Match report
30th over: India 124-2 (Pujara 33, Kohli 8) Stokes carries on bombing Kohli, who sees him off. And that’s stumps, with India in a ridiculously strong position thanks to Hardik Pandya, their fourth seamer, who took five wickets in a single spell. We’ve had 307 runs in the day, just like yesterday, but there have been 16 wickets instead of six.
Thanks for your company and some terrific correspondence, and thanks too to Adam Collins for putting in a long and lively shift while all those English wickets were tumbling. Say what you like about England – they’re good copy.
The last email comes in from Simon Horbury at The Oval. “I ought to add,” he says (27th over), “that when a certain S Curran came onto bowl here, there were chants of ‘We hate Stokes’ from the Surrey faithful. Slightly unfair as it meant that Sammy was able to play for his wonderful county instead!”
Hang on, here’s one more. “I love Rashid with the spent passion of a thousand dying stars,” says Robert Wilson. “It’s not much of a compliment. He had me at temperamental and titchy leggie and he would have to be the worst ever to lose my heart. That said, he’s like a particularly brilliant eight-year-old. It’s all about the wrong ’un.
“Fag-smoking reprobate and letch, Shane Warne was never eight years old (even when he was eight). The googly, the slider and the quantum plunger were all smoke and mirrors to contextualise the murderous straight one. Filling batsmen’s heads with preposterous trigonometry until they fell victim to the bleak ordinance of the arm-ball. Brilliant, really. I wish Adil would learn that particular piece of sociopathic excellence.”
Updated
29th over: India 124-2 (Pujara 33, Kohli 8) Anderson finds a peach to beat Pujara’s bat. Root was tempted to review but Buttler, his No 2, shook his head in authoritative fashion.
Here’s John Starbuck, picking up on my question from the 27th over. “‘Bumpers’ is usually reserved for vehicles, these days, though there is some old-fashioned innuendo usage too.” Ah yes, Grace Jones. “Most people now say ‘bouncers’ (even more sexual innuendo) but since details of the Stokes Case emerged this might be a bit sensitive. How about ‘short balls’ or, plainly, ‘bodyline’? Even more old-fashioned but definitely intimidating.” Yes, bodyline is a great word, but it’s a strategy, not a delivery.
Updated
28th over: India 124-2 (Pujara 33, Kohli 8) Stokes’s umpteenth bouncer unsettles Kohli, who ends up flat-batting it to the left of short leg. The next ball, also a bouncer, then comes close to finding the edge as Kohli opts to hook, but Bairstow fumbles it anyway.
“There is heated debate over the England team’s performance,” says Bill Hargreaves, “and with good reason. With regard to selection, I think it’s time we discussed the elephant in the room. We’ve heard a lot about Geoffrey Boycott’s grandmother: it’s time she were given the nod.”
Updated
27th over: India 122-2 (Pujara 33, Kohli 6) Pujara has a waft at Anderson, but gets away with it as there’s more bounce than he expected. The last ten overs have gone for only 26, which is a crumb of comfort for England.
“Ben may be fine with his recall,” says Andy Smith, “but it has taken the focus of the Test away from the pre-match preparation, and we are suffering for it. Stokesy may have convinced our raw and inexperienced Capt Root that he was ready for a return, but wiser heads should have stepped in. We had a very capable player in Sam Curran, who should have played while Stokesy cooled his heels.” Hard to argue with that.
27th over: India 121-2 (Pujara 33, Kohli 5) In the glow of the evening sun, Stokes is betting that Pujara can be bounced out, as he was in the first innings, by Woakes. Standing deep in his crease, unlike his team-mates, Pujara does well to evade one of Stokes’s better bumpers. Does anyone say bumpers any more?
An email from Simon Horbury. “I’ve been at The Oval watching pink-ball cricket,” he says, “so I’ve not really been following England, but having noticed the catching is dismal (again), can I suggest that whoever the fielding coach at Lancashire is, he should be drafted in pronto. Annoyingly good slips!”
Updated
26th over: India 119-2 (Pujara 32, Kohli 4) Hmmm. Straight after taking that wicket, Rashid is removed from the attack, to make way for Anderson. Yes, Anderson bowls well at Kohli – but so does Rashid.
25th over: India 117-2 (Pujara 31, Kohli 3) Woakes finally takes his sweater after a superb spell for no reward (8-1-19-0). On comes Stokes, who apparently gave the team talk as England came out. He goes for four singles as Kohli settles in.
A broadside has landed, from David Keech. “This match has been lost – and unless, counter to forecast, it pours down for the last 3 days, lost it is – and here are the reasons:
“Arrogance: assuming a team as good as India will automatically collapse in a heap every time the ball swings a miniscule. The decision to insert after winning the toss was complete arrogance.
“Lack of realism: England don’t do well when batting second facing a decent score. England’s second-Test win was based on outrageous luck. Stokes doesn’t deserve a place above Curran right now. England don’t catch well. All should have screamed don’t bat 2nd and balance your attack.
“Stupidity: defined as repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results. Playing positive worked once. All it does now is create mega-collapses such as losing 10 wickets in a session after being 46–0 at lunch.”
24th over: India 113-2 (Pujara 29, Kohli 1) A minor triumph for Rashid, who has 1-24 off five overs.
Wicket! Dhawan st Bairstow b Rashid 44 (India 111-2)
Redemption for Rashid! He bowls a googly and deceives Dhawan, who is stranded down the track and neatly stumped by Bairstow. However exasperating he can be, Rashid continues to get good batsmen out.
Updated
23rd over: India 109-1 (Dhawan 42, Pujara 28) Woakes gives away a four, for once, as Dhawan plays a leg-glance and Rashid, to Woakes’s irritation, opts not to dive at fine leg.
22nd over: India 103-1 (Dhawan 38, Pujara 27) A better over from Rashid, varying his pace and keeping Pujara quiet.
21st over: India 102-1 (Dhawan 38, Pujara 26) Woakes continues his lonely masterclass with a maiden. “England are not going to win this game,” says David Lloyd. “Can they save it?” You wouldn’t bet on it.
20th over: India 101-1 (Dhawan 38, Pujara 26) A few more singles off Rashid, who has 0-18 off three overs, and India have a hundred on the board already. Root doesn’t appear to be talking to Rashid much, when he seems the sort of bowler who needs a confidence boost.
Updated
19th over: India 97-1 (Dhawan 35, Pujara 25) A reprieve for Dhawan, and an injustice for Woakes, who’s been much the best bowler this evening.
“Collingwood,” says Ian Copestake, “still plays cricket.”
Dropped! Dhawan, off Woakes, by Cook
Scrambled seam, classic nick, bad miss – low to Cook’s right at first slip, but a lot easier than the one he caught yesterday.
Updated
18th over: India 96-1 (Dhawan 34, Pujara 25) A few singles and a two off Rashid. “He needs control or he needs wickets,” reckons Kumar Sangakkara, “one or the other.”
