England v India at Old Trafford 4th Test July 23-27th

Neil Whitaker reports

Day 1

RISHABH Pant whose batting exploits has thrilled the crowds this summer had to retire hurt on 37 playing an outrageous shot to Chris Woakes.

After adding 72 with Sai Sudharsan, Pant  attempted to reverse sweep Woakes but missed the ball which thundered into his pad.  Umpire Rod Tucker said not out so  England reviewed it,  the replay showed that Pant had got a faint touch to it.  While  the replay was being shown Pant was in agony with blood coming from his foot. In the previous over he pulled Liam Dawson just over Joe  Root’s head at mid-wicket then he smashed the next ball just wide off Ben Stokes at mid-off who didn’t see the ball. 

Sudharsan said: “He was  in a lot of pain and he’s been taken for scans.  At the time he was batting well.”  Dawson  said: “It didn’t look like a good injury and I hope he is alright but I can’t see him taking much part in this game.”

Earlier Pant swept Jofra Archer off one knee to  square leg boundary and this time it was Dawson on the boundary who couldn’t see the ball.  He smashed Bryson  Carse for a straight six over long-on.  

Sudharsan, playing his second Test hit his first 50 when he drilled Root to the extra cover boundary. His 50 came from 134 balls and included six fours.  He timed an extra cover drive to perfection off Dawson to the boundary.  On 20 he clipped Stokes off his legs but was dropped by stumper Jamie Smith who did the hard work by getting across to the legside but he fumbled the ball.  After pulling Stokes to the square leg boundary he pulled the next just short off Dawson at leg slip.

On 35 he  got a leading edge to Carse and the ball went to mid-off and set off for a single. Sudharsan got over halfway down the pitch, was sent back by Pant, dropped his bat but eventually made his ground. In poor light Sudharsan hooked Archer and Carse on the fine leg boundary, couldn't see the ball, was late moving for the ball and couldn’t prevent the boundary.  In Archer’s next over he pulled him to the mid-wicket boundary with his right knee in mid air.

Just when England and the crowd thought he would bat into the second day he top edged a pull off Stokes but found Carse at fine leg.  Sudharsan said: “I was disappointed that I got out to that shot.”

Sudharsan who was dropped after making a duck and 30 at Headingley on his Test debut was one of three changes India made to the team beaten at Lord’s.  He came in for Karun Nair and added: “ I don’t look at it as pressure replacing a player, I look at it as a great experience and play the situation. I always try my best for the team. 

Shardul Thakur replaced Nithish Reddy and Anshul Kamboj came in for Akash Deep.  For England 35-year-old  Dawson returned to the England sided for the first time in eight years for the injured Shoaib Basher and he  got a wicket with his seventh ball.

For the fourth Test in a row England captain Stokes won the toss and this time decided to field on a humid day. In the first 30 minutes Woakes had both openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul playing and missing and was unlucky not to take a wicket.  He induced KL Rahul to drive him and KL Rahul was lucky he bisected gully and point to the boundary, bringing up his 1,000 Test  runs in England. KL Rahul ended the first hour by cutting Carse to the cover boundary.

Jaiswal threw the kitchen sink at Carse to the third man boundary to bring up India’s 50 in the 18th over.  In the penultimate over before lunch Jaiswal uppercut Stokes for the first six of the match over third man. 

Carse’s  first five overs  in the morning were from the Brian Statham end but after lunch he switched to the Sir James Anderson end and Woakes switched to the Brian Statham end.  Jaiswal cut Carse to the cover boundary.  But the change of ends did the trick for England.  Woakes who got the breakthrough when he got one to leave KL Raul who tried to punch it straight but got a thick outside edge and ball flew to Zak Crawley at third slip.

Jaiswal reached his third 50 of  the series  with a sharp single  off Carse.  This one came from 96 balls with nine fours and a six.  He drove Woakes to the long-off boundary.

