- All the latest from the fourth Test in Mumbai
- Vic Marks’ report from day three at the Wankhede Stadium
- Email tom.davies@theguardian.com or tweet @tomdaviesE17
47.3 overs: England 182-6 (Bairstow 50) Ashwin comes round the wicket at Ball, and finds some spitting turn outside off-stump, then rounds off the day with the dismissal of Ball, who just edges another swift top-spinner behind. An appropriately triumphant end to the day for a rampant India.
47th over: England 182-5 (Bairstow 50, Ball 2) Jadeja bowls what England want to be the last over of the day, but it isn’t. Ball is on strike, but again plays with orthodox defensive correctness until he’s frozen in the headlights by a sharply turning leg-break. The batsmen try to waste time as best they can, the bowler tries to rush it through with a similar sense of purpose. Ball takes a single off the last ball of the over.
46th over: England 181-5 (Bairstow 50, Ball 1) Ashwin tries out his full repertoire on Ball, with close catchers in either side of the wicket, but the nightwatchman, who batted so well in the first innings, manages to play out before getting off the mark with a technically adept push for a single.
45th over: England 180-5 (Bairstow 50, Ball 0) Jadeja tests Bairstow with a fuller, quicker ball that he edges along the ground to slip, in a tight maiden over. The horns are honking again, there’s an exuberant buzz about the ground, and India’s fans know the series is in the bag.
44th over: England 180-5 (Bairstow 50, Ball 0) Bairstow completes a rugged and resilient half-century with a flick off his legs for a single from Ashwin. It’s been a bold display after a bracing start, but this potentially handy partnership goes no further: Stokes is dismissed after reverse-sweeping onto his boot and being taken at second slip. It’s reviwed but it’s the right decision. Ball, in as nightwatchman, has to fend off a menacing carom ball straight up but survives the over.
Stokes is gone. The umpires check whether Stokes connected with his reverse sweep shot. It did. He swept it onto his boot, it cannoned up into the air and was taken at slip by Vijay. Good decision.
43rd over: England 179-4 (Bairstow 49, Stokes 18) A change of ends for Jadeja too now, Bairstow picking up a well-run two off his first ball with a flick square on the legside. Jadeja has an energetic lbw shout when Stokes pushes forward, prods, misses and is hit on the back pad. But the umpire’s unmoved.
Amid all the doom, gloom and harrumphing, everyone’s pal, Rob Smyth, has a sunnier outlook: “Has a team ever played better while being thrashed than England in this series?” he chirps, his pint half-full. “It’s probably going to end up as a noble 4-0 defeat.” Not sure whether it’s been a great performance as a team, but there have been a greater collection of encouraging individual performances than one might normally expect in your common-or-garden drubbing.
42nd over: England 176-4 (Bairstow 46, Stokes 18) Stokes is on to anything short, and he cracks Ashwin away again on the offside for a single. Bairstow plays late off another shorter ball, pushing it to leg for one more. A fuller, sharply turning ball vexes Stokes a touch, the batsman driving and missing. Looks like people won’t be getting that shopping/self-discovery day in Mumbai tomorrow after all. At least not initially.
41st over: England 174-4 (Bairstow 45, Stokes 17) Jayant finds some extravagant turn outside off-stump but it’s short enough for Stokes to read. He and Bairstow swap ends twice with swift singles before Stokes misjudges a reverse sweep attempt, which bounces up off his forearm and over Kohli. He gets one for it, and two more follow with a rather more accomplished shot from Bairstow. These two are motoring along nicely, in between the scares and appeals.
40th over: England 167-4 (Bairstow 40, Stokes 16) An awry umpiring decision is again overturned, after Bairstow prods at Ashwin, the ball dobs up and is taken by a diving forward short leg. Umpire Oxenford’s finger goes up, Bairstow swiftly reviews and is vindicated. He hadn’t come close to hitting it. A two and two ones follow.
39th over: England 163-4 (Bairstow 37, Stokes 15) Bairstow sweeps hard at Jayant but it’s well cut off at the square leg boundary and they only take one. Bairstow then hammers a short ball off the back foot in front of square on the offside for four, following it with a slog-sweep for SIX. “That could be a maximum … it is,” hollers Nasser Hussain in the commentary box. <Sigh>. A six is NOT a “maximum”.
“I have a cunning plan,” whispers Chris Drew, “The ginger ninjas put on a 200 partnership, then Jos comes in and scores a rapid century, setting up the declaration just before tea tomorrow. Adil makes amends by ‘doing a Monty’ and England win by 40 odd runs I’ll go for a lie-down now.” Yes, do.
38th over: England 152-4 (Bairstow 36, Stokes 5) Jadeja’s 15-over spell is ended, with Ashwin switching ends and coming on in his stead as the shadows lengthen over the outfield, almost reaching the square. The world’s No1 spinner is over the wicket at Bairstow, who makes an inelegant mess of a reverse-sweep attempt, completely missing – Patel fumbles the take too behind the stumps. He then adds a single with a legside flick. Ashwin duly switches to round the wicket at Stokes, and teases him again with his fuller flighted delivery, which the left-hander tends to prod tentatively at. But he sees out the over.