“Brian W. [13th over] is far too kind,” says Ian Copestake, “but alas I have failed at the first hurdle of opttimism which is to live in a world far removed from reality where hopes are confused dreams flounderng in the wind. Still a bit surprised by our ball throwers though.”
17th over: India 91-1 (Dhawan 32, Pujara 22) Woakes, bowling to Pujara, strings together five more dots. With figures of 5-0-13-0, he’s the only bowler in this innings going for fewer than five an over. The lead is 260.
“Re. Messrs Copestake and Withington [13th over],” says Damian Clarke. “Going have to watch Unbreakable at stumps.”
16th over: India 90-1 (Dhawan 31, Pujara 22) Rashid has a near one-day field, with just a slip in close, but there’s no one to stop Pujara’s elegant late cut. Pujara tries an instant replay and plays under the ball as Rashid finds some nice bounce. Then there’s a long hop, which is pulled straight for four. So two bad balls from Rashid, both punished; but one moral victory too.
The sun is out, and Adil Rashid is coming on. He’s the only spinner to take a wicket in this match – that of Virat Kohli.
An email from Lingam Manasvi. “I have only three (dreaded?) words to say regarding the selection: Bring back KP!”
15th over: India 81-1 (Dhawan 30, Pujara 14) Dhawan clips Woakes for four and that’s drinks, with India so firmly in charge, they could be Brighton playing Man United.
And our latest selector is Kim Thonger. “As Root appears to be mentally exhausted and is transmitting his tiredness to the ‘batting unit’, why not drop him for the final two tests and bring Sam Curran in as captain?”
Updated
14th over: India 76-1 (Dhawan 25, Pujara 14) Pujara straight-drives Stokes for four, then on-drives him for four more: two handsome strokes.
The selection debate continues. “Obviously time to recall Hales to open the batting in place of Jennings,” Nigel Williamson reckons. “He has all the iconoclastic attributes that Ed Smith seems to like. He doesn’t play red ball cricket any more and loves hanging around dodgy nightclubs at 2.30am. Cometh the hour, cometh the unsuitable man...”
13th over: India 67-1 (Dhawan 24, Pujara 6) Woakes, using the crease, keeps Pujara quiet, and beats him with the last ball, angled in and jagging away.
Brian Withington has a question for you. “Is the ever optimistic Ian Copestake (4th over) the yang to my yin (Eng 37th over)? I could only aspire to such potential interconnectedness with the spiritual master of the OBO.”
12th over: India 66-1 (Dhawan 23, Pujara 6) Well bowled Stokes, but also well played Rahul, who got this innings off to a breezy start. Stokes blots his copybook a bit by greeting Pujara with a puffball bouncer and then a freebie on leg stump, duly flicked for four. A thickish edge brings two more, and the lead is a towering 234.
Updated
Wicket! Rahul b Stokes 36 (India 60-1)
Stokes makes the breakthrough! It was full, it was heading in, it hit the pad and then the stumps. And that’s Stokes’s first wicket on his hotly debated comeback.
Updated
11th over: India 59-0 (Dhawan 22, Rahul 36) Woakes has another stifled appeal, against Rahul, but his nip-backer was nipping back too far. And another, less stifled, but again doing too much. There’s enough movement to keep England interested, but not enough to get India bothered.
A salty tweet from Nuggehalli Nigam. “Dhawan’s strategy of relying solely on fortune rather than skill might backfire at some point.”
10th over: India 56-0 (Dhawan 20, Rahul 36) A double change as Stokes comes on. First ball, he sends a man flying to the floor. But it’s an innocent collision with Dhawan, who was responding to a bit of tip-and-run from Rahul, and they’re all smiles. Last ball, Rahul edges an inswinger and Bairstow misses a tough chance to his left. To add insult to insult, it goes for four. Rahul, riding his luck but playing shrewdly too, has 36 off only 29 balls.
Updated
9th over: India 50-0 (Dhawan 19, Rahul 31) Right on cue, here is Woakes. Dhawan cuts for four, with Pope perhaps getting a fingertip to it as he makes a salmon leap at cover. There’s an lbw appeal, but it’s on the high side and maybe pitching outside leg. That’s two opening partnerships of fifty for India in the match, the first time they’ve managed it in a Test in England since 1986.
“The subtle art of captaincy,” says Geoff Wignall. “So no runs to play with and no third man, where England have leaked runs throughout the series? The reasoning is far too subtle for me to spot.
“On the question of how to incorporate Bell, surely at 3 with Bairstow & Cook opening, Root at 4, Pope 5, Buttler 6 & keeping, Woakes 7, Curran 8, Jennings and Stokes elsewhere.”
8th over: India 46-0 (Dhawan 15, Rahul 31) Dhawan slices Broad for four over the slips, which leads Root, finally, to post a third man. It’s Stokes, about ten yards in, so maybe he’s a very fly slip. And then Rahul crashes another four past cover. Part of England’s problem here is that their two old stagers didn’t get a decent rest, as their innings only lasted 38.2 overs. Time for Woakes, surely.
7th over: India 37-0 (Dhawan 10, Rahul 27) Anderson is bowling a very full length, rightly, but it allows Rahul to play a block for four, through mid-off. And when Anderson adjusts by going back to a good length, Rahul seizes on it and plays a dreamy back-foot glide through the covers. India lead by 205.
6th over: India 29-0 (Dhawan 10, Rahul 19) An early single for Rahul allows Broad to have a good go at Dhawan, who very nearly gets a touch on a fast, lifting leg-break. Calm has been restored, but England need wickets – about four of them.
5th over: India 28-0 (Dhawan 10, Rahul 18) Anderson raps Dhawan on the pad with the in-ducker, but only the slips appeal as it’s too high. That’s a maiden, which England needed – you can hardly keep calm and carry on if you’re not calm in the first place.
On Twitter, Andrew Samson from TMS has a good spot. “England did not lose 10 wickets in a session between 1938 and 2016. Today is the 3rd time they have done this in 2 years (24 Tests). Others: v Bangladesh at Mirpur 2016 and v NZ Auckland 2018.”
Updated
4th over: India 28-0 (Dhawan 10, Rahul 18) Beaten by a jaffa, Rahul then edges Broad low, to the boundary at third man, or third no-man as we may have to start calling it. Same again, more of a guide, for two this time; then a better shot, a controlled flash for four more. A day that began so well for England is running away from them at high speed.
But hope springs eternal for Ian Copestake. “Surely perfect conditions for your Jimmy Andersons, Stuart Broads and Chris Woakeses to swing India out for 50 and get the win.”
Updated
3rd over: India 18-0 (Dhawan 10, Rahul 8) Rahul lofts Anderson over square leg for four, as if playing in a benefit match, then goes for a big mow and gets an inside edge in the same direction.
