Andy Bull on Anderson v Kohli
Day two report
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You’ll do well to find a more compelling, invigorating, perplexing, inspiring day of sport than that. England bowled brilliantly until they tired, Virat Kohli batted like God’s cooler older brother, and we’ve got three more days of intense pleasure to come. Thanks for your company and comments - join us again tomorrow.
WICKET! Cook b Ashwin 0 (England 8-1)
Bowled again! Ashwin is brilliant, but does Cook have a problem? Have his eyes gone? This is his fifth bowled in his last 10 dismissals, this one almost identical to the last: pitching on middle as the batsman comes forward, dipping, gripping, turning, and hitting off. What a day!
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3rd over: England 8-0 (Cook 0, Jennings 4) Cook plays out a maiden from Shami, though the fourth delivery comes perilously close to his edge. Perhaps he played inside it. And perhaps he didn’t.
2nd over: England 8-0 (Cook 0, Jennings 4) Ashwin to open from other end, and Jennings starts with an inside edge onto the pad. But the next delivery is a wide half-volley, so Jennings clunks down a foot and drives four to cover. The ball’s turning, though - a long way in one case - but the line isn’t quite right yet.
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1st over: England 4-0 (Cook 0, Jennings 0) Shami starts from around but rinses way down the leg side, then again, then again ... this time for four byes. He beats Cook next up, who then leaves one before finally applying bat to ball. That was not good.
Shami will open...
Here they come...
Want some more? Let’s have some bloody more! England’s openers will be out in two shakes of a duck.
So England lead by 13 - they’d probably have taken it just before lunch - they’d certainly not have taken it at any time since lunch. But here we are: England are still in control, but this match could go either way.
WICKET! Kohli c Broad b Rashid 149 (India 274 all out)
Kohli, who never cuts, cuts hard to Broad at point. But really, how good was that? A genius and an icon, lap up every second of him because you’ve never see anything like him before nor will you ever again. He is why we love this game.
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76th over: India 274-9 (Kohli 149, Yadav 1) Kohli, who has now scored more runs than in the entiret yof the 2014 tour, allows Rashid four dots. Not by design - he’s trying to zetz him - and then he does, caning six over long on! Of course he does! I really cannot overstate how good an innings this has been, this is, how good a player this player is, has been will be!
75th over: India 268-9 (Kohli 143, Yadav 1) Stokes gets his go at Yadav; Yadav keeps him out pretty comfortably. Stokes is bushed.
“It’s always frustrating when a team stops trying to get a batsman out in the hope of bowling a couple of balls to his tail end partner every twenty minutes,” says David Seare. “Kohli is good enough to play on his own without England helping him out.
West Indies pacemen - many years ago I was at a rain affected game at Old Trafford (I know!) It was classic Dickie Bird, keeping them off for wet run-ups in the blistering sunshine. My friend and I were sat on the boundary edge when Franklyn Stephenson and Derek Randall of Notts came for a bit of a knock up in front of us. Needless to say, we spilled our pints as Stephenson rolled his arm over from a one pace run. That was fast enough for me!”
74th over: India 268-9 (Kohli 143, Yadav 1) Kohli takes two to long on, then after three dots up comes the field ... so Kohli, given the whole ground to hit into, gets under a rubbish googly and hammers over midwicket for four. So what now: does he tip and run, or take the free runs ... he does both, dabbing a sweep for four to raise the 50 partnership. Can England finish this now?
73rd over: India 258-9 (Kohli 133, Yadav 1) Kohli will know that the bowlers are tired, and he’ll also know that Stokes is ticking, so comes down to marmalise his first ball over extra cover for four. But Stokes responds well, dredging up a beauty that moves away and past the outside edge; Root then sets a field for a bouncer and Kohli says “Thank you very much, don’t mind if I do, how about that, I’ll take a single into the off side and you just face one delivery Umesh lad, then I’ll applaud you from the other end.” This is what comes to pass. The current partnership has been going 56 balls, and Umesh has faced just 10 of them.
72nd over: India 253-9 (Kohli 128, Yadav 1) As Rashid continues, Stokes is absolutely steaming at slip; he did not enjoy that last over. Broad hasn’t bowled at all this session, and while it’s on my mind, might Root have done more to prevent the constant taking of singles on ball five or six? This time, Kohli goes on four down to the point fence, and again Yadav hangs in here.
71st over: India 252-9 (Kohli 127, Yadav 1) Kohli lumps Stokes over mid off for four, then pulls a shoer one that deep square doesn’t pick up - for all the difference that’s making. Kohli now has 126 out of 251, more than half his team’s runs, and he gives Yadav one ball to survive, which he does. England now lead by 35; might India eke out a lead?
70th over: India 243-9 (Kohli 118, Yadav 1) Here comes Virat! Oooh yeah! He charges Rashid’s first ball, get to the pitch to make it a half-volley, and creams four over long off. He was 67 not out when Ishant came in - his discipline, as well as his batsmanship, has been absolutely masterful. Five off the over.
“In the 70s in Melbourne,” emails Alan Tattersall, “I was at a PE Conference and was chatting to a fellow PE teacher and he told me he opened the batting for Victoria with Bill Lawry when the Windies had their first ever tour of Oz in 1960. His name was Ian Potter if memory serves and he said they had never seen the Windies before and knew nothing about them. When he went out to bat Wes Hall disappeared under the Southern stand and roared in with his shirt undone to the navel and gold chains swinging. He said, ‘I knew I was a good cricketer’ and that he was not unduly concerned until that first ball fizzed past his bat . ‘I never saw it and Wes Hall came stomping down the wicket and said ‘If you think that one was fast boy you wait til the next one come along.’ He said that his knees started to shake involuntarily and as the next ball that he faced, which he also never saw, rapped into his pads, Hall let out an almighty appeal and this batsman said ‘I tucked my bat under my arm and walked’, never having been so glad to get off a cricket pitch in his life.”
