Day four report and analysis
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I’ve been waiting for an interview, perhaps with Chris Woakes, who took both the wickets to fall in this innings in the space of two balls. But there’s nothing doing: maybe England’s bowlers are too tired to talk.
So that’s it from us. Thanks for your company, correspondence and views on which cricketers should appear on bank notes. Do join us tomorrow to see if England can beat India and the Manchester weather.
“Great question from Kim Thonger,” says Will Scott, picking up on the 50th over. “For £100, surely it’s the Guardian’s own scorer of 100 first-class centuries, Mark Ramprakash.
“I’d like to see RavBop on a fiver. Always underestimated, always a joy to chance upon it, like glancing at the PSL scorecards to see him making hay again.”
“India batting,” says Jeff Spencer, crisply. “Shades of Dravid and VVS here.”
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Stumps: India hold firm
63rd over: India 174-2 (Rahul 87, Gill 78) It’s Root to bowl the last over of the day. And suddenly it’s all happening: a misfield from Archer, a misfield from Carse (costing a single apiece), and a sore knee for Rahul as Root surprises him with a quicker one. But Rahul and Gill survive. After coming together in the tightest of tight corners at 0-2, they have added 174 and mounted a magnificent rearguard. Gill is back in form, albeit being defensive, and Rahul is just batting as he has all series, with serene solidity.
England still lead by 137 runs, but they look weary and thanks to a dodgy hamstring Ben Stokes is having to manage without his best bowler – Ben Stokes. He completed a big hundred today, as England batted on and on to their highest score at Old Trafford, but he might prefer to have made 90 and stayed fit.
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62nd over: India 172-2 (Rahul 86, Gill 77) Dawson now has an attacking but funk-free field, as far as I can see – slip, backward short leg, silly point. He beats Gill outside off with the first ripper we’ve seen for ages… and collects another maiden.
61st over: India 172-2 (Rahul 86, Gill 77) Stokes has been careful not to overbowl his seamers while he himself can’t bowl. He reaches for the back of his thigh. Woakes gives way to Root, who has a gift for Rahul – a full toss, ease down the ground for four. Rahul celebrates by swapping his helmet for a cap, giving the crowd a better view of his luxuriant locks.
60th over: India 165-2 (Rahul 81, Gill 75) Dawson is still at it, wheeling away, but getting very little help from a pitch that really should be turning by now (fourth day, Old Trafford, dry summer). He adds another maiden to his collection to make it 21-7-36-0. I suspect Stokes would happily swap that for 21-0-136-2.
59th over: India 165-2 (Rahul 81, Gill 75) Woakes, with Jamie Smith standing up, hits Rahul on the glove. Rahul takes the opportunity, Zak Crawley style, to waste a little time, before playing a cut shot with no apparent discomfort. The day appears to be drawing peacefully to a close.
“Moeen Ali on the fiver?” says Andy Richards. “He finished with five Test centuries and five five-fors.”
58th over: India 164-2 (Rahul 80, Gill 75) Dawson changes ends: no rest for the dogged. The first ball is drifting into Gill’s pads, so he helps himself to a glance for four. After that it’s back to square none.
57th over: India 160-2 (Rahul 80, Gill 71) After spending four hours in the slow lane, Rahul suddenly puts his foot down. He takes ten off this over from Woakes – a glide for four, a glance for two, a cut for four more. Where’s Stokes the bowler when Stokes the captain is crying out for him?
56th over: India 150-2 (Rahul 70, Gill 71) Joe Root, perhaps smarting at my description of him just now, bowls a maiden to Gill.
“Spin options,” says Colum Fordham. “Nice to see Liam Dawson get a proper bowl and put himself in contention for the Ashes. He’s bowling guilefully on an unfavourable pitch. Obviously Bashir should be fit by then but I’d say Rehan Ahmed must be on the selectors’ minds after his heroics against Derbyshire. And a leg-spinner could be useful Down Under.” Yes – though visiting spinners don’t tend to have much joy in Australia, unless their name is Graeme Swann and their captain is Andrew Strauss.
The 150 partnership!
55th over: India 150-2 (Rahul 70, Gill 71) Dawson takes a well-earned rest. He hasn’t got the breakthrough but he’s given Stokes control: his figures are like something from the 1960s, 19-6-32-0. On comes Chris Woakes, to use the crease, Ricky Ponting notes, and aim for the knee roll. Rahul steers for two to bring up the 150 partnership off 54.1 overs. Also old-school.
“@ Kim Thonger (50th over),” writes Brian Rafferty. “From across the Pennines it has to be a young Anderson with his red hair.”
54th over: India 148-2 (Rahul 68, Gill 71) Stokes takes Carse off and summons Root. As an off-spinner, he can come round the wicket and still demand a stroke. As a part-timer, though, he’s less consistent than Dawson, and the batters help themselves to four singles.
53rd over: India 144-2 (Rahul 66, Gill 69) Dawson continues and Stokes gets even funkier, sending Pope into a position that may have to be called stupid gully. He is so close to the bat that he’s on his knees, as Popes often are.
Gill reaches a thousand!
52nd over: India 142-2 (Rahul 65, Gill 68) It’s still Carse, banging it in, finding no joy. Nothing is happening … except that Shubman Gill has now faced 1000 balls in the series. KL Rahul really needs to get his act together: he hasn’t even got to 950.
51st over: India 139-2 (Rahul 63, Gill 67) Stokes gives Dawson a funky field – silly point, semi-silly mid-off, mildly frivolous short extra. Dawson, varying his pace nicely, thinks he’s got Gill LBW, but there was an inside edge.
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50th over: India 138-2 (Rahul 62, Gill 67) Carse goes back over the wicket. Rahul keeps on pulling if the ball is below his chin, playing no stroke if it’s higher.