37th over: England 151-4 (Bairstow 35, Stokes 5) Bairstow gets away with it again, as a very uncertain attempted pull, feet splayed and deceived by bounce and spin, dobs up and just beyond short leg. He adds a single in rather more orthodox fashion before another no-ball for overstepping. Stokes wants to be assertive, as per, and picks up four, rocking back and cracking a short ball to the wide long-on boundary.
36th over: England 145-4 (Bairstow 34, Stokes 1) Jadeja thinks he’s got Bairstow with another ripper that Bairstow looks to have edged behind, but the batsman survives on DRS because Jadeja’s overstepped, and Bairstow didn’t feather it after all. He then adds a single, Stokes gets off the mark straight away with another, and England have to steady themselves again here.
The ball he’d long threatened with – has Jadeja got his man at last? NO HE HASN’T. Because DRS shows he’s overstepped: no ball.
35th over: England 141-4 (Bairstow 32, Stokes 0) Jayant continues. Root turns him round the corner for one. Bairstow hoiks him likewise towards the man at deep square leg and gets one more. But Jayant looks a bit more threatening in this over, and gets his reward, denying Root a hundred once more and deceiving him with a quicker ball, pinning him in front. It was an excellent knock from the vice-captain but England needed more, and that might be it.
As feared: Jayant pushes one through a bit quicker, it comes back in at Root, hits him low on the pad and he walks immediately.
34th over: England 139-3 (Root 76, Bairstow 31) When commentators start trumpeting England’s position – the two dropped chances they’ve survived, the failed reviews, the handy partnership etc – then their fans start to worry. On Root and Bairstow plod though, but the latter is made to look awkward by a Jadeja ball that turns sharply (again), brushes thigh and loops to slip, prompting an unconvincing, and doomed, appeal.
33rd over: England 138-3 (Root 75, Bairstow 31) Jayant’s not pushing it though as quickly as the other two spinners but still manages to concede four byes when a slightly wayward ball is missed by both batsman and keeper. Bairstow then picks up four with an enjoyably emphatic pull. Two more singles follow. In injury news that doesn’t concern England for a change, Shami and Saha are definitely out of the next Test.
And they’ll have a drink.
32nd over: England 127-3 (Root 73, Bairstow 26) Singles each for Bairstow and Root as Jadeja continues, before Bairstow plays a fine textbook cover drive that deserved four but brings only two. “In regard to your request for places to go shopping in Mumbai on Monday if England fail to see out Day 4 of the Mumbai Test,” writes Raymond Reardon, resuming a line of correspondence that had dried up during this partnership, “may I recommend that the England team members spend the day shopping at www.crickstore.com situated in Kondival, Mumbai and also they could make some purchases from the Deonar Abittoir to fill their cricket boxes.” Why all this consumerism? Aren’t middle-class English people supposed to go all hippy, shun material items and discover themselves on trips to India? And the same goes for mere fans.
31st over: England 123-3 (Root 72, Bairstow 23) A change of bowling, but it’s spin for spin, batting hero Jayant coming on. He’s round the wicket and slower than Ashwin, and almost gets his man straight away, appealing for a catch at forward short leg. Umpire Erasmus is having none of it though, and India spend so much time deliberating that they run out of time to review. Which is just as well as it hadn’t hit the bat. Root picks up four – and his 1,000th run against India – by pulling a short ball backward of square to the boundary. An eventful over ends with another appeal, this one for lbw, and this one is reviewed. It turned a fraction back into the batsman and looked good for line but was going over the top.
30th over: England 116-3 (Root 63, Bairstow 20) Jadeja sends his trademark sharp turner past Bairstow’s stranded bat, but the Yorkshireman responds with a well played late cut for a single. Two more singles keep the strike rotating, before an astutely judged square cut gives Root two more. England are rattling along at almost four an over here, which is an achievement of sorts, and almost certainly the only approach to take.
29th over: England 111-3 (Root 63, Bairstow 20) Bairstow cuts a shorter ball in front of square for a single off Ashwin, who continues to come in from round the wicket. Root plays a rasher shot, missing a sweep that loops up off his pad just over the man at short leg. It’s good pressure from Ashwin though, although Bairstow responds well with a neat late flick for a single. Another risky shot follows – a reverse sweep from Root – which bounces before reaching the man at backward point.
28th over: England 108-3 (Root 63, Bairstow 18) The 21st consecutive over of spin: Bairstow pushes Jadeja off the back foot towards mid-on for a single, and Root adds another. This is good strike rotation from England as the ones continue. A minor-key triumph for Root is that Jadeja no longer has any close catchers in front of the wicket in for him.
27th over: England 105-3 (Root 62, Bairstow 16) Intelligent from Bairstow, who scoffs at Root’s request for a quick single and sends him back. But Ashwin’s looking a lot more dangerous from round the wicket and even the well-set Root misreads a couple. A maiden.
