Half-centuries from Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ravi Ashwin gave India the edge on day two, but England’s bowlers fought back well after tea to stay in the game
11.36am GMT
In the scheme of things, India are on top, as they were at the close yesterday – particularly with Ashwin and Jadeja’s partnership lighting up the closing stages of the day for India. But given that most England followers would have anticipated waking up to the home side being 250-2 or some such, then Alastair Cook’s side deserve great credit for staying in the game, particularly with that stunning little passage of play just after tea when a rash shot, a fine run-out and a couple of excellent deliveries brought a clatter of vital wickets. All England need to do now is wrap up the innings and then bat out of their skins, for a very long time, against the best spin attack in the world on a pitch likely to turn more and more as the match goes on. What could possibly go wrong?
It’s fascinatingly poised nonetheless. Stay on the site for reports, reaction and comment, but in the meantime thanks for your company, emails and musings on bad cover versions. Bye.
11.30am GMT
84th over: India 271-6 (Ashwin 57, Jadeja 31) Anderson bowls the final over of the day, which begins with the limping Ashwin executing a controlled pull off a shorter ball down the deep square leg boundary for one. It’s the only scoring shot of the over, and the last scoring shot of the day. India close 12 behind, after an absorbing, fluctuating day.
11.25am GMT
83rd over: India 270-6 (Ashwin 56, Jadeja 31) Ashwin nudges a short ball from Woakes off his chest for a single – the lack of pace in this pitch is still evident with the new ball. A legside trap is then set for Jadeja – it’s all pretty telegraphed, as is the subsequent wide bouncer – and the batsman is unsnared by it.
11.19am GMT
82nd over: India 269-6 (Ashwin 55, Jadeja 31) This loss of control will bother England: Ashwin reaches his half-century with another fine cover drive for four off Anderson, and follows it with an absolutely delicious maker’s-name-showing straight drive for another boundary. Neither were particularly bad balls, particularly the latter. A single rounds off an expensive over.
11.15am GMT
81st over: India 260-6 (Ashwin 46, Jadeja 31) Woakes is back to take the new ball, but the pattern continues with Ashwin showing good hands to dab away late, square on the offside, for one. No sooner had the Sky commentary team finished musing on Jadeja’s apparent preference for facing spin, than he punches a new-ball seamer exquisitely through the covers for four to bring up a really significant 50 partnership, the first such for this pairing. Having enjoyed that, he plays an even classier shot, clipping a straight ball to the deep midwicket boundary for four more. India will surely get a first-innings lead now.
11.10am GMT
80th over: India 250-6 (Ashwin 45, Jadeja 22) Jadeja pushes Rashid down the ground to bring up the 250. A couple of googlies keeps Ashwin honest in what is a much-needed tight over. He’s bowled exceedingly well today, though Vinod Menon wonders whether he isn’t bowling no-balls when coming from around the wicket. “Always outside the return crease,” he contends.
11.06am GMT
79th over: India 249-6 (Ashwin 45, Jadeja 21) A textbook late cut from Ashwin brings four more down to the third man boundary, as the camera hones in once more on Stokes’s trademark strained exasper-face. Another square cut off Batty brings one more, and England are gagging for the new ball now, surely. You can’t help sensing that if you are going to play three spinners, the third spinner needs to be in the game more.
11.03am GMT
78th over: India 243-6 (Ashwin 40, Jadeja 20) Jadeja really does cut loose this time – Rashid gives one some air, and the batsman does likewise, swinging lustily over the in-field and down the ground for four. Two more backward of square on the offside follow, before Jadeja really hits his straps, clobbering Rashid right out of the blockhole for SIX. In a match of fine margins, partnerships like this and overs like this could prove pivotal.
Bharat Tiwari, meanwhile, has important information on Indian cover versions: “Well Mr Raymond Reardon, I cordially invite you to India to acquaint yourself with this new age-quaint country. To paraphrase wise old Bilbo Baggins, “We Indians don’t know half of the Sitar classics half as well as we should like; and we like less than half of the modern drivel half as well as they deserve.... “Much like the attention some of our middle order showered on the batting, or some of the OBO commentary straying wildly off topic. Lifeless, insipid covers and Starbucks?? I ask you...”
10.58am GMT
77th over: India 231-6 (Ashwin 40, Jadeja 8) Batty is back in the attack – will this tempt Jadeja out of his shell? Not really, no, though he picks up a languid one with a push towards long-on. It’s the only scoring shot of a tidy over, Batty’s best of the innings so far, though the bar wasn’t set notably high.
10.56am GMT
76th over: India 230-6 (Ashwin 40, Jadeja 7) Rashid returns promptly to the attack, concedes one to Ashwin before tucking Jadeja up competently enough until the left-hander cuts expansively for one. As Tim de Lisle reminds us, “Rashid has taken 16 Test wickets in India in three weeks. John Emburey managed eight in 13 years.”
10.52am GMT
75th over: India 228-6 (Ashwin 39, Jadeja 6) We still have 10 overs remaining so play’s likely to go through to 11.30am GMT, and we should see the new ball, if it’s taken. Jadeja takes a single off Anderson’s first ball, before a leg-bye follows after Anderson brings one in sharply and awkwardly at Ashwin.
“You’re inspiring me to think that a fey insipid cover of some classic iconic punk could be symbolic of our times,” writes Robin Hazlehurst. “How Brexity would it be to have a dreamy girly-girly cover of Anarchy in the UK - ‘don’t know what I want...’ Or a C&W version of RATM’s ‘Killing in the Name of’ for all the Trump voters. Wishy washy anger confectioned by marketers, so zeitgeisty for 2016.” Insipid cover versions are what provoked Brexit/Trump in the first place – that’s where yer rage of the dispossessed and marginalised comes from.