“Bonsoir Tim,” says Kim Thonger. “We are having a debate here about, if we had a choice, which English cricketer’s face should feature on our bank notes if redesigned.
“I’ve been laying out the case for David Gower wearing flying goggles on the £100 note. Not much pushback. It just feels right.” Ha.
“But as to the other notes, we’ve hit a wall. Nobody can agree. Shall we throw it open to the OBO?
“For what it’s worth, if Yorkshire had its own currency Brian Close is winning over Boycott and Root. Indestructibility has won the day.”
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49th over: India 136-2 (Rahul 61, Gill 66) Still nothing doing: just a single off Dawson’s over.
Here’s Paul Moody in Aracati, Brazil. “I find myself hoping,” he says, “India can scratch around and get a draw, though of course they are only a few wickets away from a collapse... Would set up a tense day tomorrow and also the 5th Test. What do you think? Been a great series.”
Draw? Part of me is hoping that India win this one, inspired by Rishabh Pant hobbling out and hitting 200 before lunch.
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48th over: India 135-2 (Rahul 61, Gill 65) Archer is taken off after bowling four overs for 22, which I think was his first indifferent spell of the match. On comes Carse, starting off round the wicket, so the bumper policy is still in place. Rahul plays a stylish pull for no run as it goes to Jacob Bethell, the 12th man, who is an outstanding fielder.
47th over: India 133-2 (Rahul 61, Gill 64) Dawson goes back round the wicket and looks more at home, but the batters aren’t bothered. England are now hoping for some reverse swing, as Zak Crawley shows by throwing the ball in on the second bounce and getting a ticking-off for his trouble.
One of the pleasures of this job is the way the readers will come up with a line you wish you’d thought of yourself. “Am I missing something,” says Adam Roberts, “or are these two playing for a draw in a match they have to win?”
Drinks: Rahul and Gill still there
46th over: India 131-2 (Rahul 60, Gill 63) Archer carries on with the barrage. He has four fielders on the legside waiting for the catch, but Rahul calmly middles a pull and gets four for it. He adds a single and briefly overtakes Gill, who, 25 overs ago, was ahead by 45-20. Archer, possibly tiring of this ploy, goes full and wide outside off to Gill and gets driven for four. Adnd that’s drinks, with the batters asserting themselves again after a spell of attrition.
45th over: India 122-2 (Rahul 55, Gill 59) Dawson tries going over the wicket to Gill, who knows he can pad the ball away if it lands outside leg stump. So that’s what he does. Dawson must be hoping for an explosion out of the rough, which doesn’t come in this over. He has a conference with Stokes, presumably to discuss going straight back to plan A.
44th over: India 122-2 (Rahul 55, Gill 59) Archer resumes bowling bouncers at 85-87 mph. Rahul gets in a tangle, then in two minds (to pull or not to pull), but soon adjusts, stays leg-side and guides the next bumper for four past gully. Old ball, flat pitch, big stand: how Stokes the captain could do with Stokes the bowler.
43rd over: India 118-2 (Rahul 51, Gill 59) Rahul steers Dawson for a single to reach yet another fifty. It’s been a vigil, coming off 141 balls, containing only three fours, and perfectly suiting India’s predicament. They still trail by 193 runs.
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42nd over: India 115-2 (Rahul 49, Gill 58) Rahul, facing Archer, goes back and has plenty of time to glide past the slips for four. When the next ball goes for four byes, Stokes, unimpressed, tells Archer to bomb the batters and sends the fielders out. Broad reckons Stokes is doing this to get Archer fired up.
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41st over: India 104-2 (Rahul 42, Gill 58) Dawson draws an edge from Gill, but it squirts out safely enough. Before that, Rahul pushed into the covers and went for a quick single. Stokes took a shy at the stumps, without the lethal accuracy he summoned at Lord’s, and only a superb instinctive stop by Harry Brook at slip prevented some overthrows.
40th over: India 102-2 (Rahul 41, Gill 57) With Dawson in this parsimonious groove, Stokes can rotate the seamers from the other end. Woakes gets a break now as Archer returns. He’s accurate but not threatening, and Rahul picks up two with a dab. An English voice on the stump microphone says, “The scoreboard’s going nowhere, boys.”
Hundred partnership!
39th over: India 100-2 (Rahul 39, Gill 57) In a sudden flurry of runs, each batter takes a single off Dawson. The second brings up India’s 100, and therefore the 100 partnership too: quite something when you come together at 0-2. Rahul dropped anchor, and Gill, after a rapid start, seems to have decided it should be anchors all round.
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38th over: India 98-2 (Rahul 38, Gill 56) Woakes continues, to Rahul, and clocks up another maiden. “I’d be looking to use the leg-cutter on this surface,” Stuart Broad says, “to see if it grips.”
Meanwhile my suggestion that Don’t Look Back In Anger is Manchester’s unofficial anthem has not found favour with Mark Dawson. “No, can’t possibly be DLBIA,” he says, although his subject line says “official”, not unofficial.
“Not a good song at all albeit fine for a beery shoutalong. Love Will Tear Us Apart, Kinky Afro, I Am The Resurrection would be my (southern) selections.”
37th over: India 98-2 (Rahul 38, Gill 56) Dawson continues and ruins his figures by conceding a single. Two members of the ground staff come on with a broom and shovel to make some repairs to … not the bowlers’ footmarks, but the batters’, deep inside the crease. Very hospitable.
“Stokes defensive?” says Jeremy Boyce. “Don’t you think he’s betting on the fact that these two can’t last forever (or can they?) and that, without forcing, a wicket will come. One brings two, Pant is knacked ... Antithesis to Bazball, i think he’s playing the long game. Especially IF he’s done his hamstring again.” Yes, he is playing the long game, but with a fair amount of rain forecast for tomorrow, is that wise?
