Key events
Tea: Gill’s fifty, India’s session
29th over: India 86-2 (Rahul 30, Gill 52) Gill likes the look of Root’s off-breaks and clips for three to go to fifty off 77 balls with eight fours. After a gargantuan feast, and a three-innings famine, he’s found his appetite again. And India, after their disastrous morning, have had a restorative afternoon, losing no more wickets. They trail by 225 runs and may still go down to a heavy defeat, but their captain and senior batter have shown grit and skill in a tight corner.
28th over: India 82-2 (Rahul 29, Gill 49) Dawson bowls at the stumps, Rahul defends them with his life. That’s a maiden and it unfolds with a Jadeja-like briskness, so England will squeeze one more over in before tea. Joe Root steps up to bowl it.
27th over: India 82-2 (Rahul 29, Gill 49) Another good testing over from Carse, and India have made only 22 off the last ten. Stuart Broad, studying the replays of Dawson’s drop, wonders if his mistake was opting to dive when he may not have needed to. Gill’s square drive went fast: it was heading for the top corner and Dawson tipped it over the bar like a stocky version of Hannah Hampton.
26th over: India 81-2 (Rahul 28, Gill 49) Dawson almost redeems himself with a lovely ball to Rahul – the classic slow left-armer’s delivery, pitching on off and straightening, but missing the edge. Before that, Rahul played a sweep for three, so this is a good contest.
25th over: India 76-2 (Rahul 24, Gill 48) Carse keeps up the pressure, beating Rahul again outside off. And then he has Gill dropped by Dawson at deep gully – a hard chance but one that a good fielder like Dawson might expect to cling on to. If England had had a taller man there, he would have found it easier.
“Thanks to the wonders of modern technology,” says Jim Denvir, “I’m watching this from 11.5km above sea level on a flight from Heathrow to Philadelphia. If I’d known ahead of time that this was available, I’d have booked the earlier flight and made the family get up at 6 so I could while away the whole transatlantic leg of the trip enjoying the cricket. As it is, it’ll be stumps about three hours before we land.” No offence, but is that a bit of a first-world problem?
”This is just incredible stuff from England. I’ve been watching Test cricket on and off for about 40 years (there was a gap after I moved to the States 30+ years ago and it simply wasn’t available to me for a while), but it’s hard to remember a time when watching England play was this enjoyable.”
24th over: India 69-2 (Rahul 22, Gill 45) Dawson drops short again, but gets away with it as Rahul’s cut goes straight to the cover sweeper. Gill, meanwhile, is becalmed: after making 45 off his first 52 balls, he made none at all off the last 14. Not that it will bother him.
23rd over: India 68-2 (Rahul 21, Gill 45) Carse bowls a big inswinger to Gill and has an LBW shout turned down. The fielders get excited and Brook persuades Stokes to review, quite wrongly – it’s doing too much and on the high side too. But it’s another impressive over from Carse: Stokes is getting good value out of his change bowlers.
22nd over: India 67-2 (Rahul 20, Gill 45) Dawson, with a slip and a short leg, bowls full enough and straight enough to restrict Gill to classical defence. Another maiden.
The Sky director finds a clip from the previous over, showing Harry Brook and Ben Duckett, in the slips, sharing a hug. I wonder (a) what it was all about and (b) how many other times it has happened in England’s history, celebrations aside.
21st over: India 67-2 (Rahul 20, Gill 45) Stokes gives Archer a breather, so, at three overs, this spell has been even shorter than his first. He hands over to Carse, who has been workmanlike in this series except for that wonder spell on the Sunday evening at Lord’s, when he had some help from the light. This over is a good one, a maiden that draws a play-and-miss from Rahul.
20th over: India 67-2 (Rahul 20, Gill 45) After finding his length, Dawson mislays it again, allowing Gill to cut for four and two. England can afford it.