35-year-old Dawson got a wicket with his seventh ball back in Test cricket when he floated one up to Jaiswal who pushed forward, edged him and Harry  Brook took a low catch at slip.  His last victim was South African Hashim Ali at Trent Bridge in July 2017. Jaiswal’s 58 came from 107 balls with 10 fours and a six.

Dawson said: “We had a decent morning and it was nice to contribute to the team with my wicket,I hopeI get a few more tomorrow.  To get that wicket was a nice relief. I knew what to expect when I came back in the team.  I think that I am now more consistent than I used to be but I still go through some tough days but I just try and bowl my best balls.”

India captain Shubman Gill was greeted by a chorus of boos. He took a couple of paces down the pitch to Dawson and just cleared the flying Stokes’ right hand ala 2019 World Cup.  But soon Stokes had his revenge when he trapped Gill leg before playing no shot, umpire Tucker took an age before he gave Gill out. Gill reviewed it and the replay showed it to be hitting off stump.

Day 2

ENGLAND openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley put India’s bowlers to the sword on the second day in the afternoon sunshine at Emirates Old Trafford.

The pair added 166,  their fifth century partnership in 53 Test innings and their second 150 partnership of  the series. They raced to 50 in 11 overs, their 17th 50 partnership,as the Indians looked to be trying too hard.  On 26,  Crawley offered no shot to Mohammed Siraj and was hit on the pads, India’s appeal was turned down so  they reviewed it. The replay showed it to be missing. He drove Mohammed Siraj  beautifully to the long-on boundary. After tea he clipped Jasprit Bumrah off his toes to the mid-wicket boundary. He late cut Shardul Thakur to the point boundary to bring up his 18th Test 50 and his seventh against India with nine fours from 73 balls.

He said: “I like batting with Duckett, he takes a lot of pressure off me.  Our  height difference makes it difficult for the bowlers. Today I wanted to play every ball on its merit, I think I put pressure on myself because I always want more and I owe it to myself to have a few good performances like today.  I was annoyed when I got out.

”Crawley  took a couple of paces down the pitch to Ravindra Jadeja and launched him over long-on into the Sir James Anderson end for a six. A couple of balls later he swept him to the fine leg boundary. The partnership was broken when Jadeja had to bowl his final ball of his fourth over again because he had overstepped.  Crawley edged the extra ball and KL Rahul took a low catch at slip.

Duckett steered Thakur to third man for a couple to bring up his 21st Test 50. This one came from 46 balls with seven fours.  Later in the over he opened the face of his bat to the cover boundary to bring up the hundred partnership with Crawley in the 19th over.  When he looked set for another century he became Anshul Kamboj first Test victim when top edged a cut and substitute wicket keeper Dhruv Jurevis accepted the catch.

Rishabh Pant came back to the crease and completed his sixth  50 of the series and his 12th against England. He squeezed Ben  Stokes out to the cover boundary to bring up his 50 from 69 balls with two sixes and  three fours.  Before play started he hadn’t been seen at the ground. But at 12.28 and to the amazement of everyone in the ground he hobbled his way back to the crease at the fall of Thakur’s wicket.

Crawley added: “We didn’t know where to place the field to him.”  While Thakur said: “He was in a lot of pain and it was an amazing thing that he did for the team.

”Pant hooked Jofra Archer’s  slower ball bouncer over the square leg boundary for a six.  During his innings he passed the number of runs scored by a wicket keeper in a Test series in England beating Alec Stewart’s 466 against South Africa. But  he was on his way back to the hutch when Archer knocked his off stump cartwheeling three times  out of the ground and then sticking back into the ground.

England started the day with the new ball and Archer got  Thakur to edge it but it didn’t carry to Harry Brook at second slip. Archer got a breakthrough with his next ball when Jadeja edged him and Brook took a good catch moving to his right.

After that wicket England couldn’t control  the ball.  Both Archer and Chris Woakes were guilty of spraying the ball about giving stumper Jamie Smith a torrid time. When they found the edge it would drop short off the slips of it would sneak along the ground through the slips to the boundary as it did to bring up India’s 300.

