Ravindra Jadeja leads India fightback but Cook ensures England end the day on top
India began the day with their innings wobbling, on 174/6 in reply to England’s 332 all out. With two of their less-heralded batsmen in the middle – Jadeja playing his first game on tour, and Hanuma Vihari on debut, though boasting the highest average by any active player in first-class cricket – some predicted England would gain a match-defining lead.
Instead, India battled and scrapped back into the contest. The most eye-catching passage came after Vihari was dismissed, but the importance of his 56 should not be undervalued. He has a reputation as someone with a cool head who values protecting their wicket over taking the attack to the opposition, and these qualities were in evidence as he repelled England’s bowlers almost throughout the morning session.
Jadeja meanwhile, known mostly as a hit-and-hope counter-attacker, was putting on a decent impression of a proper batsman – perhaps not surprising for a man with a first-class average nearing 45 and three triple-centuries to his name – but took Vihari’s dismissal, who was caught behind off some combination of bat and pad off the bowling of Moeen Ali, as an invitation to tee off.
Most impressive was his dismantling of his old foe James Anderson, and by the end he was almost toying with him. Short balls where flat-batted back over his head for four, full balls pumped him in the same direction for six, and length balls smeared across the line. His fifty was brought up with a typical swashbuckling swords-dance, and he dragged India back into the contest.
There was method in the madness too, as he shepherded the tail expertly. From Vihari’s dismissal to the end of the innings he faced well over half the deliveries, and the contribution of Nos. 9-11 to the 55 runs added by the last three wickets was just five runs. Jasprit Bumrah faced just 14 balls for nought in a partnership that neared 10 overs and was worth 32.
England were run a little ragged, captain Joe Root taking longer and longer to set his field placings, and still failing to prevent Jadeja from taking a single off the last ball. He wasn’t helped by his bowlers, with Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid in particular dropping too short too often. The latter did claim the wicket of Mohammed Shami, but that was more down to an error of judgement, the tail-ender hoicking into the deep rather than blocking out the over.
Blameless in the bowling department was Ali, who gained lovely drift as well as variable turn. Ishant Sharma was fooled in similar fashion to Vihari, nicking off as the ball drifted away from him, and he could take some credit for the final wicket to fall, his tight bowling meaning Jadeja went for a run that wasn’t on, and Bumrah was caught short.
Still, India went into the innings break with their tails up, and bowled exceptionally well with the new ball, as they have done throughout the series. There were no freebies on offer for Alastair Cook, who received a rousing standing ovation as he begun his final Test innings, but he didn’t need them, looking secure, elegant even, as he made his way to 46 unbeaten at stumps.
The same can’t be said for Keaton Jennings, hard though he tried. Having been caught in the cordon many a time in the first three Tests in the series, he has since opted to leave the ball more, and has been dismissed twice offering no shot.
He was here the victim of a fine piece of bowling, the ball from Shami coming in in the air and nipping in further off the pitch, but it smashed the stumps rather than pickpocketing the bail. It was a significant misjudgement.
Ali was the next to go for 20. He looked more fluent than he had in his gritty first-innings half-century, taking on the spinner to good effect, but fell in trying to do so. It was again a fine piece of bowling, dipping at the last to spin through the gate as Ali tried to drive.
Root then entered, and batted almost as well as he has this summer in Test cricket. Before his head has been falling over and he's been out LBW. Today, moving across to off stump, leaving outside his eyeline and clipping anything else through leg, he looked refreshed. By stumps he was 29*, and England were 114/2, leading by 154, and however well Jadeja and India played, England ended the day as they started it, on top.