England Going Well In Ranchi

The fourth match of the five match test series between India and England got underway in Ranchi at 4AM Friday morning UK time. This post looks at the action from the first two days of play.

THE PRELIMINARIES

India had gone one up in the series following a thumping victory in the third match of the series (I was unable due to my internet situation to follow that match). England were forced to make one change to their line up, Rehan Ahmed having flown home for personal reasons. This meant a recall for Shoaib Bashir. Mark Wood was rested, with Ollie Robinson taking his place in the XI, and the England selectors failed to take the opportunity to drop Bairstow who has a had a horrible series, meaning that Dan Lawrence is still yet to feature. India made only one change, resting Jasprit Bumrah in the name of workload management, and handing a debut cap to Akash Deep in his place. I would have thought it would be better to keep him in the side for this match, aiming to settle the series early and then rest him. England won the toss, and chose to bat (choosing to bowl first on that surface and with Ranchi’s history would have made Nasser Hussain’s Brisbane 2002 howler of a decision look positively Solomonic).

DAY ONE

England reached 47 without undue difficulty, at which point Zak Crawley got himself out. Shortly after this it was 57-3, with Pope gone for a duck and Duckett also back in the pavilion. Bairstow scored rapidly but never suggested permanence, and sure enough, just before lunch he essayed one outrageous stroke too many and was on his way back to the pavilion. The interval came early when Stokes got a horrible ball from Jadeja, which shot through virtually at ground level, and hit the bottom of his pad so obviously plumb in front that the England skipper was setting off for the pavilion before the umpire’s finger was fully raised. Thus England were looking decidedly shaky with score 112-5.

However, Joe Root and Ben Foakes batted through the afternoon session together, and England took tea feeling somewhat happier at 198-5.

Post tea England continued to prosper. Foakes after initially being very slow hammered two sixes and a four in quick succession to move to 47, but then he holed out to end a partnership that had over doubled England’s score. When Hartley fell it was 245-7, and things were still very much in the balance, but Ollie Robinson batted sensibly, while Root continued on imperturbably to reach a superb century, his 31st in all test cricket, a record 10th against India and also a record third against India in India. England reached 300 just before the close, and by the end of the day were far the happier side, finishing on 302-7.

DAY TWO

England continued their revival, with Ollie Robinson completing an invaluable maiden test fifty, and Root finally ending on 122 not out, with England all out for 353. James Anderson soon had test wicket number 697, that of Rohit Sharma to a catch by Foakes. Jaiswal batted beautifully, but Gill became Shoaib Bashir’s first victim for 38, and Patidar and Jadeja were both out cheaply. At 161 Jaiswal’s innings came to an end for 73, bowled by the impressive Bashir. Jaiswal had become only the second ever Indian opener to score over 600 runs in a series, though he has a bit to do to overhaul Gavaskar’s 774 against the West Indies in 1970. Sarfaraz Khan, hugely talented (he averages 70 in first class cricket) but also inexperienced, struggled, and at 171 a fine catch by Root off Hartley ended his innings with his score on 14. Ashwin, who had done little to distinguish himself in this match either with the ball or in the field, mustered a single before Hartley trapped him LBW. Kuldeep Yadav provided one of India’s few bright spots of the day by batting through to the close in the company of Dhruv Jurel who ended the day 30* in a score of 219-7. India need this pair to continue their good work tomorrow – if England end with a big first innings lead the match will be as good as settled. Shoaib Bashir produced an exemplary spell of bowling, 32-4-84-4, keeping it tight and taking wickets. Anderson was Anderson, Hartley had his moments but also bowled quite a few loose balls, and Ollie Robinson was accurate, but lacking in pace (he was not even hitting 80mph). Ben Stokes did some bowling warm ups in the innings break, but did not put himself on, while with Bashir bowling so well Root was not called on save for one over near the end of the day. At the moment a 2-2 scoreline going to Dharamsala for the final match seems likely. England deserve great credit for the character they have shown to come back from the humiliation of the previous match and their decidedly unimpressive start to this match. I would say that after the first session on day one was indisputably India’s session England have had the better of all other five we have had so far, notwithstanding the late defiance of Jurel and Yadav.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…