10.47am GMT
74th over: India 226-6 (Ashwin 39, Jadeja 5) Moeen pushes a faster ball in and back at Ashwin, who has to play it away late. He gives the batsman no room at all in this over, wicket to wicket while mixing up his flight a little. A very decent maiden.
10.44am GMT
73rd over: India 226-6 (Ashwin 39, Jadeja 5) Ashwin glides Anderson down to third man for a single. Jadeja meanwhile continues to go full-on dour anchorman, leaving or blocking almost everything. On the subject of cutting-edge modern London, Phillip Saunders adds this: “Damn those Romans: draining the marsh and taking the mud alongside the Thamesis fluvius.” Yep damn those poncey artisan Romans, with their hipster beards, beers, cheeses, straight roads and functioning toilets.
10.40am GMT
72nd over: India 225-6 (Ashwin 38, Jadeja 5) Ashwin unfurls a beautiful cover drive, as good as any we’ve seen for a while, hitting Moeen against the spin for four, and carves out a quicker delivery square on the offside for one. Jadeja is not yet showing the inclination or ability to cut loose and when he triest to, he finds a fielder.
10.37am GMT
71st over: India 220-6 (Ashwin 33, Jadeja 5) Jimmy Anderson gets another burst with the old ball (version 2.0), managing a bit of reverse away from the left-handed Jadeja, who’s cautious against the England spearhead. It’s a maiden.
“Do Indians do underwhelming cover versions of the great sitar music classics?” asks Raymond Reardon, while Nigel Steel reminds us: “In his very early days David Bowie (and the Lower Third) covered Chim Chim Cheree.”
10.33am GMT
70th over: India 220-6 (Ashwin 33, Jadeja 5) Jadeja’s single is the sole piece of scoring action from another disciplined over from Moeen. This still feels like a partnership of significance though, and one England need to break. Meanwhile my co-commentator Tim de Lisle, who knows a thing or two about bringing ill-informed music chat to heel, pipes up with some cold hard cricket facts: “England spinners in India: Rashid is already in the top ten. Among leggies, he’s in the top one.”
10.30am GMT
69th over: India 219-6 (Ashwin 33, Jadeja 4) Ashwin appears to be limping – he runs very gingerly after a nudge away on the legside off Stokes – and he looks in more pain after another quick single from Jadeja. But he carries on, and almost plays on, after inside-edging a full delivery. He then gets four from an absolute grubber – banged in back off a length but dibbling onto the toe of the bat and squirting behind the stumps for four.
Here’s William Hargreaves, again: “Starbuck knows his stuff, no doubt (he didn’t sell you that roll, did he?), but there is an overarching subtext, a feeling that we are being turned, by marketeers, into the people to whom they would like to market. We are being soothed into conveyor belt consumption with a background of lift music akin to the tone of the common room in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’.” I don’t know whether John sold me that roll, having never met him, so I’ll have to assume that, yes, it was him. Thanks, John. Can I have one of those ‘customer of the day’ type awards and get a free coffee later?
10.25am GMT
68th over: India 211-6 (Ashwin 26, Jadeja 3) Ashwin cuts for one off Moeen, who drops a little too short and wide at Jadeja and concedes two via a firm cut shot. Would only have been one had the fielding been sharper. Then we have a new old ball, the old one having properly split at the seam and deemed unfit for further use. A replacement is brought out. Moeen keeps Jadeja on the defensive, with Duckett in at short leg and Bairstow blethering away ten to the dozen behind the stumps.
10.18am GMT
Tweet of the session so far? Touché, anyway:
"He has stuffed the young man on debut there," says Nasser re Kohli running out Nair. Can anyone think of another example of such an event?
10.16am GMT
67th over: India 208-6 (Ashwin 25, Jadeja 1) Ashwin plays his favourite shot square on the offside for a single once more off Stokes, who comes round the wicket at the left-handed Jadeja. He gets off the mark with a slightly awkward chop down to third man for one. Ashwin adds one more when he helps a wider legside delivery round the corner, and they call for drinks.
10.12am GMT
66th over: India 205-6 (Ashwin 23, Jadeja 0) Moeen replaces Rashid, who was overdue a break. He doesn’t find the same turn and guile – that’s not what he’s there for – but he’s tight enough. There’s even a run-out referral, as the batsmen mystifyingly change their minds and decline a single from a drive down the ground, and the ball is returned at the stumps, but the non-striker, Jadeja, was easily home.
“Relax,” instructs John Starbuck on the subject of insipid John Lewis-ad style cover versions. “Poor covers are a feature of every age. In the 1950s there were a lot of C & W covers of standards from the 1930s e.g. Slim Whitman - yodelling Indian Love Call, Red Sails in the Sunset; in the 1960s plenty of similar songs were given the Big Ballad treatment (the Bachelors, Frank Ifield); the 1960s-1970s saw plenty of soul covers of C &W (Ray Charles) plus loads of reggae treatments of regular pop songs; then Status Quo began semi-heavy metal treatments in the same way; after that you get lots of actual snippets incorporated into hip-hop. Insipid female covers are just where we’re at now. You can say that at least the new Rolling Stones CD is a homage to the blues, but then that’s how they started out, so fair enough.The rationalisation for many of these is that they’re a return to the roots (Showaddywaddy, Alvin Stardust, Atomic Kitten, almost every boy band) when sometimes it’s just genuine liking for the songs of their youth, and sometimes pure exploitation of known hits.”
10.07am GMT
65th over: India 204-6 (Ashwin 22, Jadeja 0) Stokes tries too hard sometimes and he digs one in absurdly short and it jags high and wide down the legside, beyond batsman and wicketkeeper for four byes. Then a more disciplined, subtle delivery, a tempter outside off-stump that moves just a little off the seam, snares Kohli. The offside plan has worked. A Kohli-in-2014 dismissal. Now England have a left-hander to bowl at at last, with the handy Jadeja in. They’re not into the tail yet.
