Right, that’s it from me. Stick around on site for Vic Marks’ report and Ali Martin’s thoughts but from me, cheerio!
So India go 2-0 up with two to play. England were behind in the game from the first morning, when they were reduced to 87 for four, and never recovered.
India win by eight wickets
Parthiv goes over the top of extra-cover for the four runs that take them to a comprehensive victory.
20th over: India 100-2 (Kohli 6, Parthiv 63) Parthiv biffs four more into the leg side off Rashid and tries to finish things off with another couple of big hits but can only pick out fielders. Two from the last means they’re nearly there, though. Three more needed.
19th over: India 93-2 (Kohli 4, Parthiv 58) Batty, who surely won’t be in the side in Mumbai, continues. Indeed there are plenty of selection issues for England to ponder over the next nine days. The batsmen milk a few singles and need just 10 more.
18th over: India 89-2 (Kohli 1, Parthiv 57) The India captain gets off the mark with a single.
WICKET! Pujara c Root b Rashid 25 (India 88-2)
Pujara top-edges a sweep to square leg, which brings a micro-second of disappointed silence from the home fans in the stands before they realise that mean Virat Kohli will be coming out to the middle. The sight of India’s No3 trudging off accompanied by wild cheering is a strange one.
17th over: India 88-1 (Pujara 25, Parthiv 57) Pujara times Batty all along the ground to cow corner for four, a glorious shot. A single from the last means he keeps the strike.
16th over: India 83-1 (Pujara 20, Parthiv 57) Rashid continues but this is one of those occasions when no bowler really wants the ball in their hands. Two singles from the over.
15th over: India 81-1 (Pujara 19, Parthiv 56) Gareth Batty gets a bowl. Parthiv cuts for four. India need 22 more to win.
14th over: India 76-1 (Pujara 19, Parthiv 51) Rashid returns and Parthiv edges over Stokes at slip, with the all-rounder chasing all the way to the boundary, diving in an attempt to make the save and careering into the advertising hoardings, all in an attempt to save one run. Parthiv clubs the next over the top for six and chops for a single that takes him to 50 (off 39 balls), his first Test half-century since April 2004.
13th over: India 63-1 (Pujara 18, Parthiv 39) Stokes looks to bounce Parthiv, who IPLs the ball over Bairstow’s head with a neat uppercut. Just 40 more required now and you get the distinct sense now of a batting team really enjoying themselves and a fielding really not.
12th over: India 57-1 (Pujara 17, Parthiv 35) Moeen continues and Parthiv is uncharacteristically subdued. For a while. The last ball is a miserable dragged-down half-tracker and Parthiv carts him away to midwicket to bring up the 50 partnership (off just 62 deliveries).
Updated
11th over: India 51-1 (Pujara 16, Parthiv 30) Pujara brings up the India 50 with a single bunted into the leg side.
@John_Ashdown Okay, John. Slight error: this one beats it by one: https://t.co/8qcvPmtoKC
— Kartikey Srivastava (@Kartikey17) November 29, 2016
But this is it.
10th over: India 48-1 (Pujara 15, Parthiv 29) Parthiv clips Moeen confidently through midwicket for four, taking him to 28 from 22 balls. Again there’s nothing from Moeen to unduly disturb the batsmen.
@John_Ashdown If I've used Statsguru correctly, this should answer the question at 08:57: https://t.co/lV7mcKD8q1
— Kartikey Srivastava (@Kartikey17) November 29, 2016
So no.
9th over: India 41-1 (Pujara 14, Parthiv 24) Parthiv has a wild slash as Stokes strays a little wide but connects only with Mohali air. No shortage of effort from the bowler.
8th over: India 41-1 (Pujara 14, Parthiv 23) Moeen Ali becomes the fifth England bowler to enter the fray. He beats Pujara’s outside edge with one that goes straight on but it’s an otherwise quiet start.
7th over: India 40-1 (Pujara 14, Parthiv 22) Ben Stokes gets the ball in his hand after tea and immediately thwacks Parthiv on the pad. Umpire Erasmus shakes his head but it looks very close. England review and the replays reveal a tiny nick off the inside edge. Parthiv celebrates the reprieve with a chop to third man for four. Seven runs off the over.