26th over: England 105-3 (Root 62, Bairstow 16) The hundred comes up with a nudge round the corner from Bairstow, but Jadeja continues to menace, beating Root’s forward prod with another ripper. Root responds with yet another front-foot sweep: once more, it’s four. And he keeps the strike with a single off the last ball.
25th over: England 99-3 (Root 57, Bairstow 15) Root pulls a shorter Ashwin ball in front of square on the legside for one. The bowler then changes tack, going round the wicket at Bairstow, and he should have been rewarded for it, as Bairstow’s rash reverse sweep is dropped by the sainted holy Kohli at slip. This new angle of attack has asked new questions of Bairstow but he sees it out and then takes a quick single with an on-drive that brings up the kind of quick 50 partnership that looked utterly beyond England at tea.
24th over: England 97-3 (Root 56, Bairstow 14) Bairstow’s looking more confident in going forward to Jadeja now, but it’s in going back, square cutting a shorter ball off the back foot, that he gets a bottom-edged four. Two slips and a silly point stay in place, and Bairstow takes a risk with an uppish drive off a more flighted delivery that just falls short of mid-off. This is a good contest at the moment.
23rd over: England 93-3 (Root 56, Bairstow 10) Bairstow sweeps emphatically at Ashwin and picks up one, rather than four, thanks to Nair’s fine fielding in the deep. Root then brings up a really very accomplished 50 with a bold reverse sweep. That said, if he doesn’t convert this, England are even more doomed than they already are. He continues to attack though, and gets forward to drive through the offside for four more before a slightly more tenative prod round the corner brings a single. Bairstow then rounds off an expensive over with a sweep for another one.
22nd over: England 82-3 (Root 47, Bairstow 8) Bairstow, showing signs of settling (dare I say it?), clips Jadeja neatly away on the legside and gets three as it’s just about cut off on the boundary before Root plays his trademark shot of this innings – an assertive front-foot sweep in front of square – and gets four more.
21st over: England 75-3 (Root 43, Bairstow 5) I shouldn’t have said Bairstow looked more comfortable against Ashwin than Jadeja, as he’s almost bowled shouldering arms at one that bounces back in at his raised glove and nearly bounces onto the stumps. A swept single follows before an umpire’s referral for a stumping against Root, but he’s kept his back foot grounded. Root then rocks back and plays a well judged square cut for two. Well read.
20th over: England 72-3 (Root 41, Bairstow 4) Bairstow pushes a shorter Jadeja ball square on the legside for a single, before it’s Root’s turn to be bamboozled by the left-armer, who rips two consecutive leg-breaks sharply past his outside edge. Too good for the batsmen and, at times, the keeper, this stuff. Some commentary box chatter about how much better England were here four years ago with Swann and Panesar in the lineup, though that rather ignores how India have evolved into a much tighter, more focused Test-match side in the same period.
19th over: England 71-3 (Root 41, Bairstow 3) Root takes a single, giving Bairstow a chance to acclimatise himself against Ashwin, a task for which he looks slightly more comfortable, neatly clipping a single away on the legside. Two from the over.
Even the stats nerds are trying to jinx England:
England's two not-out batsmen, Root and Bairstow, have scored more than 2,700 runs between them in Tests this calendar year #IndvsEng
18th over: England 69-3 (Root 40, Bairstow 2) Jadeja mercilessly teases Bairstow with two more beauties, jagged away past an outstretched bat, prompting Bairstow to then take a risk with an uppish drive that bounces just agonisingly short of the fielder at extra-cover. He survives the over though. Which is about all he can do at the moment.
17th over: England 69-3 (Root 40, Bairstow 2) A missed half-chance for Patel? Bairstow bottom edges off his glove and the keeper can’t grab it, but India can afford to be sanguine about missed half-chances, while England will have sleepless nights about theirs. He adds a single before Root sweeps aggressively again, hoiking towards deep midwicket for four. Given the persistent men around the bat that’s intelligent as well as assertive cricket from Root.
“Cook should have stood down in 2014 after the 5-0 farce down under,” thunders Dave Adams. “He only survived then due to the paucity of alternatives and his own refusal to do the decent thing. Nearly three years on, I don’t see a viable captain in the current squad, unless we want to ruin our best batsman. That’s a terrible reason to persist with the status quo though. Cook looks like he’s had enough - needs to be put out of his misery, much like England in this match.” Overlooking a decent period of refreshed positive cricket in summer 2015 and early 2016 there, Dave. Now, mind, they do look tired in every sense.
16th over: England 64-3 (Root 36, Bairstow 1) A single and four more byes as Jadeja continues to tease, torment and tantalise, and Bairstow finally gets off the mark, again driving perilously uppishly, at a turning ball on the offside. Root looks rather more settled and sweeps emphatically across the line for four, but he read it well.
15th over: England 54-3 (Root 30, Bairstow 0) Root meets Ashwin on the full again and bunts towards mid-off for a single, then Bairstow flirts with, nay snogs passionately, danger as he dabs defensively into his own thigh and it comes agonisingly close to bouncing back onto the stumps. He then misses completely one that bounces back in at him, as does Patel behind the stumps, and it’s four byes. Ashwin utterly on top of the new batsman here.