“Cmon now lads,” writes Bharat Tiwari. “There’s gentrification happening right on the field!! Indians were nattered at the poorly funded English batting and displaced them.
10.03am GMT
Got him! Kohli nibbles at a tempter just outside off-stump, edges and Bairstow takes. This is, one feels, A Moment.
10.00am GMT
64th over: India 199-5 (Kohli 62, Ashwin 21) Rashid strays down the legside a little and it’s too easy for Kohli to nudge it round the corner for two before he drives another wider one to deep extra-cover for a single. Ashwin looks as if he’s been in as long as his captain, to be frank, and plays a similar shot for the same outcome.
9.58am GMT
63rd over: India 195-5 (Kohli 59, Ashwin 20) Ashwin dabs Stokes backward of square on the offside yet again and takes a single. He gets some movement off the seam as he continues to seek to tempt Kohli on the drive, but he’s such an intelligent Test cricketer now and he’s on top of it all. A late cut off a shorter ball brings him one more.
“Just woke up after a long night involving the dreaded beer-followed-by-4am-red-wine sort of night,” writes Peter Salmon, failing to explain why he didn’t then just put the cricket on at 4, fire up the OBO and see it through to the morning. “There is bacon in the fridge, and I’m super hungry. But all others are still asleep. What are the ethics here? How quietly can one cook bacon? No greasy spoon here in Hereford, so its just me and my conscience. I can’t believe that at 46 I’m still having the same moral dilemmas I had at 18.” Simple. A fry-up for the entire household. Wake them all up. The cricket’s on after all.
9.53am GMT
62nd over: India 193-5 (Kohli 58, Ashwin 19) The shackles are really coming off again. Kohli turns Rashid behind square on the legside and such is the timing of the shot and the pace of the outfield that it’s four in the blink of an eye. He then clobbers a loosener through extra-cover, where the fielder gets a hand/wrist to it but can only deflect it and it brings two more. Another off-cut adds another couple. Rashid’s bowled well but might be due a rest now. He’s bowled 20 of this inning’s 62 overs, seven more than the next busiest (Woakes).
9.49am GMT
61st over: India 185-5 (Kohli 50, Ashwin 19) Stokes replaces Woakes – probably a wise change – and finds some bounce from just back of a length, but Kohli once again is on top of his game and he brings up his 50 with a dab past the slips for a single. Ashwin, too, has looked in impeccable touch from the get-go and he plays the most effortless of legside clips for four when Stokes slightly strays from his offside strategy. This has been an excellent partnership already.
“Ah, the ‘gentrification’ and ‘class war’ thing,” resumes William Hargreaves. “I left London ten years ago but follow her like a beautiful ex-girlfrirned who now dates a banker. Understandable from a financial perspective but saddening when it means that her greasy spoons have become homogenised, so to speak.” On an even more serious socio-political note, said Generic Chain Outlet was playing an insipid fey female singer cover version of Nirvana’s Come As You Are that was so fey and insipid it made me want to take a metaphorical baseball bat to the entire music industry. Sooner or later, every loud song in every genre will have been given the insispid fey acoustic cover treatment, and civilisation will finally be at its long-trailed end.
9.43am GMT
60th over: India 180-5 (Kohli 49, Ashwin 15) Rashid tosses one up a little too wide and Ashwin drives easily for one. He’s managing to get the odd one to spit up a bit though, and raps Kohli on the glove, but it bounces away harmlessly. Another single follows.
9.40am GMT
59th over: India 178-5 (Kohli 48, Ashwin 14) Woakes hasn’t quite worked out a line of attack yet for Ashwin, who dabs a short-ish ball away on the legside for one. An attempted yorker keeps Kohli on his toes, but he digs it away well enough, though he’s generally trying to tempt the captain on the drive, with an offside-heavy field set to counter it. But there isn’t a second slip, and Kohli knows it, artfully guiding a late glance in that direction to the boundary for four.
9.36am GMT
58th over: India 173-5 (Kohli 44, Ashwin 13) Ashwin rocks back and cuts Rashid in front of square on the offside for a single, but Rashid continues to do enough with his lengths and spin to generally keep Kohli on the defensive, though he can’t do anything about an excellent late cut from Kohli that brings four off the final ball of the over.
Adil Rashid's Test career bowling average has dropped below 40 for the first time #INDvENG
9.33am GMT
57th over: India 168-5 (Kohli 40, Ashwin 12) India cut loose again? Ashwin gets four with a deft push square on the offside that beats the field. That gap where a gully should be is unplugged, and it costs England four more when Ashwin drives in the same direction with the same result later in the over. Woakes comes back well though and has an lbw shout after spearing one in at Ashwin, but declines to review. The new man in then adds three more with a clip through midwicket.
“Game on,” chirps William Hargreaves. “Did you get anything to eat yet? Dispensing machine Lion bar at the tea break?” Better than that, just: I pottered down the road to Generic Chain Place to get a bacon and egg roll and tea, breaking my usual rule of only buying such items from proper old-school greasy spoons. But due to gentrification and London’s ongoing class war, no such greasy spoons exist in the vicinity. Danny from Withnail and I was right – London is a country coming down from its trip, and he said that in (a fictional) 1969.
9.27am GMT
56th over: India 157-5 (Kohli 40, Ashwin 1) Some nice tantalising pace and drift from Rashid at his fellow spinner Ashwin, who probably didn’t even have his whites, let alone his pads, on 15 minutes ago. No matter, he gets himself off the mark with an effortless glance on the legside for one. It’s a fine over, arguably a better one than the previous two from which he took wickets. This is liquid Test cricket now.