19th over: India 61-2 (Rahul 20, Gill 39) Archer to Rahul, who meets stylish accuracy with steely defence. A maiden to Archer, whose figures were not ruined by that pair of fours from Gill: 7-2-18-0.
The commentators discuss Stokes. “He’s been England’s best bowler,” says Ian Ward, only to find Dinesh Karthik trumping him: “I’d go so far as to say the best bowler on either sidethroughout the series.”
18th over: India 61-2 (Rahul 20, Gill 39) Dawson finds high length, lets Rahul have a single and then keeps Gill quiet.
Typical Stokes – he takes England’s only five-for of the series and promptly demotes himself to fifth bowler.
17th over: India 60-2 (Rahul 19, Gill 39) Archer continues. He goes full, looking for the lavish swing he found before lunch, but it’s not there as Gill plays one of his sumptuous cover drives. When Archer responds with an 88mph lifter, Gill is ready with an upper cut for four more. He is managing to bat as if he’s not the captain. You could argue that, for much of England’s massive innings, he showed why he shouldn’t be.
16th over: India 51-2 (Rahul 18, Gill 31) Ben Stokes decides it’s time for spin, so here is Liam Dawson, who, without setting the Test alight, has made England better in every department. Four off the over as he starts by dropping a bit short.
Thanks Rob and afternoon everyone. Only two people have lasted longer than Joe Root in this series, and they’re both at the crease now. Root has faced more than 700 balls, KL Rahul more than 800, Shubman Gill more than 900. To drag India back into this game, all Rahul and Gill need to do is go way past 1000.
Drinks
15th over: India 47-2 (Rahul 17, Gill 28) Archer changes ends to replace Woakes. Rahul leans into a full ball, only just wide of off stump, and times it through the covers for a couple. His batting, full of serenity and class, has been one of the joys of this series: as I type he has made 438 runs at 62.57.
That’s drinks. Time for me to hand over to the great Tim de Lisle for the rest of the day.
14th over: India 45-2 (Rahul 15, Gill 28) Four singles and a no-ball from Carse’s over. The last of those runs was flicked wide of short leg by Rahul. It was in the air for a while, with a bit of excitement among the England fielders, but Rahul had everything under control.
13th over: India 40-2 (Rahul 13, Gill 26) Rahul gets four with an equally gorgeous push through mid-off. Woakes pulls his length back thereafter and beats Rahul with a good delivery. This feels like a one-with-your-name-on-it pitch.
The umpires have a quick look at the ball after an odd incident involving Carse, who stood on it at the end of the previous over. I don’t think there’s anything in it.
12th over: India 36-2 (Rahul 9, Gill 26) Gorgeous batting from Shubman Gill. Carse overpitches on a couple of occasions and is twice driven straight for four. The second shot, waved to the right of the stumps at the non-striker’s end, was nigh-on perfect. India trail by 275.
“When I first started watching cricket, some 32 years ago, I was struck by the hook shot, as it looked so out of control but often led to a boundary,” says Allan MacDonald. “I was thinking we see far fewer hook shots today. Is that right, and if so, why? Have the laws changed, or have the players realised it’s a low percentage shot? Is it just out of fashion?”
Hmm, I’m not sure. The pull shot is as popular than ever, maybe more so. The only vague theory I have is that more wides are called on height in Test cricket, so batters are more likely to leave the ball if they think it’s above head height. In 1981, on this ground, Lord Beefy was hooking similar deliveries into the crowd.
11th over: India 28-2 (Rahul 9, Gill 18) A length outswinger from Woakes is steered easily for four by Gill, whose attacking game looks in very good order. He still looks vulnerable to the LBW, mind you, and later in the over he bat-pads a defensive stroke through the vacant short leg region.
Rahul has a couple of scares at the end of the over. An LBW appeal is turned down on height; then he has to react smartly to jab down on a grubber.
