the first hour of the afternoon session, and I’ll be back for the second. Direct your emails to: Rob.Smyth@theGuardian.com.
If you’re due at Edgbaston tomorrow, Dean has a suggestion: “A suggestion for ticket holders affected by the early end to the test...the British Transplant Games are on in Birmingham this weekend, most of the events taking place at the University of Birmingham in Edgbaston. Guaranteed inspiration!”
Kim Thonger has it all figured out: “I don’t understand why professional batsmen don’t teach themselves to bat left or right handed. On the beach at Weston-super-Mare as a lad my friends and I regularly used to switch hands to combat the prevailing ‘breeze’ coming in off the Bristol Channel and/or the slope of the beach. How hard can it be for full time talented chaps to do the same?”
I would suggest playing Test cricket is a) tougher than playing on the beach at Weston, and b) playing Test cricket is tricky enough with your natural hand, never mind with the other one. That said, baseball hitters do routinely bat from either side.
Geoff Wignall writes, with a terrifying warning: “It’s a fair point that more RH batsman could be of benefit but replacing Malan with one would continue and exacerbate Rory Burns’ harsh treatment. and the fear would be that we’d get James Vince, not Ian Bell.”
“I did think this morning when Rob Williams asked for a friendly helper to describe the cricket for him tomorrow that he was being somewhat optimistic,” writes Richard Dennis. “Oh dear. No free beer for someone, and that’s the real tragedy here.”
Lunch: England 86-6, lead by 99 runs
India’s morning? Yeah, they probably shaded it. The tourists are fully in command of this one, some brilliant bowling, good catching and the odd bit of ropey batting contributing to the match situation. If you’re looking for positives, from an England point of view, their only real way out of this now will be if Buttler tees off, which will obviously be very good fun. But that’s a long shot.
WICKET! Stokes c Kohli b Sharma 6 - England 86-6
That’s just good bowling. Not the greatest batting but Sharma bowls one at middle stump that shapes away perfectly, takes the edge and Kohli takes a fine low catch at third slip.
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WICKET! Bairstow c Dhawan b Sharma 28 - England 85-5
Ach, that’s a horrible shot. Bairstow sort of backs away from one of Sharma’s inswingers, jabs at the ball and sends it to Dhawan at a wide first slip, who takes a good low catch. England ahead by only 98.
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30th over: England 84-4 (Bairstow 28, Stokes 6) Neat tuck behind square for Stokes, bringing two runs. Two balls later he plays the identical shot with identical results. Then a similar shot with similar results, in that he got just the one run.
“If England are looking for a right hander to come in at number 4,” writes Simon Harrington, “maybe they should be looking at someone with flair, talent and crucially the requisite piss boiling characteristics to drive enough content for the rest of the summer. You know who it should be and so do: Ian Ronald Bell, Sledgehammer of Eternal Justice.”
100% behind this.
29th over: England 79-4 (Bairstow 28, Stokes 1) Peek behind the curtain here: I just typed out a line saying Bairstow is dealing with Sharma’s inswing perfectly, only for him to go within inches of cutting onto his own stumps. Still, it’s in the scorebook as a four, having zipped past the dive of Karthik, so perhaps the point stands. And, erm, then he edges one that falls just short of first slip. So. Erm. Yeah. Dealing with it perfectly.
28th over: England 75-4 (Bairstow 24, Stokes 1) Bairstow goes for a sweep, and it loops high in the air off his forearm: runs given, so we could have been in for some fun had someone caught that.
So is that the last of Malan? Should England just get a right hander - any right hander - in because of the fun Ashwin and Sharma are having with the lefties? Ollie Pope? Joe Clarke?
27th over: England 72-4 (Bairstow 21, Stokes 1) Kohli attacks the new man, getting another slip in as Sharma bowls more outswing to another left-hander. He gets off the mark with a tuck off his thigh.
Geoff Wignall has a query: “Before play yesterday morning Tim De Lisle was indicating that the bounce was uneven but you’ve just suggested that Malan reckons the bounce is highly trustworthy. What’s your reading of it? Obviously if it’s an up and down pitch it makes a huge difference to what a par score might be (and to Malan’s chances).”