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36th over: India 96-2 (Rahul 37, Gill 55) Gill has been standing outside his crease to Woakes, to negate any swing. Now Jamie Smith comes up to the stumps, to stop that and perhaps to murmur some sweet nothings in his ear. Gill, unperturbed, takes a single with a tuck to leg. Woakes is asking the right questions with a tight line, but doing so sedately enough to give the batters time to find the answers.
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35th over: India 95-2 (Rahul 37, Gill 54) Dawson to Rahul: yet another maiden. “Just two runs,” says Mike Atherton, “from the last five overs.”
An interesting point here from Alisdair Gould. “This success could be detrimental to England’s long-term interest,” he argues. “I really feel two to four places in the team should be discussed: Woakes and Pope, then Bashir and Crawley. They have had opportunities but there may be better choices. Success and injury have postponed renewal yet again? Does no one feel the same way?”
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34th over: India 95-2 (Rahul 37, Gill 54) It’s Woakes’s turn to keep Gill quiet. Gill, who raced to 45 off his first 52 balls, has crept along since with nine off 44.
33rd over: India 94-2 (Rahul 36, Gill 54) Dawson keeps Gill quiet and adds another maiden to his collection. Stokes seems content to contain: for such an attacking captain, having just a slip and a gully, with nobody at bat-pad, may be erring on the safe side.
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32nd over: India 94-2 (Rahul 36, Gill 54) Woakes, who is a medium-pacer these days, somehow manages to rattle Gill with a bouncer that thuds into his shoulder as he tries to pull. Maybe he was beaten for lack of pace.
31st over: India 93-2 (Rahul 36, Gill 53) Liam Dawson has a go from the Statham end and almost gets through Rahul’s formidable defences. It’s an arm ball that hurries into Rahul as he goes back and tries to flick to leg, but he gets a thick edge and just avoids playing on. Dawson picks up another maiden: he has 9-4-17-0.
When Rahul hit that three off Woakes in the previous over, Stokes had to chase it and he looked fairly sore. Has his hamstring gone again?
30th over: India 93-2 (Rahul 36, Gill 53) Woakes runs in from the end named after the bowler he often resembles, Jimmy Anderson. Rahul, untroubled, plays a square push for two and a cover drive for three. The crowd decide it’s time for a bit of Manchester’s unofficial anthem, Don’t Look Back In Anger.
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The players are back out there. Stokes sends for Chris Woakes, the bowler of the day so far, to see if he can find some more magic.
Tea: Gill's fifty, India's session
29th over: India 86-2 (Rahul 30, Gill 52) Gill likes the look of Root’s off-breaks and clips for three to go to fifty off 77 balls with eight fours. After a gargantuan feast, and a three-innings famine, he’s found his appetite again. And India, after their disastrous morning, have had a restorative afternoon, losing no more wickets. They trail by 225 runs and may still go down to a heavy defeat, but their captain and senior batter have shown grit and skill in a tight corner.
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28th over: India 82-2 (Rahul 29, Gill 49) Dawson bowls at the stumps, Rahul defends them with his life. That’s a maiden and it unfolds with a Jadeja-like briskness, so England will squeeze one more over in before tea. Joe Root steps up to bowl it.
27th over: India 82-2 (Rahul 29, Gill 49) Another good testing over from Carse, and India have made only 22 off the last ten. Stuart Broad, studying the replays of Dawson’s drop, wonders if his mistake was opting to dive when he may not have needed to. Gill’s square drive went fast: it was heading for the top corner and Dawson tipped it over the bar like a stocky version of Hannah Hampton.
26th over: India 81-2 (Rahul 28, Gill 49) Dawson almost redeems himself with a lovely ball to Rahul – the classic slow left-armer’s delivery, pitching on off and straightening, but missing the edge. Before that, Rahul played a sweep for three, so this is a good contest.
25th over: India 76-2 (Rahul 24, Gill 48) Carse keeps up the pressure, beating Rahul again outside off. And then he has Gill dropped by Dawson at deep gully – a hard chance but one that a good fielder like Dawson might expect to cling on to. If England had had a taller man there, he would have found it easier.
“Thanks to the wonders of modern technology,” says Jim Denvir, “I’m watching this from 11.5km above sea level on a flight from Heathrow to Philadelphia. If I’d known ahead of time that this was available, I’d have booked the earlier flight and made the family get up at 6 so I could while away the whole transatlantic leg of the trip enjoying the cricket. As it is, it’ll be stumps about three hours before we land.” No offence, but is that a bit of a first-world problem?
”This is just incredible stuff from England. I’ve been watching Test cricket on and off for about 40 years (there was a gap after I moved to the States 30+ years ago and it simply wasn’t available to me for a while), but it’s hard to remember a time when watching England play was this enjoyable.”
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24th over: India 69-2 (Rahul 22, Gill 45) Dawson drops short again, but gets away with it as Rahul’s cut goes straight to the cover sweeper. Gill, meanwhile, is becalmed: after making 45 off his first 52 balls, he made none at all off the last 14. Not that it will bother him.
23rd over: India 68-2 (Rahul 21, Gill 45) Carse bowls a big inswinger to Gill and has an LBW shout turned down. The fielders get excited and Brook persuades Stokes to review, quite wrongly – it’s doing too much and on the high side too. But it’s another impressive over from Carse: Stokes is getting good value out of his change bowlers.
22nd over: India 67-2 (Rahul 20, Gill 45) Dawson, with a slip and a short leg, bowls full enough and straight enough to restrict Gill to classical defence. Another maiden.
The Sky director finds a clip from the previous over, showing Harry Brook and Ben Duckett, in the slips, sharing a hug. I wonder (a) what it was all about and (b) how many other times it has happened in England’s history, celebrations aside.
