Ben Duckett’s unbeaten innings of 133 on Friday was of such savagery and it engendered such haplessness among Indian players that any footage of the second day’s play from the third Test should probably be watched by home fans with trepidation.
Duckett pierced India’s vaunted bowling attack with jaw-dropping frequency as he hit the fastest Test century, off just 88 balls, by an Englishman against India, propelling the Three Lions to 207/2 after they had bowled India out for 445 at the Niranjan Shah Stadium. And to think Duckett was averaging 6 when he last came to India in 2016!
England’s response began in trademark fashion. With a new ball and no real movement for the quicks, Zak Crawley and Duckett ratcheted up 31 in the 30 minutes before Tea. India then introduced Kuldeep Yadav immediately at the start of the third session for England’s first trial by spin in this Test. Duckett responded by getting low to sweep Kuldeep for two consecutive fours.
The diminutive left-hander is an enthusiastic strokemaker, cavalier but calculated. His route to a 39-ball 50 featured numerous sweeps, and he was particularly strong square of the wicket, as Mohammed Siraj found out in one over where he conceded three fours to Duckett. That he was allowed such a brisk start without facing the one bowler, Ravichandran Ashwin, who has had the wood over him this series — he has gotten him out twice in five innings — pointed to a tactical slip-up on the part of Rohit Sharma.
Sure enough, Ashwin’s introduction yielded a much-needed breakthrough as he removed Crawley to claim his 500th Test victim. But it did little to slow down Duckett whose pyrotechnics lit up the first hour of the evening session, during which the Three Lions smashed 84 from 14 overs!
ALSO READ | Ashwin at 500: Cricket’s voice of reason and innovation carves his own niche in a censorious sport
Kuldeep bled 42 runs in six overs and was replaced by Jasprit Bumrah, who got the ball to reverse swing but could not breach Duckett’s defence. What compounded Rohit’s problem was that Duckett was sweeping even the good balls for four, scoring freely off Ashwin, who went for five runs an over in his first spell.
India’s R Ashwin celebrates his 500th test wicket during the 2nd day of 3rd Cricket Test Match between India and England. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI
He reached his third Test hundred with a sumptuous on drive off Siraj, putting on another fifty stand along the way, with Ollie Pope, who was given out lbw off Siraj.
In the morning, Ravindra Jadeja had added only two to his overnight score of 110 when he chipped one back to Joe Root, who caught it at shoulder height. In the first hour, India was two down for 27 in 14 overs, with James Anderson nicking off nightwatchman Kuldeep for his 696th Test wicket.
However, Ashwin and debutant Dhruv Jurel ensured Jadeja’s dismissal did not trigger a collapse. The odd ball had started turning quickly by now. But both men negotiated England’s main spinners with relative ease, helped in no small measure by very uncharacteristic defensive fields at times. The focus was clearly on batting as much of the day as possible while the pitch was still good.
One got the feeling that England almost overused the short-ball plan this morning. Wood had three men out for the bouncer during a passage of play that saw Jurel ramp the tearaway pacer over slips for six — just his third scoring shot in Test cricket!
The eighth-wicket pair brought up a vital fifty partnership 10 minutes before Lunch, refusing to be tempted to go aerial. English spinners were loose as well, with the occasional jaffa being complemented by rank-long hops. Maidens were hard to come by for the young spinners; no wonder Stokes looked grumpy and was seen waving his arms in frustration a couple of times.
In a no-frills first session, India’s biggest headache was the five-run penalty it copped after umpire Joel Wilson ruled that Ashwin ran along the middle of the pitch. India had already received its first and final warning on Thursday when Jadeja was found guilty of running on the protected area of the pitch.
After Lunch, Stokes summoned Wood to bowl short and went all funky with his field placements, with a short leg, a leg gully, and two fielders in the deep, waiting for a miscued pull.
The first 30 minutes were action-packed, with two catches going down before one was finally pouched. Jurel was dropped twice on 32, once by Ollie Pope at midwicket off the bowling of Tom Hartley and then by Stokes at leg gully off Wood.
Ashwin didn’t enjoy such luck, departing for a well-made 37 when he hit Rehan Ahmed to mid-on, where Anderson completed a low catch. That was the end of a 77-run stand. Jurel was caught behind off Rehan shortly after, four shy of a maiden Test fifty. The dismissals notwithstanding, it was hard to fathom why there was still no short leg or silly point for the spinners.
Bumrah’s enterprising 28-ball 26 pushed India closer to 450 before he was adjudged lbw off Wood, who snapped up four in the innings.
Who knows what will happen from here, but given England’s batting depth, its propensity to score rapidly, and the amount of time left in this Test, the game, as Sherlock Holmes would say, is afoot!
Comments
SHARE