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89th over: India 278-5 (Thakur 32, Sundar 0) Archer’s first delivery is too good for Thakur, beating him with outswing, then the batter allows one to hit him on the buttock, knowing there’s a leg-slip waiting to snaffle any shovel or fend. But he does then play into the leg-side for one, leaving Sundar two balls to see away; he edges the first into the ground, then is beaten by one which leaves him – or does he play inside it? Either way, this is a very, very serious opening spell from Archer. England are a totally different proposition with him in the team.
88th over: India 277-5 (Thakur 31, Sundar 0) Thakur takes a single to square leg, then Woakes fails in his efforts to make Washington play … until the final ball of the over, with draws him forward then does just enough off the seam to beat the edge. India are under it here.
Apparently Ozzy Osbourne he was a big cricket fan,” advises Henry Scowcroft, “but didn’t get to play that much because nobody would give him a bat.”
Badabing!
87th over: India 276-5 (Thakur 30, Sundar 0) Thakur takes a single to midwicket, meaning four balls for Archer against the left-handed Washington. And he’s getting decent movement too, but the batter realises that, with the ball moving away, he can probably leave it, so he does.
“Let me preface this by declaring my ignorance,” says Nick Lee, “but I’ve noticed the bemoaning of the ball failing to carry to the slips all series. Why can’t the slip cordon take a step or two closer?”
Sometimes they do, but this pitch in particular is surprisingly quick on occasion, and I guess the rationale is that it’s easier to go forwards than backwards.
86th over: India 275-5 (Thakur 29, Sundar 0) Woakes tries back of a length, persuades the ball to bounce a little more, and Thakur, not expecting that, forces it off hips with a glove, somehow earning four to fine leg. Then, after two dots, Thakur drives uppishly but nicely through cover for a second four of the over, adds a single, and the sense is that this morning, his overs will turn out to be the bits in between Archer’s overs.
“In your preamble this morning,” says Martin O’Donovan-Wright, |you noted that no matter the fluctuations through each day, these two sides end up in a close contest. As well as being closely matches teams, I think a considerable factor in this is English pitches: there is almost always something in it for bowlers of every hue, from tweakers to speed merchants, from seam to swing; whilst good batters will still usually have enough to do well: an even contest between those who excel with bat or ball. Visiting sides with decent players of any technical stripe will do well. South African pitches also have these qualities. This seems less the case with Australian and subcontinental pitches, which heavily favour particular types of bowlers, or are very batter-friendly, favouring home sides who naturally specialise in producing players to suit the conditions. Would welcome yours and others’ thoughts on this theory.”
I think these teams are really well-matched, but it’s also the case that English pitches are extremely sporting – sometimes too sporting, in that they offer assistance to bowlers who aren’t that good. I’m not sure that’s been the case in this series, but I do think slow tracks and outfields have stopped teams getting away. In Australia, on the other hand, pitches are true and outfields are quick, so nondescript medium pace gets hammered.
85th over: India 266-5 (Thakur 20, Sundar 0) A brilliant start from Archer. It’s so good to have him back – and that is not a partial point.
WICKET! Jadeja c Brook b Archer 20 (India 266-5)
It had to come! Archer again gets close to the stumps, as he does, again squares Jadeja up, again moving the ball away, it again takes the edge, and this time it carries, Brook snaffling a smart one, falling low to his right.
85th over: India 266-4 (Jadeja 20, Thakur 20) Lovely start from Archer, landing one on the seam which moves away from Jadeja, squaring him up, and this time he catches the edge … but with his pace down at 82mph as he gets loose, the ball doesn’t carry to slip. Unsurprisingly, Jadeja gets himself down the other end as quickly as he can, turning into the on-side for one, then Thakur edges – so far, this is the opposite of yesterday morning – but it’s still brutal for England, the ball refusing to carry, dipping and dying in front of Brook at two.
84th over: India 264-4 (Jadeja 19, Thakur 19) Yup, it seems that Pant is out of the series, though he may bat in this match, depending; bah. That means increased responsibility for Jadeja in particular – he’s in terrific nick and will relish the situation. But it’s Thakur, playing for his place, on strike, and he plays out a maiden comfortably enough, meaning Archer will have a full over with the new ball against the lefty Jaddu.
…and we’re readdy to go, Woakes with the new loganberry.
