England had been grinding their way towards survival on the final day of the Edgbaston Test. A mammoth 608-run target had long faded from imagination, and all that mattered now was time, and the prospect of resistance. After early blows to Ollie Pope and Harry Brook, the morning then belonged to Ben Stokes and Jamie Smith, who appeared to be stitching together the sort of partnership that could frustrate India’s victory charge. But just when it looked like the hosts would go to lunch with no further damage, a flicker of tactical brilliance from India’s captain changed everything.
With a few overs left before lunch, Nitish Reddy, India's pace-bowling all-rounder, had already given his jumper to the umpire, seemingly preparing to bowl. But Shubman Gill made a sharp last-minute switch. He brought Washington Sundar on instead, sensing a crack at the left-handed Stokes before the interval. What followed was a two-way spin-attack on the English captain, with Ravindra Jadeja probing him from the other end, too.
Also read: Ravi Shastri 'can't believe' Shubman Gill's tactics after India's delayed start, Akash Deep proves him wrong immediately
Rishabh Pant, behind the stumps, had initially asked Sundar to let Stokes take a single and face Jadeja at the other end. That plan, however, didn't come to fruition, and Jadeja, as usual, bowled a quick second-last over to allow Sundar another go at Stokes.
{{/usCountry}}Rishabh Pant, behind the stumps, had initially asked Sundar to let Stokes take a single and face Jadeja at the other end. That plan, however, didn't come to fruition, and Jadeja, as usual, bowled a quick second-last over to allow Sundar another go at Stokes.
{{/usCountry}}The result? Potentially game-changing in the context of this game. On the third ball of the last over before Lunch, Sundar trapped Stokes lbw for 33, delivering the biggest strike of the first session. It was clever off-spin that drifted into the pads and found just enough deviation to beat the inside edge.
Stokes, trying to defend from the crease, missed the line. The ball struck pad before bat, and umpire Sharfuddoula raised his finger without hesitation. The England captain reviewed, but it was in vain.
A gritty morning session
Until then, it had been a gritty phase for England. Pope was the first to go in the morning, beaten by the extra bounce from Akash Deep. Harry Brook soon followed, chipping a delivery from Ravindra Jadeja to backward point. But Stokes and Smith had settled in, soaking up pressure. Their partnership began to offer England hope of dragging the game deep, possibly even saving it.
India, however, kept probing. And it was Gill’s decisiveness and Sundar’s execution that broke the back of England’s fight just before the interval. With over half the side now back and two sessions still to go, the door to victory has creaked open again for the visitors.