Key events
128th over: England 523-6 (Dawson 14, Woakes 2) Siraj dusts himself down in preparation for one final spell. A sharp nipbacker is defended awkwardly by Woakes, prompting Siraj to put his hands to his head. Given how well he has bowled, Siraj’s bowling figures (24-4-105-0) are a minor scandal.
“I think one of the reasons I’m such an avid fan of the England cricket team is that, having grown up watching them being routinely thrashed, with one or two notable exceptions, by West Indies and Australia it kind of felt that they were plucky underdogs, the team that couldn’t catch a break, that were at times laughable but at others lovable, always there and giving it a go, but just no match for the world’s best, frustrating and admirable in equal measure,” says Simon McMahon, gulping for breath after an unexpectedly long first sentence. “Always the hope that next time it would be different. The Scotland of the cricket world, really. Is it any wonder I became a fan and have remained one ever since? But that was then and this is now. A thrilling, winning and likeable team. I like it, but it still takes a bit of getting used to. And I feel I’ll be waiting a while longer for a similar transformation in Scotland’s footballing fortunes.”
127th over: England 523-6 (Dawson 14, Woakes 2) Dawson pulls a no-ball from Bumrah for four. He’s an offensively good Test No8, a man with almost 11,000 runs in first-class cricket. This must be England’s strongest lower order since Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad regularly flogged tiring attacks n 2010-11.
In other news, the OBO is only a small part of our sports coverage this weekend.
126th over: England 518-6 (Dawson 10, Woakes 2) “Joe Root would already have broken Tendulkar’s record if he’d never been made England captain,” says Joshua Keeling. “Discuss.”
Please, don’t make me get mathematical on your ass. Root averages 46 as captain and 55 when he’s among the ranks. Even if he averaged 55 throughout his career, he’d be around 1600 runs behind Sachin Tendulkar. I’d also argue his peak as a batter was against India in 2021, when the stress of captaincy was stratospheric.
125th over: England 516-6 (Dawson 9, Woakes 1) Chris Woakes comes to the crease. India would love to force Ben Stokes’ hand tonight by taking three more wickets.
WICKET! England 515-6 (Smith c sub b Bumrah 9)
Jasprit Bumrah strikes with the first ball of a new spell. Smith was caught on the crease and edged to the sub keeper Jurel, who dived forward to take a fine low catch. The third umpire checked just in case the ball had bounced, but it was the cleanest of takes. Jurel is a class act.
124th over: England 515-5 (Smith 9, Dawson 9)
123rd over: England 513-5 (Smith 9, Dawson 7) Jamie Smith is taking time to get his eye in, another sign that England plan to bat into tomorrow. It’s also quite rare for Smith to start again spin at both ends, although he shows his class by walking down to time Washington through the covers. That’s a fine way to get your first boundary. “As good a shot as we’ve seen today,” says Dinesh Karthik on Sky.
122nd over: England 508-5 (Smith 5, Dawson 6) Jadeja has got a second wind. He’s such a competitor that he has probably worked out exactly how India can win this game:
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India 357
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England 550
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India 353
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England 127
India win by 32 runs
121st over: England 504-5 (Smith 2, Dawson 5) Confident batting from Dawson, who skips down the pitch to drive Washington over mid-off for four. England lead by 146.
120th over: England 500-5 (Smith 2, Dawson 1) Jadeja pleads with Ahsan Raza to give Dawson LBW first ball. It would have been plumb but for an inside edge onto the pad. India are hunting wickets all of a sudden, with a slip, gully and short leg.
Dawson takes a quick single to get off the mark and bring up England’s 500. In other news, England have confirmed that Stokes left the field with nothing more serious than cramp.
The Root stumping was another masterful bit of glovework from Dhruv Jurel. He’ll be in the starting XI at the Oval next week; that’s his chance to make a case with the bat as well as the gloves. There’s no reason Rishabh Pant couldn’t play as a specialist No5; it might even take him to another level with the bat.
WICKET! England 499-5 (Root st sub b Jadeja 150)
Joe Root gets his 59th and final ovation of the day after falling to a terrific delivery from Ravindra Jadeja. It spat past the edge, Root overbalanced and the sub keeper Dhruv Jurel had the bails off in a flash. Lovely glovework and a superb delivery from Jadeja – one that will encourage the new batter, Liam Dawson.