14th over: England 49-3 (Root 30, Bairstow 0) Can England’s right-handers dig them out of this somehow, now the lefties have gone? Jadeja, who’s bowled at least as well as Ashwin in this match, continues to find challenging turn and accuracy, as well as that crucial pace, and Bairstow’s first four deliveries consist of three play-and-misses and one defensive shot. They’re all dots, natch.
The players are on their way back out for the next episode of this 1993 tribute match.
Some teatime musings: is this the longest sequence of consecutive Tests against Asian opposition England have had? By the end of this series, it will be 14, starting with Sri Lanka back at the start of the English summer. Alarmingly, the standard of performance has been on a downward trajectory, although facing India in Mumbai in December is a very different kettle of coconuts from Sri Lanka in Durham in May. On that theme, Chris Bates writes in from inside the Wankhede Stadium: “It was a great knock by Kohli. Some wags amongst the England fans have been sending texts to some sponsor’s app which appear on the big screen. Best so far was probably ‘Kohli may be one of the best batsman of all time but could he do it on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke. Tony Pulis.’ Having fun despite the carnage.”
13.2 overs: England 49-3 (Root 30)“I bet Moeen goes early,” I just mused to myself. And he does, slightly misjudging the bounce and nudging behind to Vijay at leg-slip. It brings the session to a close, as tea is called. This one will be over today now.
“I saw a feature recently which worked out the most important wicket ever in test cricket in terms of consequences,” writes Peter Salmon. “Rashid might be a chance for most important drop, as obviously Cook will now resign, Root get the captaincy too early and see his career fall to pieces, followed by Stokes as captain for an Ashes hammering, and England down to sixth in the rankings? Can’t see another scenario at this point.”
And another! Mooen tentatively prods Jadeja round the corner, Vijay dives low to his right and claims a fine catch.
13th over: England 49-2 (Root 30, Moeen 0) Root continues to play with assertive intent: he gets forward and flicks Ashwin down to fine leg for two but then faces an appeal for a catch after one loops up to the keeper off his pads. Kohli reviews, but there’s nothing remotely like an inside-edge, and not much of an lbw shout either, and the batsman survives. He celebrates the reprieve by driving a fuller delivery before it bounces through the covers for four.
12th over: England 43-2 (Root 24, Moeen 0) A nice, spin-smothering clip from Cook off Jadeja brings him a classy four. But then he’s gone! Flummoxed by the left-armer again, who drags him across his stumps, pins him in front with a quicker ball and claims him as his 100th Test scalp, and prompts a noisy crowd to chant his name and honk horns.
“A mention of the Bombay Stores in the 7th over,” writes
the Bombay Stores PR department John Starbuck, “leads me to recommend the Bradford version www.bombaystores.co.uk where you can buy lots of colourful clothing gifts for the women and men in your life. Everything’s turning Indian now.” This match and series certainly has now, for good.
Is Cook out lbw here? Yes he is. He misses one that’s speared into him. The finger goes up, Cook sends it upstairs, but Spin vision and ball-tracking confirm he’s a goner.
11th over: England 39-1 (Cook 14, Root 24) Root and Cook take a single each off Ashwin. Then … a big appeal, as Ashwin brings one in sharply at Root and it bounces off his pad into the arms of short leg but it had missed his bat by a fair bit. He then pulls a shorter ball firmly for one, and Cook completes another to keep the scoreboard ticking over in vain pursuit of safety/dignity.
10th over: England 35-1 (Cook 12, Root 22) Jadeja is accurate and testing for four dot balls before Root pushes for a hurried single on the offside, giving Cook his first taste of the left-arm spinner, and he’s bamboozled by the inward turn straight away, but he picks up four as Cook nudges unconvincingly round the corner and Vijay dives and misses the catching chance – the ball runs away to the boundary.
9th over: England 30-1 (Cook 8, Root 21) Unsurprisingly, Ashwin joins the fray. Round the wicket at Cook, he teases him with his flight and Cook takes a risk with an uppish drive out of the rough that brings him a single, but brings the bowler rather more encouragement. Root then goes aerial too and sweeps across the line for two, before rounding off the over for a single.
8th over: England 26-1 (Cook 7, Root 18) Spin, then, in the left-arm form of Jadeja. Root looks ready for him, if his second ball, thumped through the covers for four, is anything to go by. But it’s turning and bouncing and Root needs to be careful here – three lovely deliveries are jagged past his marooned bat. Ominous.
7th over: England 22-1 (Cook 7, Root 14) A loosener from Kumar is flayed pleasingly through the covers for four by Root, who adds another with a push behind backward point for one more. Cook also punishes a wayward offside delivery with a neat cut for four that should really have been cut off in front of the ropes.
Mumbai shopping recommendations from you the public include Colaba Causeway and Bombay Store in Fort. Further recommendations are available
on receipt of a weighty bribe when people write in with some.