9.24am GMT
55th over: India 156-5 (Kohli 40, Ashwin 0) What is going off out there? Another wicket, this the result of a wicketkeeper fielding at point, gathering and throwing down the stumps at the non-striker’s end, though Kohli’s nonchalance in setting off and then trotting back left something to be desired. Nair might have wanted firmer, wiser direction from his captain there. The new man in, Ashwin, plays out the maiden. This is another pairing that England will need to separate swiftly, and the way this match has turned on its head since tea, who knows, they may have just a half-chance of doing so.
9.22am GMT
Brilliant from Jos Buttler. Kohli drives. Buttler stops, smothers and throws down the stumps in one movement, and Nair, running back at the non-striker’s end, is out of his ground.
9.18am GMT
54th over: India 156-4 (Kohli 40, Nair 4) Rashid’s wrong’un brings another cheap dismissal for Rahane, and another scalp for the leg-spinner. The debutant Nair comes in and is kept on his toes by some nice varieties from Rashid, but he’s off the mark when he meets a more floated up delivery with a textbook cover drive for four.
9.14am GMT
Another? Yes it is! Rahane, a real walking wicket in this series, misreads a Rashid googly that nips back at him just a touch, and is absolutely plumb. A waste of a review too – that looked out straight away.
9.13am GMT
53rd over: India 152-3 (Kohli 40, Rahane 0) Given the surprising early breakthrough, there’s no real reason to persist with Batty, and Cook doesn’t, bringing back Woakes instead. He finds a bit of swing, though still no assistance from the pitch in terms of pace, and Kohli is defensive. A commendable over though, with variety in angles and movement, until Woakes over-reaches himself with the final ball of the over, an attempted inswinger that is over-pitched and pushed too far towards the legside – it beats Kohli, the keeper and zips to the ropes for four byes.
9.09am GMT
52nd over: India 148-3 (Kohli 40, Rahane 0) All those colour pieces being prepared about how India have given England a lesson in steady Test match batting and not giving any wickets away are shredded as Pujara hoiks a poor delivery from Rashid into the deep where Woakes claims the catch. If you’re gonna hoik, hoik hard, and Pujara didn’t. The new man in, the out-of-form Rahane, plays out the wicket-maiden.
9.04am GMT
What a start for England! A couple of loose deliveries starts the over from Rashid, the second of which is swung out to deep midwicket where Woakes rushes in and scoops it up just before it hits the ground to claim the catch. It needs a review, but they’re in little doubt it’s a clean catch.
9.01am GMT
Statistical food for thought, as the players return to the field:
This is now the highest partnership in this match. Best England managed was 69 between Bairstow and Buttler. This is now worth 73 #INDvENG
8.44am GMT
51st over: India 148-2 (Pujara 51, Kohli 40) Batty continues with his round-the-wicket trajectory at Kohli, who finds it too easy to flick him behind square and through a yawning gap for four. The same approach, and ball, brings him two more. Out of nowhere, Batty causes Kohli some discomfort with one that spits up at his glove and dobs down to where short leg isn’t. And that is tea. And my breakfast, hopefully. India’s session in the end, despite England not doing too much wrong. See you in a bit.
8.40am GMT
50th over: India 141-2 (Pujara 50, Kohli 34) As Nasser is pointing out, this is a lesson to England in Test match betting against challenging bowling, one England’s top order took little heed of yesterday. Kohli is again respectful against Rashid, who’s still finding some sharp turn at times, until the over ends with a rank legside long hop that’s pulled contemptuously to the boundary by the India captain. Kohli thinks it’s tea but the umpire’s having none of it.
8.37am GMT
49th over: India 137-2 (Pujara 50, Kohli 30) Pujara rocks back, steps aside and makes room smartly to cut Batty behind square on the offside for four, and similarly deft crease-movement enables him to flick the next ball to midwicket for a single that brings up yet another excellent, low-key 50. Batty goes round the wicket at Kohli who meets it with a wristy drive for four. And he uses his top-hand well next ball to flick another single on the legside.
This tweet, I feel, is slightly harsh on Batty, and rather harsh on me, given that I’m now really hungry:
I see Gareth Batty's come on to bowl #INDvENG @tomdaviesE17 pic.twitter.com/8VLDhGZSLB
8.33am GMT
48th over: India 127-2 (Pujara 45, Kohli 25) A faintly ridiculous couple of lbw shout from Bairstow as Rashid ‘pins’ Kohli in front, but on each occasion it’s hit the middle of his bat. It’s a very good over though, with a bit of variety in line and air, and Kohli’s taking no chances against him.
8.31am GMT
47th over: India 127-2 (Pujara 45, Kohli 25) After all this light mockery, Gareth Batty is finally getting a bowl. He replaces Stokes and his first ball, on a good line and length, is pushed away for a single to bring up the 50 partnership. A legside pull from Pujara adds another, and Kohli, keen to rotate the strike off the new bowler, pushes another quick single. Two more are milked, which is clearly going to be the strategy with Batty.
Here’s Colum Farrelly putting the frighteners on me: ‘“I am the only person in the entire office at the moment.’ No you’re not. I’m here too. And I’m watching you...” Damn. Better put those sparkly disco trousers away then.
8.26am GMT
46th over: India 122-2 (Pujara 43, Kohli 22) “Six bowlers in a Test match?!” harrumphs Nasser Hussain in the manner of an 80-year-old trying to fathom out how a smartphone works, as the issue of Batty’s deployment is discussed once more. Rashid bowls four decent balls before reverting to Bad Adil of yore with a filthy short ball down the legside that Pujara clobbers to the square-leg boundary for four.