And here’s the Spanish-literate Oliver Thorpe: “11 years since my last OBO contribution. The actual phrase is: ‘No hay dos sin tres’ – all good things come in threes. So my next input will be in 2027. Saludos from Madrid.”
Rob Heath has a question for the Statsguru-literate: “Is this, by any chance, the highest aggregate of runs in a Test in which no player scored a 100?”
TEA: India 33-1
So India need just 70 more runs for a 2-0 series lead. Optimism for England comes from Robert Lewis: “As the Spanish have it: ‘si dos, pues tres? – ‘if two, why not three)‘ – or something very like it …”
6th over: India 33-1 (Pujara 13, Parthiv 16) Adil Rashid comes in for a twirl before tea. Pujara clubs a half-volley through the covers for four and a googly beats everything, trundling through for four byes. And that’s tea.
5th over: India 24-1 (Pujara 9, Parthiv 15) Anderson – 2-2-0-0 – continues and after three more dots, Pujara finally makes a dent in his figures with back-to-back boundaries crunched through point. Anderson responds with a short ball that Pujara just about manages to fend away.
4th over: India 16-1 (Pujara 1, Parthiv 15) Woakes comes round the wicket to Parthiv, who is giving every impression of wanting to get on with this. Indeed he’s able to shovel four through midwicket despite a short ball barely getting above knee height. And from the last he crashes a cut through backward point for four more.
“Following Lee Smith’s earlier comment about epic collapses not happening twice in the same day, he seems to have missed Pakistan’s more than admirable effort in New Zealand,” writes Phil Withall. “Three times in a day might be pushing it though.”
3rd over: India 8-1 (Pujara 1, Parthiv 7) Anderson sends down a cracking, lifting delivery that has Pujara dancing up on his toes and desperately fending outside off. England appeal and, once turned down, go upstairs for a review. It’s very close to the gloves … but close only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades, Gorilla.
“I think a word of appreciation should go to Western Australia who have performed the most Lankyesque of Lanks Ups,” writes Lee Smith. “Chasing 335 they have evaporated from 222-4 to 235 all out in the space of nine overs. Of course that can’t happen twice in one day, India will have this sown up in 15 overs.”
2nd over: India 8-1 (Pujara 1, Parthiv 7) Parthiv had begun the over slashing through extra-cover for four then punching down the ground for three. Pujara gets off the mark with a single.
WICKET! Vijay c Root b Woakes 0 (England 7-1)
England have the start they needed. Vijay is straightened up by a delivery short of a length and sends a regulation edge high to Joe Root at second slip.
1st over: India 0-0 (Vijay 0, Parthiv 0) Anderson finds some significant lateral movement, with Vijay shouldering arms outside off and relieved to see the ball bounce an inch over off stump. A maiden to start the innings.
“Odd how much time is spent speculating over whether a side could reach 430 in a 4th innings to win, something that’s never happened once in almost a century and a half of Test cricket,” writes Ian Forth. “And yet getting a side out for under 100 last dig, something that happens quite frequently, prompts almost no such speculation.”
India have around 30 minutes to negotiate until tea, and should wrap this up comfortably in the evening session. Unless something rather exceptional happens …
One for the optimists, England have bowled out India in India for 100 or fewer twice before: Chennai 77 (83 all out) Mumbai 06 (100 all out)
— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) November 29, 2016
England 236 all out
Hameed ends up stranded on 59, with his effort and Root’s 78 earlier the only hefty contributions to England’s total. India need just 103 runs to win the match and take a 2-0 lead in the series.
WICKET! Anderson run out 5
Ashwin continues and Hameed again launches him over the top – this time the ball drops short of the midwicket boundary. But as the batsmen scamper back for a second, Jadeja’s throw from the deep is superb, Ashwin is lightning in shifting the ball back onto the stumps and Anderson is caught an inch short.
90th over: England 235-9 (Hameed 58, Anderson 5) Shami returns, and Hameed cleverly guides a wide one down to third man for four then clips into the leg side for a couple. His first 128 deliveries yielded 23 runs, the next 24 balls have brought 34. And he’s taken the England lead into three figures to boot.
89th over: England 228-9 (Hameed 51, Anderson 5) A huge six from Hameed to bring up his 50, slog-swept with real authority over midwicket. He follows it up with a rock-solid forward defensive. He takes a single off the next to give Anderson two balls to survive … and he does so, just. The last delivery from Ashwin ripped past the outside edge.