England were convinced that Thakur had gloved Stokes but umpire Rod Tucker was unmoved. Disbelieving that it wasn’t out, England reviewed it, the replay showed it had missed everything.Washington Sundar did well to dig out a yorker from Stokes and also made sure that the ball didn't roll back on to his stumps. Thakur edged a drive off Stokes and Duckett at gully took a great catch leaping to his right.

The umpires took the players off because of rain shortly before the scheduled lunch time.  After lunch Washington survived two consecutive leg before appeals off Archer. Stokes reviewed the latter and the replay showed it was umpires call pitching just outside leg.  Washington batted beautifully for his 27 but he couldn’t resist hooking Stokes but he found Woakes on the fine leg boundary edge.

Three balls later Stokes got his fifth wicket when debutant  Anshul Kamboj edged the perfect ball to Smith.  It was Stokes first five wicket haul in Tests since 2017 against the West Indies and his fifth in total.Crawley said: "He's got his pace back and he is  a proper wicket taker.  He is a phenomenal cricketer and its great to have him in our team.”

Bumrah had a big swing at Archer and everybody thought he had missed it apart from Joe Root who convinced Stokes to review it which he did. The replay showed that Bumrah had gloved it but also that Bumrah knew he had gloved it.  Archer couldn’t believe he had got his third wicket.  This is the  first Test that India have fielded five  left handers and they all reached double figures.

Thakur added: “I felt  that we batted well in the morning, and with the new ball  we could have been better and had more patience but we were trying to find some swing but it didn’t happen.  We let them get more runs than we wanted and here when the sun is out the runs come quickly.”

Day 3

AT15.35 Joe  Root guided Anshul Kambo to third man for a single to take him to number two in the all time list of greatest run scorers in Test history.

He  is  now on 13,409 Test runs,  2512 runs behind Sachin Tendulkar who like Root represented Yorkshire.  Root  started the third day needing  120 more runs and it was a day of landmarks for him. He became the first player to score  1,000 Test runs at Emirates Old Trafford, not bad for a Yorkshireman. Root glanced Anshul Kamboj off his legs to the fine leg boundary to bring up his 38th Test  century and his 12th against India. His century from 178 balls with 12 fours.

Ollie Pope said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if he passes Tendulkar. He just keeps getting better and better. He’s not someone who the team depends on but he always steps up.  He would have been aware of the landmark but he’s not a massive one for landmarks.

He loves playing Test cricket for England and he’ll keep playing as long as he wants to.

”India thought they had Root leg before to Mohammed Siraj after he had added 10 to his overnight score but umpire Ashan Raja was unmoved so India reviewed it. The  replay showed it was missing the leg stump because Root was well forward and the ball had a long way to travel.

India could have got rid of Root when he  fended off a short ball from Mohammed Siraj that went to gully, Pope set off for a single.  Root hesitated but Pope kept going eventually Root set off and luckily for Root, Ravindra Jadeja’s threw  to the bowler's end but there was nobody backing up. The eventful single brought up the 50 partnership between Root and Pope.  Apart from that yes/no interlude they had been quick and decisive between the wickets putting pressure on the Indian fielders.

Root reached his 67th Test 50 from 99 balls with six fours with Pope they made it to lunch without any further mishaps adding 77 in 28 overs.

Pope pushed Jadeja to mid-off for a single to bring up his 16th Test 50 from 95 balls with six fours.  He drove Anshul Kamboj beautifully straight to the boundary to bring up the hundred partnership Root in 38 overs.

Washington Sundar was the forgotten man of the Indian attack; he wasn't  brought on to bowl until the 23rd over of the day. It was Washington Sundar  who broke the partnership after lunch and one wicket brought two.  Pope pushed forward at Washington’s first ball of his second over after lunch edged it and  KL Rahul at slip took a good low catch as his body was going to his right. His 71 came from 128 balls with seven fours. He added 144 in 38 overs with Root. 