“In their own conditions India baltied and curried England in their own backyard,” says Inderpal Sokhy. “Joy unbounded. C’mon jawans of India, do it.” They’d be hard put not to, from here.
2nd over: India 13-0 (Dhawan 10, Rahul 3) Rahul is away with a leg glance or two, and then Dhawan gets a leading edge that plops safely between cover and mid-off. It’s dead gloomy at Trent Bridge, and I’m not just talking about England’s predicament.
1st over: India 8-0 (Dhawan 8, Rahul 0) Second ball, Dhawan plays a delicious cover drive for four. Third ball, he’s rapped amidships as they say on TMS, but not too bothered by it. Last ball, he edges a full one off the back of the bat for four through fourth slip, which is vacant because England have no runs to play with.
England are out there, and Anderson is on a hat-trick. Dhawan the man facing... and he plays a comfortable push into the on side for none.
“Obviously at this juncture,” muses James Walsh, “one’s mind turns to the question of who should be dropped for an Ian Bell recall in the fourth Test. Pope could make way as punishment for having a cover drive not quite as beautiful as Bell’s, but that seems a touch retrograde after two Tests.
“They could drop Stokes and play Bell at six, where he has a much better batting record. Also Bell’s medium-pace swingers would break up the sameyness of England’s pace attack. Or if Bell reports to the ECB that he hasn’t bowled in a decade and isn’t sure his record justifies his place as fourth seamer, they could bring back Curran and drop Butler, whose place in the team as a specialist number seven is a bit odd, and put Bell in ahead of Stokes.
“My personal preferred option, however, is to put Jennings out of his misery and have Bell alongside his old ODI opening partner and close pal Alastair Cook. I look forward to seeing which Sledgehammer option Ed Smith et al go along with.”
Updated
A heartfelt email from Deepak. “On the subject of names (start of day’s play), there’s a simple reason that R Ashwin prefers to be known as such: Ravichandran is his father’s name, while his actual given name is Ashwin. Like most South Indian Hindus (myself included), the family name is rarely used, with more importance given to the father’s name and then the given name. On an unrelated note, I live in the South Indian state of Kerala which, as you may know, has been severely affected by heavy rainfall and flooding. I am lucky to be in a place that has escaped the disaster almost completely, but many of my fellow Malayalis, including relatives and friends, are still in deep trouble. It is therefore my duty to ask a favour of the amazing OBO community: please help the victims in any way that you can. Here are a few links for people from the UK to contribute:
https://sewauk.org/current-appeals/appeal-for-kerala-flood-relief/
https://fundly.com/kerala-flood-relief-fund-from-europe
https://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/how-to-donate-to-cm-relief-fund-for-kerala-flood-relief-and-rehabilitation-4991431.html
“Every little bit counts. Thank you all.”
Well, well, well. While Adam was on duty, I slipped out for lunch with some friends, who produced a spectacular home-made crumble. Which is just what England have done. Ten in a session is going some even by their standards, but well well well played India.
In other news, Man United are two down at Brighton. Make that 2-1.
Updated
That’s me done. What a session. But as we unpick the England collapse - all ten wickets falling for 107 - don’t forget the Indian quicks. From the moment they walked out after lunch they put on a clinic. Ishant and Bumrah, then Shami and Pandya - all brilliant. The latter, in the process, nabbed his maiden five-wicket bag in Test cricket. Speaking of five, that’s the number of catches taken by Pant, the wicketkeeper on debut. Over to Tim de Lisle. I’ll talk to you all on day four, provided the Test makes it that far. Bye!
Updated
ENGLAND ALL-OUT 161! WICKET! Buttler c Thakur (sub) b Bumrah 39.
Buttler holes out to long-on. He did what he had to but there was always a risk with the field out. England, Andrew Samson relays on TMS, have been bowled out inside a session for the third time in two years. Two hours ago they were 54 without losing a wicket. Wow.
Updated
38th over: England 159-9 (Buttler 37, Anderson 1) BOOM! Buttler doing a real job here, driving the deficit to 171 with a classic T20 slap over extra cover having gotten his front leg out of the way. Six runs! He’s hitting them beautifully, a glorified net as he flays Ishant to various sweepers through the middle portion of the over. Now, once again, we are back to two balls left and again Kohli refuses to bring his field in. Odd for him to care so much about runs at this point when he could get six balls at Anderson. Anyway, we go through the process again: catchers in for the single delivery that Jimmy has to deal with... and he does! Nothing wrong with that forward defence.
37th over: England 152-9 (Buttler 30, Anderson 1) Pandya is replaced after his magnificent spell of 6-1-28-5, Bumrah now taking the ball from our end. Buttler is picking out the fielders but won’t be tempted unless there are two on offer. With two balls left in the over that equation changes slightly but the field remains out. Oi, Virat, that’s not how it works. With two balls to go, you play your part and bring them in, okay? Predicably, then, Jos grabs one down the ground, again leaving Jimmy one ball. It’s short and staight but the no. 11 plays it down with just enough poise. Well done.
“At least my earlier concerns about avoiding the follow on proved quite unfounded,” writes Brian Withington, quite rightly. When England were going nicely before lunch he predicted something just like this.
36th over: England 151-9 (Buttler 29, Anderson 1) Ishant is back to try and find the last. He deserves to finish what he started. Buttler, though, has a lot of experince manipulating fields from white-ball cricket and does so with a carve out to deep point with enough of an angle to get back for two to bring up the England 150. How about that, ay? Back to Jos, he’s nearly done by the yorker that inevitably comes before taking the single to midwicket from the penultimate ball of the over. Anderson has one to see off with four slips and a short leg in position. He’s beaten. That’s too good for Jimmy.
35th over: England 148-9 (Buttler 26, Anderson 1) Clever from Anderson to nab a quick single with the cover fielder napping early in the Pandya over. Buttler’s turn, and he races back for a couple after clipping into the on-side. Will he opt for the single from the last delivery this time around? Yep, another quick one, to midwicket. Anderson is up to the task, racing to the danger end like a 100m sprinter. Tea is due in four minutes but it won’t be taken until the change of innings given they are nine down. A massive session given it was already extended to two and a half hours. We’ll see.
34th over: England 144-9 (Buttler 23, Anderson 0) The follow-on avoided by no more than three inches! Buttler’s leading edge is found by Shami and it juuuuuust makes it over the head of the man at cover. They come back for a couple as the crowd give an enthusiastic ironic cheer. With that out of the way, Jos lofts the next ball over the bowler’s head for four. Lovely strike. Next up he launches him high into the top deck of the grandstand to my left, a huuuuge six! Will he take the single from the last ball? Nup - he’s slogging, through midwicket, for four more! 16 runs from the over to put a dent in what is going to be a hefty deficit. The right call in the circumstances.