21st over: India 67-2 (Rahul 20, Gill 45) Stokes gives Archer a breather, so, at three overs, this spell has been even shorter than his first. He hands over to Carse, who has been workmanlike in this series except for that wonder spell on the Sunday evening at Lord’s, when he had some help from the light. This over is a good one, a maiden that draws a play-and-miss from Rahul.
20th over: India 67-2 (Rahul 20, Gill 45) After finding his length, Dawson mislays it again, allowing Gill to cut for four and two. England can afford it.
19th over: India 61-2 (Rahul 20, Gill 39) Archer to Rahul, who meets stylish accuracy with steely defence. A maiden to Archer, whose figures were not ruined by that pair of fours from Gill: 7-2-18-0.
The commentators discuss Stokes. “He’s been England’s best bowler,” says Ian Ward, only to find Dinesh Karthik trumping him: “I’d go so far as to say the best bowler on either sidethroughout the series.”
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18th over: India 61-2 (Rahul 20, Gill 39) Dawson finds high length, lets Rahul have a single and then keeps Gill quiet.
Typical Stokes – he takes England’s only five-for of the series and promptly demotes himself to fifth bowler.
17th over: India 60-2 (Rahul 19, Gill 39) Archer continues. He goes full, looking for the lavish swing he found before lunch, but it’s not there as Gill plays one of his sumptuous cover drives. When Archer responds with an 88mph lifter, Gill is ready with an upper cut for four more. He is managing to bat as if he’s not the captain. You could argue that, for much of England’s massive innings, he showed why he shouldn’t be.
16th over: India 51-2 (Rahul 18, Gill 31) Ben Stokes decides it’s time for spin, so here is Liam Dawson, who, without setting the Test alight, has made England better in every department. Four off the over as he starts by dropping a bit short.
Thanks Rob and afternoon everyone. Only two people have lasted longer than Joe Root in this series, and they’re both at the crease now. Root has faced more than 700 balls, KL Rahul more than 800, Shubman Gill more than 900. To drag India back into this game, all Rahul and Gill need to do is go way past 1000.
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Drinks
15th over: India 47-2 (Rahul 17, Gill 28) Archer changes ends to replace Woakes. Rahul leans into a full ball, only just wide of off stump, and times it through the covers for a couple. His batting, full of serenity and class, has been one of the joys of this series: as I type he has made 438 runs at 62.57.
That’s drinks. Time for me to hand over to the great Tim de Lisle for the rest of the day.
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14th over: India 45-2 (Rahul 15, Gill 28) Four singles and a no-ball from Carse’s over. The last of those runs was flicked wide of short leg by Rahul. It was in the air for a while, with a bit of excitement among the England fielders, but Rahul had everything under control.
13th over: India 40-2 (Rahul 13, Gill 26) Rahul gets four with an equally gorgeous push through mid-off. Woakes pulls his length back thereafter and beats Rahul with a good delivery. This feels like a one-with-your-name-on-it pitch.
The umpires have a quick look at the ball after an odd incident involving Carse, who stood on it at the end of the previous over. I don’t think there’s anything in it.
12th over: India 36-2 (Rahul 9, Gill 26) Gorgeous batting from Shubman Gill. Carse overpitches on a couple of occasions and is twice driven straight for four. The second shot, waved to the right of the stumps at the non-striker’s end, was nigh-on perfect. India trail by 275.
“When I first started watching cricket, some 32 years ago, I was struck by the hook shot, as it looked so out of control but often led to a boundary,” says Allan MacDonald. “I was thinking we see far fewer hook shots today. Is that right, and if so, why? Have the laws changed, or have the players realised it’s a low percentage shot? Is it just out of fashion?”
Hmm, I’m not sure. The pull shot is as popular than ever, maybe more so. The only vague theory I have is that more wides are called on height in Test cricket, so batters are more likely to leave the ball if they think it’s above head height. In 1981, on this ground, Lord Beefy was hooking similar deliveries into the crowd.
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11th over: India 28-2 (Rahul 9, Gill 18) A length outswinger from Woakes is steered easily for four by Gill, whose attacking game looks in very good order. He still looks vulnerable to the LBW, mind you, and later in the over he bat-pads a defensive stroke through the vacant short leg region.
Rahul has a couple of scares at the end of the over. An LBW appeal is turned down on height; then he has to react smartly to jab down on a grubber.
“On my first visit to Paris we made a point of dining at smallish bistros at first,” begins John Starbuck. “To start with we happened to choose one with a typically snobbish-superior waiter, but we had a properly flaming crepe suzette and were so effusive in our enjoyment the waiter was actually smiling when we left. I consider this a notable achievement.”
10th over: India 22-2 (Rahul 9, Gill 13) Carse replaces Archer, who bowled a menacing spell of 4-1-7-0. Rahul plays out a maiden, dealing expertly with a couple of sharply bouncing deliveries.
9th over: India 22-2 (Rahul 9, Gill 13) Shubman Gill’s concentration may have arrived. He hits two delightful boundaries off Woakes, an elegant cut followed by a classical off drive, though he survives another LBW appeal later in the over thanks to an inside-edge. Brydon Carse got Gill that way at Lord’s and a similar dismissal might be in the post.
8th over: India 14-2 (Rahul 9, Gill 5) A beauty rom Archer straightens to hit Rahul on the back thigh. The slip cordon go up for LBW but the bowler stays quiet. Maybe Archer has appeal fatigue; or maybe he’s scared to risk his heart again so soon after hitting his knees and pleading with Ahsan Raza to give Gill out. Either way, this one is not out.
Rahul is beaten by a grotesque lifter, a ball not even Bradman would have nicked. Facing Archer on this uneven pitch looks thoroughly unpleasant.