8.23am GMT
45th over: India 114-2 (Pujara 36, Kohli 21) “What should England’s approach be,” Ian Botham in the commentary box is asked. “Declare,” he quips. On they plod though, and Stokes almost snares Pujara down the legside with a slanter that Pujara appears to tickle through to Bairstow, who spills it as he hits the ground. It was a tricky half-chance, but a half-chance nonetheless. A purposeful drive to mid-off for a single follows before Stokes whistles a smart bouncer past Kohli’s chin. Well bowled, well left, as has often been this afternoon’s pattern.
“Good Afternoon Tom.” Good afternoon Mahendra Killedar. “You have new ball bowlers & old ball bowlers. But what kind of bowler is this Batty? Oldest Ball Bowler? Bowls after 125th over?”
8.19am GMT
44th over: India 113-2 (Pujara 35, Kohli 21) Control is restored with a decent maiden from Rashid, targeting that offside corridor once again but Kohli proving resistant to temptation.
On the subject of breakfast,
my mum
John Starbuck writes: “I don’t get it. Why wouldn’t you and the other OBO writers not do yourselves a packed lunch for use as breakfast? If you tend to have eggs for breakfast, you can do them as a sandwich. Same with sausages. No need to worry about offending co-workers as there aren’t any about at that time.” That’s true. I am the only person in the entire office at the moment. I rule everything.
8.16am GMT
43rd over: India 113-2 (Pujara 35, Kohli 21) This is a different Pujara-Kohli partnership from the one in the last Test, with England at least applying some purposeful pressure if not quite putting them in serious trouble. But it prompts a slightly panicky single from Kohli who seems to catch Pujara off-guard with his call for a single, but the non-striker scurries home. A rare couple of boundaries ensue, as Stokes slants one across Pujara from wider on the crease and the batsman tucks it down to fine leg for four, before slicing one over the slips for four. Frustrating for Stokes, who didn’t really deserve that.
8.11am GMT
42nd over: India 104-2 (Pujara 27, Kohli 20) Rashid continues and keeps Pujara honest with a much tighter over, and bamboozles his wicketkeeper, if not the batsman, with one that turns sharply and forces Bairstow to parry it to first slip. Another maiden.
8.08am GMT
41st over: India 104-2 (Pujara 27, Kohli 20) Kohli shows his class, again, with a damn fine leave from an attempted snorter outside off-stump from Stokes. This is clearly the line the England seamers are aiming at though, as Stokes sends another testing outswinger past Kohli’s off-stump with his next ball. We get a maiden’s worth of this stuff.
Dead-rubber duffers no more: Australia have beaten South Africa by seven wickets.
8.05am GMT
40th over: India 104-2 (Pujara 27, Kohli 20) Kohli pulls a shorter ball from Rashid round the corner for a single to bring up the 100 before a ranker, longer, wider hop is thwacked down to deep square leg by Pujara for two more. More sloppy cricket all-round as a low full toss is bunted to mid-on, where it’s badly misfielded and two more runs are added.
8.02am GMT
39th over: India 99-2 (Pujara 23, Kohli 19) A fumble at extra-cover gifts Kohli a single, and induces Stokes’s now familiar expression of chuntering, assertive dismay. There’s some variable bounce here now, with the final ball of the over, well outside off-stump, grubbing through to the keeper at shin height.
7.57am GMT
38th over: India 98-2 (Pujara 23, Kohli 18) Spin returns to the attack, in the unsurprising form of
Batty
Rashid, who finds some decent, if easily readable, turn at Kohli, who’s watchful for four balls before turning one against the spin towards square leg for a single. The final ball of the over, bouncing more sharply and delivered from the front of the hand, is a beauty though and beats Pujara outside off-stump.
An Indian attempt at a reverse-jinx, or something, from Bharat Tiwari: “Morning Tom.(It’s 1:16 pm here, thanks for asking) Al’s just messing with us Indians. He’ll get Kohli and Pujara into a complacent lull before blitzing the wicket with Batty’s catty, spitting spin. If you SMELLLLL what the AL is cooking..”
7.53am GMT
37th over: India 97-2 (Pujara 23, Kohli 17) Stokes finds a bit of zip and swing outside off-stump, but Kohli then meets a fuller one and skims it past the inner ring of an offside-heavy field for a single. Stokes ends the over with a bouncer, just to show he can.
7.50am GMT
36th over: India 96-2 (Pujara 23, Kohli 16) Thanks Tim. Morning everyone. Nothing says ‘cricket in India’ like an all-seam England attack pounding in. But they’re pounding in well, and keeping this game tightly poised. Anderson continues, Pujara nudging his first ball square off his hips for one, before the bowler continues his off-side line of attack at Kohli, who plays out four dots before a push to mid-on brings a single. As at Visag, the sense that the Kohli-Pujara partnership is match-defining is palpable, even in its early stages (though England will hope it isn’t in its early stages).
7.44am GMT
35th over: India 94-2 (Pujara 22, Kohli 15) A change of bowling, but is it Batty? Is it hell. Cook doesn’t even want to see the set menu: he’ll have the reverse swing with regular fries. So it’s Stokes.
He produces some dots for Kohli, who bides his time and then off-drives for four and on-flicks for four more. Classy stuff. That’s drinks. The hour belonged to England, but the last two minutes were all Kohli’s. And it’s over to Tom Davies for the rest of the day. Thanks very much for your company.
7.38am GMT
34th over: India 86-2 (Pujara 22, Kohli 7) Pujara breaks the deadlock with a crafty glide for four off Anderson. The ball is reversing properly now.
A tweet from Paul. Paul Who, he doesn’t say. “What are Cook’s a la carte options?” he asks, picking up on the 31st over below. “Does Buttler bowl? Even in these strange times, Buttler bowling to Bairstow would be weird.” It would. And Batty would be apoplectic.