69th over: India 238-9 (Kohli 113, Yadav 1) Penny for em, Dawid. Stokes is forcing himself through now, he’s absolutely done-in, but a leg-side field suggests some teeth music is en route. And after five dots, a bouncer is top-edged safe, and there’s Kohli’s single.
“On the always engaging subject of West Indies bowlers and their relative scariness,” emails David Horn, “one who is often overlooked is Sylvester Clarke. He played for Surrey for quite a while and was genuinely terrifying - partly because he didn’t quite have the control of some of his contemporaries. After he retired he played a few games on the local club circuit - and once I was in the team due to face him. He used to come in off of 2 or 3 paces and just terrify people. There was a long queue for the toilets that day. Mercifully, I didn’t bat. I don’t remember the circumstances - because I can’t imagine an outcome other than him taking all 10 wickets - maybe it rained, but I do remember the terror.”
68th over: India 237-9 (Kohli 112, Yadav 1) Kohli misses one and Bairstow whips off the bails, but the foot was never up. Kohli’s conversion rate is better than every man ever to play the game but Bradman, which Ian Ward speculates must be mental - I’m sure that’s part of it, though we probably have to mention how many Tests he plays on the sub-Continent and that the bowlers in his era are not as good as the bowlers in other other eras. In the meantime, he adds a single and Yadav misses a google which scoots past Bairstow for four byes.
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67th over: India 227-9 (Kohli 106, Yadav 1) At what point does Kohli start whacking, not just because he can’t trust Umesh but because wouldn’t he fancy a go at England’s openers tonight? What’s amazing about Kohli - ok, there are infinite things that are amazing about Kohli - but it’s the marriage of hard-handed hatin’ and soft-handed lovin’. Sorry, I’ll stop there. Anyway, Stokes raps his pad but outside the line, then some leg-side filth is clouted to fine leg for four. England’s lead is now 55.
“I was lucky enough to watch Marshall destroy Australia twice in the 1980s,” emails Jeff Docherty. “Great days. Once in Antigua were he was terrifying, and once in Perth where he was just deadly - I recall the shock of the crowd when Marshall felled Lawson with a vicious bouncer. The match was played in the most hostile atmosphere with WI tormented by the most appalling heckling. They rose above the clamour and were majestic and took Australia to the cleaners.”
66th over: India 227-9 (Kohli 106, Yadav 1) Yadav takes a single to cover, then Rashid beats Kohli with one that’s tossed up. Three dots follow, then a bunt down the ground gives Yadav one ball to negotiate, which he does; perhaps Theresa May should get him on the team.
65th over: India 225-9 (Kohli 105, Yadav 0) Stokes in to Kohli - I’m sure he feels that a ton has already been earned, and would like him to achieve it for the same of the wonderful game of cricket. He persuades Kohli to hook and he misses, but there’s a sound ... England appeal, the umpire says no, and Kohli grins. Then after a dot, Stokes gives some width, Kohli chases ... AND THERE IT IS! VIRAT KOHLI HAS PERSONALITIED HIS WAY TO A LUDICROUSLY BRILLIANT HUNDRED! He leaps, he punches, he removes his helmet ... what a champion he is. Four to third man, then to underline, italicise and highlight, he smacks four more wide of mid on. We are privileged to be living in his time.
64th over: India 217-9 (Kohli 97, Yadav 0) Ohhhh maaaaate! A replay shows us that Rashid’s wicket ball was going down, and India had a review left!
“As an old codger I remember Wes Hall and his partner-in-crime Charlie Griffith well,” says David Keech, “as part of my cricket-watching youth in the 1960s. I lived very close to school and would scurry back at lunch to watch them. They were the most feared fast bowling combination in world cricket back then and Wes Hall should definitely be mentioned in the same breath as Marshall and all the others. The only redeeming feature was that in those days Windies had only two quicks, not four as they dd during their total domination period. If batsman could get through the initial burst, things got easier. Big if though.”
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WICKET! Sharma lbw b Rashid 5 (India 217-9)
But won’t someone please think of the county cricket! Rashid tosses one up ... a googly which befuddles Ishant ... and that is gone. Can’t believe he’s not playing for Yorkshire in the Blast. Disgraceful. Complete spoilt brat. Brexit means Brexit.
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64th over: India 217-8 (Kohli 97, Sharma 5) Rashid has the ball as England search for it, and is on the money right away...
63rd over: India 216-8 (Kohli 96, Sharma 5) Kohli flashes - now wouldn’t that be a thing - but gets too much on it for slip, and they run two. Then two more come to wide mid on, and he’s easing to a century! For context, Dhawan is India’s next top-scorer with 26, and a turn to leg takes yerman four away.
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62nd over: India 211-8 (Kohli 91, Sharma 5) Harbhajan tells us about when Kohli first came into the India team, none of them could pick Ajantha Mendis, so he said not a problem, I’ll go out there and deal with it. He is so good. Anyway, out in the middle, a two to each batsman and an extra single to Kohli make that another decent over for India who now trail by 74; Stokes will now come back into the attack.
61st over: India 206-8 (Kohli 88, Sharma 3) Anderson returns, and after Kohli defends one he exchanges words with Bairstow. Next ball, Kohli looks to attack but Anderson beats him - what a rrrrridiculous athlete he is, this being his 22nd over today. Has he earned himself a square of chocolate? Kohli takes a single from the final ball - surely Root will now make a change?
Also, Andy Roberts was exceedingly scary.
60th over: India 205-8 (Kohli 87, Sharma 3) I’m surprised that Curran’s been given another over, but his third ball beats Kohli like he’s not there, pitching on leg, straightening and moving away; natural variation, says Holding. Kohli leaves Ishant two balls to survive this time, and he does.
“Jimmy and the pantheon” begins John Cox with what sounds like a kids’ book title. “This is an instant disqualifier, really, the most-runs-in-an-over record. I’d like to see George Bailey try that against Ambrose or Marshall.”