7th over: India 14-2 (Rahul 9, Gill 5) A short ball from Woakes is waved through the covers for three by Gill. The rest of the over, mostly straight deliveries targeting the stumps when Gill is on strike, passes without incident.
“Sadly my dad Gilbert, a big cricket fan, died on Wednesday, during lunch on the first day,” writes Bernard Hughes. “I was with him through the last few hours, giving him updates from the OBO right up to India being 78 for 0. He had watched the last day of the third Test with great pleasure and couldn’t wait for the next one to start, although he has missed most of it. Let’s hope England bring home a win for him – he’d have been so delighted with Stokes’s ton.”
Bernard, that’s really sad. Condolences to you and your family. I don’t know what else to say except that, in my experience, the memories of sharing sport with a parent become even more precious after they have gone. Not necessarily at first – everything is too raw – but definitely in the medium-term.
My dad and I weren’t exactly models of tactility. So the snapshot in my mind’s eye of us hugging after a particular football goal is something I cherish. I’m sure you will have similar memories.
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6th over: India 10-2 (Rahul 8, Gill 2) Rahul back cuts Archer for four with the minimum of fuss. His watertight forward defensives are almost as impressive; at the moment he’s playing on a different pitch.
5th over: India 6-2 (Rahul 4, Gill 2) A full ball from Woakes is driven classily down the ground for three by Rahul. While he looks serene, Gill is batting like a man who left his concentration behind at Lord’s. He survives another LBW appeal after playing around his front pad at a fullish straight delivery. Too high, maybe going down, but that is a clear tactic from England.
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4th over: India 3-2 (Rahul 1, Gill 2) Gill wrings his hand in pain after a nasty lifter from Archer jams his bottom hand against the bat handle. After a quick chat with the physio, he’s okay to continue. But that was a nasty blow to the middle finger (I think).
The next ball brings another huge LBW appeal, with Archer hitting his knee in disappointment when Ahsan Raza shakes his head. It was a beautiful delivery, a big inducker that beat Gill all ends up, but it would have missed leg stump. Archer realised that by the time he got to his feet; it was too high as well.
“I’d nominate ‘Father’ Marriott as the goat in your list of England batters with Test aggregates of 1 or 0 (149th over),” writes Adrian Armstrong. “One Test, 11 wickets at 8.72, two five-fers. At the age of 37. And he literally wrote the book on leg-spin, or at least began it - ‘The Complete Leg-Break Bowler’ was finished after he died by Ian Peebles and Richie Benaud, not a bad pair of specialist editors. I borrowed it from Newcastle Central Library as a teenager, and I felt I was learning a new language.”
GILL IS NOT OUT
Archer bowled a fabulous yorker that Gill squeezed between bat and boot. Archer was convinced it hit the toe of the boot first; the umpire Ahsan Raza disagreed. So did Jamie Smith, but Archer pleaded with Ben Stokes to review.
It’s fiendishly close. It hit the bat and the flap of the pad – not the boot – almost simultaneously. The third umpire rightly decides there is no conclusive evidence to overturn the decision.
Gill would have survived anyway as the point of contact with umpire’s call. Nasser Hussain points out a slight flaw in the system – the umpire may not have made a judgement on point of contact if his not out decision was based on the ball hitting the bat first. In this case, however, there’s no reason for complaint because we didn’t reach that stage of the process.
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ENGLAND REVIEW FOR LBW AGAINST GILL! Drama straight after lunch
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Feedback: All-Time Farm XI
“Mac Millings should hang his head in shame,” writes Bob O’Hara, an opener that pretty much guarantees publication, “for missing David Shepherd & Dickie Bird as umpires.”
Robert Wilson speaks for all most of us
This is bliss. It’s actual, no-messing, by-any-standards bliss. I’m almost embarrassed by what cricket can do to me. I have the mother of all legal, respectable and hi-def feeds and a free day. In my ecstasy and gibbering glee, I’m having flashbacks to wonderful youthful days lost to all-day Test coverage that made you think you would always be fifteen or twenty one and would definitely one day get round to reading Pushkin. Too often, we forget the simple rapture cricket can bring. I have actual goosebumps.
And yet I missed the first day completely because I simply didn’t know it was on. Big Paper – like everywhere else – was definitely not selling it to the max. This year you can feel the irritated general contempt for the world’s least promising spectator sport (and yes I know the Guardian ran an op-ed about the last game). I’m not frothing with manosphere rage or anything but the fact remains that this lovely, generous thing is being thoroughly and unmistakably ghettoised. It’s tiddlywinks for posh people (you could get a Blue for that at Oxbridge).
I’m an astounding chav. The chav who other chavs avoided in my Belfast housing estate because I was just SO plebeian. Cricket has NO demographic. It just seems very sad this morning in my state of enchantment that this ineffable and lifelong pleasure is every year being denied to more and more people.
I say again, this is bliss.
Rugby union
In case you were wondering, nothing much happened in the second Test between Australia and the Lions. No siree bob.
Lunch: India trail by 310 runs
3rd over: India 1-2 (Rahul 1, Gill 0) KL Rahul’s immunity to scoreboard pressure is greater than most. He calmly plays out the final over of the morning session from Woakes. India just need him to bat until tomorrow evening now.
Ben Stokes leads England off after the kind of session captains dream about. England added 125 to their overnight score of 544 for 7, with Stokes letting his hair down after scoring his first Test century in two years. Then Chris Woakes struck twice in his first over to leave India facing defeat today, never mind tomorrow.
There’s a decent chance that, as in 2018 and 2023-24, a very hard-fought series between England and India will end 4-1 to the home side.
I’m getting ahead of myself, I’ll shut up.
2nd over: India 1-2 (Rahul 1, Gill 0) Jofra Archer’s turn. He beats KL Rahul outside off, then hits him in the vicinity of the pleasuredome with a sharp lifter. Rahul gets India off the mark with a flick wide of leg slip for a single.