“On my first visit to Paris we made a point of dining at smallish bistros at first,” begins John Starbuck. “To start with we happened to choose one with a typically snobbish-superior waiter, but we had a properly flaming crepe suzette and were so effusive in our enjoyment the waiter was actually smiling when we left. I consider this a notable achievement.”
10th over: India 22-2 (Rahul 9, Gill 13) Carse replaces Archer, who bowled a menacing spell of 4-1-7-0. Rahul plays out a maiden, dealing expertly with a couple of sharply bouncing deliveries.
9th over: India 22-2 (Rahul 9, Gill 13) Shubman Gill’s concentration may have arrived. He hits two delightful boundaries off Woakes, an elegant cut followed by a classical off drive, though he survives another LBW appeal later in the over thanks to an inside-edge. Brydon Carse got Gill that way at Lord’s and a similar dismissal might be in the post.
8th over: India 14-2 (Rahul 9, Gill 5) A beauty rom Archer straightens to hit Rahul on the back thigh. The slip cordon go up for LBW but the bowler stays quiet. Maybe Archer has appeal fatigue; or maybe he’s scared to risk his heart again so soon after hitting his knees and pleading with Ahsan Raza to give Gill out. Either way, this one is not out.
Rahul is beaten by a grotesque lifter, a ball not even Bradman would have nicked. Facing Archer on this uneven pitch looks thoroughly unpleasant.
7th over: India 14-2 (Rahul 9, Gill 5) A short ball from Woakes is waved through the covers for three by Gill. The rest of the over, mostly straight deliveries targeting the stumps when Gill is on strike, passes without incident.
“Sadly my dad Gilbert, a big cricket fan, died on Wednesday, during lunch on the first day,” writes Bernard Hughes. “I was with him through the last few hours, giving him updates from the OBO right up to India being 78 for 0. He had watched the last day of the third Test with great pleasure and couldn’t wait for the next one to start, although he has missed most of it. Let’s hope England bring home a win for him – he’d have been so delighted with Stokes’s ton.”
Bernard, that’s really sad. Condolences to you and your family. I don’t know what else to say except that, in my experience, the memories of sharing sport with a parent become even more precious after they have gone. Not necessarily at first – everything is too raw – but definitely in the medium-term.
My dad and I weren’t exactly models of tactility. So the snapshot in my mind’s eye of us hugging after a particular football goal is something I cherish. I’m sure you will have similar memories.
6th over: India 10-2 (Rahul 8, Gill 2) Rahul back cuts Archer for four with the minimum of fuss. His watertight forward defensives are almost as impressive; at the moment he’s playing on a different pitch.
5th over: India 6-2 (Rahul 4, Gill 2) A full ball from Woakes is driven classily down the ground for three by Rahul. While he looks serene, Gill is batting like a man who left his concentration behind at Lord’s. He survives another LBW appeal after playing around his front pad at a fullish straight delivery. Too high, maybe going down, but that is a clear tactic from England.
4th over: India 3-2 (Rahul 1, Gill 2) Gill wrings his hand in pain after a nasty lifter from Archer jams his bottom hand against the bat handle. After a quick chat with the physio, he’s okay to continue. But that was a nasty blow to the middle finger (I think).
The next ball brings another huge LBW appeal, with Archer hitting his knee in disappointment when Ahsan Raza shakes his head. It was a beautiful delivery, a big inducker that beat Gill all ends up, but it would have missed leg stump. Archer realised that by the time he got to his feet; it was too high as well.
“I’d nominate ‘Father’ Marriott as the goat in your list of England batters with Test aggregates of 1 or 0 (149th over),” writes Adrian Armstrong. “One Test, 11 wickets at 8.72, two five-fers. At the age of 37. And he literally wrote the book on leg-spin, or at least began it – ‘The Complete Leg-Break Bowler’ was finished after he died by Ian Peebles and Richie Benaud, not a bad pair of specialist editors. I borrowed it from Newcastle Central Library as a teenager, and I felt I was learning a new language.”