Pope added: “I felt really good out there and was annoyed when I got out.  I think we are in a good position because the pitch will deteriorate over the next couple of days.” Washington Sundar  took his second wicket in 13 balls when Harry Brook raced down the pitch to him, missed the ball and  substitute keeper Dhruv Jurel had an easy stumping.  India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel said: “Subman Gill made the choice to stick with the seam bowlers a bit  longer but when Washington Sundar got the ball in his hand he did a great job.

”Root turned Washington Sundar  to mid-wicket for a single to take England into the lead.  India delayed taking  the new ball until  the 91st over and immediately Mohammed Siraj hit Ben Stokes’ midships.  That didn’t deter Stokes, as  charged Anshul Kamboj for a straight four.  By now the Indian players were out on their feet. Jasprit Bumrah bowled with an injured heal and Mohammed Siraj hobbled off the field as Root and Stokes took their partnership past 100 and England’s lead beyond 100.

Stokes drove Washington  Sundar  to mid-on for a single to bring up his 36th Test 50 from 97 balls with three fours and in the next over he fell over while reversing sweeping Jadeja to the cover boundary.  After adding another 10 he had to retire hurt with cramp.It took a brilliant peice of bowling and fielding to get rid off Root who pushed forward at Jurel who became the substitute wicket keeper to take two stumpings in a Test match.  Root’s 150 came  from 246 balls with 14 fours and it was his 16th Test score of 150.

Morkel said: “ Root is a fantastic player who do have a lot of weaknesses in his game.

”Bumrah came back into the attack and got a wicket with his first ball when Smith edged him and Jurel took a low catch diving forward, to became Jurel’s fourth victim in the innings.

Chris Woakes was bowled by one that kept low from Mohammed Siraj.  The departure of Woakes saw the return of Stokes.

Morkel added: “We were much better with the ball today than yesterday and I thought the way the boys responded was good to see. We weren’t our best yesterday. We had no energy on  the ball. We kept turning ack to our strike bowlers because we wanted to take wickets.

This is our first five Test match series in a while but getting the guys ready for this series isn’t an issue. We were fantastic in the last two matches but yesterday we were on the back foot and it’s a fast scoring ground here.”

Day 4

ENGLAND captain Ben Stokes became the fourth England player  to score a century and take five wickets in an innings and passed 7,000 Test runs.

The other England players were Ian Botham, five times, Tony Greig and Gus Atkinson.  Stokes  reached his first Test century since  he hit 155 against Australia at Lord’s in 2003 when he turned Mohammed Siraj off his hips to the fine leg boundary.  This century came from 293 balls with nine fours.

He danced down the wicket to Washington Sundar for a six over long-on but he didn’t think that it had enough power to go over the boundary to take Stokes passed  7000 Test runs.

Stokes went down the pitch to Ravindra Jadeja and drove him to the long-off boundary for a six, the ball never went above head height. After smashing Jadeja over long-off for another six he tried hitting the next ball over long-on but found Sai Sudharsan on the boundary edge. His 141 came from 198 balls with  three sixes and 11 fours.

England’s Assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said: “We saw a  couple of shots that showed that Stokes is back to his best.  He has been desperate to get a big score and contribute more than he has.  He has been searching for opportunities to do so.  It’s nice when you have the top six or seven performing.

He loves batting and bowling, he wants to be involved in everything all the time.  But we have to manage his workload, we want him to play every game he can.

”The way he batted, the majority of the crowd at Emirates Old Trafford thought he would declare as Stokes showed his intent on getting quick runs when he  pushed the second ball of the day from Jasprit Bumrah to mid-on, set off for a quick single and just beat the throw.  In the next over he  lent into a cover drive off Mohammed Siraj to the boundary. 

But he batted on.   Brydon Carse joined in with the six hitting by smashing Washington over mid-wicket.  He hit Washington another six this time over long-on. Carse tried to reach his 50 with another six this time off Jadeja but this time he found Mohammed Siraj who had his back to the play. He turned around and took the catch.

