COOK CLOSES IN ON HAT-TRICK!
England opener eyes a century, a home win…and child No 3
It was not quite the legendary ovation from the Oval crowd and three cheers from England players that apparently left Don Bradman with a tear in his eye ahead of his final test innings in 1948, but it was not far off.
How this famous old ground rose to alastair Cook yesterday as he walked out to open the batting for his country for the last time.
and how hard he battled to try to earn the perfect finale for one of the greatest of all England careers.
It is still on, too, with Cook unbeaten on 46 at the end of the third day of the final instalment of this gripping test series and the dream scenario of a century in a winning cause in his 161st and final test edging ever closer.
another packed house had to wait for the day’s main course when India extended their overnight 174 for six to 292 all out. But when the moment came, one of the most knowledgeable audiences in cricket did not let Cook
down. the 25,000- strong crowd rose as one when Cook walked self- consciously down the Oval steps. they continued their loud and warm applause until he was ready to take strike and only then reluctantly conceded that they had to stop.
the final test was very much on the line with England only 40 ahead — which is just the way Cook would have wanted it when he decided this would be the last time he digs deep for his country.
He avoided a repeat of Bradman’s second-ball duck 70 years ago that stopped the greatest of them all ending with a test average of 100, but took 13 balls before a trademark clip off the hip for four saw him off the mark.
Hearts were in mouths when Cook could have been dismissed by Mohammed shami in the over before tea as he played and missed
three times before finally laying bat on ball and smiling in recognition at the luckless bowler.
India desperately tried to claim their man on 13 when he was struck on the pad by Ravindra Jadeja, whose unbeaten 86 had kept them in the hunt, but technology proved the excellent Kumar Dharmasena right yet again.
there was a glimpse of the highest class when Cook played a sublime straight drive off shami that raced to the boundary, but above all there was calm authority, just as there has been from Cook for 12 highly successful years.
How England must wish the 12th of Cook’s opening partners since andrew strauss retired — Keaton Jennings — could have shown anything like the same steel and composure as England moved towards a powerful position.
Instead, Jennings, who also survived a wasted reviewed lbw, got himself out when leaving the ball for the second time in consecutive matches.
He was crestfallen as he watched shami’s inswinger take the top of off and middle stump.
what a pickle Jennings represents now. Ed smith is determined to take him to sri Lanka at the end of this month, not least because England do not want to replace two openers at the same time.
But how can they possibly pick a man who has scored a mere 163 runs at 18 in this series, without a single half-century? It is a big decision now for national selector smith, who is not afraid of making them.
when Moeen ali was undone, ambitiously trying to drive Jadeja out of the rough, England were only 102 ahead. But Joe Root joined Cook in challenging circumstances to extend that advantage to 154 and establish a strong position by the close.
the latest tough day for Jennings had begun when he betrayed his nervous state of mind by dropping Jasprit Bumrah first ball at silly point off adil Rashid, as England sought to end the Indian resistance.
It was a costly miss, too, as Bumrah hung on defiantly and took advantage of some wasteful England bowling while Jadeja skilfully hogged the strike to add 32 potentially priceless runs for the last wicket.
Jadeja, playing in his first test of this series, had celebrated his 50 with his trademark rapier-like twirling of the bat — much to the disdain of the onlooking Jos Buttler — and looked certain to repeat the trick for his hundred until he inexplicably set off for a
non- existent run and succeeded only in running out Bumrah.
It left England a lead of 40 but they would have been hoping for so much more when they began the third day.
India were still 158 behind at 174 for six and the stage was seemingly set for Jimmy anderson to overtake Glenn McGrath in the wicket-taking stakes.
Instead, the leader of England’s attack, fined 15 per cent of his match fee for a show of dissent at failing to gain Virat Kohli’s wicket on saturday, still needs two more wickets to draw level with the most prolific fast bowler in test history. anderson and stuart
Broad were simply not at their best yesterday, particularly with the second new ball, so England had to rely on spin for finally winkling out an India lower order that kept their side in with a victory chance.
Hanuma Vihari should have been dismissed third ball on saturday but stuart Broad inexplicably failed to call for a review when his lbw shout was turned down. England thought the ball had hit the batsman’s back leg, not his front.
Now the debutant looked much more comfortable moving on to 56 before he was finally snared by Moeen, who then dismissed Ishant sharma — again with the help of
the faultless Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps.
shami, so unlucky with the ball before Jennings gifted him his wicket, was negligent with the bat. He tried to hit Rashid, finally introduced by Root for the 64th over, into the stands and only found Broad at long-on.
Jadeja’s poor running then left the spotlight clear for Cook and he was still enjoying it at the close, watched again by his wife alice even though she is due to give birth to their third child today.
what a hat-trick Cook could enjoy if he reaches three figures and then helps England win before welcoming his third child. One of the most illustrious stages in cricket is well and truly set.