88th over: England 221-9 (Hameed 44, Anderson 5) Jadeja replaces Shami and Hameed is again on the offensive, slog-sweeping for four more then shovelling into the leg side for two. And again he takes a single off the last to keep the strike. This has been a really impressive effort from the youngster.
87th over: England 214-9 (Hameed 37, Anderson 5) Hello all. Ravi Ashwin returns and Hameed immediately thick-edges away for four down to third man then carts him over midwicket for four more. The effort of that slog-sweep has clearly caused him some discomfort on his injured finger but not enough to prevent him from taking a single off the penultimate ball of the over. Anderson survives the solitary delivery by playing and missing outside off.
The players take drinks, and I’ll hand over to John Ashdown, who’ll see you through to the close of play. It’s been a thrill. Bye!
86th over: England 205-9 (Hameed 28, Anderson 5) Shami is banging down some beauties. His first ball to Hameed moves fractionally away from the batsman and passes just wide of the bat, and not far from off stump either, an absolute cracker. The next is hooked for four, and then there’s that review, and Anderson survives a run-out near-thing as Hameed tries to retain the strike from the last ball. The drama!
Updated
Not out!
No, they’re not. Not even nearly.
REVIEW! Is Hameed out here?
India think the ball made contact with the bat on its way through to Patel here. But are they right?
85th over: England 200-9 (Hameed 23, Anderson 5) Umesh bowls to Anderson, and starts with five zippy deliveries of shortish length. The last is pitched up but the wide, and Anderson diverts it away for four. England have 200 runs!
84th over: England 196-9 (Hameed 23, Anderson 1) An excellent, aggressive, destructive over from Shami. Crack! He bangs his first ball in short, Woakes tries to hook and misses, and the ball hits his helmet a couple of inches ahead of his right ear. The batsman’s neck protector flies off, and it and the ball drop on either side of the stumps, which remain untouched. And then smack! The next ball is short again, straighter, and flies off Woakes’ right hand. Two balls later Rashid’s on his way, and England’s innings is all but over.
WICKET! Rashid c Umesh Yadav b Shami 0 (England 195-9)
Another short ball, Rashid tries to hook and top-edges to the man at deep square leg!
WICKET! Woakes c Patel b Shami 30 (England 195-8)
The new ball does the trick! Woakes gets hit in the head by Shami’s first ball, and hit in the glove by his second, the ball looping into the keeper’s gloves!
83rd over: England 195-7 (Hameed 23, Woakes 30) Umesh bowls, the ball flies down the leg side with Hameed fending at it, and there’s a loud appeal as Parthiv catches. The umpire is unmoved, and India discuss for a while before coming to the correct decision - there was no nick there. “Enjoyed your ‘What a time it is to be alive’ comment,” writes Tim Creber. “Took me back to watching Chris Tavare late in the day at the Oval, maybe late 70’s. No run for hours, then a four! Cue hundreds of seat cushions flying through the air, sarcastic roars of approval from the crowd. Hameed still has a lot to learn and can never reach Tavare’s boredom levels.”
82nd over: England 195-7 (Hameed 23, Woakes 30) Jadeja returns, and England take their lead beyond 60. India put on 80 runs for their eighth wicket yesterday; this pair are on 45. And here comes the new ball!
81st over: England 191-7 (Hameed 22, Woakes 27) Umesh Yadav returns to the attack, but with the old cherry in his hands. “‘Anything that can happen will at some point.’ Does this mean at some point I will settle down with Natalie Portman for a life of quiet reflection in a Cornish cottage overlooking the sea?” wonders Ian Forth. Content yourself with the knowledge that in some alternate reality she has just brought you a mug of cocoa and is administering an expert back rub. In this particular reality, however, it looks sadly unlikely. If only you and she had unlimited lifetimes, though, it would be an absolute inevitability.
80th over: England 190-7 (Hameed 21, Woakes 27) Hameed gets his first boundary, at the 112th attempt! From nowhere, he drops down on one knee and smashes the ball over midwicket! What a time this is to be alive!
79th over: England 186-7 (Hameed 17, Woakes 27) England’s lead has now passed 50, sitting at precisely 52 as things stand. Can England eke out the 100-odd further runs they need to make things at least temporarily kind of interesting? The next half-hour or so, with the new ball due and presumably coming in an over’s time, should go a long way towards answering that.