I was on the OBO for that I think, sat in an office on my bill in the middle of night - it felt like watching my dad get beaten up. Bailey was like that kid you got at school or a football party whose team would win not remotely on his account, but who’d give it loads afterwards.
NO WICKET! Ishant sidled outside the line of off.
And that’s over bowled.
REVIEW! Anderson squares Ishant up and raps his pad ... up goes the finger again ... but Ishant reviews again ... and it looked to me like he got outside the line.
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59th over: India 204-8 (Kohli 86, Sharma 3) A quiet over, Kohli driving into the covers for a single, giving Ishant one ball to face....
58th over: India 203-8 (Kohli 85, Sharma 3) That lead is coming down; what a knock this is! Kohli takes Curran’s first two balls for four, a fine twizzle through midwicket followed by as close as he gets to a cut to third man. Three more singles follow, and Root has work to do.
“If it’s ‘bowlers most likely to have me touching cloth’, since, say, the mid-80s,”” emails Sean Clayton, “my top 5 in reverse order would be: Wasim, Waqar, Donald, Ambrose, Marshall. I’m lightly sweating just imagining MM bowling short of a length...
PS looking at the career spans of those five puts into perspective how terrifying it must have been to be a batsman in the early 90s. That makes the Judge’s Test stats even more impressive...”
There are a few I’d have ahead of Wasim - Shoaib for sure, maybe Flintoff and Malcolm as well. On which topic, I enjoyed this on Tymal Mills yesterday.
Mills is getting it down here to some tune. I’d be standing on my stumps as soon as he got to his mark. Fuck that.
— Macca (@The_Paris_Angel) August 1, 2018
Heard stories of people walking when they haven’t nicked it in minor counties games against him
— Tommo (@TommoNewton2) August 1, 2018
Lad at uni played club cricket with him, said oppo parents would refuse to let their kids play if he was bowling 😂😂
— Tommo (@TommoNewton2) August 1, 2018
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57th over: India 192-8 (Kohli 75, Sharma 2) Kohli forces a single to leg, then Ishant scampers - ok, not really - lumbers and lanks one of his own. Direct hit and he’s toast, but it misses and Kohli then forces uppishly, adding two followed by another stretch drive through cover. They might make it into three, but Kohli settles for one.
56th over: India 187-8 (Kohli 71, Sharma 1) Kohli looks to whack one around the corner but only gets one for it. Sharma, though, drives square to get down the other end and then Kohli pulls two. Whatever happens from here, this is a crucial innings in the series - he’s faced down helpful conditions and inspired bowlers to craft and cobble a score. I wonder, incidentally, if we’ll see Stokes very soon - I daresay he’d like a shy at Ishant. Anyway, Kohli gets one from the final ball, so Anderson will be back for hack at him.
“We were discussing earlier if Brearley was a reference point any longer,” emails John Starbcuk. “It also looks as if the pantheon of great West Indian speed merchants no longer has room for Wes Hall, who in his day was sometimes quoted as the best in international cricket after the Demon, Spofforth. As well as skill and high pace, Hall also had stamina to spare.”
He’s before my time, but yes - and I’ve got time for anyone called called Wesley.
NO WICKET! Ishant got an inside edge.
And that’s over bowled.
WICKET! Sharma lbw b Anderson 0 (India 182-9)
Jimmy Anderson has gatecrashed the party! An inswinger keeps low, up goes the finger ... and Ishant reviews...
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55th over: India 182-8 (Kohli 67, Sharma 0) Anderson will fancy this, five balls at Sharma. And he beats him with the second one as we see Malan again, still looking equal parts rueful and relieved.
WICKET! Shami c Malan b Anderson 2 (India 182-8)
ENGLAND HAVE TAKEN ONE IN THE SLIPS! I SAID ENGLAND HAVE TAKEN ONE IN THE SLIPS! Shami can’t help but flash at one just outside off, he edges hard, and Malan takes a smart catch that allows him minor shock and tangible, palpable release.
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54th over: India 182-7 (Kohli 67, Shami 2) “It’s between the two of them, it’s quite private,” says Bumble of Anderson v Kohli, which is a lovely image and thought; he goes on to note that Curran and others are also looking to get the wicket. Maiden.
“Jimmy Anderson is astonishing, really,” emails Ben Hendy. I mean, look at this - he has a real chance of taking more test wickets than any other pace bowler in test history. But where does he stand in the pantheon? For me, and this may be mere nostalgia talking, but anyone would be hard-pushed to beat the great West Indians Marshall, Walsh and Ambrose. Where does he fit in after that lot?”
I think he might be better than Walsh, and better than anyone in English conditions. The thing is, it’s hard to answer as an amateur because who I think is the best is influenced by who I’m most terrified of facing.
53rd over: India 182-7 (Kohli 67, Shami 2) Kohli defends Anderson for five balls, then dashes for a single to keep the strike. This has been a terrific innings from him, but now what does he do? Farm the strike and stay in, or throw hands?
52nd over: India 181-7 (Kohli 66, Shami 2) Kohli twists to midwicket and calls Shami through for a second run ... a direct hit and he’s gone, and Curran might even snatch and drag ... but he doesnae. So Kohli punishes him, timing four through the same area next ball.
Apparently, by the way, people work overseas and holiday abroad. I presume this, like most of what we do, is an attempt to sound hard; I insist that holiday must never be used as a verb.
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51st over: India 171-7 (Kohli 58, Shami 1) Say what you like about what they do abroad overseas in other countries, these England bowlers are pretty useful at home - and just wait til Brexit’s meant Brexit. Meantime, Anderson delivers another jaffa which diddles Kohli – who’s batting miles down the track – and smacks his front leg, but outside the line.
WICKET! Ashwin b Anderson 10 (India 169-7)
The maestro strikes and about time! No help needed for that one! And what a beauty it is, slanting in, holding its line, jagging just enough off the pitch and zipping past the outside edge to crack the top of off stump. He is quite good at cricket.