Time for one more over before lunch.
“Although the Poire Belle Hélène is a fine second, the greatest tasting crêpe is of course avec citron et sucre,” says Brian Withington. “However, for pronunciation purposes there is only one candidate, the immortal Kenneth Williams rendition of Ma Crêpe Suzette. You’re welcome.”
(Thanks for all your emails this morning and throughout the series. As my brain gets slower – I’m forty-ni in my forties – I find it harder to read them all, which is frustrating but kind of unavoidable. Double-wicket maidens don’t help.)
Athers knows
A lengthy Test series can be likened to an arm wrestle; you have a struggle for a short while but it often ends with one team completely flattened. Well played India
— Mike atherton (@Athersmike) March 6, 2021
1st over: India 0-2 (Rahul 0, Gill 0) Woakes angles the hat-trick into the pads of Gill. Missing leg, though Woakes enquired for LBW just in case. A double-wicket maiden will suffice.
Sai Sudharasan tried to leave on length, was too slow in doing so and steered the bat to second slip off the face of bat. Harry Brook took a comfortable catch – one that brings the beleaguered captain Shubman Gill to the crease.
WICKET! India 0-2 (Sudharsan c Brook b Woakes 0)
Chris Woakes is on a hat-trick and the Ashes are only bloody well coming home!
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We’ve seen this storyline played out so many times before. After spending almost two days in the field, an opening batter can’t clear his head and falls straight away. Woakes started around the wicket to Jaiswal, who snicked a fine delivery towards Root at first slip. He spilled a straightforward chance but reacted superbly to grab the loose ball just above the ground.
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WICKET! India 0-1 (Jaiswal c Root b Woakes 0)
Chris Woakes strikes fourth ball!
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A bit of entertainment (sic) between innings
“Bobbie dearest,” writ- oh lord it’s Mac Millings. “Instead of a Goat War, why not an All-time Farm Animal XI?
Goatham Gambhir
Ben Duckett
Quack Hobbs
Brian Cluckhurst
David Cower
Oink Morgan
Neighmond Illingworth
Waqar Ewenis
Sydney Baa-nes
Geese Topley
Mootiah Mooralitharan
OBO Andy Bull
WICKET! England 669 all out (Carse c Siraj b Jadeja 47)
Carse slog-sweeps Jadeja to deep square leg, where Siraj takes the catch, turns and holds the ball out playfully in front of the England fans. A Panzer VIII Maus couldn’t crush his joie de vivre.
England lead by 311 after one of the most ruthless batting performances of the Bazball era. India’s openers will face a nasty session of around 15 minutes before lunch.
156th over: England 669-9 (Carse 47, Archer 2) Brydon Carse is a Test match No10 only in name. He drags Washington over long-on for six more, then does extremely well to stop a defensivel stroke deflecting back onto the stumps. Carse whacked the ball off middle stump with such timing that he instinctively started to run before realising you’re not actually allowed to do that.
“My son Edward Sinclair (we are in Egypt) suggests Nutella and dates makes the GOAT of crepes,” says Duncan Sinclair. “Each to their own…”
156th over: England 660-9 (Carse 39, Archer 1) England are batting on. It looked as if Stokes motioned for Carse to come with him when he was dismissed; not sure what that was about.
WICKET! England 658-9 (Stokes c Sudharsan b Jadeja 141)
Six and out for Stokes. He spanked Jadeja over long-off, tried again next ball and was caught by Sai Sudharsan at long-on.
Stokes walks off to a standing ovation after a richly entertaining innings of two halves. I don’t have the Before Cramp and After Cramp numbers to hand; overall he hit 141 from 198 balls with 11 fours and three sixes.
While I’d be loath to announce that Stokes the batter is BACK, that performance is pretty encouraging in view of England’s winter itinerary.
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155th over: England 651-8 (Stokes 135, Carse 38) Three singles in Washington’s over. Apologies, I was faffing around with the below.
This is a cracking stat from Tim de Lisle, who will be back on OBO duty this afternoon.
I was idly wondering if India were still beating England on runs per wicket over the series. Turns out this partnership between Stokes and Carse has taken England ahead ... while the Indians still lead in terms of individual hundreds, fifties, fours and sixes.
I can’t be the only one who is reminded of the dramatic series between England and South Africa in 1998.
Average runs per wicket
England 29.33
South Africa 35.36
Result England 2-1 South Africa
By coincidence, Tim wrote the Wisden Almanack review of that series. His intro is one of my all-time favourites.
154th over: England 648-8 (Stokes 134, Carse 37) England have scored 46 from the last six overs, which suggests a declaration could be imminent. There are 37 minutes remaining in this session.
153rd over: England 643-8 (Stokes 131, Carse 35) Carse – a Test No10 with an average of 25 – monsters Washington for four and then six. And why the devil not.
“I’m currently in French medieval village Yvoire with three Serbian women,” begins John Butler, “and they couldn’t care less about cricket or the goat debate. But we have had a rich discussion about what type of crepe is the goat. I favour savoury and just had a complète which is basically ham, eggs and cheese in a crepe. They prefer the sweet of Nutella with fruit (raspberry and blueberry. Perhaps a gender divide on that one?”
As somebody whose autistic palate has room for precisely none of the above, I’m not best qualified to comment. Anyone else? Hopefully this particular Goat War will be a peaceful one.
152nd over: England 633-8 (Stokes 131, Carse 25) After missing a lusty slog-sweep off Jadeja, Stokes changes tack and targets the off side. He skids back to drive through extra cover for four, then charges down the track to batter a flat six over long on. Wow, that’s a stunning shot.
This is now England’s highest score in a Test at Old Trafford. The runs are almost – almost – irrelevant; this is about crushing India’s spirit and scrambling their minds ahead of the third innings.