78th over: England 184-7 (Hameed 16, Woakes 26) I’ve got to be honest with you, I didn’t see much of that over because I was checking the stats about half-centuries from over 77. Still, I can always just stick a tweet in and hope for the best.
@Simon_Burnton Woakes is a la Ashwin in that he invariably seems to get to 30 or so without being among the big run-scorers. Handy #8s, both
— Energumen (@hubli) November 29, 2016
77th over: England 183-7 (Hameed 16, Woakes 25) A Jadeja maiden to Hameed. Every other batsman in this Test to last as long as 100 deliveries (he’s now on 103) has eventually scored a half-century (Jadeja, Pujara, Ashwin and Bairstow had already reached that landmark by this point, or near enough (Jadeja took 104 balls, to be fair)).
76th over: England 183-7 (Hameed 16, Woakes 25) Three off the first and four off the last help Woakes to a smart little quarter-century. “If England play well today and eek out a cheeky lead, perhaps around 100-150, it could put the cat amongst the pigeons and build a bit of pressure,” enthuses Tom. “Rashid can sort of bat, whilst (statistically speaking) Anderson is due a few runs after his King pair in the last match. I’ve been reading a book called Fluke about mathematical probabilities and, although I don’t fully understand all the maths involved, it pretty much seems to suggest that anything that can happen will at some point if done enough times and also that, due to law of large numbers, Anderson’s average over time should roughly even out with high and low scores - so he’s due a good 30-40 at least to even out the ducks to his overall average during this tour.” Ah yes, “anything that can happen will at some point”. The number of times I’ve told myself that before England set out to chase 400-odd in the fourth innings. Some things can happen but just don’t.
Updated
75th over: England 175-7 (Hameed 15, Woakes 18) Hameed, to be fair, only faces one ball of this Jadeja over. But he doesn’t score off it.
Haseeb Hameed now has the lowest strike rate of any England top order batsman to play five or more innings since 1st Jan 2000 #INDvENG
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) November 29, 2016
74th over: England 172-7 (Hameed 15, Woakes 15) That’s the spirit, Guy! And the lead is 38 now. None of this pessimism, England aren’t beaten until they’re beaten (which, to be fair, they’re going to be).
30 ahead and the game IS ON! @Simon_Burnton ok, it's -2 in Stratford, I'm grumpy & daft optimism is all I have. I'd take survival till tea.
— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) November 29, 2016
73rd over: England 171-7 (Hameed 15, Woakes 14) Another fine shot from Woakes, who sends the ball just wide of silly point and away for another boundary. Hameed has faced precisely 70 deliveries more than Woakes, and scored one more run.
72nd over: England 164-7 (Hameed 14, Woakes 8) Ashwin drops one short and wide, and Woakes smears it past point to the boundary.
71st over: England 156-7 (Hameed 13, Woakes 1) A maiden from Jadeja to get things back under way, and an update about Hameed. Or, at least, an update about a future update about Hameed.
Latest on @HaseebHameed97. He had an X-ray last night which England are assessing. Expect statement later about whether he may leave tour pic.twitter.com/TxMUCZ5T3C
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) November 29, 2016
The players are back out and ready to rock.
It’s not been enormously encouraging for England, but it has been quite an enjoyable morning’s cricket: a fine innings from Root, which ended spectacularly; a thrilling cameo from Buttler; some fine bowling from India and some inspired captaincy from Kohli, plus Haseeb Hameed battling nerves and pain to make a quietly impressive, not totally chanceless but admirably patient 13 from 88 deliveries. I’ll be back for more in a few moments.
Lunch: England lead by 22
70th over: England 156-7 (Hameed 13, Woakes 1) The fielders exchange high fives as they head off for lunch. It’s all about dotting the T’s and crossing the I’s now.
69th over: England 153-7 (Hameed 11, Woakes 0) Jadeja hurries through his over, Hameed dealing with the pressure of having a silly point and a forward silly point, as well as a short leg for the last delivery, crowded around him, which means we’ll be able to squeeze in one more before the break.
68th over: England 153-7 (Hameed 11, Woakes 0) Root’s wicket has certainly taken the gloss off the morning, though it could certainly be argued that it was yesterday’s four wickets that did that.