GILL IS NOT OUT
Archer bowled a fabulous yorker that Gill squeezed between bat and boot. Archer was convinced it hit the toe of the boot first; the umpire Ahsan Raza disagreed. So did Jamie Smith, but Archer pleaded with Ben Stokes to review.
It’s fiendishly close. It hit the bat and the flap of the pad – not the boot – almost simultaneously. The third umpire rightly decides there is no conclusive evidence to overturn the decision.
Gill would have survived anyway as the point of contact with umpire’s call. Nasser Hussain points out a slight flaw in the system – the umpire may not have made a judgement on point of contact if his not out decision was based on the ball hitting the bat first. In this case, however, there’s no reason for complaint because we didn’t reach that stage of the process.
ENGLAND REVIEW FOR LBW AGAINST GILL! Drama straight after lunch
Feedback: All-Time Farm XI
“Mac Millings should hang his head in shame,” writes Bob O’Hara, an opener that pretty much guarantees publication, “for missing David Shepherd & Dickie Bird as umpires.”
Robert Wilson speaks for all most of us
This is bliss. It’s actual, no-messing, by-any-standards bliss. I’m almost embarrassed by what cricket can do to me. I have the mother of all legal, respectable and hi-def feeds and a free day. In my ecstasy and gibbering glee, I’m having flashbacks to wonderful youthful days lost to all-day Test coverage that made you think you would always be fifteen or twenty one and would definitely one day get round to reading Pushkin. Too often, we forget the simple rapture cricket can bring. I have actual goosebumps.
And yet I missed the first day completely because I simply didn’t know it was on. Big Paper – like everywhere else – was definitely not selling it to the max. This year you can feel the irritated general contempt for the world’s least promising spectator sport (and yes I know the Guardian ran an op-ed about the last game). I’m not frothing with manosphere rage or anything but the fact remains that this lovely, generous thing is being thoroughly and unmistakably ghettoised. It’s tiddlywinks for posh people (you could get a Blue for that at Oxbridge).
I’m an astounding chav. The chav who other chavs avoided in my Belfast housing estate because I was just SO plebeian. Cricket has NO demographic. It just seems very sad this morning in my state of enchantment that this ineffable and lifelong pleasure is every year being denied to more and more people.
I say again, this is bliss.
Rugby union
In case you were wondering, nothing much happened in the second Test between Australia and the Lions. No siree bob.
Lunch: India trail by 310 runs
3rd over: India 1-2 (Rahul 1, Gill 0) KL Rahul’s immunity to scoreboard pressure is greater than most. He calmly plays out the final over of the morning session from Woakes. India just need him to bat until tomorrow evening now.
Ben Stokes leads England off after the kind of session captains dream about. England added 125 to their overnight score of 544 for 7, with Stokes letting his hair down after scoring his first Test century in two years. Then Chris Woakes struck twice in his first over to leave India facing defeat today, never mind tomorrow.
There’s a decent chance that, as in 2018 and 2023-24, a very hard-fought series between England and India will end 4-1 to the home side.
I’m getting ahead of myself, I’ll shut up.
2nd over: India 1-2 (Rahul 1, Gill 0) Jofra Archer’s turn. He beats KL Rahul outside off, then hits him in the vicinity of the pleasuredome with a sharp lifter. Rahul gets India off the mark with a flick wide of leg slip for a single.
Time for one more over before lunch.
“Although the Poire Belle Hélène is a fine second, the greatest tasting crêpe is of course avec citron et sucre,” says Brian Withington. “However, for pronunciation purposes there is only one candidate, the immortal Kenneth Williams rendition of Ma Crêpe Suzette. You’re welcome.”
(Thanks for all your emails this morning and throughout the series. As my brain gets slower – I’m forty-ni in my forties – I find it harder to read them all, which is frustrating but kind of unavoidable. Double-wicket maidens don’t help.)