6th over: England 13-1 (Cook 3, Root 9) India call for their short-leg protective gear, just to give England the fear, but India persist with seam for now, with aforesaid said short-leg in place. But the anticipated short stuff doesn’t materialise, initially, with Root having to grapple with one that keeps low on off-stump, but he manages it. He then takes a stand against intrusive TV technology by demanding that Spidercam reins its neck in, so to speak, so it stops casting such a shadow over the pitch. Request granted, he copes with the final two deliveries of the over and picks up one run.
Morning, pops:
@tomdaviesE17@guardian A dear old dad writes: Sorry - I should have said nothing
5th over: England 12-1 (Cook 3, Root 8) Just saving this match will be a major, and telling, achievement for England now, and this pair will almost certainly be needed to pull it off. Cook offers a quarter-chance when his forward defensive loops up back towards the bowler after sticking in the pitch a little on impact. The India spinners look on and lick their lips. A maiden.
4th over: England 12-1 (Cook 3, Root 8) Root nabs a single with nothing more than a nudged backward defensive shot – good strike rotation – enabling Cook to crack a square cut down to the boundary for one more. Yadav then startles Root with a snorting lifter that the batsman just about manages to glove down beyond the slips for two. A good little contest there. Though it’ll be brief, as we can expect spin soon enough.
The ‘where we’re going wrong’ diagnoses continue:
England don't have a full-time fielding or wicketkeeping coach.
Missed catches and stumpings cost combined 354 runs
3rd over: England 8-1 (Cook 2, Root 5) Kumar comes round the wicket at Cook, and Kohli reinforces his offside field for the away-swingers. England pick up a bye when one strays down the legside and the diving Patel can only parry it away. Root gets some more runs backward of square on the offside with a slightly tentative dab that’s fumbled in the gully and brings a single.
“There comes a time in every competitive series where one team’s back is broken, and the rest is a procession of tired souls and defeated visages,” writes Nigam Nuggehalli. “It happened to India in the Trent Bridge test in 2011 when Stuart Broad took a hat trick and bundled India out. People forget that India actually had a first innings lead at that time, but once Broad took his five wickets in the space of 16 balls, the series was all but over except for Suresh Raina showing his (lack of) bowling skills. I am afraid the morning session with the Kohli/Yadav onslaught was England’s Trent Bridge moment.” Though I think this one started running away from England on the evening of the second day.
2nd over: England 6-1 (Cook 2, Root 4) Umesh digs one in short first off and Cook pulls aggressively down to fine leg for a single. There’s variety in bounce, movement and accuracy but it’s been a bit demoralising, from an England perspective, that India’s seamers have had so much more zip about them during this series than their English counterparts. Nonetheless Root gets the first boundary of the innings with a deft bottom-handed deflection through the slips.
Any recommendations for shopping in Mumbai on a Monday? Asking for several hundred friends... @tomdaviesE17#IndvEng
1st over: England 1-1 (Cook 1, Root 0) Kumar gets the new ball and Cook is off the mark straight away with a single tucked away on the legside, bringing Jennings on strike. “What’s the betting Jennings is out for a duck second innings?” my dear old Dad said to me yesterday. And he duly is, given leg-before to Kumar’s inswinger. Might it have been swinging too far towards the legside? Probably not. Bhuvi’s finding plenty of movement – proper swing and seam bowling – and Root plays out the rest of the over watchfully.
Here we go then. Jennings, first-innings hero, is pinned in front first ball to an inswinger and is given lbw. The debutant wants a review, Cook doesn’t. And so it begins
Morning everyone. So England just need to belt 400 in three sessions and bowl India out in the last one then. Here we go.
Right, that’s all from me. Thanks for your company. Tom Davies is here to take you through the rest of the fourth (and final?) day. Adios.
Finally, after 182.3 overs, England are out of the field. Kumar tries to clear the bigger boundary at midwicket but is caught well inside the rope. India’s lead is 231. I smell an innings defeat.
182nd over: India 630-9 (Kumar 9, Yadav 5) Oh this is brutal. First, Umesh clouts Woakes through midwicket for four. Then Bhuvi does the same, straight down the ground. The over ends with a third: edged through the keeper and first slip. For God’s sake, think of the children...
181st over: India 617-9 (Kumar 1, Umesh 1) Both tailenders off the mark. Annoying as heck fifty-run stand in the offing?
@Vitu_E Cook's (respectable enough) record will never show one vital stat: how many of "these" days we've sat through under his leadership.
180th over: India 615-9 (Umesh 0, Kumar 0) Kohli tries to hit Woakes over extra cover once more, only this time there is a fielder waiting for that exact shot. Anderson takes the catch and his teammates congratulate him, though not before shaking hands with the departing batsman.
So ends an innings that will be talked about long after we’ve popped out clogs. A knock that will spawn gorgeous prose in the short and long term, tacky memorabilia and whole generation of Kohli’s. Staggeringly good.
179th over: India 613-8 (Kohli 233, Kumar 0) Nearly one of those “wicket” things again. Adil Rashid gets Kumar playing against the turn, sending a leading edge to Cook at short cover. It just hits him and drops to the floor. As does Cook. As do England.