@Simon_Burnton Aurite, now it IS over for England, no matter what Woakes, Rashid and Hameed do. You can go ahead and publish this :)
— Energumen (@hubli) November 29, 2016
67th over: England 152-7 (Hameed 10, Woakes 0) Another bowling change pays off for India. This is destined to be a match without centuries: Root was the third player to get to 75, but none has gone higher than Jadeja’s 90.
WICKET! Root c Rahane b Jadeja 78 (England 152-7)
That’s a superb catch from Rahane at slip! The ball flies fast off the edge of Root’s bat, and he throws out a left paw and plucks it out of the sky!
Updated
66th over: England 152-6 (Root 78, Hameed 10) It has indeed been a glorious morning for England. Good to see it being recognised.
This gritty partnership - or possibly Pakistan's defeat in Hamilton - has taken England to No 2 in the rankings. Curious business.
— Lawrence Booth (@the_topspin) November 29, 2016
65th over: England 151-6 (Root 77, Hameed 10) Lunch hoving into view now, and this is shaping up to be England’s best session for a while, possibly of the entire Test. Too little too late, etc and so forth.
64th over: England 150-6 (Root 76, Hameed 10) Root tries to sweep Ashwin and gets four runs, but not the way he planned it: the ball flies off the top edge, over Parthiv Patel and away. “Bravo Sam Howard,” roars Brian Withington. “I look forward to discussing the timing of our well judged declaration this time tomorrow.”
63rd over: England 144-6 (Root 70, Hameed 9) Singles off the first and final balls of Jayant’s over extend England’s lead to 10. Hameed has taken 63 deliveries to reach nine runs - it is already by some distance England’s second-longest knock of this innings - and is admirably unhurried.
62nd over: England 142-6 (Root 70, Hameed 8) Ashwin bowls, and Root sweeps through square leg for four. He has half of England’s total and is just playing a different game to everyone else.
61st over: England 137-6 (Root 65, Hameed 8) A few uncomfortable moments here for Hameed against Jayant. He tries to cut one and just misses, then tries to defend one and just misses that as well as the ball stays straight and keeps low.
60th over: England 137-6 (Root 65, Hameed 8) Well, India will bat again. Ashwin’s final delivery is hit very nicely through the covers by Root, and England lead by three! “I feel like the time has come for a moment of greatness for fans of the game to savour,” writes Sam Howard. “The parts are all there: Root has something to prove after his first innings dismissal, one of the best batsmen England has produced for some time. Hameed the brave young hope coming out with a broken finger. The Indians are all over us. The time is right for something great to happen. Or it could be all over in 20 minutes.” Yeah, that’s the spirit! Well, most of it.
59th over: England 129-6 (Root 60, Hameed 7) Spin from both ends as Jayant replaces Shami, and England grab a few singles.
58th over: England 128-6 (Root 58, Hameed 6) Ashwin nearly takes a wicket with his second ball, which takes an edge but flies just to the right of Patel’s gloves, flicking off the webbing and landing short of slip. A maiden, which means Hameed’s run of successive deliveries faced ends at 21.
Agree it strange Hameed didn't bat yesterday. Little finger of top hand least likely to hamper.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) November 29, 2016
Contrast with Joe who for example batted against advice in Caribbean and made brilliant ODI hundred with mangled thumb
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) November 29, 2016
Updated
57th over: England 128-6 (Root 58, Hameed 6) Hameed has faced the last 15 deliveries and he’ll face the next one too, with Ashwin about to do his first bowling of the day. The denouement to the New Zealand v Pakistan Test in Hamilton wasn’t just dramatic, it was historic:
Most wickeets lost in final possible session to lose Test:
— Andrew Samson (@AWSStats) November 29, 2016
9 Pak today
8 SL v Aus Col-SSC 1992
8 E v P Manch 2001
8 I v A Adel 2014
56th over: England 125-6 (Root 58, Hameed 3) Jadeja bowls to Hameed, with a silly point and a silly mid off in place. The batsman defends the first five and has a go at the sixth, not entirely convincingly, inside-edging it away for a single.
55th over: England 124-6 (Root 58, Hameed 2) After 18 deliveries Buttler had got in, hit a six and a four, scored 18 runs and got out again. After 24 deliveries Hameed has two. Shami thumps in some short stuff, and then tries a yorker from the last, which lands perhaps six inches short of the target and is poked away for a single.