7.34am GMT
33rd over: India 82-2 (Pujara 18, Kohli 7) Woakes keeps Kohli honest with a wily maiden, mixing his lengths and varying his position on the crease.
“Fair point,” says Bill Hargreaves, picking up on my feeling that it’s game on for the moment. “How’s the surface, please?” Fair question. Dry, dusty, cracked and wizened, yet not turning as much as the old pros have been predicting.
7.29am GMT
32nd over: India 82-2 (Pujara 18, Kohli 7) Anderson secures a mild moral victory over Kohli, deceiving him with his inswinger and finding the inside edge, but it just goes for a single. That ploy might have worked better with a short leg, if only England had more runs to play with.
7.26am GMT
31st over: India 81-2 (Pujara 18, Kohli 6) Woakes keeps it tight, abetted by his Under-13 field, and gets a maiden. Half the wickets in the match have fallen to spin, half to seam. Cook may be regretting not having a fourth seamer. Or maybe he just doesn’t like having a sixth bowler: too much choice. If you were in a restaurant with him, he’d stick to the set menu.
7.19am GMT
30th over: India 81-2 (Pujara 18, Kohli 6) Jimmy Anderson returns for his third spell. “Hang on,” thinks Gareth Batty, “I haven’t even had one yet.” But then Anderson is the main man and has a fine record against Kohli, who averages 17 against him. He gets some away swing and Cook rewards him with a second slip.
“Morning, Tim.” Morning, Bill Hargreaves. “Great stuff.” Thank you. “Game on?” Yes, until Kohli reaches fifty.
7.15am GMT
29th over: India 80-2 (Pujara 17, Kohli 6) Woakes continues, bowling full and then short, to Pujara. He has only one slip but four catchers – at point, short mid-off and short midwicket. It’s the field Woakes would have had when he was 12. He would have had the same haircut, too.
7.10am GMT
28th over: India 79-2 (Pujara 16, Kohli 6) Kohli gets off the mark, handsomely, with a square drive for four off Rashid. The crowd respond as if there is a rock star in their midst, which, in Indian terms, there is.
7.06am GMT
27th over: India 73-2 (Pujara 16, Kohli 0) Woakes keeps the pressure on with a maiden to Pujara. One more wicket now – preferably Kohli – and the balance of power would be just right.
7.05am GMT
26th over: India 73-2 (Pujara 16, Kohli 0) Pujara trots down the track and turns a Rashid half-volley into a full toss, which he clubs into the deep at cover, where Gareth Batty makes a good diving save. Rashid then has an appeal for lbw against Patel, also well down the track, which seems speculative but pays off superbly. Credit to Bairstow and Cook too, for backing him.
7.01am GMT
Patel has gone! It didn’t look out, except to Rashid, who did doubly well, beating the bat and seeing that although Patel was a long way forward, DRS might not mind about that. India are 73-2 and England are right in this.
7.00am GMT
Rashid thinks he’s got Patel lbw. Seems a long shot.
6.56am GMT
25th over: India 68-1 (Patel 40, Pujara 13) Just a single from Woakes’s over. The game has gone rather quiet.
As have our correspondents, so here’s a story. The link may be a bit old-school, but it’s worth it. https://www.change.org/p/uk-parliament-sos-save-our-shuk-a-lovely-lad-we-want-to-save-from-deportation-help-bexleyheath-cc
6.52am GMT
24th over: India 67-1 (Patel 40, Pujara 12) Root turns to Adil Rashid, so Gareth Batty’s ostracism continues, and now he knows it’s not just Alastair Cook who doesn’t rate him. Patel goes serenely on with a neat late dab for two.
6.48am GMT
23rd over: India 65-1 (Patel 38, Pujara 12) It’s Woakes replacing Stokes. Patel clips a single, Pujara sways out of the line of a bouncer and then cover-drives for four. Cook is off he field, so Joe Root is in charge.
The editor of Cricinfo, Sambit Bal, is tweeting. “What sort of a score is 283 on this pitch?” he wonders. “I reckon it’s not disaster for England. There is something for the seamers here.” A very different line from John Etheridge of The Sun.
6.15am GMT
Time for some fresh air, and a typically punchy verdict from Nasser Hussain. “The only thing keeping England in this game,” he says, “is reverse swing.” Discuss.
Elsewhere in the world, Australia are chasing 127 for a consolation victory over South Africa in Adelaide, and they’re cruising – 58-0 when I last looked, with David Warner rollicking along. And our aviation correspondent has boarded his flight in Bahrain. “Duty free took a bit longer than expected,” reports Tom Gilbert. “Very nice bottles of white wine TYVM. Wickets were supposed to be Indian, runs English. Still ...”
6.08am GMT
22nd over: India 60-1 (Patel 37, Pujara 8) Anderson rounds off a morning which he began with that all too brief riot of stroke play. And that’s lunch. England have stuck at it, and they’re not out of this game yet, whatever The Sun may say. But they will need to have a good afternoon. They may even have to give Gareth Batty a go.
An email lands from Brian Withington – a meta-email. “I wonder if I am alone in finding emails bouncing back because the OBO link sometimes (and quite understandably) truncates your address by removing the cruelly unfair ‘casual’ component?” Ha, but I don’t mind that: it manages expectations.
6.00am GMT
21st over: India 59-1 (Patel 36, Pujara 8) Patel fends off a bouncer from Stokes, drops the bat, but takes the single anyway, batless. Which makes a few people chuckle.
Dileep Premachandran, editor of Wisden India, makes a good point on Twitter. “Parthiv [Patel] made his Test debut a season before Jimmy Anderson,” he notes. “Wrap your head around that.” I remember it well. Patel was so young, he should technically have had a note from his mum, saying he had her permission to keep wicket without a helmet.