178th over: India 612-8 (Kohli 232, Kumar 0) “Hi Vish.” Hi Peter Salmon. “You just mentioned a ‘wicket’.” I did, yes. “What is that?” Something that felt good yesterday but feels empty today. Suggestions welcome. A slower ball from Woakes is launched down the ground for Kohli’s first six of this innings, off his 331st ball. By the way, upon passing 224, Kohli recorded the highest score made by an Indian captain, as well as the highest score made against England.
177th over: India 605-8 (Kohli 225, Kumar 0) England have taken a wicket.
Yes, really! Big turn out of the rough, big shot on Jayant’s mind and the back foot slides out of the crease, allowing Bairstow to stump the single centurion. A third wicket for Adil Rashid.
176th over: India 604-7 (Kohli 224, Jayant 104) The 600 comes up with a lofted extra cover drive from Kohli, every bit as good as it sounds. India lead by 204...
175th over: India 599-7 (Kohli 219, Jayant 104) Here we go: both batsmen with the milestones they have craved. Now time for the fireworks. Jayant skips down and puts Rashid over wide mid off for four. Meanwhile, Kohli starts assembling his bazooka.
Okay, Jayanth 100 out of the way. Virat might just explode. #INDvENGpic.twitter.com/FGHlyJFL3P
174th over: India 594-7 (Kohli 218, Jayant 100) Another snorter from Woakes makes like a man in an otter fight and almost takes Jayant’s face off. A nudge to leg takes him to 99, before Kohli returns the strike and, in the process, takes India to their highest score (592) against England at home. A back of a length ball to Jayant is dropped easily to third man for his maiden Test hundred. It has taken 196 balls, featured 14 fours and seen him become the first Indian number nine to register three figures. What a revelation he has been in this series.
173rd over: India 590-7 (Kohli 216, Jayant 98) Adil Rashid into his 51st over, continuing around the wicket. Even when Jayant pads up, he gets four runs as the ball turns through him and off the back glove, away to a fine third man for four.
172nd over: India 585-7 (Kohli 216, Jayant 93) We’re back underway in Mumbai, as Kohli runs one down to third man to bring Jayant – 92* – on strike. With two boundary riders on both the leg and off side, Jayant pushes one through cover for a single. When he gets the strike back, Woakes summons something a bit extra to clonk Jayant on the grill as he tries to duck out the way of a bumper. Two more to Kohli.
A welcome to those just joining us...
*wakes up*
*checks OBO*
*weeps a little*
*applauds Kohli*
*thinks about Adil's drop*
*ponders futility of existence*@Vitu_E#cricket
171st over: India 579-7 (Kohli 212, Jayant 92) Jayant Yadav dots out a Rashid over, content to go into the break just eight short of his maiden Test hundred. Can’t blame him, he’s look very at ease, all morning. “Does Alastair Cook bowl?” asks Argha Banerjee. Does he ever...
170th over: India 578-7 (Kohli 211, Jayant 92) Chris Woakes tries to get one to move late but it ends up moving back past him a lot quicker as Kohli checks a lofted drive down the ground.
169th over: India 572-7 (Kohli 206, Yadav 92) Yeah, they’re still batting. And, yep, Rashid’s still bowling.
168th over: India 570-7 (Kohli 205, Jayant 91) Oh look – it’s England’s bowler of 2016, Chris Woakes, to bowl his ninth (9th!!!!!!) over of the innings. And, you know what, it’s not bad, climbing off a length, moving late, keeping both right-handers under wraps, except for a full delivery on middle and off that Kohli works through midwicket for two. Promising stuff from the part-timer...
167th over: India 567-7 (Kohli 203, Jayant 90) Jayant pongos Rashid down the ground to take the partnership to 200. Outstanding stuff from these two. An attempted kick away brings about a glove, as Yadav holds his pose pressing forward. Luckily for him, Stokes can only get fingertips on the ball.
Eighth 200+ stand for eighth-wkt in Tests. Next looming landmark is first ton by an India No. 9 https://t.co/M8eOVpVDls#INDvENG
166th over: India 562-7 (Kohli 203, Jayant 85) Four from that Stokes over, as the Mumbai crowd sit back and take stock. They’ll have to conserve their energy for Jayant’s jaunt to treble figures.
Most Test 200s in a calendar year:
4 M Clarke 2012
3 D Bradman 1930, R Ponting 2003, B McCullum 2014, V Kohli 2016
165th over: India 558-7 (Kohli 200, Jayant 84) Adil Rashid into the attack, around the wicket to Kohli. The first ball is swiped around the corner but straight to Joe Root at leg gully. The second is nudged unconvincingly out of the rough. The third spins out of the rough, hits high on the bat and dribbles through his legs and nearly onto the stumps. The fourth, he makes no mistake – a drive through midwicket takes him to 200* from 302 balls. Absolutely outstanding. It’s his third double of his career – all of them coming this year.
And Virat Kohli joins the club ... what a player https://t.co/ucszrIjmYa
164th over: India 557-7 (Kohli 199, Jayant 84) Kohli’s one away...