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VERDICT: NOT OUT. England are all outta reviews.
Anderson clips Kohli on the pad with an inswinger, the umpire says no, and it looks to be going down to me, catching the outside of the kneeroll...
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50th over: India 168-6 (Kohli 57, Ashwin 10) REVIEW FOR LBW!
49th over: India 168-6 (Kohli 57, Ashwin 10) Curran opens with a short, wide piece ay nonsense, so Ashwin uppercuts dismissively over the cordon for four. But Curran comes back and it’s still swinging for him, only Ashwin is solid and blocks him nicely.
48th over: India 164-6 (Kohli 57, Ashwin 6) This is actually a quiet start ... until Kohli reaches again, soft hands guiding a half-batter for four down to third man.
Jimmy Anderson has the sphere, Virat Kohli has the strike. Mix me a speedball of that, right now.
Breaking non-breaking news: Jos Buttler hasn’t fractured owt.
Right then, here we go: England’s lead is 127, and it’s still cloudy.
Teatime email: “‘Abroad’ suggests ‘foreign’, whereas ‘overseas’ suggests it’s really Britain but located somewhere else on the globe, beyond these islands,” teaches Jim Harris. “Although cricket went to plenty of ‘foreign’ parts (as the histories of football clubs like Genoa, Milan and Juventus and South American rugby clubs like Lima, Montevideo and Buenos Aires demonstrate) it is essentially a game that was seeded most effectively in the British Empire. As such, it was never a ‘foreign’ game played ‘abroad’, but a domestic game played ‘overseas’. See also the terminology for the non-contiguous French territories, the ‘Departments d’outre mer’.”
Me: telt.
Well what a session that was; what a match this is. Brilliant bowling, nails batting, drama, skill, misery and intensity; everything that everything should be. Like every other earthling with an intellect and a soul, I cannot wait for the final session - see you in 20.
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48th over: India 160-6 (Kohli 53, Ashwin 6) Here comes Curran for the the final dash before tea; Kohli walks him down to cover the swing ... and is almost nailed Pandya style! But he gets his bat in the road just in time, flicking the ball away and running one, which brings Ashwin on strike. When Kohli took the captaincy he was happy to stick Ashwin at six - he can bat alright - and he waits for a yorker then cuts it behind for four, before shoving two to mid off.
47th over: India 153-6 (Kohli 52, Ashwin 0) If Curran gets another, he’lll be the youngest English bowler to take a fifer since ... ever! Wow. But there’s work to be done here, Kohli driving and Broad diving - to ironical cheers - before he opens the face to guide the four which raises his fifty. No matter: in comes Stokes, and Kohli stretches to flash at a wide one ... AND MALAN DROPS ANOTHER! WHAT A TEST HE’S HAVING! Stokes forces a rueful grin, but in fairness that wasn’t an easy chance, demanding a dive. Still, he’s there because he’s good at demanding dives.
46th over: India 148-6 (Kohli 47, Ashwin 0)
“I may well be talking a bit (or a lot) of bollocks here,” teases Stephen Brown, “but here is my theory on Overseas versus Abroad: Overseas comes before the noun it describes whereas Abroad comes after (or so I was taught in high school back in the dark ages of the late 90s). So, since in sporting terms you probably want to emphasise the foreign nature of whatever you are saying it makes sense for that descriptor to come first. It is an overseas test rather than a test abroad because the test is a secondary factor.
More importantly—can we get Rashid on please? 1 over given all of the kerfuffle beforehand seems a rather poor return.”
Interesting – I guess “overseas” sounds like more hassle – more testing, if you will – but you do use “overseas” even when talking about another country or other countries, not just to describe a Test.
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REVIEW! REVIEW REJECTED! Pandya is quick to get in there, but he’s all sorts of plumb. That really was a very fine piece of delivery and he did pretty well just to get so far forward to it.
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WICKET! Pandya lbw b Curran 22 (India 148-6)
What a delivery is this mutha: fast, straight, inswinging, yorker. Pandya goes forward, gets there first with boot not bad, and the umpire gives him the finger.
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45th over: India 146-5 (Kohli 46, Pandya 21) Perhaps Kohli saw Stokes warming up, because here he is. There you go, Hardik old china! Go well! Enjoy! And he does, leaving three of the first five balls - England probably reckon they can bore him out, but not thus far - and then a drive bobbles past Broad, who reluctantly dives in instalments, and they run three. More strike for yerman.
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44th over: India 143-5 (Kohli 46, Pandya 18) Curran is giving Pandya a tough time here, finding some decent inswing and pushing one just past off stump – though Pandya did leave it. He then edges on, paces a single, andlooks to get himself off strike with a second only to get sent back by Kohli.
“Must be all the Ashes voyages, and the stories (in which the sea was always a supporting character),” says Suhas Misra of my imagined abroad/overseas debate. “Plus the stops at the ports -- Bombay, Colombo etc -- that sort of got cricket going hereabouts. ‘Overseas’ invokes all of that more, etymologically, than ‘abroad’, I suppose.”
Trudat, and I also wondered if it was Australian influence – I think “overseas” was a word I first heard on Neighbours, along with “spunk”, “affair” and “rack off”.
What have you learnt from the tellybox?
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43rd over: India 142-5 (Kohli 46, Pandya 17) England have just lost a bit of impetus here, and Kohli stretches to square-drive four taking him beyond 39 - his highest score in England. The next hour of this match is going to be crucial, I’d say, and it’s insight like that which explains why they pay me the big bucks. But if England can rustle a lead close to 100, you’d think this match is done; if it’s 50 or less, India are right in the mix. And when Broad strays on the pads they’re four closer, Kohli glancing through fine leg, before Broad catches him high on the back leg.