151st over: England 621-8 (Stokes 120, Carse 24) “The sheer scale and dimensions of Test cricket are torturous aren’t they?” says Phil Harrison. “Imagine being in the field for this long?”
And during a five-Test series. At least India still have a chance of getting a draw. Imagine how England felt during the fourth Test on this ground in 1984. They were 3-0 down to the scariest team of all time, they spent 160 overs in the field on the first two days – and then they had bat, twice.
150th over: England 615-8 (Stokes 118, Carse 20) Jadeja comes on after drinks. Nothing much to report save a bit of turn from outside Stokes’ off stump.
I was so preoccupied with Ben Stokes’ century that I forget to acknowledge another. In his 48th Test, Jasprit Bumrah has finally conceded 100 runs or more in an innings. That’s a crazy statistic. Even a thriftmeister like Joel Garner conceded four centuries in his 58-Test career.
Drinks: England lead by 256
149th over: England 614-8 (Stokes 118, Carse 19) Stokes rolls back the years by driving a spinner for a straight six. He didn’t nail the shot but it had enough to clear the leaping fielder at long off. Washington’s next ball is reverse swept for four with superb placement.
The six took Stokes past 7000 Test runs. Meh. Stokes’ career is a feeling, not a number.
“Delighted for Root,” writes Kim Thonger. “Splendid fellow. But can we spare a thought for those less blessed. Of all cricketers who have played at least one Test match for England, several have finished their careers with very few runs, particularly those who appeared only once, batted low in the order, or were picked mainly for their bowling. But I cannot find an actual list of those who have Test career totals of 1 or less. Can anyone oblige? I’ve tried AI and ESPNcricinfo to no avail.”
Twelve men have batted in a Test for England without scoring a run, the most recent being Matthew Fisher in 2022. Four more finished with one run. Here’s the list.
Or, to put it another way, Smyth 1-0 AI. And if I’m found dead before sundown, you know which vindictive simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think and act like humans dunnit.
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148th over: England 602-8 (Stokes 107, Carse 18) Carse glides Siraj for four to bring up the England 600. Siraj administers a brollocking to somebody in the cordon; India’s bowlers look like they’ve had their fill.
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147th over: England 597-8 (Stokes 106, Carse 14) England extend their lead to 239, with no suggestion that a declaration is imminent. Mental disintegration indeed.
Ben Stokes' 14th Test century!
146th over: England 594-8 (Stokes 104, Carse 13) That’ll do. Stokes tucks Siraj fine for four to end a 755-day wait for his 14th Test century. He celebrates modestly, almost wearily, clenching his fist gently and then looking up, to salute his old man with his crooked finger.
Stokes has been so good in this series as captain and bowler that his runs are almost a bonus. If he hits top form with the bat – and that remains a big if – he could win the Ashes on his own.
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145th over: England 588-8 (Stokes 99, Carse 12) And still they wait. Stokes faced three balls in that over from Washington but was unable to get past the infield.
“I am probably being crazy here...” begins Phil Crockford, “but would Stokes declare while he is in the 90s? His mantra seems very focused on the team winning, and him sacrificing a personal accomplishment if he felt it made strategic sense seems very Stokes-like.”
I don’t think that’s crazy at all. If the circumstances were right – if, for eg, he wanted a few overs before a break – he would definitely do it. I think Imran Khan is the only captain to declare on himself in the nineties in a Test match, against Sri Lanka in the early 1990s, though Wiaan Mulder is top of this particular selflessness list.
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144th over: England 587-8 (Stokes 99, Carse 11) Stokes cuffs Bumrah through mid-off for three to move to 99. It might have gone all the way but for a slight touch from the diving Siraj.
Carse inside-edges for a single, giving Stokes two deliveries at the end of the over to get the job done. He can’t, not yet. And he comes perilously close to falling for 99 when Bumrah straightens a beauty past his frisky drive.
143rd over: England 583-8 (Stokes 96, Carse 10) Stokes plays responsibly, taking two singles from Washinton’s over.
142nd over: England 580-8 (Stokes 94, Carse 9) Carse rarely hangs around with the bat. He slaps Bumrah through backward point for four, plays and misses at another nose-botherer and steers three more behind square.
Stokes takes a single to keep strike. He’s 94 not out, facing a spinner. Oh to hear his internal monologue right now.
“As you are overwhelmed by goats I will not make any issue at all with the reference to the improvement in Root’s ‘conversation rate’,” writes Ian Copestake. “But when you are already joining the batting greats, speaking faster does not seem worth bragging about.”
I want to know how John Moschitta Jr. dealt with the nervous nineties.
141st over: England 571-8 (Stokes 92, Carse 2) The lesser-spotted Washington Sundar comes into the attack and is edged for two by Carse. Washington’s drift has trouble England throughout this series.
“Instead of the GOoat debates, can we switch to Emma John’s view in today’s Guardian on the use of the term ‘Proper England’?” writes John Starbuck. “If all goes well in this match, it could be a mantra to oust Bazball as a definition, but include record-breaking deeds too.”
So you’re saying it’s the Goat of definitions? John, have mercy!
140th over: England 568-8 (Stokes 91, Carse 0) A no-ball from Bumrah flies past Jurel for four byes. The Dawson wicket was a superb bit of bowling from Bumrah, who is back on song this morning. But when you trail by over 200 on first innings, uneven bounce is often terminal.
In fact, replays show the delivery that bowled Dawson was shorter than the one that whistled past his hooter. It should be the other way round.
WICKET! England 563-8 (Dawson b Bumrah 26)
A wicket for India, but they may not feel like celebrating. Bumrah bowled two balls to Dawson, both of similar length. The first exploded past Dawson’s nose, the second kept a bit low and thumped into the top of the stumps.
