India v England: first Test, day four – live!

Very Rainbow Rhythms from Pope, switch-hitting a pull out to the cow corner rope. But he tries it again and gets caught at short midwicket! A handy innings though, his 28 coming in just 32 balls.

28th over: England 123-5 (Pope 22, Buttler 14) Pope gets a loosener from Bumrah to start the session, putting away a half-volley through cover. That’ll do nicely. Sure enough, the big quick is right back on his mark, decking in and shaping away from the right-hander at different points at the over, not allowing to do more than defend.

“Please tell my daughter Gwen that she really should be taking full advantage of living in a land of free cricket on tv,” says Finbar Anslow.

Gwen, your dad has helped to give you a great name. Go on, watch the cricket with him. It’ll be worth it in the long run. Promise.

The players are back on the field at Chennai. Bumrah to Pope. PLAY!

“Hi Adam.” Allo, Colum Fordham. “I think England probably need 50 odd more to feel comfortable with an Indian team of this calibre. Decisions regarding follow-ons will probably be out of their hands judging from this mini-collapse.”

I’d have a ten over dart at them tonight. Plenty of time.

Colum continues: “I saw a pic Yesterday of my four-year old nephew with a small plastic bat in his hand in front of Channel 4 coverage. Tried to inculcate a love of cricket in my two boys in Naples and they’re fond of it but not Test-match crazy like yours truly. Oh well, one does one’s best.”

I feel slightly guilty dragging my baby daughter in to the game, knowing what damage it can do to your body and brain. On the other hand, I wouldn’t have it any other way. So, she gets it too.

Phil Russell also has some thoughts on the declaration: “The Revised Common Book of Test Match Captaincy suggests this innings will end with the first of 1) 400 lead, 2) All out, 3) one hour of play left. Will be interesting to see if Root deviates from the orthodox path into something more heretical.”

I suspect he won’t. But it’s worth noting that Root nailed his declarations during the home summer through 2020. Fair play to him, he’s come a long way as a tactician over the last four years.

“Morning Adam.” It’s evening where I am in Melbourne, but I won’t bang on about that. Don’t worry, I’ll be back to the London lockdown with everyone else in a couple of weeks. “Explaining the OBO to partners and friends is much easier than it used to be pre Internet when the only thing to do was sit in front of the Ceefax score card waiting for the batman’s line to change colour signifying a wicket!”

Yes, we are a special breed. Penty on twitter also is sharing in the love. “The OBO is amazing as you (Collo et al) watch and summarise what is going on for others who cannot. I’m sitting here marking exams, radio is too distracting and TV too off-putting, but a quick occasional glance at the obo updates? THAT’S the sweet spot!”

Exactly that. Whenever I’m not wriring the OBO, invariably I’m reading on too. Especially when doing radio commentary, so to have a pretty good feel for how you’re all seeing it evolve from home.

Of course, there’s nobody who OBOs quite like Rob Smyth, who has kindly dropped into my DMs with this gem: “England’s scoring rate in Tests under Silverwood is almost the same as under Bayliss (3.22 to 3.25), but, unsurprisingly, the average runs per wicket has increased considerably, from 30.84 to 37.18. Shows the value of smarter cricket I suppose.”

Related/unrelated: I wonder if Bayliss is Australia’s next coach?

27th over: England 119-5 (Pope 18, Buttler 14) Ishant is thrown to ball to complete the session after Nadeem’s brief misadventure from that end. We’re back to (some of the) the TV commentators talking themselves into a tea-time declaration. Surely not? The big quick is very good here, inswinger/outswinger/outswinger – Buttler is up to the task, picking the right deliveries to play at. And that is tea. A busy session with 118 runs and four wickets coming across 25 overs.

26th over: England 118-5 (Pope 17, Buttler 14) Bumrah gets another to shoot, this time at Buttler, but it was darting well down the legside. Buttler gets bat to ball the next time there’s one on his pads, clipping a couple. A fine reply from the Indian superstar, sending down a big outswinger to keep Jos honest. One more over before tea.

Yep, I agree. The pitch copped some grief on the opening day for being a tad on the slow side, but as you say, has developed nicely.

