As the first Test match between India and England resumed on the fourth day at Trent Bridge, England were still in a spot of bother in spite of Stuart Broad’s heroics the day before, when he smashed a brilliant 47, taking England to a more respectable score and saving them from the humiliation of follow on, which looked likely at 202 for 7. But only Jimmy Anderson was at the crease with young Joe Root, and the deficit was still over a hundred runs. Surely, the Indian pace bowlers who were so effective the day before, would get the last remaining England wicket in a hurry?
That was the expectation, but Jimmy Anderson and Joe Root had other ideas. Joe Root farmed the strike at the start, protecting Anderson from Ishant Sharma in particular, only letting Anderson play the fifth or sixth balls of the over. Anderson meanwhile started smashing fours, a whole lot of them, in the limited opportunities that he did get when on strike.
Joe Root is the most popular young cricketer in England, and the reason for this is that he never seems to give up on even a lost cause. Root is a fighter, and the fans love that about him. He was brilliant against the Indian bowlers; some of his cover drives were simply outstanding. He brought up his hundred with two glorious fours on the off side off Mohammad Shami, moving from 93 to 101 in just 2 balls.
As the innings progressed, Root started to trust Anderson a little more, and Anderson began playing some of the loveliest cricketing shots, reminiscent of the great English batsman of the 1980s, David Gower, who was known for the elegance of his stroke play. Anderson passed his highest Test score of 37, went on to bring up the first Test fifty of his career to great cheers from the crowd. Over 85% of his runs had come from boundaries by then.
Root and Anderson carried on and on, going past the record for the last wicket partnership set by Ashton Agar and Phillip Hughes in the last summer’s Ashes series in England. By the time Anderson was finally out, smartly caught in the slips by Shikar Dhawan off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the duo had already added a record 198 runs for the last wicket, with Jimmy making 81 and Root unbeaten on a classy 154. MS Dhoni had only himself to blame for some poor tactical decisions such as not bringing Ravindra Jadeja to bowl much earlier, and over bowling Ishant Sharma. India’s team selection has gone horribly wrong for them with debutant Stuart Binny getting to bowl only 10 overs in the entire match, to little effect, and making just 1 when he batted. So instead of getting an extra option by picking an all rounder, India suddenly found themselves saddled with a player who is hardly good enough with either the bat or the ball at the highest level.
In reply, India started brightly enough with Shikar Dhawan playing a few glorious shots before getting out cheaply for a quick 29, caught by off spinner Moeen Ali off his own bowling. Dhawan should be concerned as this has become a regular feature of his game. Vijay continued from where he had left off and Cheteshwar Pujara was consistent as usual, as both scored fifties before getting out.
Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane were at the crease as India finished the day at 168 for 3, with a lead of 128 runs going into the last day. But with the Trent Bridge pitch being so docile, it would be a total shock if either of the two teams manage to get a result out of this game. It seems boring draws are back in cricket!