“In perhaps the best bowling conditions he might get, Pandya has shown potential,” adds Anand Kumar. “I was, however, hoping for the classic Broad review.” Wait till he has the ball in his hands later this afternoon for a couple of L’Oreals. (He’s worth it)
33rd over: England 128-9 (Buttler 7, Anderson 0) Beaten! Jimmy survives but only because Pandya’s off-cutter has jagged a mile. Remember, England began this session 46-0 and at one stage were 54-0. Undone by some superb fast bowling.
WICKET! Broad lbw b Pandya 0 (England 128-9)
No hat-trick but he gets him three balls later! Full, straight, plum! Pandya has five! England, with Anderson walking out, are still a couple of runs short of the follow-on and he will have one ball to survive this over. Good grief.
Updated
WICKET! Rashid c Pant b Pandya 5 (England 128-8)
Pandya has four! And he’s on a hat-trick! It comes via another outswinger that finds the edge and the wicketkeeper Pant takes his fifth catch of the session.
Updated
32nd over: England 128-7 (Buttler 7, Rashid 5) Okay, Jos hits his cover drive for four. That’s good batting. Some hope still lives with him. Shami’s bouncer at Rashid later in the over doesn’t give the impression that he’ll be able to resist for long, though. Rapid.
“When the Indian team toured England in 1967, we ten-year-olds collapsed with laughter at the idea that the world’s two shortest books were Great Scottish Goalkeepers and Great Indian Fastbowlers,” emails Graham Whittington from deepest Drance. “One of them, at least, is long out of print.” Too right. They’ve been superb.
The Root dismissal that made bad much worse earlier in the session.
A controversial dismissal 🤔
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 19, 2018
Scorecard/Videos: https://t.co/8J6Ps5eeDe
w/ @Schroders#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/B1jYMmaQpW
WICKET! Woakes c Pant b Pandya
Two in the over! Confirmed by the dreaded spike, Woakes did get something on it. It is Pant’s fourth catch of the session and the second that required an athletic dive down the legside. Wickets bookending the Pandya over with a couple of boundaries between times but that doesn’t matter now: England in enormous strife and still short of the follow-on mark. Wow.
31st over: England 118-7 (Buttler 2)
Updated
Is Woakes caught too? He’s taken down the legside, hooking at a bouncer. He’s sent it upstairs for review having been given out on the field. Let’s see.
WICKET! Bairstow c Rahul b Pandya 15 (England 110-6)
Pandya has another! Conventional as you like, a ball that moved away in the air that Bairstow was committed to playing at given the off-stump line where it pitched. It is another straightforward catch for Rahul, who has claimed three in about 20 minutes at second slip. India are some chance of taking all ten England wickets in a session.
Updated
30th over: England 110-5 (Bairstow 15, Buttler 2) Buttler edges his first ball as well, albeit landing a foot metre in front of Kohli at third slip. In theory, 50 overs are still available to India today through to 7pm (including the extra half an hour). As usual, they won’t get those in. For shame. Anyway, Shami running away from the pavilion is a bit too straight to Buttler who is off the mark with a couple to square leg. The end of another successful over. These two senior players must be there at tea.
In case you're wondering what Sam Curran is up to right now...pic.twitter.com/NbKgzLWjda#EngvInd
— Vithushan Ehantharajah (@Vitu_E) August 19, 2018
WICKET! Stokes c Rahul b Shami 10 (England 108-5)
A fifth for the session! No need to send that upstairs, Stokes’ nick going straight to the chest of Rahul at second slip. He had to play the delivery and it did just enough off the track to catch the edge. Yet more fine fast bowling from the visitors.
Updated
29th over: England 1o8-4 (Bairstow 15, Stokes 10) I can see Ravi Ashwin beneath us at mid-off. With the left-handed Stokes still not set, I reckon he’ll be back into the attack soon to have a pop. In saying that, he was off for a while so he might not be able to bowl until the final session. I’ll check on that. To the present time, Bairstow plays his best shot yet, nailing Pandya on the up through extra cover for a lavish boundary. He picked up another at the start of the over but from the outside portion of the blade. Good scrap.
28th over: England 1o0-4 (Bairstow 7, Stokes 10) Shami from pavilion end gets his off-cutter on target to YJB who gets his bat down just in time; an inside edge found. He’s more convincing later in the over, bringing up the England 100 with a glance to fine leg. And for the first time today, here comes the sun (doo doo doo doo) at Nottingham.
“And Soft Signal strikes again,” notes Abhijato Sensarma. “He is giving Muralidharan’s record a run for its money. He gets the wickets almost half the time he is even mentioned! If not for this decision, it could have even been in line for a knighthood. Some people ask why he exists in the first place since his inclusion in the game seems illogical, and I am personally inclined to agree with these people, but it is hard to deny that his presence can be felt more often than the opposition likes!”
Very good. Soft signal, Mother Cricket and the Cricket Gods all dine together at night.
27th over: England 99-4 (Bairstow 6, Stokes 10) NOT OUT! Very strong shout but the ball is only clipping the top of off-stump so Stokes survives. India keep their review with it registering with the technology as umpires’ call.
Ben Stokes averages 51.72 against right-arm seam over the wicket, but just 39.33 when the bowling comes round the wicket. #ENGvIND
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) August 19, 2018
Is Stokes LBW? Pandya believes so, the umpire doesn’t. DRS to decide. Stand by.
26th over: England 97-4 (Bairstow 5, Stokes 10) Shami asks early in the over whether Stokes is leg before but he isn’t. The England all-rounder makes contact with the next offering on his pads, clipping through the air to the midwicket rope for his second boundary. Tea still 55 minutes away.
44 more to avoid the follow on.
— daniel norcross (@norcrosscricket) August 19, 2018
25th over: England 92-4 (Bairstow 5, Stokes 6) Stokes away pushing a couple to mid-off first up. Later in the set Pandya does him with another beauty, beating him on the inside edge. But Stokes, given some width to finish, slaps a boundary over backward point to conclude the successful over.
“Curious how that decision would have gone had the umpires gave it not out and referred?” ponders Anand Kumar. “My point, if they are rarely going to overturn, why not stay with onfield umpries (or) just ask them without prejudice?”
The toothpaste is probably out of the tube on this. For now, let’s just be grateful that the third umpire here didn’t get sucked into believing (as they so often do) that there was too much doubt to give it out having watched the replay 30 times.
WICKET! Root c Rahul b Pandya 16 (England 86-4)
It’s out! Root is gone! The crowd don’t like it but the end of Rahul’s fingers, as Graeme Swann says on TMS, are where the ball has bounced up from. First ball of Pandya’s spell; first after drinks. Root waves the bat around when OUT flashes up on the board, I suspect the match ref will be taking a second look at that later on. What a session.
Updated
Is Root caught at second slip? He’s given but they are checking upstairs.