163rd over: India 553-7 (Kohli 198, Jayant 81) Jayant and Kohli exchange the strike, as the lead ticks over to 150. The over ends with Kohli pushing Moeen through the covers for a couple. This is now the most number of overs (53) that Moeen has bowled in a Test innings.
@Vitu_E awesome atmosphere. Kohli is amazing. pic.twitter.com/fIrietUkwJ
162nd over: India 548-7 (Kohli 195, Jayant 79) Anderson bowls on middle stump. By the time it reaches Kohli, he’s already on off and flays it through square leg to move into the 190s. Oooo a chance?! Kohli drives back to Anderson, who very deliberately kicks the ball in the air, but can’t gather or find Moeen Ali at cover. Naturally, the chance is followed up by a four, less controlled, but nibbled beyond a wide-ish first slip. “Day one of my winter holidays and I’m at the Wankhede. The atmosphere here is electric and Kohli and Jayant are absolutely creaming the hapless English attack. Feels awesome watching this at the ground. Kohli is unbelievably good and the crowd are going nuts.” Very jealous, Balaji Devarajan. Drink it in.
161st over: India 540-7 (Kohli 187, Jayant 79) “Of more interest, when will India declare?” Asks Nicholas Butt. “Their lead is surely enough already for MCC to choke?” Certainly feels like they have enough for England to invoke some sort of mercy rule. Moeen Ali intimates as much with an over’s worth of balls outside leg stump to India’s number nine. I suppose it’s a line of attack that has worked before...
160th over: India 539-7 (Kohli 186, Jayant 79) “Assuming that India probably would win here, can we put rest to the long standing argument that toss plays a deciding role here in India? England, after all, are ranked second in the Test ranking.” Good point, well made Nabakrishna Hazarika. Though I wouldn’t pay too much attention to those rankings (as England are showing). But you’re right: England have won the last two tosses and come up woefully short against a far superior India side.
159th over: India 536-7 (Kohli 184, Jayant 78) Mo spin, mo problems. Yadav, fresh from the break, skips down and chips over midwicket for his 12th boundary. The next half-an-hour is set to be all about those milestones.
158th over: India 529-7 (Kohli 183, Jayant 72) Just one run and, thankfully, drinks. Laced with something pretty strong, hopefully. England have been bad – India, devastating.
78 runs from 16 overs in the first hour. Jayant has made 42 of them. You couldn't make it up. #INDvENG
157th over: India 528-7 (Kohli 182, Jayant 72) Jayant Yadav nutmegs silly over with another gorgeous cover drive off Moeen Ali, before Kohli decides he’s had enough time out of the limelight and betters that short with a late cut. “As an Indian fan, I am so used to watching us chase leather when playing abroad,” starts Sankaran Krishna. “Our bowlers would look about as toothless as a gummy bear and not have a prayer of getting either batsman out even if the test was played for a fortnight. I am enjoying this immensely. England look hapless, pathetic, spent and spineless. Oh what joy!” I think you’re being generous to England, there.
@Vitu_E Two questions: 1) Does the declaration come around 600-7? 2) What happened to the pitch disintegrating into a dusty minefield?
156th over: India 518-7 (Kohli 177, Jayant 67) Even Anderson’s getting some tap now: Jayant Yadav, taking names like a right-handed Brian Charles, square drives England’s leading wicket taker through backward point like a god.
Kohli scored 107 since dropped by Rashid
Jayant scored 58 since dropped by Root and 38 since given not out (DRS burned)
Torture for England.
155th over: India 511-7 (Kohli 175, Jayant 62) “Fair play you got me there, am a big Sachin fan and every batsman has his weaknesses. Of course I don’t need to show any highlights for you,my point will be made on live tv today.” Touche, Argha Banerjee. Moeen Ali changes ends, but Jayant doesn’t change a thing: bit of a flight brings a cleared front foot and a hefty swipe over wide mid on for four. Where has this lad been hiding?
@Vitu_E I like the ruthlessness in Kohli's approach. Never seen the same intent in Indian captains and teams even in their best times
154th over: India 504-7 (Kohli 173, Jayant 57) Anderson comes into the attack to wrestle back some control and does so with an array of good length deliveries just outside off stump. Jayant Yadav stays honest.
153rd over: India 503-7 (Kohli 173, Jayant 56) What control Root offered yesterday has disappeared today. That being said, he didn’t bowl too much at Kohli. Nor did he bowl full tosses. The two combined lead to an inevitable four through midwicket.
152nd over: India 495-7 (Kohli 166, Jayant 55) “We don’t look like getting these two out at all. Ever.” That’s the spirit, Quebecer. An over goes by without a boundary. This is what it has become.
151st over: India 492-7 (Kohli 164, Jayant 54) Root darts a few in but one slightly off line, on middle and leg, is clipped around the corner for four. Argha Banerjee emails in: “I am trying to get my assignments done in time so that I can watch the inevitable late night English top order collapse. Full disclosure: I am an Indian stuck in wintry Minneapolis doing my bloody PhD and find the English fascination with sports they invented and suck at (cricket,football) immensely entertaining.” Just for you, Argha:
150th over: India 487-7 (Kohli 159, Jayant 54) Just one from that Moeen Ali over, as Kohli wrists one through midwicket and Jayant sees out the over. After some long discussion with James Anderson, Cook is bringing on Joe Root...