It was certainly up and down from some of the seamers yesterday, but perhaps Malan’s confidence was more to do with the bounce that Ashwin naturally gets. Either way, it didn’t look like the safest strategy.
WICKET! Malan c Rahane b Sharma 20 - England 70-4
Sharma gets his first bowl at Malan for a while, and succeeds straight away. Coming round the wicket, he sends down one that started on about middle-leg, but swung away and Malan gets a leading edge trying to flick through mid-wicket. Rahane pouches the catch in the gully.
26th over: England 69-3 (Malan 20, Bairstow 19) Malan takes a couple of steps down to Ashwin and gets struck on the pad: that might actually have been close, but going for a review would have been pointless given how far down the pitch he was. Replays suggest umpire’s call on the lbw. Malan takes a couple with a flick through mid-wicket.
25th over: England 67-3 (Malan 18, Bairstow 19) More in-swing from Sharma to Bairstow, one of which he jams between bat and pad and for a second it looks like it will loop back to the bowler. Bairstow doesn’t get hold of a drive, but hits it well enough to take two, as the fielder from third man runs around to cut it off.
Graeme Thorn here with a slight clarification: “I think Trotty’s point on The Verdict should be considered this way: there are still over eight sessions left. Bat for six of them and you’re likely to hit 400 pretty much anyway, unless you’re completely strokeless.”
24th over: England 65-3 (Malan 18, Bairstow 17) Ashwin continues to probe away at Malan from round the wicket. Lots of turn, but Malan leaves a couple, which suggests he’s either very confident about the bounce in this pitch, or he’s picking the variations. A maiden, anyway.
23rd over: England 65-3 (Malan 18, Bairstow 17) Sharma’s getting some big hoop in at Bairstow, but he starts one just a bit too wide and a bit too short, and it’s leathered to the point fence. And then a similar ball, perhaps a little straighter, is slashed in a mostly controlled manner over gully and past third man for another boundary.
22nd over: England 57-3 (Malan 18, Bairstow 9) Ashwin tosses a couple up to Malan and he gets plenty on a couple of drives, but finds a couple of fielders in the covers.
Kevin Wilson writes: “I was watching The Verdict last night and Trott rather ambitiously thought England should aim to declare on around 400. He has a lot more confidence in this side than I do. They hardly ever score 400 anyway, and expecting them to after a lacklustre first innings, on a pitch where Ashwin has left handers on toast, makes me wonder what game Trott is watching!”
21st over: England 57-3 (Malan 18, Bairstow 9) Malan plays four balls carefully, watching a few go past then pulling a single that he doesn’t quite get hold of. England lead by 70, by the way.
Here’s another Andy Bull piece on a costly drop: look away now, Herschelle Gibbs...
20th over: England 56-3 (Malan 17, Bairstow 9) Oof. Bairstow nails a sweep, and nails it directly into Vijay’s thigh at short leg. So much off that it looped up and the keeper nearly took the secondary catch. Ashwin then tries that away-swinging seamer he sometimes chucks in, but it’s short and Bairstow plays it well, belting the cut to the cover boundary.
19th over: England 52-3 (Malan 17, Bairstow 5) A bowling change, and Ishant Sharma starts with a no ball. As has often been the case throughout Sharma’s career, he sends down a few innocuous balls and some that have the batsman groping: just before the non-catch, there was one Malan wafted heftily at.
Not out!
Boos go up from the crowd as the replays show ball did touch grass, but in fairness Dhawan didn’t claim the catch with any gusto.
Review! An umpire's review!
Ishant Sharma is into the attack. Malan edges to Dhawan at first slip, but he’s not sure if it carried. They go upstairs...
18th over: England 50-3 (Malan 17, Bairstow 4) No runs from this over, so let’s look at some more costly drops. Martin Gilbert nominates “Andrew Balbirnie dropping Babar Azam at 60/3 in Ireland’s debut test a few months ago. That could have been the difference between an historic win and what was a semi-heroic defeat.”