24th over: England 86-3 (Root 16, Bairstow 5) Shami is on to replace Ishant, who has been outstanding since lunch. The new bowler zips a short ball into the midrift of YJB but he’s happy enough out there at the moment, defending out the maiden. And with that, they drink. What a wonderful 75 minutes of Test cricket.
23rd over: England 86-3 (Root 16, Bairstow 5) Bumrah’s long spell continues. He’s only been out of operation for one over so far in this innings and that was as he changed ends before lunch. Root grabs one behind square to begin this set, then Bairstow pushes one to point before Root flicks a couple more. There is a no-ball in the mix as well. That’s the first over where England have looked in control since they lost Cook.
“Try your pun-ditry with Pant pronounced as Punt,” emails Ravi Raman “It might be spelled with an A but it’s pronunciation doesn’t match Pant the clothing or Pant the breathing.”
Maybe so but I fear you are going to be swimming uphill on this one, Ravi. The subeditors of the world (and twitter) will be having fun about pants for a decade.
22nd over: England 81-3 (Root 13, Bairstow 4) Ishant into YJB’s inside edge and nearly makes it to Jadeja (the sub on for Ashwin) at square leg. The number five keeps his cool, clipping the next offering to the midwicket rope. Half a shout for leg before to finish, in keeping with the theme of this relentless session so far.
“Funny how after all the jaffas in this spell, a wicket falls to the tickle down the leg side,” says Amand Kumar. “Almost feels like everyone is wasting time bowling outside the off.” Remember, it’s a horrible game most of the time.
Meanwhile, Brian Withington is feeling creative. ‘Instant Sharma’, this goes by:
Instant Sharma’s gonna get you
Gonna knock you right on the head
You better get yourself together
Pretty soon you’re gonna be dead
(By strangulation)
21st over: England 77-3 (Root 13, Bairstow 0) Bumrah finds Root’s outside edge again - twice in two overs - but he’s played it with soft enough hands that it reaches Kohli only on the bounce at third slip. Then he does him with another of those vicious leg-cutters. What a superb contest! Can the England captain get through his spell?
Pant is the third ‘keeper to claim the first three dismissals on debut, Andrew Samson tells us on TMS. Interestingly, Tim Paine was one of the other two (Lord’s 2010).
20th over: England 75-3 (Root 11, Bairstow 0) Bairstow the new man has to duck under a quick and accurate bumper first up. “It is very tricky batting out there,” notes Graeme Swann on TMS. Compelling from where I’m sitting, directly behind the arm at Bumrah’s end. Good batting from the new man in response to Ishant’s moving ball, getting his hands out of the way when he can, defending solidly when forced to play.
“Those three dismissals,” lols Andrew Benton, “they’re just Pant’s.” Since his IPL ton a couple of years back, which I had the great enjoyment of commentating on radio, I’ve been trying to get going the idea of one putting their Rishabhs on, or whipping them off. My girlfriend doesn’t get it but I’m persisting. Now he’s in the Test XI, we can do this.
WICKET! Pope c Pant b Ishant 10 (England 75-3)
And there it is! Pope has been burgled down the legside from the first ball of the fresh Ishant over. It’s not a good delivery nor a pretty dismissal. It is, however, a fine diving catch from the wicketkeeper Pant on debut. The visitors really are up and about.
Updated
19th over: England 75-2 (Root 11, Pope 10) Edge! Four! It bounced between the ‘keeper and slip and ran away to the rope, moving Root to double figures. He’s even luckier to survive a rip snorter later in the set, Bumrah sending down an unplayable legcutter that beats the captain’s outside edge. India are very close to a third here.
18th over: England 71-2 (Root 7, Pope 10) Root off the mark! It took 13 balls but he didn’t miss out when Ishant gave him a wayward delivery under his armpit, turned around the corner for four. ‘Rooooooot’ roar the attentive audience. Three more then come from the next ball, the captain timing past point from high on the balls of his feet the way he did so wonderfully during his 250 at Manchester a couple of summers ago.
17th over: England 64-2 (Root 0, Pope 10) Bumrah the proverbial coat of paint away from making it three England wickets in a hurry! It is magnificent fast bowling, cutting Pope in two with a ball that moves a mile and deserves to collect a stump or two. But not so. Back to back maidens with the pressure building on the England pair.
“Christ, Adam! Hitler the cricketer?!” Hi Dave in Vienna. “I wish you wouldn’t do that! (OK, it wasn’t you) I got halfway through the line in that Ali Martin tweet (7th over) “Middlesex giving a CC debut to 19-year-old Ethan Bamber today, whose father, David, played Adolf Hitler” and was about to seriously question if Hitler ever played cricket, before I got to the “in a 2008 Tom Cruise film” bit. Best regards from a very hot Vienna, where Hitler definitely did NOT play cricket.”
I’m still angry with you lot for overtaking Melbourne as the official (official?!) ‘World’s Most Liveable City’ during the week.
16th over: England 64-2 (Root 0, Pope 10) Ishant really building into this spell, once again finding Root’s inside edge. Then he beats it, crashing into his front pad! Big shout! Denied. They take every one of the 15 seconds at their disposal to decide on DRS, declining to refer in the end. That’s a good decision with the ball hooping beyond the leg stump. This is a very impressive spell from the mainstay of this Indian attack. Another of those, Ashwin, is off the field at moment with a hip complaint.
“Bom dia Adam!” G’day, Adam Hirst. “There is proper cricket in Brazil as well. The Carioca Cricket Club in Rio for one! We’ve got a tour to the Cricket Brazil headquarters in September too, to play the local teams of mostly young Brazilians from the development project.”
This is great! Please continue...
“Any clubs that would like to arrange a cricket tour to Brazil, just get in touch with me! We’ve got Rio (a beach match and our proper cricket ground in the Corridor of Sun Certainty), the Cricket Brazil HQ, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and the beautiful ground at Santiago as possibilities. We’ve also got our nets on the baseball diamond on the shores of the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, with the statue of Cristo up above, a beautiful spot to practice. The MCC toured here earlier this year, so you’d be following in distinguished footsteps. Perhaps the OBOers would fancy it?”
If somebody else wants to do the admin, and provided it doesn’t clash with any major international series, then I’ll be up for that. Do we have a skipper/administrator?
15th over: England 64-2 (Root 0, Pope 10) Pope once again goes at the first delivery of the over, pull/hooking Bumrah’s to the vacant square leg for a couple, moving into double figures in seven balls. It was a top edge, mind. He defends and leaves the rest.
“Instant should have open the bowling,” argues Dilip Shukla. Fair enough but Bumrah has done very little wrong and Shami does his best work when the ball is moving. A good problem to have in these helpful conditions.
14th over: England 62-2 (Root 0, Pope 8) Driving again from the first ball of Ishant’s new over, Pope strikes nicely down the ground for three. Root’s turn, facing his first delivery and it nearly slips through! Another inside edge. The lights are on at Trent Bridge are so are India’s quicks all of a sudden. Root defends the rest, playing himself in.