25th over: England 115-5 (Pope 16, Buttler 12) That’s BIIIIG from Universe Jos, leaping and launching Nadeem over long-off for SIX! What a strike. And cue the siren, he’s overstepped too. Inexcusable for a spinner – etc, etc. Buttler cuts a couple more behind point to keep the good times rolling. Ten off it, the lead advancing to 356.

“I just tried to explain the obo to my wife,” says Chris Lingwood. “‘So it’s just someone watching tv for you?’ she said. “I wish I was able to disagree.” A conversation we’ve all had at one stage of another. My partner still can’t come to terms with why it works, but as we know, there are few better companions on a Test Match day.

24th over: England 105-5 (Pope 15, Buttler 4) Ooh, very close to two in two, Buttler just getting down to Bumrah’s inswinging yorker, the inside edge spitting away to fine leg for four. It’s a batsman’s game.

Root, after adding 40 in 32 balls, cops one that keeps low and jags back form Bumrah – there is no keeping that out. Of course, he’ll be frustrated to walk off the field but also well aware that it won’t be the last ball that misbehaves in this Test. England’s lead is 342.

23rd over: England 97-4 (Root 37, Pope 14) Declaration speculation on telly, verging on asserting that they should be pulling the pin already on account of what India were able to achieve in Sydney and Brisbane. I’m not so sure about that, fellas. England have earned the right to play this cool, and I’m sure they will do just that on a surface that’s going to go plenty tomorrow. Highlighting that point, Ashwin gets one to explode from the footmarks at Pope, the young man just keeping it away from Gill at short leg. Root then keeps the strike.

22nd over: England 95-4 (Root 36, Pope 13) Before the review there was yet another front-foot no-ball. They bowled 20 in the first innings and have already sent down four here, compared to just one from England across 95.5 overs. Worse still, it was off target and helped away to fine leg for four by Root. After the review, he feeds England’s numero uno short and wide outside the off-stump and he makes no mistake cutting it away behind point for four more.

“Morning @collinsadam,” Hello, Guy Hornsby. “What a Series this is already. I hope your little one is enjoying it as much as you. Been slowly indoctrinating my three-year-old this week, to the point where TV in the morning she comes with “is this cricket?” Answer: this very much is. Absorbing brilliance.”

Well answered – absorbing is the word. What a year we’re already having in the finest form of the game in 2021. An utter treat. As for Winnie, she’s trying to climb up my leg to bash the keyboard, as is her prerogative as she nears her first birthday on Sunday. Here she is yesterday, with a cricket ball/bat in hand for the first time.

NOT OUT! It’s a top bit of bowling, really hooping back at the England skipper and beating his inside edge, but it’s done too much.

IS ROOT LBW? Bumrah likes it, the umpire doesn’t. To the DRS!

21st over: England 86-4 (Root 28, Pope 13) There goes the NO-BALL KLAXON! One must describe it using capitals owing to the urgency in which it blasts through the television speakers. Wasn’t there a stat about Ashwin having never overstepped in Tests until this week? Well, he’s bowled four in this match. Yet further validation that the decision the ICC made to give the front line to the TV umpire was a sensible one. Back to Pope, who isn’t worried about his close call earlier in the over, dancing and launching high over midwicket – he doesn’t get it all, but does get three. He’s reversing again soon enough too, timing nicely out to backward point for a couple. He tries it on again to finish but doesn’t make contact. The lead is 327.

NOT OUT! That’s missed the blade and the glove, coming off his forearm. That’s what the DRS is there for; Pope survives.

IS POPE CAUGHT OFF THE GLOVE REVERSE SWEEPING? The umpire believes so and England’s No6 sends it upstairs. Stand by.

20th over: England 79-4 (Root 27, Pope 8) Shot, boy. Pope square drives against the Ishant inswing, making crisp contact through cover point for four. From there he’s clipping, past midwicket for a couple then again through square leg for one, albeit in the air and not far from the close catcher. A change to the field with Root on strike with three midwickets in position, but he’s not falling into any legside trap in this kind of touch. He has to negotiate one that swings away to finish, defending with soft hands. Classy bowling.

