As it happened – England vs India, 1st Test, Trent Bridge, 3rd day
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Sidharth Monga06-Aug-2021Rain has the final say on day threeGetty Images
No more play. The rain has won this session. India now have a maximum of 196 overs in which to force a result. I leave you with a teaser from my final report
Ravindra Jadeja pulled out his sword celebration, Jasprit Bumrah hit a six and also his top score in Tests, Mohammed Shami displayed text-book defensive pushes, and Mohammed Siraj had some fun too as India’s much-maligned lower order took them into a position of strength, a first-innings lead of 95 runs, in the Trent Bridge Test. Not before KL Rahul added 27 to his already fine overnight 57.Rain, though, frustrated them as only 49.2 overs of cricket was possible on the third day, England playing out the 11.1 bowled to them without the loss of a wicket. India now had a maximum of 196 overs to force a result in.Not long ago, in the World Test Championship final in the same country but against a different opponent, India lost their seventh wicket on 205, the same score as here, but lost the remaining three for 12 runs. Then the last four added 28 in the second innings. The difference in two lower orders – home ones generally tend to outscore their opponents – was believed to be the difference between the two sides leading into the series.
Then Ben Stokes pulled out.5.40pmOkay the rain is back, and the resumption is pushed back to 6.10pm.5.25pmThe rain has cleared out, and we are set for a resumption at 5.45pm. Remember we can play on till 7.30pm.England catch a breather5.10pmTwenty-five minutes into the final session of the day, England catch a break with the rain arriving without any forecast. It is not very dark, and it is windy, so we are not expecting this to be a long shower. England 25 for 0 in 11.1 overs, Burns 11 off 38, Sibley 9 off 33. Batting has looked slightly easier than the first time around, which shows in how India are operating with two slips and a gully, but by no means would you call it easy out there. Be back soon.Tea. (And cakes for India)4.25pmEngland go to tea at 11 for 0 with largely uneventful six overs behind them. They still trail by 84. Yet another session that belonged to India with their score going for 205 for 7 to 278. Interestingly India opened with Bumrah and Siraj, and not Shami.
India lead by 953.45pmHave India already sealed the game? They lead by more than half of what England scored. What will please India the most is that their three wickets have contributed 73. That’s 30 more than what England’s last seven managed. This is what happens when the opposition doesn’t have the class of New Zealand. A lot of debates centred on India’s bowling to lower orders, but once you take Ben Stokes out, things change. The opposition doesn’t have the depth. Sam Curran is their fourth bowler. You run through their lower order and also you are not facing fresh bowlers because the opposition is playing 3.5 bowlers. On such days, the luck rolls with you too: three catches and five run-outs missed.How many will England lose by the time they wipe off this deficit? Will they even wipe it off? We will find soon.Three Nos 11? Think again?3.30pmAll the talk of India carrying three Nos 11, and justifiably so, and all of a sudden India add 31 since Jadeja got out. Shami and Bumrah have shown better application here, and then the luck has also conspired to help them. And that flat pulled six from Bumrah is something he will want to frame. Also the straight drive from Siraj. And the push for three from Shami to bring Jadeja back on strike. India’s back-room staff will be happy with what they are seeing. India’s lead is now 81.England meanwhile have dropped three catches and missed five run-outs. It is also a timely reminder that there is nothing wrong in India’s bowling against lower orders, they used to be up against deeper line-ups. Now with an allrounder out, you can see the difference.Sword time2.55pmRavindra Jadeja has a fifty now. This is such a smart innings. he batted normally with KL Rahul – except for some dodgy running – but has taken charge after he got out. With England looking for an opportunity against the lower order, Jadeja has manipulated strike beautifully and has played the big shots perfectly. He has gone well past the 50 and his sword celebration. In a 25-ball partnership with Mohammed Shami, Jadeja played 22 balls and scored 24 runs to take the lead to 49.Off the last ball of an Ollie Robinson over, Jadeja tried the big hit, but ended up skying him to be dismissed for 56 off 86. India 232 for 8 in 75 overs, lead by 49.They finally hold one in the slipsShardul Thakur, brought in as the fourth seamer who can also bat on evidence of his Brisbane exploits, has nicked Anderson and Joe Rot takes a really good catch low at first slip. India 205 for 7 still. Lead by 22. Jadeja with three Nos 11 now.KL Rahul c Buttler b Ander 84Finally the excellent Rahul knock comes to an end. The key, Anderson might say, is to induce a thin edge so that the keeper finishes off the job. This one just held its line as Rahul pushed at it outside off. This is a high-quality innings in a Test where only one other batter has crossed 50. India 205 for 6 in 68.5 overs, Rahul gone for 84 off 214, Jadeja unbeaten on 38 off 58.Anderson unlucky againAnything that goes wide of England’s wicketkeeper, and England bowlers must be getting justifiably nervous. Your captain picks three-and-a-half bowlers because the allrounder is not available and your batting is wonky, they still put on 183, and then you create two chances against the top scorer but both are put down. James Anderson is doing well to not blow a gasket.In the first over after lunch, KL Rahul makes the rare unforced error, playing a nothing half-flick-half-cut to a short-of-a-length ball, gets the edge, and Joe Root spills it at first slip. I wonder if Jos Buttler could have gone for the rebound. It doesn’t look too far from him. India 193 for 5 in 67 overs, lead by 10, Rahul dropped on 52 and 78.Here’s Sampath Bandarupalli with a timely stat: “22 catches dropped off James Anderson’s bowling since the start of 2018 (including 16 in England). Only Nathan Lyon (27) had had more catches dropped in his bowling in Tests in this period.”India’s sessionGetty Images