“On the subject of England’s cable Knits, how did Cook and Pope get one indeed?” asks John Barnes. “I’ve been trying to buy one for a few years now with no luck of sourcing them. I’ve come to the conclusion there is a very good company/grandmother supplying England and not marketing their lovely jumpers. Alas!”
I’m not sure what the rules are on plugging companies on the OBO but I’ll email you a link to the joint that have done a great job for both of my clubs in Australia and the UK.
Updated
13th over: England 59-2 (Root 0, Pope 5) Shot! Ollie Pope is off the mark with a compact cover drive through extra cover, racing away to the rope with fine timing. Four slips are in place but it is the inside edge that Bumrah locates with the final ball of his successful over, missing his leg stump by a matter of inches. All happening!
Updated
WICKET! Jennings c Pant b Bumrah 20 (England 54-2)
Two in two balls for India! That’s poor from Jennings, hanging the bat at a ball that he did not need to have anything to do with. “He has a real issue when you bowl over the wicket when it moves across him,” notes Michael Vaughan. “It is a technical issue.” That may very well be Jennings’ penultimate innings as an international opener.
Updated
WICKET! Cook c Pant b Ishant Sharma 29 (England 54-1)
Outstanding bowling from Ishant, drawing Cook into the stroke from around the wicket. The delivery has plenty of movement in the air and off the track, at decent pace. He had to play. The edge is taken by Pant, his first dismissal as a Test cricketer.
He’s a lucky lad, as there was a dropped catch at slip earlier in the over that was his fault. A shocker, where Cook’s nick was heading straight to Pujara but Pant tried to leap in front of him and put him off in the process. Anyway, no damage done.
12th over: England 54-1 (Jennings 20)
Updated
11th over: England 50-0 (Cook 25, Jennings 20) Moments after hitting send on the previous over, Michael Vaughan picked up on the cable-knit colour thread on TMS! Here I was, thinking I was the only weirdo who would pick up on such a thing. Nup, the former England numero uno is with me. He suggests maybe it was a jumper he made a ton in? We’ll get to the bottom of this by stumps tonight, I am certain. Bumrah is still operating at the same end he finished off at before lunch. It’s a solid re-start, banging in short of a length at Jennings who is happy to play conservatively throughout.
Answers! Vaughan has received a text on air from the boss of New Balance. The cream sweater is new for this season, changed on the direction of the players as they didn’t much fancy the all-white number from the summer of 2017. That was easy. Why, then, are so many still wearing the white shocker in the field? Get with the program, fellas.
10th over: England 50-0 (Cook 25, Jennings 20) Ishant to Cook, who now has his sleeveless on. Now, this is a topic of interest to me. I noticed in the field yesterday that only the former captain and the new lad Ollie Pope have the cream coloured cable knit, by contrast to every one of their colleagues who are getting around in those (shocking) whiter-than-white jumpers. Can’t be having this, can we? Or is this like the old days where there might half a dozen different coloured batting helmet inside an England dressing room, as it was during the 1994-95 Ashes in Australia? Has Cook refused to go with the updated model? How, then, did Pope get one of those? Good questions to ask. He has a good answer to an Ishant full delivery, square driving a boundary to bring up the England 50! Going very nicely.
150 minutes of the best. This is all ahead of us, an extended session due to the rain that delayed the start of play this morning. Ishant Sharma has the ball in his hand at the Pavilion End for the first time today to get us going. Cook the man on strike. PLAY!
Pot Pouri. Let’s work through some correspondence. To begin, Brian Withington. “A feature of this series TV coverage has been ongoing criticism of the positioning of the slip cordon of both teams. Sir Ian Boredom has of course opined regularly on the subject, but respected Sky observers such as messrs. Hussain, Holding and Sangakkara have also piled in. Surely in this era of extensive analysis someone has come up with a well researched algorithm for optimising spacing that favours the tighter stagger?”
Whatever happened to extending arms and touching fingers to determine how far away the slips stand from each other? Simpler times.
“Talking of countries (Spain) which have missed the boat cricket-wise you might be interested to know about the version of cricket we have in Brazil,” emails Tom Ashton. “Very popular in country towns amoung children but imagine if Brazil has stayed the course. Would have been nice to watch a test match in Rio.”
I’d be the first to sign up to cover that. As it happens, I complete the set (with the exception of Pakistan and Afghanistan) in October when Australia plays in the UAE.
Robert Wilson is with us from Paris on the topic of Spanish cricket. “The question is, of course, not how popular it is there but how good would they be if they played it,” he begins. “It’s cricket’s permanent heartbreak, that thought. I often think about here in France (current Olympic Silver Medal holders in cricket). Best untutored kid I ever saw was a sporty French 12 year who, despite my approximate French and some dire Irish weather, picked up a formally perfect side-on, high-arm quick’s action in about ten minutes. Ha had that natural sportsman’s instinctive sympathy for the unchanging physics of all that is bat and ball. Went on to play hockey for the French under 16s. Tragedy is, he was clearly better at cricket.”
Usain Bolt, you may have seen, is trying to start his professional football career in New South Wales. For mine, I wish he tried to play cricket for the state instead. That’ll get the punters back to the Sheffield Shield.
“Never mind the Spanish,” says John Barns. “I’ll never forget my very sporty Head Teacher Mr Reese back in Gloucestershire in 1986 informing us that in “50 years China will beat England in a test match” a shocking thought. I think the central theme of his assembly was globalisation but suffice to say I’ve not seen a sniff of a Chinese cricket team to even play such a fixture yet alone one to threaten the odds. Pah, 18 years to go Mr Reese, you were chuntering out of your proverbial; that’ll show you for all my detentions.”
My colleague, Tim Wigmore, has a number of thoughts on cricket in China. I’ll ask him to link me a piece on the topic. In short, my understanding is that Mr Reese might not be completely off the mark with some decent progress made there in the last decade or so.
“A collective statsgasmic research task,” emails Tom Bowtell. Sounds like perfect OBO content to me. “Jimmy Anderson has taken his last 200 Test wickets at 20.30. I’m wondering where that puts him in terms of the cheapest run of 200+ wickets within a career. To get us started, between 19th June 1984 and 26th April 1989, Malcolm Marshall took 212 at 18.07 (https://bit.ly/2Mm3PAP) So Jimmy isn’t number 1 - but maybe number 1 for England?”
We’re about five minutes from the resumption, can anyone work it out before then?
In case you missed it. India resumed at 307-6 having lost a wicket with the final delivery of day one. 30 minutes were lost to rain before they got on but when they did, England carried on where they left off with the second new ball, Pant and Ashwin bowled by Broad before Anderson cleaned up Shami and Bumrah in consecutive balls. The visitors were dismisse for 329 and Jimmy is on a hat-trick in the second dig.
