Alastair Cook hit the first half century by an opening batsman in this series and was ably supported by England's new number 3 Moeen Ali who also passed the 50 mark as England reached 131-1 after tea. However, India's bowlers, many of whom had been unlucky not to have picked up rewards earlier for their excellent bowling, took 6 wickets in the evening session to leave England 198-7 at the close of play.
England captain Joe Root had earlier won the toss for a fifth consecutive Test and decided to bat on a cool but sunny morning on Lords. England's openers looked largely untroubled for the first hour of play and Keaton Jennings will be disappointed to have given away his wicket by turning the recalled Jadeja straight into the hands of leg-slip. Cook and Moeen then combined but the run-rate rarely got above 2 an over as India's bowlers began to find consistent swing after the lunch interval. Despite falling 29 runs short of a century in his last Test, Cook received a standing ovation for his fine innings. However, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow both soon followed for Ducks with Stokes, Moeen and Curran also departing late in the day.
Analysis of the day's play
Has England's rock called time too soon?
It is innings like the one played today by Cook that will have many people wondering if the 33 year old is hanging up his gloves a little bit earlier than he might. Cook's form in general during this series hasn't looked too bad, I just think that he has gotten a few good deliveries and knicked a couple that on other days he would miss. Today he did get a stroke of luck when he was dropped by Rahane in the 30's but much to the home crowds disappointment he couldn't quite go on to get the hundred that I'm sure that he craved.
For England, Cook's retirement will break a succession of England greats at the top of the order which goes back decades to the time of Boycott. As I've promised before, I will do a full recount of Cook's career in a later post as his efforts for England over the years deserves full attention. Suffice to say that England will miss his runs and experience at the top of the order and hope that they can quickly find a player to replace him and join the legacy of great English openers.
Slow-Mo
Credit must also go to Moeen Ali today who after being promoted to the number 3 slot, scrapped it out to go on to make his slowest 50 (165 balls) in an England shirt. Moeen is an exceptionally talented cricket and I wonder if one day both he and the England hierarchy will look back on his career and think that it might have been even better than it has been. He has been converted from a batsman that bowled a bit into England's premier spinner. He's gone from being a top order player down to a lower order player and now back again. He's certainly willing to be flexible for the team but perhaps it is time that the team was a little more flexible towards him. I hope that innings like today will help him to stake his claim as a player that England can bank on a little more than they can with some of the current middle order.
Despite Moeen's efforts, India's bowlers and in particular the luckless Mohammed Shami will feel that on another day Moeen (and Cook for that matter) might have knicked off a little earlier. Indeed, I think it's fair to assume that Shami must have broken a mirror in the hotel this morning before walking under a ladder on his way to the team bus and then crossing the path of a black cat while entering the ground. In the period just before tea the Indian quick was passing the edge of Moeen's bat 2 or 3 times an over and yet he finished the day wicketless.
Bairstow's form a cause for concern
Jonny Bairstow failed yet again today. That is 3 ducks in his last 5 innings with all his dismissals coming in a similar fashion. There is no doubt that Bairstow is a talented player and that over the last couple of years across all formats he has been one of England's best and most consistent performers. However, he is woefully out of touch at the moment and potentially still feeling the effects of that fractured finger he sustained in the 3rd Test. In general, no one in the top 5 for England has shown particularly good form this season but at least some of them have shown the will to fight for their wicket. Take Ben Stokes for example, I can't remember the last time he played a fluent, attacking innings in any form of cricket and yet despite not scoring many runs this series he has ensured that he is not an easy wicket. Bairstow on the other hand seems to be insistent on pursuing the idea that attack is the best line of defence by continually throwing his hands at anything in his half of the pitch. By staying so leg-side of the ball and exposing his stumps, he is then either a big candidate to be bowled or to edge behind as was the case today. I wrote in my preview yesterday that England might ultimately need to make a tough decision between Buttler and Bairstow. On this form Bairstow might make that decision a little easier.
What is a good score on this pitch?
@amey left me a comment on my previous blog earlier today and I suggested that 300+ would put England in a commanding position. Just after Tea on Day 1, it appeared as if they would make that total and potentially more until India roared back with those 6 wickets. I had also mentioned in that post that the current round of domestic games had begun to throw up some very small totals. It is not surprising that this is the case as we are now late into the season and while the weather is still sunny it is significantly cooler than it was 6-8 weeks leading the ball to swing more and for longer. In fact looking through the scores from those domestic games I can tell you that the average total for a completed innings in the 8 matches was 215, not far off what England will probably finish on tomorrow. This is also the reason that generally speaking we don't schedule Test Matches this late in the year. For example, India's last tour of England in 2014 saw the final day of the final Test played on 17th August - this game will finish 4 weeks later at a time when the deciduous leaves are already turning yellow! In fact this is only the 2nd Test Match in the last 15 years to have been played in England in September. The other game took place last year and saw England's bowlers knock over the West Indies twice for under 200. If the ball swings throughout the day as it has done today and if England's bowlers get it right then I feel that we are likely to be in for another low scoring game here.
As you may or may not have noticed, I have been writing less narrative in the form of a match / day report and trying to concentrate more on the analysis side of things in recent blogs. I believe that sharing opinions and our own personal insight is of more value to the platform than rehashing descriptions of an event, which is the kind of journalism you can find anywhere. However, I will be posting a link to the video highlights from the ECB at the bottom of each of England's games. My hope is that they add value to the blog without stealing focus from the written word but I would be keen to hear your feedback.
How do you see India's reply going tomorrow? Can they establish a good lead in this game?
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