“So what is England’s goal?” asks Scott Wedel. “Some number of runs in a maximum of some number of overs?”

So long as they keep ticking over at a decent clip, and don’t get bowled out, I reckon they’ll have a dart at them tonight.

19th over: England 72-4 (Root 27, Pope 1) Sharp spin at Pope to begin, the Surrey lad lucky to bisect the two catching men in close on the legside. Ashwin is right on it here, the next ball going straight on and finding the outside portion of the blade. To finish, a controlled stroke to ease the nerves, off the mark on the sweep.

“Root is on fire in the heat of the sub continent,” says Dominic Humphrey. “What’s the record number of runs in a calendar year for a test bat?”

That’s Mohammad Yousuf back in 2006 when he struck 1788 of the best. Root had 664 coming into this innings with (by my quick count) 13 Tests to come in 2021. He should pass it easily.

Lovely bowling from Ashwin – extra flight, bringing Stokes forward and finding his outside edge. This Indian team don’t give up.

18th over: England 71-3 (Root 27, Stokes 7) Ishant Sharma, what a story. It’s not that his career was over four years ago, but he was on the brink of being entirely overtaken by the next generation. But since the age of 30, he’s been a different bowler. There are comparisons to Anderson there, albeit not on the same scale. None of that helps him here though, giving Ben Stokes one in the slot and he tucks straight in, lofting over long-on for four. The replay shows it’s a better shot than it first appears, taken on the up after Ishant rolled his fingers down the seam. That’s an authoratative start.

18th over: England 64-3 (Stokes 1, Root 26) Ashwin again and Root reverse-sweeps him for four, like spooning soft ice-cream into your mouth on a hot afternoon. Stokes off the mark with a leg-side single and that’s DRINKS. Adam Collins will guide you through the rest of what has been another absorbing day – thanks for all the emails and keeping me company through the small hours.

17th over: England 58-3 (Stokes 0, Root 21) The modestly brilliant Ishant is only the sixth bowler to pass 300 wickets for India. He looks thoroughly delighted by the achievement, and so he should. Stokes blocks his first ball and sways out of the way of his third. Not sure the Stokes/Root combination is going to be a great one for India – their lead almost 300.

Ishant’s 300th Test wicket! Only the third India seamer to do it after Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan. Lawrence reviews the decision in a way that shows he’s not lacking in confidence, Root’s face says he’s not convinced, and sure enough, there’s no bat involved. A fabulous full ball from Ishant that Lawrence drove at it and it beat his inside edge.

16th over: England 58-2 (Lawrence 18, Root 21) Kohli keeps faith with spin from the other end. Ooops! Root sweeps Ashwin for four to bring up the England fifty. A push through the offside for 3 and the lead rushes towards 300. Another swept boundary to finish – he is in glorious touch. The England batsmen are being warned for running on the pitch and that’s 13 from the over.

“With South Africa inching towards chasing 370 against Pakistan and West Indies managing the same against Bangladesh yesterday, I wouldn’t rule out the chance for an Indian victory if England are bowled out within about 130 more. With these big chases happening so often, has test cricket turned some kind of metaphorical corner here?” Mittu Choudhary, I think you’re right!

15th over: England 45-2 (Lawrence 16, Root 10) Root flicks a carefree single off Ishant as Ravi Shastri watches from the dug-out looking for all the world like an associate of Arthur Daley. Two from the over – and I fancy England to bat until half way through the evening session before towelling off Anderson and Leach for a final push.

“Just had a fossick on Statsguru,” types Ian Forth. “There are two precedents for a side scoring more than 578 and going on to lose. In quite possibly the finest Ashes match of them all, Australia scored 586 at Sydney in 1894 and England went on to win by 10 runs. Bangladesh meanwhile were 595/8 declared against the Kiwis 4 years ago, then 46-0 in their second innings – and still managed to lose by 7 wickets. Can England get the bronze medal?”

14th over: England 43-2 (Lawrence 15, Root 9) Sorry, really falling asleep at the wheel here, and the puppy has rewound the television. Note to self, put remote on high shelf. Anyway, Lawrence and Root are still there and Kohli has turned to his seamers, throwing the ball to Ishant Sharma for the first time in the innings.