With 40 minutes to bat before lunch, England went at better than a run a minute without loss. Jennings was the less convincing of the two in the opening exchanges before getting into his stride in the quarter hour before lunch. Bumrah was the man most likely to make an incision but it wasn’t to be. An opportunity missed for India.
I’m going to grab a quick bite before returning to your emails. If you can’t get enough of our Vic Marks on TMS this week, here is an extended interview that Geoff Lemon and I did with him about his life in the game on our Guardian Ashes pod last December.
9th over: England 46-0 (Cook 21, Jennings 20) Bumrah is swung around to bowl the final over, replacing Shami and beats Cook first up outside the off-stump with a good’un. In fact, the opener may have just pulled inside the line. Good cricket from all invovled. Cook continues his positive start, pushing into the 20s before the break with a pair of clips through midwicket, the first worth two the next three. That’s his happy place. Jennings leaves the final ball of the session and that is lunch. A 90-minute session where it all went right for the home side.
Updated
8th over: England 41-0 (Cook 16, Jennings 20) Ashwin on for one over before lunch, delivering to Cook. That stoush from Edgbaston didn’t have much of a chance to evolve at Lord’s with the opener out before the tweaker was used, from memory. So this should be good. Not this time around though, Cook taking the one on offer to mid-off first ball. Jennings does well defending from the crease, tucking a couple to midwicket when the spinner lands too straight. The tourists will get one more in before they lunch.
7th over: England 38-0 (Cook 15, Jennings 18) 38 runs in seven overs after ripping through the tail with 4/22 earlier - a great morning for the hosts. Jennings is looking more comfortable after the driven boundary in Shami’s previous set, pushing two to begin then steering another four behind point. It’s described as an edge on the radio but I reckon he was in control. He deflects a couple more in that direction to finish. Solid.
Middlesex giving a CC debut to 19-year-old Ethan Bamber today, whose father, David, played Adolf Hitler in the 2008 Tom Cruise film Valkyrie https://t.co/XSBIW1w1km
— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) August 19, 2018
6th over: England 30-0 (Cook 15, Jennings 10) Luuurvely off-drive from Ali Ali Cook; no need to run for that. Bumrah is really bending his back to try and prompt a hurried stroke, which might explain why he overstepped with what would have been his final delivery. “England will be delighted with this,” says Swann of the start in conditions where the Indian seamers should be getting busy with at least one early scalp.
“It’s looking like anything over 250 today would be a bonus for England,” writes Brian Withington. “Indeed, avoiding the follow on may not be a given. Time for Cook to grind like he’s never ground before - especially at this ground.” Bit early for that kind of pessimism, isn’t it? I’ll backing Cook in on the evidence of the last couple of overs.
5th over: England 25-0 (Cook 11, Jennings 10) Much better, Cook putting away a short delivery through cover point with ease. Shami hits back with one that darts off the seam and finds the veteran’s inside edge, not missing his stumps by far. Jennings’ turn and it is a second boundary out to cover, this time driven along the carpet with confidence. That’ll do the junior partner the world of good with 15 minutes to lunch.
“I have lived in Spain for thirteen summers and not seen so much as a sightscreen,” Justin Horton tweeted at Tim. “Football lasts ninety minutes: the locals here couldn’t be attracted by a game taking several days to play, because, especially in summer, they had to work.”
4th over: England 16-0 (Cook 6, Jennings 6) Bumrah getting the ball through at good pace. He’s maintaining a straight line to Cook, forced to use his bat early in the over. A nice clip from him puts Jennings back at the business end and he’s immediately hit on the pad and there’s a big shout! Turned down by Umpire Gaffaney. No review and that’s confirmed by the TV replay as the right call as it was a fraction high.
3rd over: England 15-0 (Cook 5, Jennings 6) Afternoon to you all from Trent Bridge. Tim will be back with us later today. For now, Shami is running away from me with my seat right over his arm in the press box. Jennings is far from set, beaten by a full delivery that doesn’t carry to the wicketkeeper Pant. This is a vital innings for the left-hander with Ed Smith clearly happy to drop players earlier rather than later. Maiden.
2nd over: England 15-0 (Cook 5, Jennings 6) Jennings edges again, as Bumrah finds some lift with his first ball, and what should have been an easy catch at fourth slip becomes yet another four to third man. Kohli then plugs the gap, bearing out Nasser’s theory that he’s a stable-door captain. And Pant fumbles another take. A comedy of errors, which Adam Collins will now report for you. See you after tea, if the game lasts that long.
Updated
1st over: England 10-0 (Cook 5, Jennings 1) Mohammed Shami opens up, and Alastair Cook edges the first ball – wide of Kohli at third slip and away for four. “Cook has as many Test wickets as fifties here at Trent Bridge,” Mike Atherton notes, with some relish. Keaton Jennings too gets off the mark with a false shot, a leading edge to a full in swinger. And the last ball brings four byes to open Pant’s account as a keeper, though he did well to get a glove to it.
Updated
Kim Thonger has started something with his email about why the Spanish don’t play cricket. “They do,” says Adrian Armstrong. “See www.cricketspain.es, which also includes a brief outline of the game’s history in Spain. Apparently things didn’t really develop until 1975, which leads me to wonder whether cricket might have been banned - or at least officially disapproved of - under Franco.”
A suggestion from Ian Sergeant. “If Kim could get over to the barossa beach (just south of Cadiz) in a couple of hours, we’ll get a game going on the beach. Tide will be right out by then.”
“Kim Thonger should consider,” says Geoff, “that having lunch from 2 until 4 followed by an hour or two of siesta might cut into a day’s play.”
“George Bernard Shaw reckoned that the English, not being a very spiritual people, invented cricket to give themselves some idea of eternity,” says Peter Wood. “The Spanish, by contrast, have had no such need.”
Lower order? What lower order?
So India, with a strong lower order on paper, have made 23-4 today. Broad finishes with 3-72, Anderson with 3-64, and the second new ball has done the trick for England, perhaps because the Indians hadn’t seen one for several months. It’s England whose tails are up, but it’s India who have runs in the bank. Game very much on.
Updated
Wicket!!! Bumrah b Anderson 0 (India 329 all out)
Anderson produces a ball that is far too good for Bumrah, pitching middle, swinging away to hit middle and send both bails flying. Clinical stuff from the two old geezers.
Updated
Wicket! Shami c Broad b Anderson 3 (India 329-9)
Shami goes for the old yahoo, grazes the clouds, and presents Broad with a simple catch at mid-on.
Updated
92nd over: India 329-8 (Sharma 1, Shami 3) Broad dispatches Ashwin and beats Sharma all ends up. In between, Shami does well to drive another full inswinger for three. But the Indians may not be too sad to see this booming swing. Could be a lot of wickets today.
