Inherent in England’s approach under Ben Stokes and Brendan McCullum is that a certain amount of waste is acceptable, but in the middle of the middle Test of this epic five-match series One day this entered the realm of British water companies.
That’s where they rested when they hopped on the team bus at 7.45am. Ravichandran Ashwin missed the game due to a family emergency and overnight talk of a possible replacement was silenced by the cold and grueling reality of ICC match conditions. It was a scintillating stage after Ben Duckett produced a stunning unbeaten century the previous night as the pair posted 207 in reply to India’s 445.
Yet five hours later, with the game going into the game just 36.1 points clear, Jimmy Anderson trudged to the dressing room to get a shoehorn and bowling boots. The 41-year-old was the last man out on 319 runs, with Mohammad Siraj lighting up the stumps, but was ultimately let down by the man above him. By the close, India had reached 196 for two and a 322-run lead, ending what was arguably the worst day of the Stokes era.
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That’s not to say Rohit Sharma’s jaded side was in character. Kuldeep Yadav performed wonders before lunch, with the left-arm wrist spinner delivering two for 35 off 12 deliveries in which he changed his tempo , deployed the wrong moves unwisely and ended up filling the void left by Ashwin. Siraj was also in his best form for Chili and later beat England’s lower order by four wickets.
Then came Yashasvi Jaiswal’s latest performance, scoring 80 in the first Test and 209 in the second Test for a total of 104 off 133 balls, while Shubman Gill Shubman Gill shot a more cautious 65 not out. Built like a middleweight boxer, India’s left-hander dealt blow after blow to the exhausted England bowlers, some nine fours and five sixes only when back spasms forced him to retire injured. Just stopped.
The Englishman’s mind is still reeling from a devastating batting performance earlier in this article that echoed last year’s second Ashes Test at Lord’s, and not just by one end of the media center Courtesy of Aardman Animation. Australia were then 184 for 416 in response to Nathan Lyon limping off the field and exiting the series, but a series of hook shots saw their score become 325 vs. This time, Ashwin took a flight back to Chennai, but the dismissal was done differently.
This is where the shortcomings of England’s dynamic over the past two years emerged. Take Joe Root, a sub-continent specialist who found himself in a state of terror when he teed off Jasprit Bumrah on the 18th hole The fifth run of the day deepened that fear when he hit a reverse tackle and sent the ball flying to third down. It was a fine catch from Jaiswal, with his hand-eye coordination getting an early tune-up, but it was also a replica of Root’s dismissal by Neil Wagner at Mount Maunganui a year and a day earlier.
Root showed no remorse at the time and McCullum batted in the Maltese that night and went on to score an unbeaten 153 in Wellington the following week. In 22 tries against Seamer over the past two years, his party trick has yielded 60 points and the odd miss. However, while everyone talks about execution, or one cannot help but cheer its success while lamenting its two failures, it is still difficult to describe it as a percentage game given India’s situation and the angle of the spear. .
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It was the first of two wickets in 10 ball space as Jonny Bairstow suffered India’s record eighth duck, taking a series of tailgaters in the process. Kuldeep was the executioner, targeting a full ball that spun hard onto the pads. Duckett was soon following him as he rhymed to Bairstow’s mumbles. The opener’s 153 off 151 – which remains the innings of his lifetime – ended while chasing a rare wide long jump from Kuldeep, who was caught at cover.
Duckett may have wished he had put more in – he wasn’t gone after all – but the charge can’t be leveled against Stokes. He and Ben Foakes put out the flames of 260 against 5 in a 39-man stand before lunch but left just two goals short. Ravi Jadeja, replacing Kuldeep, profited from Stokes’ mistimed attempt to clear mid-wicket in the 41st and singled out one on the rope. When a rare ball threatened to get stuck on the surface, Fox immediately cut Siraj into the middle.
After that, the tail disintegrated and Siraj joined Jaiswal in pushing his opponent back into the ring. Even moving 19 pounds of Sharma to Root (Joel Wilson’s latest decision was overturned) couldn’t stop the damage that would ensue. But it’s the self-inflicted wound that stings the most, the relentless lessons not learned last summer and the certainty of a golden opportunity being missed.