Read Taha Hashim on Joe Root
119th over: England 499-4 (Root 150, Smith 2) A single off Washington takes Root to his 16th score of 150 or more in Test cricket. Sixteen! That’s twice as many as Graham Gooch, and he’s the daddy of the daddy hundred!
Most 150+ scores in Tests
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20 Sachin Tendulkar (Ind)
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19 Brian Lara (WI), Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
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18 Don Bradman (Aus)
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16 Mahela Jayawardene (SL), Joe Root (Eng)
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15 Ricky Ponting (Aus)
118th over: England 498-4 (Root 149, Smith 2) “Hullo Rob,” writes Tamsyn Lawrence. “So what sort of lead should have England thinking of declaration? I feel like 250 should be sufficient to win by an innings or near enough, maybe midway through tomorrow’s second sesh. Seem reasonable? Or do we just call it once all the recognised batsmen are out? I’m looking nervously at the rain forecast for the next two days…”
I’d imagine the plan is to make for around an hour in the morning, to demoralise India while also increasing their lead to between 250 and 300. But this England team do things differently so they could declare tonight, or bat on and score 1,000 and then lose the fifth Test and draw the series 2-2 and what the hell Ben.
117th over: England 495-4 (Root 147, Smith 1) Stokes can return later, or more likely tomorrow morning if England are still batting. The Sky commentators think he has reluctantly accepted that the cramp will restrict his strokeplay as well as his running. If so that’s a sign that Stokes is becoming less stubborn in his old age; a couple of years ago he might have batted on regardless.
Stokes retires hurt on 66
116th over: England 491-4 (Root 144, Smith 0) Out of nothing, a ball from Jadeja bursts grotesquely, hits Stokes high on the bat handle and loops to safety on the leg side.
Stokes is still struggling and has decided to retire hurt. I think it’s cramp; he doesn’t look as despondent as you’d expect if it was a recurrence of a hamstring injury. We’ll find out soon enough.
Drinks
I can’t imagine England will consider a declaration tonight. They lead by 131 and will want to extend that to at least 250, possibly more.
115th over: England 489-4 (Root 143, Stokes 65) Siraj, who limped off the field a while ago, returns for a spell of short stuff. Stokes belabours a pull through midwicket for four, then gets cramp after cutting towards deep point. He starts to walk a single and is given the hurry-up by Washington Sundar’s quick throw.
114th over: England 482-4 (Root 141, Stokes 60) A short ball from Washington is pulled lustily for four by Stokes, moving him into the sixties. He hasn’t made a Test century since he scared the bejesus out of Australia at Lord’s in 2023.
113th over: England 477-4 (Root 140, Stokes 56) A ridiculous shot from Stokes. He shapes to reverse sweep Jadeja, slips and has to reach to wallop it towards extra cover. Stokes ends up lying on his front, head tilted slightly so that he can watch the ball go all the way to the boundary.
“While I’m essentially uninterested in engaging with GOAT discussions that aren’t about Sir Garfield and taking your point about Root’s longevity, he has still some way to go to match Jack Hobbs in that regard, despite a very chequered illness and injury record,” says Geoff Wignall. “Eight Test centuries in his 40s and the last of them when 46, after a debut at 26 and an overall Test average in the mid-50s is on the far side of noteworthy.”
I meant volume of Tests! From everything I’ve read, though, he’d be the next on the list of batters in my all-time England XI.
112th over: England 471-4 (Root 140, Stokes 50) Stokes is struggling against the spinners. He almost offers a return catch to Washington after pad-batting a defensive stroke back down the ground. But he survives and clips a single to reach his first half-century of the Test summer. He is scoring some useful runs despite being a million miles from his peak as a Test batter either side of Covid.
111th over: England 466-4 (Root 137, Stokes 48) Spin from both ends now, with Jadeja replacing the ailing Bumrah. Stokes is beaten by a big-spinning delivery that beats the inside edge and hits the pad. He was outside the line, negating India’s LBW appeal, but Liam Dawson must have moist lips after seeing that.
