GET OUT OF THIS ONE, JOE!
Bowlers can’t lift gloom as Rohit’s century leaves Root facing defeat
IT IS 35 years since England last lost two Test series in a home summer, but a repeat came a step closer on a day when the only thing flatter than the weather was their bowling.
An anticyclonic gloom has settled over the UK ever since his team squared the series under brilliant sunshine at Headingley. Yesterday, as Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara batted India into the ascendancy in a topsy-turvy fourth Test, the skies became a metaphor for England’s hopes.
If this series has confirmed anything, it is that momentum exists only in the minds of those providing the pep-talks. After the second Test at Lord’s, India were the immovable object; after Leeds, England the irresistible force. Now, as Sharma ticked off his first Test hundred outside India, and put on 153 with Pujara, the narrative changed once more.
There was a brief interlude after tea, when Ollie Robinson struck twice in the first over with the second new ball. First, Sharma topedged a curious pull-cum-paddle to Chris Woakes at long leg, ending a majestic innings of 127 in which he cemented his status as the series’ best batsman after Joe Root.
Then Pujara, on 61, was given out on review after a thin inside edge ended up in the hands of Moeen Ali at third slip via the batsman’s thigh pad. With a packed Oval roused from slumber, England had Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja — again promoted to No5 — in their sights, and a shiny Dukes in their hands.
A couple more quick wickets, and they might have been confident of arriving in Manchester next week with a 2-1 lead.
But Kohli responded with some crisp drives off Jimmy Anderson, and by the time bad light intervened with 45 minutes to go, India were 270 for three, a lead of 171. The highest successful fourth-innings chase in Test cricket at The Oval is England’s 263 for nine against Australia. But that was back in 1902, when Gilbert Jessop scored a century in an hour and a quarter from No7. They may need another miracle here.
After 13 wickets on the first day and seven on the second, there were just three on the third. Yet even Robinson’s double strike — taking his Test haul to 28 wickets at 18 — flattered England.
It was one of those afternoons when the sameness of their rightarm fast-medium attack, plus Ali’s gentle off-breaks, was exposed by high-class batting, a sleepy pitch and a complete absence of swing.
Gone are the days when The Oval excited fast and slow bowlers alike. On this kind of surface — when the ball goes old and the bowling lacks devil — the best batsmen can do as they wish.
Robinson, Anderson and Craig Overton all flourished at Headingley, while Woakes, who replaced Sam Curran, has been superb. But their attack looks as if it were designed to dismiss India on the first day, with the bowlers and the pitch at their freshest, not on the third, when they missed the venom of Mark Wood.
The tourists had resumed on 43 without loss, still 56 behind and dependent on Sharma and KL Rahul, who have not been the sitting ducks that overseas openers often resemble in England.
They began with a stand of 97 in Nottingham, then put on 126 at Lord’s — an easily forgotten contribution to a momentous win. Here, they extended their alliance to 83, before Anderson had Rahul caught behind on review for 46.
For England, though, that was as good as it got for the next 46 overs. Despite the scalp of Rahul, Anderson took his second-innings record this summer to two wickets at 116, compared with 16 at 19 in the first. And Overton lost Root’s faith after he spoonfed Pujara’s square-cut during a scrappy postlunch spell.
Sharma calmly cashed in, finally reaching three figures away from home with a straight six towards the pavilion off Ali.
Pujara kept him stoic company, and reached 50 with a glide to third man off Overton moments after tea. Even when Robinson threatened to change the mood, India already led by 137.
England have had their moments in this Test, but lacked the conviction to capitalise on them. With
India 127 for seven shortly after tea on the first day, they might have taken control, only for Shardul Thakur to wrest it from them with the fastest Test fifty on English soil.
Then, after Pope and Ali had gone past India’s eventual 191, Ali slogged Jadeja to cover. To compound the sloppiness, England have put down six catches in this match, with Burns at second slip missing Sharma on six and, yesterday morning, 31.
With the ball just 12 overs old, England will have one more chance to stay in the game today. If they fail, we may soon be dusting off the events of 1986, when the visitors were also New Zealand and India. Momentum may be overrated, but history can repeat itself.