42nd over: India 134-5 (Kohli 38, Pandya 17) Here we go, then: Curran replaces Stokes. Ans doesn’t he start nicely, angling one across Kohli which nips off the seam and Kohli, expecting an inswinger, plays and misses. He’s fighting hard here and gets forward to bang down into the pitch, taking a single as the ball rears up, then Pandya looks to drive an inswinger through cover only to guide four to long on.
41st over: India 129-5 (Kohli 37, Pandya 13) Pandya is enjoying this, and starting to look settled - he’s much more positive in defence now.
“Huw Swanborough is only partly correct,” emails Paddy Murphy. “Curran and others of his ilk will always get wickets in seaming/swinging conditions with a Dukes ball by bowling impeccable lines and pitching it up. And England do, of course, play about half their tests in those sorts of conditions. But you need more than that to be truly successful down under. Have we forgotten the Ashes so quickly? We still need some tall fast nasties to get something out of a second day flattie with a 60 over-old Kookaburra. For all their guile, Jimmy and Broad were neutered this winter. And the same goes for our spinners in the sub-continent or West Indies.”
Yes, you’re right. I must say, I’d not see a Test bowler watching Curran before now, but he has time to put on pace and prefer he got a shy than Woakes and Wood, who are never, in mine, going to give England what they need away from home. Incidentally, what is it about cricket that turns “abroad” into “overseas”?
40th over: India 129-5 (Kohli 37, Pandya 13) Pandya takes advantage of a ball on his legs to turn two away, and does a pretty good job of staying out trouble the thereafter, leaving and playing inside nicely ... until Stokes bothers him with a bouncer, which shins up his shoulder. But he gets hands out of the way and then forces a single into the leg side. This is intense.
39th over: India 126-5 (Kohli 37, Pandya 10) This is a great Test wicket - enough for the bowlers, but the best batsmen can bat. Broad beats the edge again as Kohli walks down to negate any swing, but genius that he is, he drives the next ball on the up, for four. Behind him Dawid Malan winces so hard he sprains his face, kal vachomer when Broad offers one on the pads which is quickly flicked behind for four.
“Re Krish comment 37th over,” tweets @unslugged. “Two words: Douglas Jardine. You’re right about Kohli too, cricket needs more like him. Fantastic player.”
And Gary Naylor thinkins similarly: “Root’s response to Kohli’s mic drop was perfect, and we’re seeing why right now. Test cricket needs no manufactured outrage, no ‘talking points’, no ‘Five things we learned’. It needs the physically and mentally tough going toe to toe. Bravo Joe, Virat, Ben and co.”
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38th over: India 118-5 (Kohli 29, Pandya 10) Stokes is getting movement away from the right-hander, and absolutely rinses one past Pandya after Kohli shoves his way down to the non-strikers’. Three dots follow, the third of them another which beats the outside edge, and I wonder if Root is thinking about a change; dare he try Rashid?
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37th over: India 117-5 (Kohli 28, Pandya 10) I’m not surprised Root went to Broad, but at the same time I wonder why he didn’t go to Curran. Anyroad up, Kohli edges again but this time without reward, then nurdles to mid on. So Broad gets a shy at Pandya, and beats him with his final delivery with one which lifts a little and moves away.
“Captains were once epitome of gentlemen,” tweets Krish, “like Clive Lloyd and David Gower And I do not understand the arrogance of players like Kohli.”
I don’t know about that - in the same era you had Chappell and Botham, for example, and I also wouldn’t want to equate poshness with morality. Plus, I absolutely loved what Kohli did yesterday – he plays with attitude and brilliance, and cricket needs more of that not less.
36th over: India 116-5 (Kohli 27, Pandya 10) Not gonna lie, I’m there for Kohli being in at the end, 36 not out. “Well batted Virat lad, you were far too good for them.” What’s interesting about this England attack is its streakiness - all of its members have the ability to suddenly get on one, and it’s Ben Stokes who’s there at the moment. Kohli edges him for two then turns a single to fine leg, and perhaps he’s cooled slightly. Has anyone else noticed that he has a fade at the sides of his head and also in the middle? Not just all-rounder but fashion icon too.
Afternoon all. Imagine not being infatuated with Test cricket!
35th over: India 113-5 (Kohli 24, Pandya 10) Broad beats Hardik outside off. England have three slips at the moment, when Brendon McCullum would surely have six. And that’s drinks, with England well on top, thanks to outstanding spells from Curran and Stokes, the two bowlers the Indians probably discussed least in their meetings. Time for me to hand over to Daniel Harris - thanks for your company and some very entertaining emails. I’m back on Saturday, if we still have a game.
“Cricket wisdom,” goes the subject line on an email from James Ferguson. “As a lost expat following the action from a nearly barren, cricket-less country in central Europe,” he says, “I recently asked Huw Swanborough (13:51) why he loves seeing cricket live. His answer is my new favourite definition of being a cricket fan: ‘At the ground, it’s amazing. All day drinking basically. With statistics.’”
34th over: India 112-5 (Kohli 23, Pandya 10) Hardik breaks the spell with consecutive boundaries, but Stokes won’t mind too much as both are squirted past gully, the first with a hapless waft, well away from his body. Kohli takes another quick single to Root at mid-off, and would be in trouble if there’d been a direct hit. It’s almost as if Kohli is targeting Root, which is audacious given the score.
33rd over: India 102-5 (Kohli 22, Pandya 1) Broad keeps the pressure on with a probing line to Kohli, bang on off stump.
“Ben Stokes,” says Simon Wilde of the Sunday Times on Twitter, “is the 15th England player to complete Test double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets. Only Wilfred Rhodes, Trevor Bailey, Tony Greig, Ian Botham and Stokes have done so averaging more with bat than ball.” What price Sam Curran to join them?
32nd over: India 102-5 (Kohli 22, Pandya 1) Stokes is on fire now, touching 89mph, finding bounce in this sluggish surface, and loving every moment after a frustrating couple of months. The commentators reckon Pandya’s nick might have moved in the air between the bat and Cook, which is generous of them. And here, at last, is Broad.