Then William Andrews Tipper reminds us of the tale of Fred Tait, who dropped a catch that essentially cost England the 1902 Ashes, specifically the Test at Old Trafford that Australia won by three runs. But he had a son, Maurice, who Fred promised would “put things right”, and he did: off spinner Maurice ended his Test career with 155 wickets, playing 20 consecutive Tests against Australia.
For more on Maurice (the cricketer, rather than the Space Cowboy), read here...
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17th over: England 50-3 (Malan 17, Bairstow 4) India seem to think Malan is iffy on the short ball, but he deals with that one pretty well, properly connecting with a pull that goes exactly between fine leg and deep backward square, to the boundary. Bairstow, looking much more confident against the quick, drives beautifully through the covers for another four. Good over for England.
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16th over: England 40-3 (Malan 12, Bairstow 0) Having just seen his captain dismissed by a flick to leg slip, naturally Bairstow flicks his first delivery straight to leg slip. This one, I think fell just short, but it’s a rather dangerous game, to say the least. Malan then leaves one - a brave man, but he was confident in the bounce and it went over off stump.
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WICKET! Root c Rahul b Ashwin 14 - England 39-3
Root isn’t happy, but with himself rather than an errant decision. He goes back and tries to whip one round the corner, but instead flicks one straight at leg slip, where Rahul takes a terrific low catch. There’s a brief moment of debate whether Rahul did actually take the catch, but Root walks off. Replays show it sort of ricocheted between his leg and hand.
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15th over: England 39-2 (Root 14, Malan 12) Shami gets Malan driving and he nearly nicks one. Two runs from the over, one from a hooping ball way down leg from which they take a bye, then Root dabs a single to third man.
14th over: England 37-2 (Root 13, Malan 12) Ashwin now round the wicket to Root, who appears to be combatting the spinner by playing as much off the back foot as possible. That attempt doesn’t last very long, coming back over but Root works the field brilliantly by going back and forcing a four through a big gap in the covers. Lovely batting, that.
More from our new role as conduit for the Withington brothers’ correspondence. John writes: “Brother Brian played so rarely that he won’t be aware that his younger and more prolific brother held the club record for numbers of pouched victims over many seasons. But having started the reminiscing I immediately recall the sorts of moments that pass into local club folklore. Most especially the unfortunate Graham Hawse, who’s most memorable contribution to the club was to spill a single figures sitter at point, off the bat shoulder of the league’s most prolific batsman, who went on to slaughter our bowlers to all parts for a violent 150. The entirely unnecessary, languid call of “Grahaaaaaam’s” became the ironic jeer for at least a decade for any incident involving a misjudgement and is still used in old boys’ meetings when beer is inevitably spilt.”
13th over: England 31-2 (Root 8, Malan 11) Root plays a couple of nice drives for little reward, the only run from the over coming via a clip down to fine leg.
@NickMiller79 only cost a few runs but healy’s drop of lara at bridgetown in ‘99 was pretty decisive....
— listen to Robyn or go to hell (@steamed___hams) August 3, 2018
Well quite. West Indies only needed seven more runs with two wickets in hand when Healy put this one down, in their miraculous run chase led by Lara’s magical 153. The title of this clip is a big hyperbolic as Healy played another five Tests, but Adam Gilchrist took over later that year.
12th over: England 30-2 (Root 7, Malan 11) Nice shot from Malan, timed well, but he only gets a single for it because it went straight to a deep mid-off. Root gets one then Ashwin tries over the wicket to Malan, and promptly beats him fairly comprehensively.
11th over: England 28-2 (Root 6, Malan 10) A drop? Possibly. Malan throws everything at a wideish one from Shami that gets some hop, there’s a noise that might have been a feather edge but it’s academic, as the bounce surprised Karthik too as he doesn’t take the catch. Just a single from the over, from a miscued Malan pull.
10th over: England 27-2 (Root 6, Malan 9) Ashwin does rattle through them, doesn’t he? Tricky for your OBOers, which I think we can all agree is the most important thing here. Just a single from the over, Malan tucking one just behind square.