12th over: England 41-2 (Lawrence 14, Root 8) Joe Root doesn’t hang around, he watches the ball from Nadeem, kneels, sweeps for four. Then again, with an even bigger stride forward. That empty boundary will soon be plugged. Root’s intent written all over his bat.

11th over: England32-2 (Lawrence 13, Root 0) Sibley had just swept Ashwin for four as well! Smart bowling from Ashwin.

An inside edge onto his pad and a catch into the belly of Pujara at second slip.

10th over: England 26-1 (Lawrence 12, Sibley 12) Oof, Sibley prods at Nadeem’s final ball of the over (after the first final ball belatedly becomes the penultimate ball because of the no-ball klaxon) he’s beaten, might have got an edge, but Pant dropped it anyhow.

Morning Tanya. “Morning Rosanna Lynch!”

“Is it me or is Nadeem regularly using saliva on ths ball? He keeps licking his fingers like a guilty toddler?

9th over: England 23-1 (Lawrence 10, Sibley 11) THis is a nice little test for Lawrence, who thrives on confrontation. So far, so good.

8th over: England 20-1 (Lawrence 7, Sibley 11) An over from Nadeem safely sails by.

“Ambitions for a productive start to the week have been thwarted by OBO and waking up at 4, still at least it’s a great day of cricket – I’m sure my manager will understand.” ponders Dom H. Do power naps still exist in the post-pandemic world?

7th over: England 19-1 (Lawrence 6, Sibley 11) Lawrence stretches forwards to Ashwin and he persuades Kohli to review. Kohli’s body-languages says, “ OK then”. Nice falling ball, but the impact is outside the line and, to rub salt into the wound, Ashwin follows up with a no-ball.

6th over: England 16-1 (Lawrence 6, Sibley 2) A post-coffee torpour has entered the living room; I’ll start dribbling over the laptop in a minute. Sibley and Lawrence knock a few runs from Ashwin. The intensity of that pre-lunch two over session has dissipated.

5th over: England 10-1 (Lawrence 6, Sibley 2) A post-coffee torpour has entered the living room; I’ll start dribbling over the laptop in a minute. Sibley and Lawrence knock a few runs from Ashwin.

4th over: England 8-1 (Lawrence 5, Sibley 2) Nadeem resumes after lunch, neat little beard, longish dark hair on top. England rotate the strike with some well-taken singles.

3rd over: England 5-1 (Lawrence 4, Sibley 0) Lawrence avoids the pair, wandering down the pitch and clipping Ashwin sweetly for four . He survives an lbw shout then one that skims the top of his stumps.

The players walk out – Cook thinks England need another 160 (to take them to 400) in three hours.

Coffee is the Test match of drinks. Discuss. In the studio, a twinkly SirAlastair is explaining why surprise bounce is so much more difficult to play than spin. And an email, from Finbar Anslow, “Morning Tanya.Staying with the ‘E’s I would venture that Elitist would (alas) apply more to the players whereas the OBO (and cricket in general) is often for the Eccentric and, occasionally, Everyone.” Love it.

2nd over: England 1-1 (Lawrence 0, Sibley 0) Nadeem opens at the other end. Sharp turn for him too, and bubbling energy from the babble of close Indian fielders. Sibley inelegantly gets through and suddenly, after the inevitability of the morning, things are fizzing again. It’s lunch there and coffee time here. Don’t miss the second session – it’s alive!

1st over: England 0-1 (Lawrence 0, Sibley 0) Lawrence not being eased into his Test career, but survives the remaining five balls of the over. Superb first ball by Ashwin, bounce, turn and perfect placement.

Perfection! The very first ball ball bounces surprisingly and Burns is seduced forward. The edged is pounced on by Rahane. Kohli roars.

Just two overs for England to bat before lunch. Sir Alastair, “England have to get the tempo right which is easier said than done.” Burns and Sibley are in the middle and Ashwin has the ball.

The medium roller makes its way to the middle and England’s openers pad up. A very pleasing morning for England and wonderful batting from Washington Sundar, who was picked for that Ashes tour on the back of only 12 first-class matches. Shades of David Warner.