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And another drop!
The very next ball, Stokes draws an edge from Hardik Pandya, and Alastair Cook puts it down at first slip.
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31st over: India 100-5 (Kohli 21, Pandya 0) Anderson is still bowling, which seems bizarre – but then he has Kohli dropped by Malan, low down at second slip.
30th over: India 100-5 (Kohli 21, Pandya 0) Just when Kohli and Rahane had restored a certain amount of order, Stokes causes mayhem. “His head,” Gary Naylor notes, “is exactly the same colour as the pitch.”
Not out!
It was missing leg by a ball’s width.
Review!
For lbw against Panda – Stokes again. Given by Aleem Dar, but maybe doing too much...
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Wicket!! Karthik b Stokes 0 (India 100-5)
Stokes tries a yorker and strikes gold, sending Karthik’s middle stump into the centre of Birmingham. That’s Stokes’s 100th Test wicket, a good effort by someone who can also score 250. England’s third and fourth seamers have taken five for 36 between them.
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29th over: India 100-4 (Kohli 21, Karthik 0) There’s a sniff of a run-out as Kohli wants a single to Root in the covers, but Root fumbles, probably because he’s unsure whether to extend the mic-drop meme in the event of a direct hit. Anderson then beats Kohli with his inswinger. He’s bowling beautifully, as ever, but Broad must be wondering just what he has to do to get another go. Anderson has bowled 14 overs, Broad four.
28th over: India 100-4 (Kohli 21, Karthik 0) So Stokes, after a poor first over, finds his mojo, and a promising partnership is snuffed out. England are on top, but Kohli is still there.
Wicket! Rahane c Jennings b Stokes 15 (India 100-4)
Well, this one carried... Stokes digs it in, Rahane checks his cut but doesn’t get the bat out of the way as he should, and it’s gentle catching practice for Jennings at third slip.
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27th over: India 96-3 (Kohli 21, Rahane 11) A maiden from Anderson to Kohli as the duel continues. “Kohli’s left a lot,” Mike Atherton says, “but Anderson has managed to get three edges. On a quicker pitch, one of those would have carried.” Maybe the cordon needs to take a step forward.
“Test cricket is so much more fun,” says Shankar Mony, “when it is played between two flawed teams, isn’t it?” Absolutely. Flawless would be so dull.
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26th over: India 96-3 (Kohli 21, Rahane 11) Stokes is testing Rahane, beating a rather ambitious drive, then hitting him (not too painfully) with a bouncer that goes for four leg byes.
“Pace isn’t the property of tall bowlers anyway,” argues John Starbuck. “Both Harold Larwood and Darren Gough barely came up to my shoulder when I met them, and I’m no giant. The action, as well as the guile, is the important issue.” And the will to win, which those two had, and which shines out of Sam Curran.
25th over: India 92-3 (Kohli 21, Rahane 11) Anderson lures Kohli into a nick, but the ball falls short of Bairstow and dribbles away for four. It’s that sort of pitch... And then Kohli edges again, short of Jennings at third slip – a shorter ball which Kohli did well to get on top of. This is a great contest: the ageing maestro against the world’s leading batsman.
24th over: India 88-3 (Kohli 17, Rahane 11) Stokes, still shaking off the rust after his injury, finds his line and length against Rahane, and wants a review for lbw off the last ball, with a booming inswinger. Root decides against this time, but HawkEye says it was hitting leg.
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23rd over: India 88-3 (Kohli 17, Rahane 11) Anderson is back for more – the oldest swinger in town, determined to show that he’s still got the moves. Mike Atherton mentions that Anderson is the oldest man to take the new ball in a Test for England since John Lever, who has also been mentioned as a parallel for Curran.
“Re: not tall, not quick,” says Huw Swanborough, “I think the game can often be a little bit disparaging of bowlers that don’t try to kick down the door to take wickets… (Right arm military springs to mind as a term.) Guile can often be a bowler’s best friend, whilst McGrath is tall he wasn’t the sort of bowler to beat a batsman with pace (or really movement). His consistency, control and guile was what made him a great bowler. And, at the risk of sounding like Boycott, if you don’t have line and length, then height and pace don’t matter anyway.”
22nd over: India 85-3 (Kohli 17, Rahane 8) Curran gives way to Ben Stokes, who starts with a no-ball and a long hop outside off, cut for four to the vacant third man by Kohli. When Stokes pitches the ball up, Kohli eases it through the covers for four more, but Stokes bounces back and beats him with a leg-cutter.
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Jos Buttler has left the ground for an X-ray on the middle finger of his left hand. After making a duck yesterday, he’s not having much fun as England vice-captain.
Time for an email or two. “Was nervous once the 50 run partnership came up,” says Saurabh Raye, writing before Dhawan was out. “With the loss of 2 quick wickets, feel better. As a long suffering India supporter this is home territory. A dawn of hope, brutally snuffed out. The icing on the cake would be Anderson getting Kohli out, and Root shouting ‘you cannot play in these conditions’ into the mic. Rant over.. congratulations on the test win.” Ah, it’s early days.
“Not tall, not quick,” says Geoff, possibly mocking my description of Sam Curran (16th over). “We might not have a Brearley, but maybe we’ve at last found the new Martin Bicknell.” Amen to that.
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21st over: India 76-3 (Kohli 9, Rahane 8) Here’s Adil Rashid, who may be relieved that Curran has grabbed the limelight. Rashid’s first ball in a home Test is a full toss, which Kohli only pushes for a single to the cover sweeper. Rashid keeps on overmatching, but is protected by a defensive field – more wisdom from Root. He’s had a great morning, and so has Sam Curran. Rob Smyth points out that his figures are the best by any England bowler before his 21st birthday since... Jimmy Anderson in 2003. And that’s lunch, with Kohli facing a big rebuilding job and England feeling better than at any time since Root and Bairstow set off for that second run. See you shortly.