110th over: England 462-4 (Root 135, Stokes 47) Washington Sundar beats Stokes with a beautiful delivery that curves and dips before spitting past the edge. That lured Stokes so far forward that I’m surprised he didn’t injure an armpit as reached for a defensive stroke,
109th over: England 459-4 (Root 133, Stokes 46) Bumrah continues to Root, who drops a single on the off side. No sign yet of England pushing for a declaration or to put time back in the game. The forecast for the next two days is imperfect but reasonably good – it’s not like the 2023 Ashes Test, when non-stop rain was on every weather forecast in the appsphere.
A bit of housekeeping: on Root’s greatness and comparisons with Sutcliffe, Hutton and the rest, I should have referred to the volume of Test cricket he has played rather than his longevity. I’d love to blame my own longevity, and the consequent impact on my brain, but it was just a lack of concentration.
108th over: England 458-4 (Root 132, Stokes 46) Washington Sundar, weirdly underbowled in this innings, replaces Thakur. Stokes tries a reverse sweep, doesn’t beat the infield and gives himself a jolt of cramp in the process. He’s okay.
107th over: England 458-4 (Root 132, Stokes 46) Stokes cover drives Bumrah majestically for four, the kind of shot you can’t always play off Bumrah. Maybe it has stirred something in him becuse the next ball nips ball sharply to hit Stokes on the body.
“On the averages question, what do you think is the minimum number of innings for a ‘real’ average?” asks Ben Mimmack. “Kamindu Mendis is #2 on the official test list at the moment with 62.66 off just 24 innings – surely too few to be recognised as a great. But Graeme Pollock is widely recognised as one of the finest bats ever with an average over 60, but only 41 innings.
“For the same reason, my single-digit batting average in club cricket is invalid because I recorded fewer than 100 scores.”
The usual threshold is 20 innings. That made the success of Adam Voges problematic for the hardcore nerds but after eight years of therapy I’m at peace with that now but I still think it’s a reasonable threshold. As long as you provide or aware of the context, I don’t think it matters. It’s those malefactors who use stats irresponsibly that make life difficult.
106th over: England 450-4 (Root 130, Stokes 41) Stokes again tries to marmalise Thakur and again doesn’t make proper contact. Root shows there’s more than one way to skin a bowler by timing a gorgeous boundary down the ground on the walk.
An under-edge from Root bounces short of Jurel; then he works a single to bring up the 450. England lead by 92.
“I share your numb feeling towards Root’s greatness,” writes Dave Tull. “Growing up watching England v India, I would yearn for England to have a player like Dravid or Tendulkar, who simply never felt like they were going to get out. The idea that we have one in Root still feels so foreign. Is this what actually being good at cricket feels like?!”
105th over: England 442-4 (Root 125, Stokes 39) Bumrah was also injured in the last Test in Australia, a series that could easily have ended 2-2 rather than 3-1 had he been available. He probably shouldn’t be bowling here but it’s India’s last, last, last chance so he’s putting himself through the pain. But the first two overs of this spell have been like watching a tribute act rather than the real thing.
“I always loved watching Ricky Ponting, even – especially – when he was the pantomime villain for so many English fans,” writes Boris Starling. “A fabulous batsman (his 156 at Old Trafford in 2005 is still one of the best innings I’ve ever seen), an unbelievably brilliant fielder, and as uncompromising a leader as they come. I’m so glad that in retirement and behind the mike he’s let people see that he’s also clearly an excellent bloke too.”
I’ve never forgiven him for burning Duncan Fletcher’s toast in 2005.
104th over: England 441-4 (Root 124, Stokes 39) Thakur pleads for LBW when Root walks down and across. It’s similar to the Siraj appeal earlier in the day – but India were wrong to go upstairs on that occasion and they can’t risk their last review here. It was missing leg.
“I sometimes think we don’t quite understand the golden age of English Test cricket that we’re living through,” writes Phil Harrison. “Until recently, two nailed-on starters (Root and Anderson) in any all-time England XI and two others who would be very much in the conversation (Stokes and Broad), all in the same team. And I suspect that in a decade we might be talking about Harry Brook and Jamie Smith in similar terms too. Salad days. This winter’s Ashes feel like they could be the culmination of something very special.”
I suspect the lack of an Ashes win, home or away and please let’s not start on the moral victories, is the main reason for that. We still see cricket through, erm, urn-tinted spectacles.