5.56am GMT
20th over: India 58-1 (Patel 35, Pujara 8) Anderson decides that if Stokes can bowl a maiden, he can too. The stage is set for reverse swing, and England’s noises are suggesting there is some, but it’s not actually visible yet.
An email arrives from John Burrell. “I was just about to say ‘the Buttler did it’ about that dropped catch off Moeen, but Vijay’s gone anyway. Would I be right in thinking I’m the first to think of that pun?”
5.51am GMT
19th over: India 57-1 (Patel 35, Pujara 8) Stokes keeps Pujara quiet and collects a maiden, only the second of the innings.
“I think Simon Begley makes a good point,” says Brian Withington, “even if sleep-deprived and Guinness-assisted.” Classy. “However, surely the greatest plus of DRS is that a team with a review outstanding cannot maintain histrionic appeals for very long without having to put up or shut up?”
5.47am GMT
18th over: India 57-1 (Patel 35, Pujara 8) Anderson is back for a little burst before lunch, and Patel brings up India’s fifty with a crisp punch for four through mid-on. He likes the shot so much, he plays it again two balls later. Patel has been good today, purposeful and decisive.
5.43am GMT
17th over: India 49-1 (Patel 28, Pujara 8) Stokes keeps Pujara quiet until the last ball, when he strays onto leg stump and asks to be glanced for four. The sun has burnt the mist away now and England are trying to take further wickets by making some noise. It may not work.
5.38am GMT
16th over: India 44-1 (Patel 27, Pujara 4) Rashid changes ends. Somewhere in the outfield, Batty may be steaming. Rashid appeals for lbw against Pujara, somewhat speculatively.
5.35am GMT
15th over: India 43-1 (Patel 26, Pujara 4) So Vijay has gone, wafting distractedly. Pujara comes in and imposes himself straight away with an elegant flick for four through midwicket. But well done Stokes, making something happen when England badly needed it.
Michael Hunt has a question for you. “When was the last time that England had a properly beloved team, 1-11? Not necessarily a great team man for man but where there was genuine love for each individual, beyond parochial county love. I guess that kind of means when did they last have a largely settled side, but the love-in for Haseeb seems to have filled a difficult gap that’s been open since, what, Strauss? He may not work out long-term, but as things stand he’s a treasure. Got a few middle and lower order gaps to plug though.”
5.31am GMT
Vijay caught behind! Off Stokes. The umpire didn’t give him, but Vijay walked!! India are 39-1.
5.27am GMT
14th over: India 39-0 (Vijay 12, Patel 26) Tough luck for Moeen, but barely any blame for Buttler: he got to it well, and he’s not used to catching without gloves.
5.26am GMT
Vijay chips Moeen, and Jos Buttler, at midwicket, makes a fine goalie’s leap but can’t cling on.
5.24am GMT
13th over: India 37-0 (Vijay 11, Patel 25) A flurry of runs off Rashid, as Patel plays a lovely late cut for three and Vijay replies with a pull for four. The batsmen look ominously comfortable.
5.21am GMT
12th over: India 30-0 (Vijay 7, Patel 22) Tidy from Moeen, who has bounced back from Beamer Hell with figures of 3-0-7-0.
“Hi Tim.” Hi Simon Begley. “Do you think the number of reviews a team has at any given time affects an umpire’s thinking? Take that Patel decision. It seemed to me that Erasmus didn’t really want to give it – indeed, was a bit unsure of giving it – but gave it ‘out’ knowing both teams had both reviews left so what the heck. Had the same appeal been made with, say, England having both reviews available and India none the decision might have been ‘not out’. And if India had both reviews but England none, ‘not out’. Therefore an umpire’s sense of what is out or not out has been influenced for the worse by DRS. Does that make sense? It’s early. I’ve had little sleep after a glorious Ireland rugby win. Sorry.” No apologies required.
5.18am GMT
11th over: India 29-0 (Vijay 7, Patel 21) Rashid concedes just a single, as Patel reads his google and squirts it behind square. “Very good from Rashid,” says Nasser. “He’s grown in stature enormously on this tour,” agrees Beefy Botham.
5.11am GMT
10th over: India 28-0 (Vijay 7, Patel 20) Moeen continues, and Patel square-drives a single out to the cover sweeper. No beamers, so that’s progress. Time for drinks. The first hour has belonged firmly to India.
Over on Twitter, England are taking a pasting from The Sun. “Genuinely terrible performance by England so far,” says John Etheridge. “Weak batting and flaccid bowling. And they won the toss!” He’s a good, experienced correspondent, but this seems a little premature.
5.07am GMT
9th over: India 27-0 (Vijay 7, Patel 19) Spin at both ends, as Alastair Cook turns to Adil Rashid. Seems a bit early for that. Rashid makes “a decent start”, according to Nasser Hussain, and each batsman takes a single.
5.03am GMT
8th over: India 25-0 (Vijay 6, Patel 18) Spin it is, from Moeen Ali, who starts with one of his Variety Packs. A half-volley, expertly threaded through the covers by Patel; a beamer, expertly taken by Jonny Bairstow; and four perfectly decent deliveries. Gareth Batty may be wondering where he fits into this team. He’s surely the best spinner,
4.59am GMT
7th over: India 20-0 (Vijay 6, Patel 14) Anderson tries a bouncer and Patel swats him round the corner for a single. Time for some spin maybe.
The role of spokesman for Most of England goes to Brian Withington. “Swore I wouldn’t pull another all-nighter,” he begins, “after yesterday’s frustrating twists and turns and yet here I am again, the triumph of hope and insomnia over experience. Time for Jimmy to deliver with bat and/or ball ...” This was a little earlier, as you can see. Jimmy delivered with the bat, and he nearly delivered in the field: just the ball to come.