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20th over: India 71-3 (Kohli 8, Rahane 2) Kohli shows his class for the first time today with a soft-hands glide for four off Curran, who will sit down for lunch with figures of 6-0-23-3.
“Cricket,” says Andrew Benton, sounding definitive. “It’s a bowler’s game. Success is 2/3 bowlers, 1/3 batsmen/batswomen. Or maybe batees - whats the gender non-specific acceptable term these days?” Good question. The players just say batters.
19th over: India 63-3 (Kohli 3, Rahane 1) Anderson is still on, so eager to snaffle Kohli that he is bowling a 10th over in a row at the age of 36. It’s a maiden, so hard to argue, but Stokes and Rashid may be wondering when they will get a go. And Broad will be itching to get back into the action after being upstaged by a new bug.
18th over: India 63-3 (Kohli 3, Rahane 1) Kohli, trying to counter the swing, stands a yard outside his crease, so Curran bowls him a bouncer. The kid’s got character.
And here’s Felix Wood. “You say visionary from Root [12:28], but if he’d only listened to you in the first place and opened with Curran then England would have got the breakthrough ages ago.” Too kind – it might have backfired. Let’s give Root full credit for getting three wickets out of him.
17th over: India 61-3 (Kohli 2, Rahane 0) And now Kohli edges it! Facing Anderson, he follows the outswinger and nicks it just short of Jos Buttler at gully. Kohli gets off the mark with a less than princely two, and Buttler winces, shakes his left hand and goes off the field. Hope that’s not a broken finger.
16th over: India 59-3 (Kohli 0, Rahane 0) Curran isn’t quick, or tall, but he is crafty and highly competitive, and he has ripped through India’s top three. And we already have two days to remember.
Wicket!! Dhawan c Malan b Curran 26 (India 59-3)
Curran is on fire! A full-length outswinger to tempt the left-hander, a classic nick, and a simple catch for Malan at second slip. Curran has 3-8 in his last 12 balls. Sensational stuff.
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15th over: India 55-2 (Dhawan 22, Kohli 0) Anderson might be taking his sweater, but he’s not going anywhere now that Kohli, his bunny in 2014, is in. Kohli, watchful, keeps out his first five balls.
And here’s Paddy Sturdee. “With regard to Simon Thomas’ point [11th over], are any of us still wondering what Brears would have done?” Ouch. “More pertinent are questions like what would Strauss/Vaughan/Morgan (yes, I genuinely still think he’s an absolute world class captain; not like Malan’s keeping him out of the side with his runs after all...) have done? I like Root a lot as a batsman, but I’m far from convinced he’s a captain. We’re not in the playground anymore; we don’t have to simply make the best player the captain.”
14th over: India 54-2 (Dhawan 21, Kohli 0) So that’s one great moment for Root, two great moments for Curran, and two for Ed Smith, who backed Curran’s ability to chip in at crucial moments.
Wicket!! Rahul b Curran 4 (India 54-2)
Rahul drags it on! And Sam Curran, who was only four when Jimmy Anderson started playing for England, has changed the complexion of the game in no time.
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Wicket!! Vijay lbw b Curran 20 (India 50-1)
Correction: visionary from Root. He risked England’s last review, and HawkEye decreed that Curran’s inswinger was heading for the leg stump. Curran leaves the huddle to give the air a left hook.
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Review! For lbw against Vijay
The bowler is Curran, the ball perhaps going down... Brave from Joe Root.
13th over: India 50-0 (Vijay 20, Dhawan 21) Anderson continues, to Dhawan, and manages a maiden.
An email comes in from Romeo on an unexpected subject. “The sports bras the England players have to wear to support their... performance monitor things look extremely uncomfortable. The only player I can think of who might welcome such a garment is Jack Simmons.”
12th over: India 50-0 (Vijay 20, Dhawan 21) Dhawan glances a single to bring up the fifty. Curran then sneaks one past Vijay’s bat, so there’s still hope for the seamers, but Rashid must be very much in Root’s thoughts.
11th over: India 49-0 (Vijay 20, Dhawan 20) Anderson concedes another cheap four behind square, as Vijay profits from the fact that fine leg is more of a long leg. To vent his irritation, Anderson tries a bouncer, which goes through to Bairstow at a gentle pace.
“Morning Tim.” Morning, Simon Thomas. “At what point should we stop asking ‘what would Mike Brearley do?’ I mean he was good n’all but at a certain point it becomes as relevant as asking what Len Hutton would do. Or better still, what would Douglas Jardine do? - ‘You can’t go off while the little bastard’’s in.’” Interesting point: is Brearley, a touchstone for those who remember 1981, now ancient history?
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10th over: India 44-0 (Vijay 16, Dhawan 19) Curran starts well, keeping Vijay quiet, but dishes up a full toss off the last ball, which is punished with a well-timed push for four. And that’s drinks, with India on top. How soon will Root turn to Rashid?
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9th over: India 40-0 (Vijay 12, Dhawan 19) Anderson, sticking with a full length, gets his line wrong for once and hands Dhawan a freebie on his legs, duly dispatched. Here comes Sam Curran for a change of angle and trajectory.
8th over: India 32-0 (Vijay 12, Dhawan 15) Vijay is finding his feet. He tucks Broad for two, then drives him classically for four past cover’s left hand.
Peter Haining answers the TMS SOS, as do Kevin Christian, Daniel Raye, Chris Drew and Richard Woods – a live blog is only as good as its readers and you’re the best. Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMn9Yd8Gfsg
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7th over: India 25-0 (Vijay 6, Dhawan 14) Anderson keeps Vijay honest with five dots.
“Tim.” Ah, the reassuring sound of John Starbuck. ”If we’re going to have gestures which are the equivalent of memes per series, there ought to be proper recognition with an actual trophy. It might be called the Sprinkler in honour of England’s dance against the Aussies.” That gets my vote.