Wicket!! Ashwin b Broad 14 (India 326-8)
S Broad tries the inswinger, and it’s a beauty, ripping out R Ashwin’s middle stump.
Updated
91st over: India 326-7 (Ashwin 14, Sharma 1) A fine over from Anderson, who is swinging it like Anderson, ends in a dropped catch as Ashwin edges yet again and Pope spills it, low to his left, at fourth slip. It was sharp but not impossible.
Here’s Mac Millings, responding to my point in the 89th over. “I think cricket is such that the fact that leg byes shouldn’t exist means that they should.” That may be peak OBO.
91st over: India 323-7 (Ashwin 12, Sharma 0) After a curious little delay caused by a flappy sock, Broad gets rid of Pant. But that was a highly promising 20 from a 20-year-old, the third of the series following Curran and Pope. Pant has all the shots, and he also seems to know when not to play them, which made his demise unexpected. Broad gave him a send-off, which was graceless, but perhaps a compliment.
Jeff Docherty picks up on John Starbuck’s point (11:14). “Has Mr S had a tipple, a late evening or just lost track of time? Hadlee began his Trent Bridge career in 1978! In recent times the pitch has become famous for its batting virtues... England have broken two ODI world records there. However it is true that many previously fast pitches have ‘lost’ their zip, as flamboyant batting is generally favoured over bowling.”
Updated
Wicket! Pant b Broad 24 (India 323-7)
Broad pitches it up and, as if by magic, Pant drags it on.
Updated
90th over: India 323-6 (Pant 24, Ashwin 12) Ashwin, apparently determined to score all his runs through the cordon, squirts a four past gully, but he was in reasonable control, playing it late. And then he edges past third slip for four more. Nasser is banging on about England’s old firm bowling too short, quite rightly. Where’s Sam Curran when you need him?
“The rain in Spain,” says an email subject line. It’s Kim Thonger. “Writing from the terrace of the Alcazar in Segovia, nursing the first beer of the day (we’re an hour ahead, shush), richly deserved after climbing 203 steps to the top of the cathedral tower. A bit like Wayne Daniel’s run-up, only vertical. Anyway, my question is, why don’t the Spanish play cricket? They have the weather, the beer, the potential for dry turning pitches and a splendidly laidback attitude worthy of Sir Vivian Richards. Or perhaps they do play somewhere? I need enlightenment please.”
Updated
89th over: India 315-6 (Pant 24, Ashwin 4) Broad’s over to Pant goes for just a couple of leg byes, which, as we established this time yesterday, shouldn’t exist.
“Hello Tim.” Hello Andrew Benton. “A scan of relevant internet pages suggests only a handful of Test players have preferred to go by their initials over the years – M.J.K. Smith, M.S.K. Prasad, V.R.V. Singh, V.V.S Laxman amongst those leading the fray with three initials, and with Sir H.D.G. Leveson-Gower at number one, sporting a double-barrelled surname and a knighthood to boot. Isn’t there something a bit classy about going by your initials (?). A.J. Benton.”
89th over: India 313-6 (Pant 24, Ashwin 4) You’ll never guess who’s bowling from the other end: Jimmy Anderson. Pant, standing outside his crease, Kohli-style, treats him with respect and takes another single to square leg off the last ball.
An email from Patrick Morgan. “The R Ashwin discussion reminds me of X Billups, my fave character in To Kill a Mockingbird. But while Mr Ashwin (streaky four, there) simply prefers the use of his initial, Mr Billups is known as X because that is his given name. Cheers, P Morgan.”
Updated
88th over: India 312-6 (Pant 23, Ashwin 4) Broad gets one to jag away like a leg-break, but it’s well wide of off, and Pant isn’t a young man in such a hurry that he’s going to nibble at those in the first over. He dabs a single into the on side like an old pro. And then Ashwin flashes for four over second slip, where Jos Buttler’s instinct is to duck, but it’s probably out of reach anyway.
“Despite the 1st day stumps score.” says Krish, “this match will be over by day 4 or maximum morning session of day 5. Indians in 2nd innings will start swinging their bats around, so it will not matter even if the ball does not swing.” You may well be right.
Updated
The players are on the field, and Stuart Broad has the ball in his hand. He’ll be bowling to Rishabh Pant, so anything could happen.
The county championship is back, not before time. And Graham Hardcastle is covering it for you.
The start has gone back another 15 minutes, to 11.30. But who needs any play when there’s an email from John Starbuck? “‘Morning, Tim,” he murmurs, and yes, that is an apostrophe at the front. “The pitch doesn’t have to be slow. Indeed, during Richard Hadlee’s heyday here, all the pitches were notably fast. It looks like England rely too much on the swing side of bowling and hope for the right atmosphere. Granted, you can only do the best for the bowlers you have, but this can change rather faster than pitch preparation time allows.
“Also, is there something about Mr Ashwin that means he has to be referred to as R? Ravi, or Ravichandran isn’t difficult to spell or pronounce. Some players are often known by their initials but this is usually for more than one e.g. KL Rahul, AB de Villiers etc.” It is, but he prefers to be just R Ashwin. Like J Hus, or O Henry.
The moment of the day yesterday was Alastair Cook’s catch at first slip to break the big stand between Rahane and Kohli. He saw it so late – or sensed so late that Bairstow wasn’t going for it – that his body only moved towards the ball after his hand had nabbed it. “Trying to find a video of Cook’s much lauded catch yesterday, one that plays in my region (SE Asia),” writes Leo Nine. If you’re on Twitter, here’s a cheeky grab off the telly. And who are we to talk about that.
Corrections and clarifications
Set fair? What kind of idiot would write that? There’s been some drizzle at Trent Bridge, and the start has been put back to 11.15. So we’ve got time to give this a spin – the Velvets at their most velvety.
The first email of the day comes from somewhere in Germany. “Could you please show the link to the radio commentary,” asks David. With a bit of luck, it’s here.
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to the second day of the third Test. Sunday is the new Friday, and India are themselves again – making biggish runs after being put in to bat by Joe Root. A score of 307-6 was just what the Indians needed, and just what the series needed. They were wary and watchful, mostly playing the ball under their eyes, yet they still rattled along at three and a half an over. They even made it to the second new ball for the first time in the series.
They lost Hardik Pandya to the last ball of the day, but they still have R Ashwin, far too classy to be down at No 8, and the dashing debutant Rishabh Pant, who bats as if he’s the love child of MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag. It would serve England right if the game was taken away from them by a 20-year-old.
The pitch is slow but even-handed, offering something for everyone except the raw pacemen that neither side has brought along. India could end up with anything from 330 to 500. Ideally, it’ll be around 350, which might lead to their being 100 ahead on first innings, if their seamers pitch it up like Woakes, or 100 behind if Root or Cook (or Woakes) gets the big score that eluded Kohli and Rahane. The weather is set fair, and so is the game.
Updated