4.56am GMT
6th over: India 19-0 (Vijay 6, Patel 13) Still, a good over from Woakes. What a find he has been this year.
“Couple of mates are heading to India for the next test, from here in Singapore,” says Ian Johnston. “They were dismayed to find out the ground is ‘dry’. Sounds like most of England would welcome dry right now.” Most of England will be back with its thoughts on this in just a moment.
4.54am GMT
It was a shirt, not an edge. Kumar Dharmasena manages to say “Stay with your decision” before “Change your decision”. Kumar’s relationship with the DRS system is a soap opera waiting to be made.
4.52am GMT
Patel given out caught behind off Woakes, down the leg side. He reviews...
4.50am GMT
5th over: India 18-0 (Vijay 6, Patel 12) Vijay gets a couple with an elegant straight drive off Anderson. England could do with a wicket: where’s Stuart Broad when you need him? Talking of injuries, the man off the field is Haseeb Hameed, the baby of the England team, nursing a sore hand after being hit by that snorter yesterday.
“I’m doing nothing extreme,” says Richard Woods. “Just making lunch on a reasonably bright Beijing day. All very casual here. I’m looking for England (or was it India?) to replicate their outstanding effort in the fourth innings of the first Test. Frankly, I’m not expecting it though.”
4.45am GMT
4th over: India 16-0 (Vijay 4, Patel 12) Patel is not going to hang about: he greets Woakes with two fours, a push and an edge. Turns out that England were appealing for obstructing the field, not a run-out, against Vijay. He got away with it because the ball hit him – he didn’t move towards it.
4.41am GMT
3rd over: India 8-0 (Vijay 4, Patel 4) Vijay pulls Anderson for four, imperiously. “I like the pic posted at the top at the moment,” says Quebecer. “There’s joy in the Indian boys who seem to have found and are experiencing a bouncy castle for the first time, while their poor slightly chubby friend looks on a bit unsure whether to have a go. Don’t really want to talk about the cricket.”
4.41am GMT
Because there wasn’t a review, sorry. Vijay escapes.
4.40am GMT
For a run-out – Anderson throwing the ball back towards Vijay. Interesting...
4.37am GMT
2nd over: India 4-0 (Vijay 0, Patel 4) Woakes beats Patel with a beauty first ball, but Patel settles and finishes the over with a crisp tuck for four. Peter Rowntree picks up on my reply: |Perhaps, Tim, some of the others are just suffering from too many Test matches – this is our 15th Test in 2016.”
4.31am GMT
1st over: India 0-0 (Vijay 0, Patel 0) Anderson, England’s action man of the morning, opens the bowling. It’s a maiden, to Vijay.
“I’m here!” says Chris Wright. “But I can’t talk right now. Shh!” Nice.
4.28am GMT
Our Colombian correspondent has been joined by a jet-setter. And an optimist. “About to take off from Bahrain to Dubai,” reports Tom Gilbert, “so no internet. Fully expecting 50 runs in the next half an hour - and two Indian wickets down by the time I am back on line.”
4.26am GMT
“Time for a cheeky morale-boosting declaration,” reckons Brian on Twitter. That, in effect, is what we got. It means, at the risk of stating the Bleeding Obvious, that England will have to bat well in the third innings, and bowl well in this one. Rumour has it that Gary Ballance is going to be fielding – not clear why.
4.23am GMT
Someone has been in touch, and they’re not called Copestake. It’s Peter Rowntree. “Keeping you company in the cold. Expat, 2600 metres up the Colombian cordillera – it’s cold at nearing 11pm. The big difference between Jonny Bairstow and the rest of the English batsmen now appears to be one of attitude. YJB has always stated how much playing for his country means to him – and his incessant rescue performances during 2016, regardless of where he bats in the order, are telling their own tale. He succeeds because he cares.” He sure does care, but are you suggesting that some of the others don’t?
4.21am GMT
Well that was weird. England lost their last two wickets and added 15 at a run a minute, 13 of them to Anderson. He will be bowling in a moment, so we’ll see if he continues in the same vein. There’s a touch of mist, to make him feel at home.
4.18am GMT
Batty has gone, to Shami. England are 283 all out, and Jimmy Anderson is denied a near-certain hundred. He had rocked his way to 13 off nine balls, and even went down the track to pull Shami for three. He was robbed.
4.16am GMT
Batty given out lbw, and he reviews. Looks outish.
4.12am GMT
93rd over: England 277-9 (Batty 1, Anderson 8) And now Anderson pulls out the reverse sweep, taking two more off Jadeja. He’s on fire. Before that, Batty almost edged to slip. It’s all happening. You really should get out of bed.
4.09am GMT
92nd over: England 274-9 (Batty 0, Anderson 6) Jimmy Anderson survives a ball, which is more than he did in two attempts at Vizag. And another, and another. And then he gets runs! Four of them, squirted through an inviting gap at third slip. He celebrates with two more. But what a great start from Shami, who removed Rashid with an immaculate upright seam.
4.04am GMT
Adil Rashid goes first ball!! A beauty from Shami, and he’s caught behind for 4.
3.52am GMT
Morning everyone, if that’s not too presumptuous. Ian Copestake is awake, even if no one else is. “Glad to read some positivity at last regarding England’s total,” he says, “as we were not bowled out and even have 300 in sight. The whole day was odd though for seeming to be a constant struggle against our own expectations.” Ten minutes to go till the start of play, and we already have our first faint flicker of cricket as a metaphor for life.
12.06pm GMT
Well, that was a very English first day: half embarrassment, half respectability. A series of kamikaze strokes reduced England to 87 for four on what appeared to be a blameless pitch. But then the red faces gave way to the red beards of the ginger resistance.
Jonny Bairstow, the most prolific batsman in Test cricket this year, added anot