103rd over: England 438-4 (Root 123, Stokes 38) Bumrah starts after tea, although he’s clearly struggling with what looks like an ankle problem. His pace has dropped to between 77-82 mph and there are no alarms for Root or Stokes in that over.
“Regarding your Root comparison with the Don, the greatest certainly had ‘longevity’ (despite playing significantly fewer Tests, as was the custom of the time),” writes Thomas Walker. “Donald played Test cricket for 20 years, from 1928 to 1948, debuting at 20 years old. He’s basically the benchmark for longevity. So no, I will not countenance any comparison of Root with Bradman. Signed, an Australian.”
What comparison was this? All cricket fans recognise that Don Bradman is the greatest, not least because of all those Test hundreds he scored during World War Two.
This is Joe Root’s 12th Test century against India. Only Don Bradman (19 v England) and Sunil Gavaskar (13 v West Indies) have scored more against a single opponent.
Winnie the Pooh on a lark
“Putting the stature of Joe Root in context might seem daunting because of the titanic nature of his achievement but, like many dreaded tasks, it’s actually a doddle,” writes Robert Wilson. “ England fans’ view of him is skewed by fear of failure and disappointment (and the hard-to-dislike instinctive despondency of English cricket followers). All you need to do is model what opposition fans think when they see him schlepping out with bat in hand.
“What they’re almost certainly thinking is ‘Oh eff it, here’s this freckled elf come out to get his usual party-pooping 120. What’s the bleedin’ point?’ There is something absolutely relentless about him which you just can’t get if you’re a fan. I remember Steve Waugh doing that to every Brit I knew way back when. At least he had the face for it. The horror of Root is that he crushes it out of you while looking like Winnie the Pooh on a lark. That’s bound to make it worse.”
“Is Root really the GOAT amongst English batters?” says Adrian Goldman. “Surely the immortal Don is still the greatest of the greatest, though he has far fewer runs and centuries than Sachin. On that basis, what about Sutcliffe, Barrington, Hammond, Hobbs and Hutton, all of whom have significantly higher Test averages – above 55/innings?”
I have a greater appreciation of longevity than I did when I was younger, which is why I would put Root at the top. Bradman is different because his average is entirely preposterous. But either argument is valid and I wouldn’t start abusing anyone on a digital platform for putting Wally Hammond, Jack Hobbs or whoever at No1.
“Joe Root,” begins Simon McMahon. “If he could field and bowl a bit, maybe do some impressions, he’d be an all time great.”
In the County Championship, Rehan Ahmed has become the first Englishman since Sir Ian Botham to score a century and take 13 wickets in a first-class match. Beefy did it against India in the Golden Jubilee Test of 1979-80, aided by industrial quantities of brandy.
Regular OBO readers will know I don’t like plugging my own work, oh no, but I’m slightly proud of this piece on Joe Root from 2013. Not the writing so much as the recognition of unique qualities that endure to this day. You know what they say: game recognise game a stopped clock is right twice a day.
Tea: England lead by 75
102nd over: England 433-4 (Root 121, Stokes 36) Root cuts the last ball of the season, bowled by Thakur, for a single and walks off to his 48th ovation of the day. His great mate Ben Stokes stands back to let Root leave the field first.
With all these milestones it’s easy to forget that England are in the most wonderful position. The second new ball felt like India’s last chance of getting back in the game; now their best hope is rain, lots of rain.
“I am somewhere north of 50 years old,” writes John Culley. “My heroes in the 1980s were Graham Gooch and David Gower, both exceptional and very different talents. Root has as many centuries as they had combined. He really is an underappreciated little master.”
There are only two Little Masters. Four if you count Sunil Gavaskar and Fergie Gupte.
Joe Root becomes the second highest runscorer in Tests!
101st over: England 432-4 (Root 120, Stokes 36) Bumrah walks in to replace Siraj, only for the umpires to tell him he can’t bowl until after tea because of the time he spent off the field. That means the return of Anshul Kamboj – and Root dabs a single, the 13,379th run of his Test career, to move above Ricky Ponting and into second on the all-time list.
The Old Trafford crowd give him another ovation, the fourth or fifth of the day. Imagine the noise if he overtakes Sachin Tendulkar. That’s for another day, and indeed year: Sachin is around 2,500 runs ahead of the rest.