Earlier lost their first wicket of the day in the fifth over when Liam Dawson was bowled by Bumrah with one that kept low after the previous ball had whistled past his nose.  In the previous over he pulled Mohammed Siraj to the fine leg boundary.

England’s 669 is  their fifth  highest total and their  highest total  at Emirates Old Trafford. It was the first time that Bumrah has conceded 100 runs in a Test innings.

Trailing by 311 India lost two wickets in their first over.  Chris Woakes’ fourth ball forced Yashasvj Jaiswal to play at it and he got a leading edge to Joe Root at first slip who caught it at the second attempt.  Woakes got on an hattrick when Sai Sudharsan tried to pull his bat away from one that Woakes angled in at him. Sai Sudharsan simply guided the ball to Harry Brook at second slip.  It was the first time that India lost two wickets without a run since the Lord’s Test in 1959 and the first time that they have lost two wickets without a run in any Test since 1959.

Shuban  Gill survived a leg before appeal off Jaffa Archer’s second ball  when umpire Ahsan Raza turned down the appeal so England reviewed it.  The TV umpire Kumar Dharmasena gave it as umpire’s call because there was no conclusive evidence that the ball hit Gill’s pad first.

After seeing balls rise violently and then keep dramatically low we wondered if India would make it to the close of play

Gill drove Carse elegantly straight to the long-off boundary and followed it the next ball with a better shot to the long-on boundary. Anything that Gill can do KL Rahul can do as well as he drove  Carse to the long-on boundary in front of the Lancashire members. 

Gill  pushed Dawson into the covers for a single to bring up the 50 partnership with KL Rahul.  He beautifully drove Archer to the cover boundary and he uppercut the next ball to the third man boundary.  On 46 after two no balls from Carse, Gill edged a drive off Carse and Dawson at backward point leapt to his right but couldn’t hold on to the chance.

He brought up his eighth Test match 50, which came from 77 balls with eight fours, when he drove Root through long-on for three, 77 balls with eight fours.

Dawson switched to the Sir James Anderson and almost got a wicket with his fifth ball when KL Rahul got an inside edge on to his pad and luckily for  KL Rahul  the ball dropped to the right side off his leg stump.  But he carried on and reached his 19th Test 50  which came from 141 with eight  when he guided Dawson through point.

He was outscored by Gill but when he got into the 70’s he caught and overtook his captain. When he cut Woakes to the point boundary it not only took him to 80 but to 500 runs in the series.By the close Gill and Rahul had taken their partnership to 174 and India trail England by 137.

Trescothick added: “It was frustrating,we expected to get a few more wickets, the ball was nipping about but I thought they did well.  We had one opportunity to get a wish we've got some work to do tomorrow.”

Day 5

INDIA managed to bat the final  day out losing only two wickets, to draw the fourth Test to keep the series with England alive with one  Test to play at the Kia Oval.

England were only able to take  two wickets throughout the day as Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sunadar batted  155 overs to deny England victory. But the match will be remembered for the farcical way the match ended.  With the final hour about to start everyone thought that India captain Shubman Gill would declare and everyone would shake hands but with both batters in their 80’s Gill decided to bat on and get their hundreds which they did but none of the England players applauded the two batters.

For Washington Sundar it was his first Test  century and it was Jadeja’s fifth century and his third against England.England captain  Ben Stokes said: “They did incredibly well but I don't think that they  would have gained  more satisfaction walking off with a century than going off having got your team out of a serious situation and saving your team from a series defeat with one game to play.  But credit to the way that  Washington and Jadeja batted.

”We took the game as far as we could but I was not going to risk any of my frontline bowlers in the final 15 overs getting injured with one Test to play.  Until the final session we thought that we were only 10 minutes away from blowing the game open.

