Key events
WICKET! Crawley c Sarfaraz b Ashwin 0 (England 21-2)
Brilliant from Ashwin, Crawley pushes forward and turns the face but Sarfaraz is waiting at backward short leg and pouches it like a hamster.
4th over: England 18-1 (Crawley 0, Pope 16) Pope purring along here, tickle his tummy and watch him drive through mid-on for four. Another four from a thick edge, but it flies wide of the slips – he’s got luck today too.
4thover: England 9-1 (Crawley 0, Pope 7) That’s more like it, Pope cuts a loose one for four, picks up two more through midwicket. He’s looking calmer today.
3rd over: England 2-1 (Crawley 0, Pope 0) Another immaculate maiden from Bumrah.
2nd over: England 2-1 (Crawley 0, Pope 0) Duckett had already been beaten in the sweep and looked perilously close to popping the ball to short leg. I guess he wanted to impose himself. Full marks anyway for a purposeful gallop and swipe, just a shame he missed the ball….
“You may be subconsciously running away from reporting about England team. That is my psudo- psychological interpretation of your sleeping through alarm!
You could be onto something there Nitin Deshpande.
“Anyway, chin up. Scriptwriter for Stokes may yet come up with a blockbuster, after more recent string of flops.”
WICKET! Duckett b Ashwin 2 (England 2-1)
Oh dear, dear, dear. Duckett advances down the pitch to his fifth ball and loses his stumps.
England’s second innings innings – India lead by 259
1st over: England 0-0 (Crawley 0, Duckett 0) Bumrah it is, on the money straight away. A strangled lbw appeal from the fielders. More Jerusalem from the Barmy Army. An immaculate maiden.
Oh and here’s a stat, Bashir is the first England bowler to claim a five wicket haul before he was 21.
“Morning, Tanya” Hello there John Starbuck!
“First thing I have to do at 04:00 is feed/water the cat. Is your dog so demanding? And incidentally, we learned yesterday that he goes over the road to a neighbour and gets fed biscuits. Dogs don’t work that way, I think.”
Dog will take biscuits but really only wants endless love. She is not actually with me as I left my youngest watching the boxing with friends last night and I think she and he must have broken the rules and she’s tucked up with him.
Arghgh, England are out already and I haven’t made a cup of tea. Anyway, here we go, heart in mouth etc.
In the TNT studio, they are talking all things Jimmy. “I think the greatness came when he honed his skills in 2010, when people said he could only take wickets in England when it was swinging,” says old captain Cook.
Steven Finn, “He always made you feel awful as a bowler, I remember fielding at mid-off and watching him shouting at himself when he bowled one bad ball in a brilliant spell.. It was that attention to detail and always making sure he was mentally on it to deliver. He’s not lost pace or zip or bite off the surface and is even posting photos of himself topless on instagram.”
WICKET! Bumrah st Foakes b Bashir 20 (India 477 all out – lead by 259)
And that’s the lot! A fifth for Bashir as Bumrah is drawn forward and the third umpire takes a look – he doesn’t get his boot behind the line in time. England have rattled through India in 20 mins, but now the real challenge begin. Bashir and Anderson squabble over who should lead the team off, in the end they put their arms round each other and cross the line together.
124th over: India 477-9 (Bumrah 20, Siraj 0) England’s greatest bowler collects 700 in the most beautiful cricket ground in the world. I hope there’s a reward in that for the old boy. What a perfect bowling machine.
WICKET! Kuldeep c Foakes b Anderson 30 (India 477-9) Anderson’s 700th!
Roughs Kuldeep up with a bouncer, picks him up next ball with an edge to Foakes. And that’s the magic 700! From 187 Tests at 26.52. He allows himself a small smile and holds the ball aloft.
123rd over: India 477-8 (Kuldeep 30, Bumrah 20) Lots of “come on Bash” enthusiasm from the fielders, a bit of Free Fallin from the DJ and a neat clip for one from Kuldeep.
122nd over: India 476-8 (Kuldeep 29, Bumrah 20) It’s Jimmy, on the search for number 700. The pitch is true, the sun is out, though it is only 12 degrees out there. Kuldeep picks up a single from a thick edge.
121st over: India 475-8 (Kuldeep 28. Bumrah 20) Just in time to see the first over to the strains of Jerusalem. Sun is out and all is beautiful. A single off Bashir.
Apologies! I slept through my alarm.
Preamble
Hello! Is this the last 3.30am alarm clock for this series? I think it might be. England are looking the wrong way down a kitchen roll tube at this Test match – two days down, 255 runs in areas, two Indian wickets yet to get.
If Friday’s play was enlivened in English eyes by Ben Stokes’ barnstorming re-emergence as a bowler, and the patience and skill of rookie spinner Shoaib Bashir – the bald reality is that Gill and Rohit got off to a flyer and the next two bright young things, Devdutt Padikkal (65) and Sarfaraz Khan (56), ensured that India were not going to collapse into a convenient pile.
Of course Stokes may make a hundred tomorrow, buoyed by the return of his second/third skill. Ollie Pope will be out to prove that he is everything that the first Test suggested, not what the subsequent ones slipped into. Root will be elegantly diligent, Crawley has one more chance to turn an excellent 70 into a hundred. But first they. must overcome Bumrah, and then must overcome Siraj, while Ashwin, Jadeja and the wizardry of Kuldeep Yadav and his unpickable googly awaits. Your bets, ladies and gentlemen, your bets.
Play starts at 4am GMT.
