Key events
55th over: England 186-5 (Root 58, Foakes 26) Ashwin, who has been coming round the wicket, goes back over. It doesnât bother the batters, who take a single apiece.
54th over: England 184-5 (Root 57, Foakes 25) Root attacks Kuldeep for the first time, playing an off drive. Ashwin puts in a chase and gets a hand to the ball, but allows his foot to meet the rope at the same time, so thatâs four.
53rd over: England 180-5 (Root 53, Foakes 25) Ashwinâs over is an instant replay of Kuldeepâs, yielding just a single to Root.
52nd over: England 179-5 (Root 52, Foakes 25) Root, tied down by Kuldeep, gets out again with that wristy flick to midwicket. He and Foakes have now added 67 â I missed the fifty partnership, which came up with that late cut by Root off Akash just after drinks.
51st over: England 178-5 (Root 51, Foakes 25) Root lives a little dangerously again as he plays a sweep at Ashwin, gets a glove on it, and sees the ball hit Jurel on the boot. âAnother dropped chance!â says Graeme Swann, possibly mistaking commentary for sledging.
50th over: England 176-5 (Root 50, Foakes 24) When youâve reached a milestone 91 times, it doesnâât make you do anything different. Root plays out another maiden from Kuldeep, who has been tidy (5-2-8-0).
Fifty to Root!
49th over: England 176-5 (Root 50, Foakes 24) As Rohit brings back Ashwin, Root has to keep out a grubber. But he can see a gap at midwicket and a canny flick of the wrists soon sends the ball there. He goes to 50 for the 91st time in Tests, off 108 balls with just four fours. âHe looks in control,â Cook says. âReal determination.â
48th over: England 174-5 (Root 49, Foakes 23) Root is dropped! Dhruv Jurel, the new keeper, did so well in the last Test, but he canât hold onto a tough chance now as Root goes back and glances Kuldeep. The signal is leg-byes, so Root misses out on his fifty for now. He remonstrates with the umpire, gently, with a big Rootish smile.
47th over: England 170-5 (Root 48, Foakes 22) As the designated driver, Foakes is allowed to drive. Facing Akash, he follows that handsome straight drive from before drinks with a handsome cover drive, his first four off a seamer. He even thinks about a pull, but checks the shot halfway through and doesnât get a run for it.
46th over: England 165-5 (Root 47, Foakes 18) Kuldeep to Foakes: no alarms, and no runs either. With 18 off 73 balls, Foakes is back in his role as the designated driver of the charabanc.
45th over: England 165-5 (Root 47, Foakes 18) Itâs still Akash Deep, the man of the moment, bustling in. Root defends with a straight bat while reserving the right to play a late cut for four.
Morning everyone and thanks Rob. Root and Foakes âplaying very well”,â says Alastair Cook. And Root ris even closing in on his first fifty of the series.
Drinks
With that, Iâll hand over to Tim de Lisle for the rest of the day. Bye!
44th over: England 157-5 (Root 43, Foakes 18) Itâs starting to look like England may have been wrong to play so aggressively in the morning session, though Iâm not sure anyone could have foreseen the extent to which it would flatten out after lunch.
Foakes dances down to drive Kuldeep stylishly for four, placing it wide of the stumps at the non-strikerâs end on this occasion. After a confusingly good first hour for lunch (49 runs, no wickets, 19.5 overs), itâs time for drinks.
43rd over: England 156-5 (Root 42, Foakes 14) Deep has changed ends to replace Jadeja. A nipbacker hits Foakes on the top of the thigh and flies away for four leg-byes. Jaiswal might have done better in the gully.
Foakes demonstrates Englandâs growing confidence with a nice straight drive that takes out a stump at the non-strikerâs end. He was too good for his own good.
42nd over: England 151-5 (Root 41, Foakes 14) Kuldeep Yadav, whose figures in Rajkot donât tell the story of a match-turning performance on the third morning, replaces Akash Deep. Root gathers another run with a gentle work to leg; thatâs your lot. He has 41 from 90 balls, Foakes 14 from 58.
41st over: England 150-5 (Root 40, Foakes 14) A maiden from Jadeja to Foakes. Before lunch the run-rate was 4.63 per over; in the afternoon session itâs 2.26. Root and Foakes have played well, with patience and common sense, but it does feel like there is more to it than that. Either that or Iâm in denial about the virtues of old-fashioned Test cricket.
40th over: England 150-5 (Root 40, Foakes 14) Itâs hard to explain the contrasting behaviour of the pitch before and after lunch. Root and Foakes have added 38 in 15.5 overs with few alarms, and I donât really know what else to say.
39th over: England 147-5 (Root 40, Foakes 11) Foakes feels defensively at Jadeja and is beaten. This pair are playing as straight as possible and with soft hands, so itâll be interesting to see if any edges carry to slip.
38th over: England 146-5 (Root 40, Foakes 10) Root flicks Deep for two, helped by a slight misfield at midwicket, and then slashes a drive behind point for four. Thatâs Englandâs first boundary in exactly 100 balls, which sends a very confused message to the new breed of cricket fans.
Deep ends the over by slipping one past Rootâs defensive push.
37th over: England 138-5 (Root 33, Foakes 9) Whatâs going on with this pitch then? Itâs been almost benign since lunch. Root can create that illusion when heâs playing well, but Foakes also looks secure in defence. Jadeja finds Foakesâ inside-edge once in that over; everything else hits the middle.
England have scored 28 runs in the last 15 overs.
36th over: England 137-5 (Root 32, Foakes 9) The debutant Akash Deep, who took three wickets in a startling new-ball spell, replaces Ravichandran Ashwin. Foakes survives a hopeful LBW appeal after pushing at a big inducker; it was too high but that was an excellent comeback over from Deep. Any chance of seeing any nerves? Couple of half-trackers?
35th over: England 135-5 (Root 32, Foakes 7) England havenât hit a boundary in almost 14 overs, which might be a record for the Bazball era. Jadeja hurries through another maiden to Root, who now has 32 from 77 balls. The pitch has been confusingly well-behaved since lunch.
34th over: England 135-5 (Root 32, Foakes 7) Root flicks Ashwin to cow corner for two, which takes him into the thirties for the first time in the series. Itâs been an eye-catchingly chaste innings, with nothing resembling a risky or unorthodox stroke.
33rd over: England 132-5 (Root 29, Foakes 7) Make that 20 runs in 8.5 overs â which have been bowled in just over 20 minutes.
32nd over: England 131-5 (Root 28, Foakes 7) The pitch has done less for the bowlers since lunch. There are two possible reasons: the morning moisture has gone, and the ball is getting old. Either way, England have added 19 in 7.5 overs of <i>relative</i> comfort.
31st over: England 129-5 (Root 27, Foakes 6) A maiden from Jadeja to Root, who is finding the middle of the bat, mainly in defence, with greater frequency.
30th over: England 129-5 (Root 27, Foakes 6) Root works a pair of twos off Ashwin, then steals a single on the off side. Heâs starting to look relatively â and I canât italicise that word enough â comfortable, which is a double-edged sword for England. If he can manage risk on this pitch, Indiaâs batters should be able to do the same.
29th over: England 124-5 (Root 22, Foakes 6) A menacing over from Jadeja, everything darted in towards Foakesâ front pad. He defends pretty well, though it does feel like another LBW might be in the post.
28th over: England 123-5 (Root 21, Foakes 6) Root has dealt in soft-handed accumulation throughout this innings. I was going to say âlow-risk accumulationâ but nothing feels low-risk at the moment. Heâs playing well, though, and Foakes has made a busy start at the other end. No boundaries since lunch, just ones and twos.