Richard O’Hagan emails in with a story that...takes a turn at the end. “I once played against a team from Weston’s Cider in Gloucestershire. They kindly placed a large barrel of cider on the boundary for everyone to imbibe from. It was the only time I have seen three or four balls coming towards me when I was batting - and I didn’t hit any of them. Rumour has it that cricket is no longer played on that ground, as it was found to be one of the locations where Fred West hid his victims.”
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9th over: England 26-2 (Root 6, Malan 8) Malan plays a nice, guided thick edge off Shami, sending the ball wide of third man and to the boundary. He certainly looks like a man who knows his place might be in trouble, but he’s been OK so far.
David Wigan has been on: “Nick - I am not a huge cricket geek so forgive my ignorance in these matters, but can you tell me why Alistair Cook still plays for England? Its more surprising when he does get runs then when he doesn’t, right? Kind of a cricket version of Wayne Rooney?”
There are probably more intricate and well-thought arguments for this, but the two most simple are 1) He scored 46 and 70 in his last two Tests, not the totals of a man at the top of his game, but perhaps not one who should go to the knackers yard just yet and 2) England haven’t managed to replace Andrew Strauss yet, and he retired six years ago. They’ve tried (I think) 12 partners for Cook in that time: finding one opener is hard enough, never mind two.
8th over: England 21-2 (Root 6, Malan 3) Malan, not a man in particularly good touch, puts his best foot forwards and plays a drive at his first ball: it wasn’t what you’d call a confident drive, more the drive of a man trying to look confident. Still, he gets three for one just hauled in before the boundary.
WICKET! Jennings c Rahul b Ashwin - England 18-2
For all the problems Ashwin can cause with his variations, he gets a wicket with a perfectly delivered, standard off-spinner. Jennings props forwards, it turns a touch more than he thought and Rahul takes a smart catch to his right at second slip.
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7th over: England 17-1 (Jennings 8, Root 5) Shami tries to send Root to hospital with a toe-crushing yorker, but he does well to flick that one away and avoid a date with the x-ray machine. Jennings carelessly jabs at one outside off that bounces a bit, and goes within a gnat’s gnadger of taking the edge.
Phil Sawyer points out a problem with the ‘pay a ball-by-ball’ commentator in ale’ plan: “I wish I were in the Edgbaston region tomorrow so I could help Rob out (and take advantage of his hospitality). However, I can’t help feeling that his policy of buying the willing ball-by-baller beer all day may be somewhat flawed. By the final session the commentary would be in danger of going something like ‘Thassa Elbow… Elbu …. LBW. Hitting in line. Well, one of the three balls was anyway. Ahhh, yer my best fuggin mate….’”
6th over: England 15-1 (Jennings 7, Root 4) Always enough to make you nervous when a batsman goes down to sweep a tall spinner like Ashwin, but Jennings gets on top of this one and paddles a single round the corner. Ashwin then gets away with a full toss that Root clips straight to short mid-wicket.
Another costly drop, here...
@nickmiller79 Kiran More's drop of Gooch in 1990 series when he went on to make a triple hundred should be somewhere in the top 10 costliest drops.
— Anandkumar N (@anandkumarn) August 3, 2018
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5th over: England 14-1 (Jennings 6, Root 4) Shami gets his first couple of balls on a solid off stump line, then drifts onto Root’s pads and nicely places a clip through two fielders for a couple.
Some fraternal banter starts early in the day. “You wait all summer for one Withington contribution and then get two in half an hour,” writes Brian Withington. “I seem to recall brother John spilling one or two for Hornchurch Athletic when it really mattered but at least he never got the chance to reprieve Kohli.”
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4th over: England 10-1 (Jennings 5, Root 1) Ashwin finishes the over, Root tickling a single around the corner that had fielders at short leg and leg slip interested briefly.
Players are out. There are two more balls of Ravi Ashwin’s over from last night to complete. He’ll bowl to Joe Root, the new batsman.
Peter Haining provides those overseas readers who are often keen to hear this sort of thing, with a TMS YouTube link.