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139th over: England 562-7 (Stokes 90, Dawson 26) Siraj continues to Stokes, who slams a flamboyant, hold-the-pose drive between extra cover and mid-off. Shot!
A quick single moves Stokes to 90, then Dawson swivel-pulls beautifully for four. It’s an understatement to say Dawson is not a Test No8.
138th over: England 551-7 (Stokes 83, Dawson 21) Bumrah looks refreshed after a decent night’s sleep and pleads for LBW when Dawson is hit on the pad by a violent nipbacker. It was probably too high and Gill decides not to risk India’s last review.
“A crushing defeat here will take the life out of this fledgling Indian team and I feel sad for it,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “Kneejerk is the mantra and moderation is a four letter word to the Indian selectors. I shall start penning my requiem to quite a few talented but unfortunate players.”
Do you think? Some of the peripheral players will be dropped, and the coach Gautam Gambhir must be concerned after a desperate run of results, but they should still build a side around Jaiswal, Rahul, Gill, Pant and Washington.
137th over: England 550-7 (Stokes 83, Dawson 21) Siraj – who like Bumrah, and Stokes for that matter, was struggling with injury last night – is fit enough to open the bowling. Stokes moves into the eighties with a terrific boundary, flashed through the covers on the walk. Those runs make this Stokes’s highest Test score since Lord’s 2023.
136th over: England 545-7 (Stokes 78, Dawson 21) A run-out referral in the first over of the day. Stokes, who struggled with cramp last night, tested his body by taking a quick single to mid-on off Bumrah. A smart underarm throw from Kamboj hit the stumps and the umpires sent it upstairs. Umpire Siraj raised his finger to give Stokes out, but the replays showed he was home, just about, before the bails were broken.
“We’re very fortunate,” says Gary Naylor, “to be watching England’s greatest captain and England’s greatest senior pro in the same team.”
Oh Gary, please no. After yesterday’s longevity fiasco, I can’t be dragged into another Goat War. Have mercy!
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The players walk out on an overcast morning in Manchester. It’s likely to stay that way all day. As well as England have performed, they’ve had some luck with the weather.
“I’m looking forward to a home win at Old Trafford,” says Andrew Goudie. “They’ve been few and far between recently.”
One poignant thing about Root’s comments on managing risk are that they could easily have come from his mentor, another middle-order batter who became a chameleon in the second half of his career. Like Root, Graham Thorpe created a bespoke plan for every phase of every innings. On the day Root became the second highest runscorer in Tests, the inquiry into Thorpe’s death came to a conclusion.
Joe Root on his evolution as a batter
[On the improvement in his conversation rate] I went away during Covid. I actually spoke to Nass quite a bit (!). I said, ‘Can I get some footage off Sky and look at modes of dismissal?’. I wanted to see if there were any trends – first 20 balls, from 50 runs to 100.
I’ve tried to look at the game slightly differently. In the first part of my career a lot of it was about my technique. Where my hands and head are. Am I lined up? Is my trigger tight?
In the second phase it’s been more about managing risk, and thinking ‘How can I eliminate as many modes of dismissal as possible with the highest output?’ Sometimes the conditions are so extreme that the risk has to go up. Whatever the biggest threat is that day – bowled, LBW, caught in the slips – how can I eliminate it while still giving myself as many run-scoring opportunities as possible.
It’s a lot of information to process and it comes through experience. It’s difficult to do that until you know your game really well, what your strengths and weaknesses are. It comes from trial and error, from getting things wrong.
I think you have to see the game for what it is. It’s easy to get too emotional, be too hard on yourself or feel sorry for yourself. You have to see it for what it is, be very honest about it and then just try to put that into practice.
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Joe Root on becoming the second highest runscorer in Tests
It is pretty cool. You look at the names on that list, they’re all people who as a kid growing up I’d try to be in the garden or in the driveway at our local club. We’d play mini Test matches: me and my brother and anyone else who was knocking around.
One day I’d try and be Ricky Ponting, the next day Kumar Sangakkara or Brian Lara – not left-handed but the same backlift, all of that. Even to be mentioned in the same sentence as these guys is a pinch-yourself moment.
The 2005 Ashes was huge for my era of player – [turns to Ricky Ponting] watching the hundred you got here and seeing everything unfold.
[Did you know the numbers?] You can’t avoid it, they’re everywhere! You try to put it out of your mind. It’s easy to get caught up in the stuff but at the end of the day you’re playing against India in one of the biggest series there is… yesterday was one of the most crucial days of the whole series. It’s not about you, it’s about winning a game and getting your team in a position to do that.
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In the 148-year history of Test cricket, 3211 men have batted. Only one has scored more runs than Joe Root.
Ali Martin’s day three report
Root is as team-first a cricketer as they come – No Ego Joe, if you will – and will likely have drawn greater satisfaction from England’s position at stumps. It was a commanding one, too, the hosts closing on 544 for seven and leading by 186 runs. There is a bit of rain forecast to arrive on Sunday but Shubman Gill’s men will need to get there first. Given their bereft state and Rishabh Pant’s broken foot, it is hard to envisage a soggy draw.
TFI Friday? For India, it was more a case of TF Friday’s Over; on the 18th day of an unyielding series, it all became a bit too much.
Preamble
Morning one, morning all. It’s a big day in the north, love. England could take a decisive grip on the series, maybe even win it. India could serve notice of their intention to kick things down the M6 until the final Test at the Oval on Thursday.
England resume on 544 for 7, a lead of 186, with Ben Stokes on 77 and Liam Dawson on 21. Stokes hasn’t scored a Test hundred since his serene rampage against Australia at Lord’s two years ago. A ton and a victory would put the creamy glaze on one of Stokes’ greatest series in an England shirt.
