England’s toughest test yet has begun, and they have passed this first part with resounding success. Hyderabad played host to the first match of England’s five match tour of India, with both sides vying to set the tone for the series. India were looking to lay down a dominant marker, to reestablish the credentials that had made beating them at home perhaps one of the most difficult endeavours in all of sportsdom, whilst England were seeking yet another success with their bristling brand of cricket, named Bazball after their coach, Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum.
England won the toss, and as expected, chose to bat first. Crawley and Duckett, who are quickly becoming England’s first settled opening pair since the retirement of Strauss over a decade ago, got the team off to a quick start, but the positive momentum soon ran aground, and England, in a sight all too familiar to fans over the years, collapsed, slipping to 155-7. At this point, England’s talisman Ben Stokes got the bit between his teeth, and dragged England up to a score of 246, capably aided by the debutant Hartley and Wood. 246 was not a large total, but was significantly more than England were perhaps expected to get when they were falling like dominos.
In response, India demonstrated why they were such a tricky prospect at home. Wood and Hartley shared the new ball, and the debutant saw his first and fourth ball sail straight off the bat of Yashasvi Jaiswal into the stands for a six. Whether either would have qualified for AB de Villier’s nine (upside down six), I don’t know, but it was still a rude awakening for the new man. The bowling was, for the most part, lacklustre, and was indicative of the youth and inexperience of England’s attack. Hartley and Leach were both very expensive, going for over a hundred runs each, with only two wickets apiece to show for it. This was compounded by an injury sustained by Jack Leach, preventing the man with the most experience from bowling a full complement of overs. The only bright spark was Joe Root, so often England’s saviour with the bat, recording his second-best ever figures and taking 4-41. India were bowled out for 436, giving them a lead of 190. India at this point looked certain to win; indeed, they had never lost a home Test match in which they had a first-innings lead of 100 runs or more.
To begin the third innings, England again started brightly, pushing to 113-1. However, England again collapsed, falling to 163-5, still 27 runs off of making India bat again. This looked dire for England, but the constant in this was Ollie Pope, and he combined fantastically with Ben Foakes and Rehan Ahmed to bring England to 316-6 at the end of the day’s play, with Pope himself being left on 148 not out. Resuming on day four, England’s lead began to grow quickly, despite Ahmed falling early. Ollie Pope himself became the last wicket to fall for 196, cruelly short of his second double ton. He had, however, established a lead of 230 runs, with England’s final total being 420. Pope’s innings was a miraculous turnaround from his performance in the first innings, where he was jittery and could not settle before prodding his eleventh ball to slip for only one. In contrast, this innings was an exhibition in conditions that are oft regarded as being some of, if not the most difficult for English players to face. His captain, Ben Stokes, described it as “the greatest innings played by an English batter in the subcontinent,” while the Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, called it “one of the best [innings] I have seen in Indian conditions by an overseas batter”. It is interesting to note the extent to which sweeps, both of a regular and reverse nature, comprised the knock, and the extent to which it has represented England’s batting and their new ethos. The number of sweeps played by England far exceeds the number played by their Indian counterparts, and speaks perhaps to a fundamental difference in understanding and proficiency with spin bowling; the more experienced Indian batters are, for the most, more secure in their defensive techniques and straight-batted shots, whereas England look to nullify sideways movement with the cross-batted sweep, trusting in the force of their shots to carry any potential top edges from extra bounce beyond the fielders if necessary.
England again opened up with a combination of Hartley and Wood, but unlike in the first innings, Jaiswal was unable to get into Hartley, belying a much calmer start. Sharma instead took on the role of primary aggressor, and provided the majority of India’s run-scoring early on. Jaiswal continued to struggle, and in attempting to advance down the pitch, misjudged the flight of the ball, and tapped it into Ollie Pope’s midriff at short leg. Gill came out at three, in poor form, and followed Jaiswal back into the hut a mere two balls later, victim of another Pope snaffle under the lid. Rahul came in, and attempted to steady the ship, but was let down by Sharma falling to a Hartley ball that went on into his pads, trapping him LBW. Immediately after lunch, Axar Patel patted the ball back into Hartley’s hands, giving him India’s first four wickets to fall, a far cry from his suffering of his first bowling innings. KL Rahul fell victim to a ball of Root’s that did not bounce as expected, and then Jadeja, the pick of India’s first innings, came undone against a piece of spectacular fielding from Stokes, underarming a pick up somewhat unsighted into the non-striker’s end after Jadeja set off for an unwise run. Iyer followed Jadeja back, leaving India 119-7, chasing 231. Here however, Bharat and Ashwin came together to put some fear back into the hearts of the English fans. They put on 57 runs, but then England’s debutant came up trumps, taking his five-wicket haul with a truly fantastic ball. He quickly added to his collection, as Ashwin rushed down the track, only to miss the ball, and see Ben Foakes rearrange the furniture behind him, to leave India 177-9, needing another 54. Bumrah and Siraj, averaging six and four respectively, managed to hang together for six overs, bringing back some nerves for England fans, until Siraj suffered a rush of blood to the head, and was also stumped, giving England a stunning and unprecedented comeback victory in the first test at Hyderabad.
“2 29 Ben Stokes” by ForwardDefensive is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.