Anyone going tomorrow fancy doing a good turn?
any sighted cricket fans want to help a blind chap out with ball by ball at the ground tomorrow? I'll buy your beer all day. I don't trust radio commentary to have no delay. @bbctms @WisdenCricket
— Rob (@robwilliams95) August 3, 2018
Here’s Andy Bull on the duel between two of the very best we’ll ever see:
Sam Curran, who might have been the star of the day had it not been for You Know Who, praises You Know Who, writes Ali Martin:
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Just time to get caught up on yesterday’s play. First, Vic Marks’s report:
We probably have a winner straight away for the most costly drops, as Gary Naylor reminds us: Chris Scott, who dropped Brian Lara 18 runs into his 501 in 1994. Andy Bull spoke to him a couple of years ago:
“I wondered if you’ve yet had a debate about the most important dropped catches of all time,” wonders John Withington. “Not wanting to put the curse on poor old Malan, but with all the Kohli focus in English conditions is it likely that Malan’s shelling early on will turn out, not just for this match but for the series, to be an absolute stinker? And I got to wondering what the most important dropped catches of all time have proven to be.”
As with most things, thoughts immediately turn to the 2005 Ashes...but I’m sure you lot can be more imaginative than I.
India put their batting coach up for general media duties last night apparently, and you can imagine how that went down with the press pack. But through some careful sleuthing, the BCCI website did somehow manage to get the massive scoop of an interview with Virat. So here it is:
On feeling slightly underwhelmed (!) by that magnificent knock:
I try to prepare the best way possible that I can and help my team as much as possible. It wasn’t only about getting to the three-figure mark, but also to capitalize on the hundred. I was very disappointed when I got out because I thought we could’ve taken a 10-15 run lead. But, in hindsight, we wouldn’t have been able to bowl then. So, I’d just accept what God’s bestowed upon me and I was very happy with my preparation and not worried about the world.
On guiding the tail-enders/anyone who isn’t as good as him (which is everyone), obviously:
It was difficult, but I told myself that it was important to enjoy this moment and consider a challenge to take the team far and the innings deep. It was a test of physical and mental strength and I’m glad that we could come close to their total and we’re pretty much in the game. When you help the team that way, it obviously feels great. I have to laud the tail as well. Hardik batted really well after we were five wickets down. Then, the way Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav applied themselves, I think it was an outstanding effort from them and I have to give a lot of credit to them for getting us this close. They stuck in there, supported me really well and I’m very proud of both of them and happy with the effort.
On where this ranks in his top knocks:
I’m not too sure, but this could come in second to Adelaide*. It (Adelaide) still remains very special to me, because it was the second innings and we were chasing a target, wherein I had total clarity that we are going for the target. Not once did I think otherwise. That was a beautiful zone to be in, but today I’m very happy and grateful for having this opportunity to help the team this way and pull us back in the Test and compete. That’s what we’re here to do. We’re here to compete. We’re here to fight and we will continue doing that.
*This will be the second of his two centuries at the Adelaide Oval in 2014, when he scored 141 as India chased a target of 364, but fell 48 runs short. Much like his innings yesterday, he didn’t get a huge amount of help, although Murali Vijay did get 99. The next highest score was 21.
Updated
Preamble
We say this a lot, but there really is nothing like Test cricket when it gets going. That spell where India nearly lost five wickets while on 100 yesterday was so engrossing that you wonder what anyone else could possibly have been doing during it.
For England though, while at the time it looked like they were all over India like a nasty rash caused by a cheap suit, that spell represented the turning point of the day, when they dropped Virat Kohli. Obviously it’s not just the runs he scored, but the way he so brilliantly guided the rest of the team. At one stage it looked like India would be lucky to get away with a double-figures deficit, but thanks to him now the Test is basically level.
The other problem Kohli provides for England is they’ll need a lead of about 300 before they can feel a little bit comfortable, and even then it might not be enough. Joe Root and Keaton Jennings will be at the crease, and they’ll need to stick around for a good while. Hopefully today is as good as yesterday, and the rest of the series is as good as today.
