Stokes on the charge
Bowler removes Kohli to put England in control
James Anderson has thrown everything at Virat Kohli this summer, and it has been riveting to watch, but once again he had to be content for someone else to steal his glory, as Ben Stokes claimed the prized wicket to tip the fifth Test England’s way.
Anderson is the only frontline bowler not to dismiss Kohli this series, and you have to go back to the summer of 2014 for the last time he got him out. Dropped catches, multiple plays-and-misses and the vagaries of umpires’ calls have all gone against him. Once again Anderson was frustrated by the India captain and will probably have to face the match referee for letting it all wind him up.
Instead Anderson had to be content with playing a part in England taking five wickets in the evening session as Indian batsmen groped in the gloom under the floodlights to slump from 101 for two to 174 for six, 158 runs behind with the final Test slipping away.
It would have been a masterful piece of leadership for Kohli to fire his players up for a dead rubber after an exhausting series and months on the road. There have been flickers of spirit, with India’s seamers dragging their team back in the game before a Jos Buttler-led tail-end fightback, and when Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli were together at the crease.
But a breezy, grey afternoon was perfect for England’s seam attack and Anderson again led the way. The series has been played in good spirits mainly because conditions have been in the favour of the bowlers, so grumpiness from the likes of Anderson has been at a minimum. But with Pujara frustrating England, and Kohli playing his shots, Anderson started to tick.
Anderson and Kohli have discovered a level of mutual respect in this series but it was bound to boil over at some point. Anderson thought he had finally broken through when Kohli missed an inswinger on 16, only for umpire Kumar Dharmasena to judge him outside the line of off stump. The review backed him up, narrowly, and Anderson muttered something to Dharmasena that led the umpire to call over Joe Root and write in his notebook. A fine awaits.
A roused Anderson was on the charge and batting was extraordinarily difficult. Pujara edged behind and Ajinkya Rahane lasted only eight balls before the pressure of not being able to judge the movement became too much and he poked a wider ball to first slip, where Alastair Cook took a comfortable catch – his 40th off Anderson, taking them to fifth in the all-time list of bowler-outfielder combinations. Anderson’s two for eight in six overs was backed up by Stokes, whose late swing drew the error from Kohli. A powerful drive was edged to second slip and India visibly deflated.
Rishabh Pant surrendered with a poor shot in the next over, while debutant Hanuma Vihari needed some poor decision-making from Joel Wilson to stay at his crease. Given not out to a ball hitting leg stump that England failed to review, Vihari then overturned another lbw that Wilson gave out but was shown to be flying over the top.
England only had a foothold in the match thanks to Buttler, who inspired the last two wickets to add 118. He has
scored 510 runs this summer at an average of 51 and is England’s leading runscorer in this series. This was another perfectly paced innings from Buttler, who has reacted far better to losing the wicketkeeping gloves than Jonny Bairstow did a week ago.
As soon as Buttler realised he could trust Stuart Broad, he was able to easily pick off singles with the field set deep in the confidence his partner could block out at the other end. Broad did more than that, getting on the front foot and driving well in his best innings since being hit in the face by India’s Varun Aaron at Old Trafford four years ago.
Broad required facial surgery and admitted to nightmares for months afterwards, requiring the assistance of a sports psychologist to recover. Since then he has averaged just 13, as opposed to 24 before the injury. Broad has always had a good eye and driven well but teams have peppered him with short balls and he has lost his nerve.
This was an admirable effort, perhaps aware that his place on the tour to Sri Lanka is in danger, and he shrugged off being hit on the head by Jasprit Bumrah, the kind of blow that in the past would have knocked his confidence.
It meant Buttler did not have to bat with risk. He can be devastating with the tail, playing the one-day swashbuckler and smashing boundaries, but that is fraught with danger even for a ball-striker as brilliant as Buttler.
But with Broad playing sensibly, Buttler continued to bat in Test match mode, bringing up a half-century and only opening his shoulders after Broad was caught in the deep off Jadeja.
Now down to the last man Anderson, Buttler started to attack, slotting a length ball from Bumrah back over his head for six and two balls later hooking a bouncer for another six over long leg.
Kohli finally realised his mistake and squeezed Buttler, shutting off the single he needed to farm the strike with Anderson. It brought the error with a slip catch well held by Rahane off Ravindra Jadeja, but by then England were back in the game.
Meanwhile, Stokes will finally face a cricket disciplinary hearing on Dec 5, four months after he was cleared of affray at Bristol Crown Court.
Stokes and Alex Hales will appear before the England and Wales Cricket Board’s cricket discipline commission in the six weeks between England’s tours to Sri Lanka and West Indies. Both are likely to face charges of bringing the game into disrepute.