54th over: England 122-6 (Root 57, Hameed 1) Root works the ball to long leg and takes a very sharp, briefly scary but ultimately well-judged two. Drinks.
53rd over: England 119-6 (Root 54, Hameed 1) Oooof! Shami gets one to swing in to Hameed, who leaves it and the ball passes a whisker wide of off stump. Patel then dives over it, and it rockets away for four byes; a fine delivery that deserved better. Meanwhile it’s all over in Hamilton, Pakistan going from 131-0 and 204-4 to 230 all out.
52nd over: England 113-6 (Root 53, Hameed 0) An over of two halves for Root, featuring as it does one near-stumping - replays showing that he just grounded his toe in time - and then a nice shot off his pads and through midwicket for four. These aren’t good times for tourists: in Hamilton Pakistan have just lost three wickets in six balls and are 230-9 against New Zealand, still 139 runs short of their target.
51st over: England 109-6 (Root 49, Hameed 0) Shami comes in, to pepper Hameed with some short stuff. There’s not a lot of bounce, though, and by the time the ball reaches the batsman it’s barely at chest height, but it’s wide enough for the batsman to be able to swerve out of the way. After a couple of those he sends one fuller and wider and the batsman waves his bat at it awkwardly. A maiden, and there have now been 15 successive dot balls.
50th over: England 109-6 (Root 49, Hameed 0) He’s still waiting for it, though. Jadeja varies his pace well, gets his line right and Root has to concentrate on survival rather than celebration.
49th over: England 109-6 (Root 49, Hameed 0) Jayant bowls, and there’s a slip, a leg slip and a short leg for Hameed, who still doesn’t panic. First, Root gets another single and stands on the very precipice of the verge of the brink of a half-century. So that’s something.
48th over: England 108-6 (Root 48, Hameed 0) After Root gets a single from the first Jadeja bowls to Hameed, with a short leg, a silly point, a gully and a slip crowding round the bat. He refuses to panic.
@Simon_Burnton Only 27 behind and our brilliant young opener and world best number 3 still at crease together #easypeasy
— Brian (@brianmw58) November 29, 2016
47th over: England 107-6 (Root 47, Hameed 0) That was pretty reckless batting from Buttler. A poor shot, executed with a near-total absence of reck. Hameed, though, is indeed fit to bat, and ready to prove it.
Updated
WICKET! Buttler c Jadeja b Jayant 18 (England 107-6)
Buttler dances down the track and swings his bat, sending the ball straight and true to the only man in the deep, Jadeja at deep midwicket!
46th over: England 105-5 (Root 46, Buttler 17) A couple of lbw appeals, no runs but no joy for Jadeja. The first of those appeals followed a delivery that stayed low and hit Root just above the ankle, but was clearly on its way down leg. The second flicked the glove on its way to the pad, and the umpire tells the fielding side as much as they consider whether to review, which isn’t really his job.
@Simon_Burnton Strewth - umpire giving Kohli tips on whether to use DRS?! #nofreemulligans
— Brian (@brianmw58) November 29, 2016
Updated
45th over: England 105-5 (Root 46, Buttler 17) Buttler slashes the ball down to third man for four, taking England’s score into triple figures and India’s lead below 30 (it’s 29 at the moment, to be precise).
Jos Buttler averages 25.72 vs spin bowling in Test cricket. He has been dismissed by a spinner 11 times in his 26 Test innings #INDvENG.
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) November 29, 2016
44th over: England 97-5 (Root 44, Buttler 11) Root edges Jadeja’s first ball, but it drops well short of the single slip fielder. A maiden. Brian Withington, who emailed yesterday after watching the Revenant before the start of play, is back. “I can’t help feeling that Root and Buttler are going to have to outdo DiCaprio in terms of dragging us back from the dead,” he says. “We watch in hope - no thanks to a Sky iPad App that has chosen this moment to report an “Unexpected Error” - let’s hope that does not presage anything untoward from Root and the boys. I should add that Batty lbw for 0 hardly qualifies as an ‘Unexpected Error’.”