”While India coach Gautam Gambhir said: “Would they walk off if someone in the England side was approaching his first Test hundred. It was an opportunity to put Washington at number five and we weren’t surprised about what he did today. I think the whole country can be so proud of him.

The whole  team want to fight for the common man in India.  This is  the foundation of our team  and we have got to  give  credit to the character they’ve shown. I think the country should be talking about the way Rishabh Pant batted with a broken foot for years to come. But we are still one down in the series, hopeful we can make 2-2 at the Kia Oval.

”The day should be remembered for the  third wicket partnership between Gill and KL Raul who added 188 in one ball short off  70 overs for the third wicket.  After not bowling on Saturday Stokes opened the bowling from the Sir James Anderson end and with his fourth ball he wrapped Gill on his pads with one that kept low. In his next over Gill drove him in the air to extra cover where despite Ollie Pope’s attempt at full stretch Pope  could only parry it.

England wasted their final review in the seventh of the morning  when they thought  KL Rahul, on 89, had gloved a sweep off Liam Dawson. Umpire  Ahsan Raza said not out and the replay agreed with him.In the next over England got a wicket when Stokes nipped one back, kept low and hit KL Rahul on the knee roll. It was India’s fifth longest partnership in England and KL Rahul’s 90 came from 230 balls with eight fours.

In Stokes’ next  over he got one to rise at Gill which hit his  right glove and rebounded into his helmet and Gill did well not to drop his bat or step on his wicket.

Chris Woakes took the new ball when it was due with India on 198 for three. Gill pulled Jaffa Archer’s first ball with the new ball to square leg boundary to bring up India’s 200.

Gill pushed Woakes into the covers for a single to bring up his fourth century of the series, his ninth in total, from 228 balls with12 fours.  He joins Sir Don Bradman and Sunil Gavaskar as the other captains who have scored four centuries in a series. On 101 he left one from Woakes which nipped back and missed Gill’s off stump by a whisker.

After 6 ¼ hours at crease Gill played a nothing shot at Archer with India on double Nelson and top edged it to Jamie  Smith.  Gill faced 238 balls for his 103 which included 12 fours.

Gambhir added: “Gill is living up to his talents. When he goes into bat he goes in  as a batter not as a captain.

”Jadeja flashed at his first ball from Archer and the ball flew above head height to Joe Root at first slip who parried it then had another two attempts before ball fell to the ground,  He drove  Archer after lunch to long-off boundary. He drove Dawson straight to the long-off boundary and cut the next ball for three,

With Washington Sundar, he had a different attitude about the way they went about saving the match. Having seen Gill and KL Rahul retreat into their shells allowed England to dictate the pace of the game. Before lunch only 49 runs were scored in 26 overs for the loss of two wickets compared to the afternoon session when 99 runs scored in 29 overs.

As the session went on  England never looked like taking a wicket and started to run out of ideas on how to get one.  Washington Sundar pulled Stokes over the square leg boundary for a six to bring up India’s 300. He clipped the next ball along to bring up his fifth Test 50 from. Later in the over Jadeja cut Stokes for four to not only bring up his 27th Test 50 from 87 balls with five fours,  but  his fifth 50 of the series and to  take India into the lead.

Washington Sundar smashed Root over the infield for another four. Jadeja took a couple of laces down the pitch to Dawson and lofted him to the mid-wicket boundary. Two balls later Jadeja went down the pitch and smashed Dawson to the long on boundary.

Jadeja took India to 350 when he thrashed Dawson to  the long-on boundary, and he  drilled Root at catchable height a couple of yards wide off Archer at mid-on to the long-on boundary.

Stokes added: “It was a hard fought game and I thought that we set the game up really well. 

The way that Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley put pressure on the Indian bowlers.   You have to give a lot of credit to the  Indian  batters.  We tried to change the field to make the Indian batters feel uncomfortable but they did well.

”The draw is only England’s second draw in 40 matches of the Bazball era and the other drawn match was affected by rain.

SCORECARD

Clive Lloyd and Farokh Engineer