2 months ago
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England opted not to train on Tuesday but Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum still made a beeline for Lord’s. Two days out from the third Test – a pivotal match with the series locked at one-apiece – they were keen to speak to the groundstaff to express their hopes for a pitch with pace, bounce and a bit of sideways movement.
It was too late to be making demands and, like the disappointed customers of Mr Tourette, signwriter extraordinaire from the Modern Toss cartoons, England’s captain and head coach had to settle for a slow, occasionally two-paced surface. Throw in a sluggish outfield — plus an Indian attack buoyed by their win at Edgbaston and now augmented by Jasprit Bumrah — and run-scoring was anything but straightforward.
The upshot was a slow, hard-fought opening day in which England were once again grateful to the enduring class of Joe Root to give them a foothold in the contest. Arriving at 43 for two in the morning, and walking off unbeaten on 99 from 191 balls at the close, Root had steered the hosts to 251 for four from 83 overs. Ollie Pope’s 44 and 39 not out from Stokes provided the support for the master here.
Neither Stokes or the crowd knew it would be such a grind when the coin went up and his decision to bat first was met with a cheer. Fresh out of the clammy underground, and instantly hit by the heatwave that has made pitch preparation so tricky this summer, folks were expecting a day of Bazball in full flow, with balls racing to the boundary and the scoreboard ticking over like the wheels of a fruit machine.
But there were early signs it might be a tough one out there in a morning that saw England chisel their way to 83 for two by lunch: Bumrah’s fourth ball of the day had scuttled along the ground after passing the bat, while the slips appeared unsure how close to stand. Not that this was much of a surprise to anyone who witnessed the World Test Championship final between South Africa and Australia last month.
The source of the first two wickets to fall was, however. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett had just about kept India’s frontliners at bay to stick on 43 runs by the first drinks break, only to find themselves battling a brief period of lavish swing after the ball lost its lacquer. But then Shubman Gill threw it to his fourth seamer, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and watched the allrounder wipe out both openers in his very first over.
For Duckett there was cause to chunter something that rhymed with his surname after he went to pull a leg-side long hop and gloved behind on 23. In the case of Crawley, 18, it was a more auspicious delivery as Reddy located a good length and some late swing found the edge. Not that Crawley had been particularly convincing up to this point, given some of the charging swipes that met fresh air.
In between there was the latest skittish start for Pope: a life first ball when he drove hard at Reddy and Gill grassed a tough chance at gully. Pope edged the first three deliveries he faced, in fact, before his heart rate dropped to match that of Root and the pair set about a stand of 109 runs in 35 overs and a wicketless afternoon.
Burying their egos, the pair had built a promising platform and driven the feisty Mohammed Siraj potty to the point of asking Root for some Bazball. India were also forced into a change behind the stumps during this session, Dhruv Jurel coming on as a substitute for Rishabh Pant after a ball down leg from Bumrah injured his finger.
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But off the first ball of the evening session came a twist and a smart catch by Jurel. There had been a bit of turn for Ravindra Jadeja during one exploratory over before tea but not enough to advise caution, Pope feathering an ambitious drive behind and falling to his knees in disbelief. Having personally overcome a probing spell from Bumrah – Root wisely stayed at the other end – the reaction was understandable.
With England 153 for three in the 50th over, Gill immediately whistled to Bumrah to come on and in a four-over burst the world’s No 1 fast bowler delivered for his captain. It took out the world’s No 1 batter in the process, with Harry Brook’s first innings back at the top of the tree ended on 11 by a ball that nipped in and rattled off-stump.
Root, the man Brook usurped, ploughed on though and with Stokes for company, saw out the day. Not that it was straightforward or without incident, Stokes surviving a reviewed lbw on 27 via umpire’s call and seemingly injuring his groin while leaving a ball outside off stump. The knock-on effect for his bowling and thus England’s attack is a worry, not least with fingers already crossed over Jofra Archer’s return.