In the commentary box Ricky Ponting, who loves cricket far more than he loves himself or his own records, hails Root’s achievement with an enthusiasm you can’t fake.
100th over: England 428-4 (Root 119, Stokes 32) Ricky Ponting enters the commentary box just in time to see Joe Root join him on 13,378 Test runs. Only Sachin Tendulkar has scored more. I don’t know about you but I’m almost numb to Joe Root’s greatness.
Stokes tries to club Thakur into a different postcode, doesn’t make proper contact and breaks his bat in the process.
“OBO handover” is the subject of John Starbuck’s email. “Do OBO scribes have a competition regarding who’s on duty for significant targets achieved?”
It’s done by the clock. That’s been the case ever since a sickening incident when Andy Bull and Lawrence Booth both thought they should call Steven Finn’s first Test fifty.
99th over: England 424-4 (Root 116, Stokes 32) Siraj goes for the glory ball, strains too hard and is flicked effortlessly through midwicket for four by Joe Root.
Now Siraj is limping. This is becoming a nightmare for India. Bumrah is on the field but can’t bowl until after tea, and that might be a struggle given how frequently he’s grimacing.
At the end of the over, Siraj moves slowly off the field to receive treatment. Mike Atherton’s arm-wrestle analogy feels custom-made for a day like today.
98th over: England 415-4 (Root 108, Stokes 31) Bumrah is back on the field – but he looks really uncomfortable and is grimacing every team his foot hits the floor. Shardul Thakur comes on for Kamboj, whose latest spell lasted just two overs, and is milked for four.
It almost beggars belief that Thakur is in the team ahead of Prasidh Krishna, never mind Kuldeep Yadav. India’s selection in this series has been a mess. From afar, Gautam Gambhir always seemed a Rhadamanthine character but he and the selectors have changed their mind on a number of players in this series.
97th over: England 411-4 (Root 106, Stokes 29) The luckless Siraj zips consecutive deliveries past Stokes’s outside edge. I have no idea how he is still wicketless innings.
Siraj tries to engage Stokes in some hard-faced discourse. No luck there either.
96th over: England 409-4 (Root 105, Stokes 28)
All right lad, you okay, you’re playing well there.
Those were Joe Root’s first words to Kevin Pietersen when he walked out to bat on his Test debut at Nagpur in 2012. It was obvious during that innings, a serene five-hour 73, that England had found a player. We had no idea they’d found the player, the greatest English batter of all time.
That hundred, Root’s 38th in Tests, takes him to joint-fourth on that all-time list.
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51 Sachin Tendulkar (Ind)
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45 Jacques Kallis (SA)
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41 Ricky Ponting (Aus)
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38 Joe Root (Eng), Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
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36 Rahul Dravid (Ind), Steve Smith (Aus)
JOE ROOT’S 38TH TEST CENTURY!
Boos ring round Old Trafford as Joe Root clips Kamboj fine for four to reach – just dwell on this for a second – his 38th Test century. He celebrates modestly, then takes his helmet off to acknowledge an ovation full of unconditional love. For a Yorkshireman, in Manchester.
95th over: England 402-4 (Root 99, Stokes 27) Siraj, bless him, is charging in as if the future of humanity depends on him taking a wicket THIS INSTANT. He’s bowling very straight, looking for LBW or bowled, but Stokes and Root are up to it in that over. They take a single apiece, which means Root will start the next over on 99 not out.
94th over: England 400-4 (Root 98, Stokes 26) Bumrah has left the field after only one over with the ball. That’s a huge problem for India because this, right here, is probably their last chance of saving the series. Kamboj replaces him, prompting Stokes to alter his approach ever so slightly.
Okay, a lot. He charges down the pitch and wallops a length ball back past Kamboj for four. Stokes has reached 20 in eight of his last 10 innings, yet his highest score in that time is 49 not out. If he gets through the new ball he’ll have every chance of changing that statistic.
“I see India took the new ball after 90 overs, not 80,” notes Michael Rowbottom. “Does that mean they can get another new ball after just 70 overs, or do they have to have it for the full 80 overs?”
They have to wait another 80. Should that happen in this innings, they will be in a galaxy of pain.
