Mumbai: Rishabh Pant had put his body on the line when he came out to bat with a broken toe on the second morning of the fourth Test match at Old Trafford, Manchester. Even though he was unable to run, in the company of the tail-enders, he helped India cross the 350-run mark. Such heroic efforts usually inspire teammates and galvanise them to give their best.
It was time for India’s new ball bowlers to pounce on the opportunity created from the fight put up by their lower-order. To the dismay of their supporters, however, the India pace attack turned out to be listless as they wasted the new ball and surrendered the advantage to England.
Left-handed batter Ben Duckett led the way for the home side with an enterprising 166-run opening partnership with Zak Crawley in just 32 overs. Duckett smashed 94 and Crawley hit 84.
At the end of day’s play, England had reached a total of 225/2 to cut India’s lead to 133. At stumps, Ollie Pope was unbeaten on 20 Joe Root was batting on 11.
Replying to India’s total of 358, Duckett pushed the visitors on the backfoot immediately with a flurry of fours to race to 43 off 41 balls as England reached 77/0 in 14 overs before tea. The break provided no respite for the visitors. On resumption, England’s openers continued their run-making uninterrupted.
Crawley took 13 balls to get off the mark, but once off the blocks, the right-hander never looked back to carve a sublime 84.
{{/usCountry}}Crawley took 13 balls to get off the mark, but once off the blocks, the right-hander never looked back to carve a sublime 84.
{{/usCountry}}In helpful conditions, it was one of India’s most forgettable bowling displays in recent times. What hurt India more was their talismanic fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah also couldn’t make the early inroads that the team was banking on. The pace unit was attacking the stumps but with no movement on offer, it was easy pickings for the openers.
Duckett was severe on debutant Anshul Kamboj. Given the new ball ahead of Mohammed Siraj, the 24-year-old from Karnal, Haryana, had a tough start and was taken off after three wayward overs (3-0-17-0). The only delivery of note was in his first over when he generated enough movement to take the gloves of Ben Duckett but the leg-side chance eluded a diving Dhruv Jurel, who was keeping in place of Pant.
Siraj was on from the eighth over but it didn’t help matters. Bumrah’s first spell read 5-2-22-0 and Siraj’s 4-0-26-0.
England were off to a flyer and the extra 50 runs that the lower-order had accumulated with gritty batting were wiped off inside 10 overs.
In order to help his debutant bowler settle down, skipper Shubman Gill switched Kamboj’s end for his second spell, the 11th of the innings. It didn’t help either. He was taken off after figures of 5-0-29-0.
Reeling under the onslaught, Gill looked out of ideas. His plan to bring in Shardul Thakur to bowl in tandem with Bumrah also didn’t help in stopping the flow of runs. Bumrah was tidy after tea with figures of 5-1-8-0 but runs were being leaked from the other end with Thakur leaking 35 in five overs. Duckett raced to his 50 off just 46 balls while Crawley reached the mark in 72 balls.
India had been truly rattled by Bazball. England’s 100 was up in the 19th over. With England cruising along on 124/0 in 25 overs, Gill introduced Jadeja for the first over of spin. Crawley greeted him with a clean six down the ground and followed it with a lap sweep for a four. To complete a miserable over, there were four leg byes and one no ball. The 15-run over took the run-rate above five-an-over. The 150 was up in the 29th over.
When India finally got the breakthrough in the form of Crawley, dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja, their lead was down to 192 runs.
There was some solace for Kamboj when he denied his tormentor, Duckett, the century, getting him caught behind in the second over of his third spell.
Sublime Stokes
The tone for England’s fine display on the second day was set by their captain’s brilliance. Ben Stokes picked the wickets of Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar and Anshul Kamboj to add to his scalps of Shubman Gill and Sai Sudarshan on Day 1, to complete his first five-wicket haul in eight years.
The highlight was the breakthrough he provided when Thakur and Washington were leading a rearguard action with a 48-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
The England all-rounder lured Thakur with a fuller delivery and the edge was snaffled by Duckett at gully. It has been the most rewarding series of Stokes’s career as bowler and he now tops the wicket-takers’ chart with 16 wickets.
It’s the warrior spirit which helps Stokes stand out. In the game and on the day there was another from his tribe, Pant. Their battle on the second day made for compelling watching. Even though Pant was hobbling around on one leg, Stokes didn’t hold back and tested him with yorkers aimed at his broken toe. Pant managed to complete his fifty but Stokes’ had put forward another example of how he wants his team to play – no quarter asked for, no quarter given.