6th over: India 24-0 (Vijay 6, Dhawan 13) Broad beats Dhawan, who finds the perfect riposte with a crisp cover drive for four. India have been patchy but positive.
One or two readers have asked for the TMS overseas link, and I’ve had a look on Twitter without success. Anybody got it?
5th over: India 18-0 (Vijay 6, Dhawan 9) Anderson keeps pitching it up, and Dhawan plays a nice push for three, which would have been four if the outfield wasn’t so slow.
And here’s Scott Roberts. “Does anybody else suspect that the mic/bat drop is going to become synonymous with this series in much the same way that the salute became synonymous with the England/West Indies series a few years ago? I can just imagine Joe Root, even given his pinchable angelic face, dropping the ball, mic/bat fashion, when he catches Kohli in the slips in about 20 minutes’ time.”
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4th over: India 15-0 (Vijay 6, Dhawan 6) Now Broad has a lusty lbw appeal, against Dhawan, but the ball probably landed outside leg, and not even Broad fancies a second review. He then bowls a no-ball, for the second time this morning – the one sign of rust so far.
“Morning Tim.” Morning, Brian Withington. “Good to see an early outing for the ‘what would Mike Brearley do?’ gambit (answer, throw it to Bob Willis and pray).” Harsh, but funny. “Despite his lack of converting an almost monotonous run of half centuries into hundreds (rarely a problem confronted by MB) my vote still goes to Cap’n Joe Root for the time being. Fervently hope you and the bookies are right with your glass half-full assessment of England’s score, despite Gary Naylor’s understandable reservations.”
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3rd over: India 13-0 (Vijay 6, Dhawan 5) The old firm are warming up. Anderson beats Dhawan’s tentative push with one that keeps low, so it wouldn’t have been out even if he’d nicked it. Then he has that big shout against Vijay, and finally he beats the bat again as Vijay aims an airy drive. Game on.
Review! For lbw against Vijay
Given not out... and rightly, as it was going down. England blow a review.
2nd over: India 12-0 (Vijay 6, Dhawan 5) Dhawan takes a single to short point which is tight, verging on murderous, but Stokes, racing in, can’t hit the single stump. Broad is going for a full length too, and Vijay laps it up, hitting the first four of the innings with an elegant push-drive past mid-on. Broad, fired up, then beats him with a beauty, swinging away.
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1st over: India 4-0 (Vijay 1, Dhawan 3) As if hearing Nasser, his captain on his Test debut 15 years ago, Anderson starts with a full ball on off stump, almost a half-volley. Murali Vijay blocks it watchfully, then takes a quick single into the covers. Shikhar Dhawan punches into the gap at midwicket and picks up three. Anderson carries on pitching it up, but doesn’t get past the bat. And here comes Stuart Broad, as Root mysteriously ignores my suggestion to open with Curran.
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England are in a huddle. You half-expect to see the pep talk given by Romelu Lukaku, but it’s actually Joe Root. Hope he’s saying they will go on the attack. “At times Anderson and Broad are too short with the new ball,” says Nasser Hussain. “They’ve got to be brave and pitch it up.”
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Wicket! Curran c Karthik b Shami 24 – England 287 all out
Well that was brief. Sam Curran falls for the oldest trick in the book – a couple of inswingers followed by one that moves away and takes the edge. Dinesh Karthik, who dropped Curran last night, makes amends, and the Indians go back into the pavilion with their tails up. They didn’t even need the new ball.
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89th over: England 287-9 (Curran 24, Anderson 2) Kohli opens with spin – Ravi Ashwin, bowler of the series so far. And he almost gets Anderson with an arm ball that takes the inside edge and squirts away for two.
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The players are out there, arriving via an avenue of flag-waving children. And Gary Naylor’s not happy with me. “I can’t agree with your assessment of the pitch and conditions.” he tweets. “Par is about 420. Swing is from the hand - playing late and leaving the wider ones reduces the jeopardy significantly, There’s a bit of drift and slow spin, but good batsmen should deal with that.” He may well be right.
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Preamble
Morning everyone. The first day of this series was a good day for cricket, striking a delicate balance between bat and ball, seam and spin, sweat and showmanship. You could even go further and argue that it was a good day for England. Granted, from 216-3, they imploded, but they could hardly let their 1000th Test go by without a good old English collapse – and those knocking them are showing another traditional English tendency by taking the good stuff for granted. Another way of looking at it is that, from 112-3, they recovered.
The pitch, while lowish and slowish, is also treacherous, offering variable bounce and some seam movement to go with Edgbaston’s usual lavish swing. If Virat Kohli had been brave enough to keep his third slip in, Jonny Bairstow would have been gone for 30 and England might well have been all out for 220. The Indian seamers plugged away but they were undercooked, and there were just too many of them. Not for nothing do the bookies still have England as favourites to go 1-0 up.
That said, India have a golden opportunity to take the game by the scruff. After giving us the moment of the match with his direct hit and mic-drop, Kohli looks in the mood to rub it in by doing what Joe Root used to do – making a big, fat, series-defining hundred. England need Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, who are just as rusty as their opposite numbers, to find their cutting edge and not just settle for bowling dry. If Mike Brearley was in charge, he might even hand the second over to Sam Curran, to nonpluss the openers and get Broad steamed up. But before they think about bowling, Curran and Anderson have another task, which is to nudge England past 300. It’s all rather mouthwatering. Join me at 11am BST.
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Tim will be here shortly. Here’s Andy Bull on the first day’s play:
It was Yorkshire Day on Wednesday, a rare opportunity for those of us unlucky enough to be born in the other 47 counties to hear Yorkshire folk talk about where they are from and how proud they are about it. There were three Yorkshiremen in the England team – Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Adil Rashid– and between them they dominated the build-up to the series and defined the first day’s play.
You can read more here – and why not sign up to our weekly email, The Spin?
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