2016 KOHLIFIED @imVkohlipic.twitter.com/fzQM3UfAPk
149th over: India 486-7 (Kohli 158, Jayant 54) “Ah Vish, what is to become of us?” writes Ian Copestake. “Well ultimately we know the answer to that question, but in the interim we can but stand by our captain and hope the feeling that watching this is some sort of exercise in masochism fades rapidly.” Jayant Yadav, faced with a bit of shape into him, opens the face and drives serenely through the covers. England are getting a taste of their own lower order medicine.
148th over: India 481-7 (Kohli 157, Jayant 50) A bowling change already: Moeen Ali replaces Adil Rashid, whose two overs had gone for eight each. Moeen starts from around the wicket and, extracting a bit of turn, brings about a baffling appeal as the ball cannons off the bat and into the off side... ends with a doosie, though: the ball holding its line and beating Jayant on the outside edge.
147th over: India 480-7 (Kohli 156, Yadav 50) Virat Kohli just making run-scoring look so very easy. Ball bowls to his field, so Kohli angles a defensive shot through a vacant gully and into the vacant third man sponge. Jayant Yadav drops one in that region, too, though it’s only a single. Still, it’s one that takes him to his half-century from 103 balls.
146th over: India 474-7 (Kohli 155, Jayant 45) Casual as you like from Jayant, who uses a flighted Rashid delivery to plant his foot and slap down the ground for another boundary. “I might be sleep deprived and covered in baby wee but at least I’m getting the opening of the cricket live for once this winter,” writes Lennie Lenford. “How’s your day looking?” Right now? A lot better than England’s: 23 runs off the first four overs sees India’s lead extend to 74.
145th over: India 466-7 (Kohli 153, Jayant 39) “I would be more inclined to praise Vijay and Kohli for excellent batting rather than undermine Cook for his captaincy which has steadily improved over time (perhaps as his batting has somewhat declined),” writes Whithington. “In passing I have not seen very much from Kohli that suggests yet that he will ever amount to more as a captain than the best batsman in the world? Discuss.” I think he will, personally. He should try and stop tinkering with his line-up for a start, though his hand has been forced by injuries in the last month. His players, particularly the quicks, seem to be responding to him more than they did for Dhoni. Three singles from that Ball over, the first of which brings up the hundred partnership between these tw0, from 158 deliveries.
144th over: India 463-7 (Kohli 151, Jayant 38) Adil Rashid, in fresh whites, opens from the other end and couldn’t have had a worse start. Unless, maybe, he had managed to set fire to his surroundings. A full delivery is punched through extra cover by Jayant Yadav for four. Cook immediately gives him a fielder in that region, only for Rashid to immediately follow it up with a long hop that is cut behind point, where there is no such cover.
143rd over: India 455-7 (Kohli 155, Jayant 30) Jake Ball, who removed Che Pujara second ball yesterday morning, gets us started today. No such success this morning. In fact, with men on the off and leg side fence, Kohli times a full delivery down the ground for four. India are off again...
Remember, you can get in touch over email – vithushan.ehantharajah.casual@theguardian.com– or on Twitter, if you’re that way inclined.
Players due out soon enough. England desperate for a sniff, Kohli keen to continue his Seve Ballesteros tribute...
Too soon? Not soon enough? Morning, by the way. Today is the most important day of Alastair Cook’s career since he saved his Test spot back in August 2010, when he set boosters to “GRITTY” and toughed out his most ungainly hundred to book himself on the Ashes tour that winter. Now, though, it’s not about the bat, and no amount of grit can save a captaincy. I must admit, I was impressed that he didn’t take the new ball straight away yesterday – a decision that helped England prise four wickets in the afternoon session. That being said, holding it off for as long as he did and bowling Adil Rashid into the red Mumbai soil for 31 overs straight felt a bit like watching that scene from Planet Earth 2, only this time the snakes were playing catch with the iguana before tearing it limb from limb and then turning up at its house to rearranging its DVD collection from alphabetical order to genre. Reprehensible. On the other hand, cricket’s knack of making the car crash watchable meant swathes of enjoyment taking in a pretty special innings from Virat Kohli. Much like Graeme Smith, he might fancy laying waste to an England captain or three. What better head to claim than the country’s leading runscorer.
Vish will be here shortly. In the meantime, why not have a read of Vic Marks’ match report from day three, which ominously begins thus:
The tour is unravelling fast for England. In a match they have to win to have a chance of squaring the series, Alastair Cook’s weary travellers were still fielding at the end of the third day. Already India have a lead of 51; they have three wickets left and one of those belongs to Virat Kohli, an insatiable, inspiring captain, who finished the day on 147 not out while giving the impression that he has no intention of leaving the green baize of the Wankhede Stadium early on Sunday morning.
Related: Virat Kohli hits century for India as England unravel in third Test
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