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4 days ago
9
As England walked off for lunch on the fourth day at Old Trafford they could have been forgiven for thinking their opponents were already beaten. India had endured the kind of morning that usually dictates a couple of paracetamol and the curtains being redrawn, such was the pummelling that Ben Stokes had delivered with bat in hand.
It was not just Stokes, either. After his first Test century for two years drove England to 669 all out, the tourists found themselves tasked with negotiating 15 minutes before the break — a negotiation that could scarcely have gone worse than had a couple of contestants from The Apprentice been handling it. Chris Woakes conjured up two wickets in two balls before India had made so much as a dent in the whopping 311-run deficit.
And yet by stumps this fourth Test had taken on a different complexion courtesy of a couple of hugely determined performances from Shubman Gill and KL Rahul. Resisting for two wicketless sessions that forced the Saturday crowd to make their own fun, they steered India to 174 for two at stumps. Though still 137 runs behind, there is a chance of rain on Sunday and the draw that seemed so unlikely at lunch remains a possibility.
Kudos must first go to the two set batters, not least after 157 overs in the field. Though a decent surface in the main, enough deliveries were shooting low but at no point did their focus waver. Both do obduracy in the most elegant of ways, with Gill’s low-slung hands still caressing the ball and Rahul all technical excellence. Reaching 78 and 87 not out respectively, two of India’s senior pros had delivered a message to those lower down.
But it also hinted at some of England’s shortcomings when Stokes, their standout performer with the ball this summer, is out of action. The supposed cramps that forced Stokes off the field on day three may well be something more sinister going by the sight of him clutching his upper leg a couple of times. After that five-wicket haul in the first innings, all Stokes could do here was run through the tactical playbook and wait.
Woakes was the pick and his new ball burst was something to behold. First went Yashasvi Jaiswal, squared up and edging to slip as Joe Root clung on at the second attempt. Then came a dismissal that Gautam Gambhir could relate to, Sai Sudharasan’s attempted leave first ball catching the bat and also flying to the cordon. Think Gautam Gambhir at the Oval in 2014, even if India’s head coach would sooner forget it.
But beyond this, the chief threat came from Liam Dawson trying to trap the two right-handers on the backfoot with a bit of skid. Yet every time the ball was met with just enough willow. And it was Dawson who put down the one genuine chance to materialise during an afternoon that seemed to just disappear. Gill skewed the ball hard to backward point on 46 only for it to burst through the all-rounder’s hands.
Had it stuck, India would have been 74 for three and Brydon Carse would have opened his account for the match. Jofra Archer, his fellow quick, got the new ball to talk but a couple impassioned appeals for lbw were declined. This five-match series has asked plenty of both sets of fast bowlers — something India’s will certainly attest.
Stokes had given them the run around in the morning, both through the completion of his 14th Test century and 125 further runs being trowelled on to England’s pile. This was the first time for 11 years that India had shipped a 600-plus total and Jasprit Bumrah’s runs column ran into three figures for the first time in his stellar career.
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If the return of Stokes as a force with the ball has arguably been the biggest plus for England in this series then this innings was not far behind. Resuming on 77, Stokes opened up with a couple of imperious fours off Mohammed Siraj and then tipped past three-figures with a flick down leg. Out came the celebration not seen for a good while — that crooked finger salute and a look to the sky to honour his late father, Ged.
This was the first time an England captain has scored a century and claimed a five-wicket haul in a Test match and soon the afterburners were lit as he and Carse (47 from 54 balls) ransacked 95 runs for the ninth wicket. When Stokes monstered Washington Sundar for a straight six it took him past 7,000 Test runs, something only Garfield Sobers and Jacques Kallis had previously combined with 200-plus wickets.
But unless Stokes is able to resume his pursuit of the latter on the fifth day, or others muster one last effort in his absence, India could yet wriggle out of this one.
