T P SPIN AT THE TEST

KEATON’S A BEATEN MAN

KEATON JENNINGS’ latest failure — out lbw to Jasprit Bumrah for a duck — took his Test average since returning to the side earlier in the summer to 17. Overall, he now averages 21 for England — inferior to many of the batsmen who have already been dropped. Joe Root has fared little better since beginning the series with 80 at Edgbaston. He hasn’t reached 20 in five innings since. Only once before, from the second innings of his debut Test, has he had a longer spell without a fifty. And only twice before has he averaged fewer in a series than the 24 he is averaging here.