Athers knows
A lengthy Test series can be likened to an arm wrestle; you have a struggle for a short while but it often ends with one team completely flattened. Well played India
— Mike atherton (@Athersmike) March 6, 2021
1st over: India 0-2 (Rahul 0, Gill 0) Woakes angles the hat-trick into the pads of Gill. Missing leg, though Woakes enquired for LBW just in case. A double-wicket maiden will suffice.
Sai Sudharasan tried to leave on length, was too slow in doing so and steered the bat to second slip off the face of bat. Harry Brook took a comfortable catch – one that brings the beleaguered captain Shubman Gill to the crease.
WICKET! India 0-2 (Sudharsan c Brook b Woakes 0)
Chris Woakes is on a hat-trick and the Ashes are only bloody well coming home!
We’ve seen this storyline played out so many times before. After spending almost two days in the field, an opening batter can’t clear his head and falls straight away. Woakes started around the wicket to Jaiswal, who snicked a fine delivery towards Root at first slip. He spilled a straightforward chance but reacted superbly to grab the loose ball just above the ground.
WICKET! India 0-1 (Jaiswal c Root b Woakes 0)
Chris Woakes strikes fourth ball!
A bit of entertainment (sic) between innings
“Bobbie dearest,” writ- oh lord it’s Mac Millings. “Instead of a Goat War, why not an All-time Farm Animal XI?
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Goatham Gambhir
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Ben Duckett
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Quack Hobbs
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Brian Cluckhurst
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David Cower
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Oink Morgan
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Neighmond Illingworth
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Waqar Ewenis
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Sydney Baa-nes
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Geese Topley
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Mootiah Mooralitharan
OBO Andy Bull
WICKET! England 669 all out (Carse c Siraj b Jadeja 47)
Carse slog-sweeps Jadeja to deep square leg, where Siraj takes the catch, turns and holds the ball out playfully in front of the England fans. A Panzer VIII Maus couldn’t crush his joie de vivre.
England lead by 311 after one of the most ruthless batting performances of the Bazball era. India’s openers will face a nasty session of around 15 minutes before lunch.
156th over: England 669-9 (Carse 47, Archer 2) Brydon Carse is a Test match No10 only in name. He drags Washington over long-on for six more, then does extremely well to stop a defensivel stroke deflecting back onto the stumps. Carse whacked the ball off middle stump with such timing that he instinctively started to run before realising you’re not actually allowed to do that.
“My son Edward Sinclair (we are in Egypt) suggests Nutella and dates makes the GOAT of crepes,” says Duncan Sinclair. “Each to their own…”
156th over: England 660-9 (Carse 39, Archer 1) England are batting on. It looked as if Stokes motioned for Carse to come with him when he was dismissed; not sure what that was about.
WICKET! England 658-9 (Stokes c Sudharsan b Jadeja 141)
Six and out for Stokes. He spanked Jadeja over long-off, tried again next ball and was caught by Sai Sudharsan at long-on.
Stokes walks off to a standing ovation after a richly entertaining innings of two halves. I don’t have the Before Cramp and After Cramp numbers to hand; overall he hit 141 from 198 balls with 11 fours and three sixes.
While I’d be loath to announce that Stokes the batter is BACK, that performance is pretty encouraging in view of England’s winter itinerary.
155th over: England 651-8 (Stokes 135, Carse 38) Three singles in Washington’s over. Apologies, I was faffing around with the below.
This is a cracking stat from Tim de Lisle, who will be back on OBO duty this afternoon.
I was idly wondering if India were still beating England on runs per wicket over the series. Turns out this partnership between Stokes and Carse has taken England ahead … while the Indians still lead in terms of individual hundreds, fifties, fours and sixes.
I can’t be the only one who is reminded of the dramatic series between England and South Africa in 1998.
Average runs per wicket
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England 29.33
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South Africa 35.36
Result England 2-1 South Africa
By coincidence, Tim wrote the Wisden Almanack review of that series. His intro is one of my all-time favourites.