Here come our batters…
“Cricinfo saying Pant’s foot’s broken and he’s out,” advises Robert Speed, “except for emergency batting perhaps.”
Absolute sake.
“Just checked the OBO report to read the preamble,” writes disappointment’s Riley Strother, “but since I am in British Columbia and it is nearly 3am, I think I will be heading to bed soon. However I couldn’t help but want to throw my song suggestions into the ring:
For cricket themed songs the classic is Dreadlock Holiday by 10cc. As for songs about rain you got most of my favourites (Beatles, Cult, CCR) but you are missing It’s Raining by Rick Derringer (recently RIP). Speaking of recent RIPs you could do worse than include Black Sabbath’s eponymous track simply for the rain and thunder sounds at the start of the tune! RIP to Ozzy (did he ever attend cricket matches? I’ve seen videos of him at F1 and MLB games but not cricket). Goodnight!”
“What time period this morning would you say is crucial?” wonders Andrew Cosgrove. “Would you say, perhaps, the initial 60 minutes?
If we’re doing Indian cricket-themed music, the one that immediately springs to mind is the collaboration between Asha Bhosle (of Brimful of Asha fame) and, (checks notes) Brett Lee.
Definitely the initial 60 minutes, if we’re splitting time into arbitrary sections, and perhaps those which follows too.
Word to the wise: if you’re near a telly, computer or a phone and can get Sky, Ricky Ponting is about to talk batting.
A question Stokes has to answer this morning: who takes the new sphere? Most likely, he sticks with Woakes and Archer, but I’d not be uninterested to see what he makes of it.
Email! “As some OBO readers may be aware,” begins John Starbuck, “BBC Radio 3 have a playlist each morning made up of listeners’ suggestions. Today, the theme is cricket. Soul Limbo has already been played to start it off but should anyone wish to contribute, [email protected] is where tosend emails. I’d go for Roy Harper’s ‘When an old cricketer leaves the crease’ or David Rudder’s ‘Rally round the West Indies’.”
Funny you say that. Just this morning, I was thinking that when I cover Afcon and World Cups, I do playlists for the countries whose music I know well – Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa (links available on request). But I don’t know much about Indian tunes, so was thinking it might be fun for those who do to curate an OBO playlist. And in the meantime, here’s our rain offering:
Also going on:
And in other sport – apparently there are some:
Chris Woakes, the pick of England’s bowlers yesterday and a man who stinks of unimpeachable honesty, says he’s hearing Pant is out. I really, really hope not.
Good news, potentially for both teams: it’s overcast in Manchester, so there should be a bit there for both attacks. The pitch played slightly strangely yesterday, docile but occasionally lively. I actually think they got the track almost perfect in the first Test at the new OT, the 2013 Ashes contest: there was something in it for quicks hitting 85ish and above and also for quality spinners, but otherwise it was flat and the best batters made runs.
So far there’s no news on Pant. But he’s not at the ground and the signs do not look positive. Godspeed, old mate.
Preamble
A day of Test cricket is – even when split up into six portions of crucial next hours – a long time. It offers us scope for undulation, fluctuation and domination, a story within a story that nourishes our brain through the long evenings before we go again.
Somehow, almost every time these sides get to it and however things meander and explode, we end up near to where we started: with a close contest that could conceivably go either way.
Yesterday, India had the better of the first session, sensible and doughty batting aided by a supernatural force-field protecting their outside-edges from the ball, however hard they tried to unite the two. Then, in the afternoon, England – led by the exhibition masochism of Ben Stokes – fought back, before the even evening dig left the match beautifully balanced as we bounce into day two.
It feels like much of what’ll happen next is rooted in Rishabh Pant. If he can’t bat, England will feel like they’re almost into the tail, but the problem for India would be a symbolic one too; he is the human embodiment of bravery and hope, so his incapacitation would extract a toll not just practical but mental. They need his batting, but they also need his presence.
England’s attack, meanwhile, should be a day wiser. Bowling at Old Trafford is unlike bowling anywhere else, and Brydon Carse struggled while Jofra Archer, though miserly, is there to be deadly. If, as a unit, the perform similarly today, they will be facing a substantial first-innings total; if they improve, they could be ahead of the game by stumps. Bring on the six portions of crucial next hours!
Play: 11am BST
