England target victory after fightback

Buttler’s defiant 69 helps hosts to establish 233-lead India must now survive spin on ‘challenging’ pitch

Jos Buttler said that England had edged into the ascendant after taking their lead past 230 on a compelling third day of the fourth Test.

“We’ve got plenty to work with already but anything about 250 would be a great number to try and eke out tomorrow morning,” said Buttler, who top-scored with 69. “That would give us plenty of runs on a challenging pitch.”

England’s lead is now 233, and they are widely considered slight favourites after recovering from a precarious 122 for five – after Joe Root had been runout for 48 – to 260 for eight at the close.

“You are always trying to find the right balance between attack and defence,” Buttler said after becoming the first Englishman to pass 400 Test runs this summer. “We got it wrong in the first innings and it was an obvious one to address for the second innings.

“But you’ve got to look to score runs, especially in a low-scoring game like this one.”

Buttler said the pitch is becoming harder to bat on, and should help England’s two spinners in the second innings. “Having seen the wear and tear in the wicket, there’s quite a bit of rough outside the right-hander’s off stump, and with the seamers we’ve seen a bit of variable bounce. So it’s nice to have the runs on the board.

Buttler said he was “not fussed” about whether he kept wicket permanently. England’s first-choice keeper from 2014-15, he is keeping wicket for the first time in a Test for three years, after Jonny Bairstow’s fractured finger.

“To even be in the Test match side is fantastic for me, so gloves on, gloves off, it doesn’t matter,” he added.

England’s management are keen to exploit whether Bairstow could become a specialist batsman full-time in order to increase the output from the top order. But Bairstow does not want to give up the gloves permanently.

In this Test, Bairstow followed his first-innings six, made from No 4, with a golden duck – clean bowled by Mohammad Shami – from No5 in the second innings, after moving down the order because of Moeen Ali’s surprising elevation to No3. Buttler revealed that the decision to promote Moeen from No7 had been made the night before for tactical reasons. “Moeen’s been in such fantastic form and bats No 3 for Worcester, and we just thought it was a nice move for him.”

It is unclear whether England will use Moeen that way again – he made a double century for Worcestershire from No3 in their last County Championship game but made only nine in the second innings at the Ageas Bowl.

While Moeen is widely considered too loose to be a Test match No3, Joe Root has a stronger record at No4, averaging 52.45 rather than 40.47. It is just one of the questions that, regardless of whether England can seal the series, needs to be resolved. “At the moment we’re just trying to work out the best combinations,” Buttler said.