India are eight runs in the clear and still have their wickets standing. That is an excellent position to be, and they have reached there thanks to the KL Rahul vigil. It is quite remarkable how many different roles he has played for India. And just when they had moved on from Rahul the opener, a window opened up for that role and he has moved in once again.India added 66 in that rain-interrupted session. Rahul and Jadeja have added 46 for the sixth wicket now. The big number to look out for here is that out of 66 overs, the fourth bowler, Curran, has bowled only 11. And Broad has been expensive. So a bulk of the threat has come only from two bowlers. Will they be feeling overworked? There is an opportunity for India to cause a severe dent in this Test if they can bat the next session out. A lead of 80 could be a match-winning one.India in the leadKL Rahul continues to play his excellent knock on comeback, and he has support from Ravindra Jadeja, and India now are in the lead. The partnership is in the 40s. India’s XI showing more bowling and batting depth here than England. India 186 for 5 in 64.1 overs, Rahul 75 off 198, Jadeja 24 off 46.Jadeja. Anderson. Trent BridgeThat’s the post.Four, six, gone12.15amWhat hectic action upon resumption. Rishabh Pant plays like Rishabh Pant does. Field is spread because there is hardly a score on board. An edge goes wide of gully, a bouncer top-edged for six, and all of a sudden England are just 38 ahead. And then one stops at Pant and he ends up chipping it straight to short extra cover. Not quite how England have planned it, but it is a wicket that allows them to breathe. India 145 for 5 in 50 overs, Pant gone for 25 off 20. KL Rahul still there on 58 off 159.Fascinating Anderson interview11.50amGetty Images
For those who can’t see the lovely James Anderson interview with Michael Atherton because of geo restrictions, here is a summary of it. The most fascinating part of it, of course, is the two balls that Anderson bowled to Pujara and Kohli to get them out. Let’s just look at it from the point of view of Pujara and Kohli and imagine what they are seeing.First thing: wobble seam.Second thing: shiny side outside.That is a definite sign the bowler is trying to bring it in. It is the change-up most classic outswing bowlers use these days because otherwise it becomes easy to line them up and leave them alone outside off. The moment you see the wobble release, or a split-finger release, your antenna is up for the lbw ball. If it is anywhere close to off, you are going to play at it.Add to it that Anderson says he held the shiny side outside to get some drift in because in his first spell he had allowed India to leave just a few too many. If you do that, if the ball does anything in the air, it will drift in. And both those balls swung in. For Pujara it pitched on off, so there is no doubt he had to play at it. An entrenched Kohli might have left what he faced alone, but this was the first ball he was facing and surely he had not seen so closely what had happened with the Pujara delivery because he just walked out immediately.So both of them played at the ball, both of them covered for the inswing, and the ball landed on the seam and left them. “I wish I could say I am this good,” Anderson tells Atherton on Sky TV “but it [what happens after the ball pitches] is a fluke.”My thinking there is: I’m using the wobble-seam grip so I want the seam to wobble slightly so it might nip either way. And putting the shiny side on the left, trying to angle it in, so if there is any swing it will drift and it might seam either away once it hits the pitch. So it is just trying to make them play basically. If I tried to bowl that ball with an outswing shape there’s every change he would have left it. So it’s just to make them play, trying to drag them into the shot and also brings the stumps into play.”Absolute bloody genius. It is a nightmare for the batter. All that happening, and the ball landing on a length. And then doing what it does? What do you do, Jack?It has stopped raining, and we are due to resume play at 12.05pm.It’s raining again11.10amOnly 11 balls bowled before the rain arrived, but one of them was Rishabh Pant charging down the wicket and driving James Anderson wide of mid-off for four. So frustrating this contest hasn’t been allowed to take off.From Sampath BandarupalliJames Anderson’s 14th over:First ball – 2:28 PM local time (Day 2, Session 2)Second ball – 4:15 PM local time (Day 2, Session 3)Third and Fourth balls – 4:59 to 5:01 PM local time (Day 2, Session 3)Fifth and Sixth balls – 11:00 to 11:01 AM local time (Day 3, Session 1)First time an over was spread across three different sessions. (Where BBB is available)Anderson-Atherton masterclass
We are starting on time10.45amIt rained in the morning, but the weather looks good for now. Play will begin on time, 11am. Another lovely session in store. James Anderson, you’d think, has the bit between his teeth, but India know they are just 58 behind and have six wickets in hand. The forecast for the rest of the day is a mixed bag. Don’t think we will get a whole day’s play in, but looking at the conditions, how much time do we really need for a result?