43rd over: England 97-5 (Root 44, Buttler 11) Good running here from Root and Buttler, who turn a single into two and a dot ball into one with some impressive/desperate scurrying. Buttler, who’s not afraid of the occasional heave, then heaves across the line, getting nowhere near the ball.
42nd over: England 92-5 (Root 42, Buttler 10) Blammo! Buttler gets off the mark in yahoo style, smashing the ball down the ground for six, as England grab 12 runs from the over. “I have a dilemma of ‘to be or not to be’ proportions!” declares Mahendra Killedar. “An old pal called suggesting we meet for a meal, it might go on for couple of hours. However I don’t want to miss cricket action. Should I be optimistic and plan lunch or stay honest & go for diner instead?” It sounds to me like you not only want to avoid missing cricket, you want to avoid worrying about missing cricket, and therefore dinner - or at least a decision to make a very late decision - is the only possible call.
41st over: England 81-5 (Root 39, Buttler 0) Runs! Three of the little blighters! Root works the ball to third man for a couple, and then takes one more a couple of deliveries later.
40th over: England 78-5 (Root 36, Buttler 0) Two overs, no runs and one wicket into the morning, the momentum switch has yet to happen. Still, the comeback starts here, eh? Eh?
WICKET! Batty lbw b Jadeja 0 (England 78-5)
The nightwatchman falls to his second ball of the morning! It kept low and went straight, the bat was nowhere near it, and that looked a pretty simple decision.
39th over: England 78-4 (Root 36, Batty 0) Umesh Yadav gets the day started, his deliveries gently increasing in pace from an opening 140kph to a closing 143kph, via a 141kph, a 142 kph and a 144 kph. Root defends. “The clock is saying 10.37pm here, and while I wait for your commentary on day 4 to begin, I have that awful feeling that this is the last time I will be doing this for a week or so,” writes Peter Rowntree. The only way is up, eh?
The players are on their way out. A little fist bump for Root and Batty as their make their way from the dressing room. It’s do or die time for England.
Here’s Michael Vaughan’s unusual day four pitch report (from the central reservation of a nearby road):
Day 4 Pitch Report from Mohali ... #CloseToTheGround ... #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/UcuEdHIrXp
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) November 29, 2016
@Simon_Burnton Between Root, Buttler, Woakes and Rashid, if Eng can add 200 hereon, Ind will have a tricky chase in I4. Test not over yet!
— Energumen (@hubli) November 29, 2016
That’s the spirit. Chin up, lads.
Morning/evening/afternoon/whatever-it-is-where-you-are world!
This time yesterday the match was on a knife-edge. Approaching the start of day four it’s on a spoon-edge: considerably less dangerous (for one side at least) though it remains possible to slip off the edge. With four second-innings wickets down England trail by 56 and look a very long way indeed from potential victory, though at least it looks like Hameed, the opener who failed to open yesterday, will have a go at batting (though Sky showed him batting in the nets without obvious discomfort at lunchtime yesterday, and nothing good came of it).
Hameed just spent 15 minutes batting in the nets against thrown downs from Ramps, Stokes and Finn. No signs of discomfort. Looks set to bat
— Simon Wilde (@swildecricket) November 29, 2016
England’s progress yesterday, both with bat and ball, was slow and awkward (Ravi Ashwin’s bowling figures - three wickets and only 19 runs from 12 overs - tell a tale of absolute domination). Will they have effected some kind of magical overnight transformation? Time alone will tell - and not much of it either.
Simon will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Ali Martin on Alastair Cook and a very rough third day for England.
Alastair Cook has soaked up some tough days during his record 57 Tests as England captain but Monday in Mohali – which ended with him out for 12, his opening partner unable to bat, his side four down and 56 runs adrift with hopes of a series win close to blown – was quite some challenge to his fortitude.
The day had begun with an air of optimism, too. At the start of play England were still 12 runs ahead in the match and while Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja were set from the night before, four quick strikes could have turned their first-innings sow’s ear into, if not a silk purse, then at least something in which to stash some lesser-spotted Indian rupees.
Cliched talk of a big first hour was not limited to the tourists, however, with India too knowing that the initial exchanges could demoralise their opponents. Within the space of one ball, when Ashwin easily clipped a juicy leg-stump half-volley from Chris Woakes to the midwicket fence, it felt like a pressure valve had been instantly released. The home side did not look back thereafter.
Plus, the latest on Haseeb Hameed.
