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          England vs India, 4th Test, The Oval, 3rd day - Live Report

          • Matt Roller
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              Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets at @mroller98
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          Sep 4, 2021, 04:43 PM

          It's all square at The Oval and the game is in the balance. Who's going to make strides towards a series lead? Will Rohit Sharma drive India towards a substantial lead? Will James Anderson and Ollie Robinson strike for England? Follow it all on our live blog. For ball-by-ball commentary, click here. For our coverage in Hindi, click here.

          5.35pm: Light fading

          The floodlights have been on full-beam for much of the afternoon and it looks as though the umpires have told Joe Root it's too dark for his seamers to bowl. He brings himself on, aiming for the rough outside Jadeja's off stump.

          Two overs later, Root throws the ball to Chris Woakes and the umpires take the players off to gentle boos from the Oval crowd. That will - almost certainly - be that for the day.

          5.20pm: Jadeja at No. 5 - again

          Here's Nagraj Gollapudi's verdict on the decision. "Smart move, worth trying," he says. "It does disrupt England's plans who otherwise would have it easy against two right-handers. Rahane clearly isn't in the best form and it allows Jadeja to take more responsibility as well as the satisfaction of being a middle-order batter and not lower-order - and a flat pitch allows them the opportunity to experiment. I'm very curious to know whether Rahane himself suggested it!"

          4.45pm: Change in ball, change in fortunes

          England strike immediately with the new ball, with the first ball of the 81st over, but it's hardly the new-ball wicket you'd expect. No bounce or pace as Robinson bangs one into the pitch, but Rohit inexplicably drags a pull shot straight down Chris Woakes' throat at long leg. A completely innocuous ball brings a superb knock to an end and England can hardly believe their luck. The crowd are now getting involved as Virat Kohli comes in and the game state feels very different.

          Then, with the final ball of the over, Pujara looks to play a back-of-a-length ball off the back foot but gets a faint inside-edge onto his back thigh pad. It balloons away up into the slips where Moeen takes the catch and the initial not-out decision is overturned on review. Both set batters fall within the space of an over and England are back in the game.

          4.30pm: Steady progress

          No drama whatsoever for India since teatime. Moeen has found plenty of drift but has bowled too many loose balls, leaking 45 in his first 11 overs, while England's plan to bowl short at Rohit and Pujara with Craig Overton coming round the wicket looked like desperate stuff. Overton is momentarily off the field, but the key factor in this innings will be the second new ball, which is due shortly.

          3.40pm: Rohit reaches 100

          Osman Samiuddin has been at The Oval watching Rohit's masterclass and sends this:

          It's here. IT IS HERE. Not that it was needed as any validation of his qualities as a Test batter but we're a box-ticking species and so that first Test hundred away from home for Rohit Sharma will mean something. There's still a Test to be played out so the significance of it will come later, but as an innings in isolation, it's been something.

          He's needed a little luck (thanks Rory Burns, and Chris Woakes at mid-off - and the crowd for making it difficult to sight those balls) but this is England and as an opener, luck is the essential "skill" to have. But he's supplemented it with immaculate defence, as he's had through the series, that bat seemingly getting broader with each forward defensive.

          He got in and out of the 90s very much as if he was aware he shoudn't be taking too much time lest he did something silly in them. So he just purred through them. A dink to square leg for a couple to get to 90, an easy-as-you-like pull to get to 94 and then… and then the cherry: a dance-down to Moeen Ali and a launch over long-on for six.

          The celebration was understated, more like he'd reached 50. Cheteshwar Pujara was much more animated for him. Or maybe he was just reminding everyone that he's already got seven Test hundreds and this was merely an eighth.

          3.00pm: Rohit, Pujara press on

          An end change for Moeen, who was briefly captaining England while Joe Root was off the field for a comfort break. James Anderson has also returned, beating Rohit's outside edge in his first over, but India have been largely untroubled in this session. Rohit moves to within 25 runs of his century, skipping down and lashing Moeen away through extra cover for four, and Pujara continues to build on his fluent start. India's day so far, without doubt.

          2.25pm: Unthreatening England

          England have started poorly after lunch: there's not been enough consistency in terms of length, and Pujara looks in prime form, riding an upper-cut and slapping a more orthodox cut away for two fours in the space of three balls from Craig Overton. Moeen Ali is on for his first spell of the afternoon after finding some turn in the morning but will need to find his spot much quicker - there were too many drag-downs in his first couple of overs.

          2.10pm: 50 for Rohit

          A typically watchable innings too, despite the gloomy conditions. Rohit has been fortunate in this knock, offering two chances to Rory Burns at second slip. But neither of them was taken and he has now made his fifth 50+ score against England this year. What chance that he finally gets that overdue first away hundred this afternoon?

          1.55pm: Pujara rolls his ankle

          Cheteshwar Pujara has been receiving treatment from the physio for five minutes and is having his ankle strapped up. He punched off the back foot through point and cover, and while the shot went for four, he had set off for a run and was coming back for two when he went over on his ankle - it was more or less at a right angle for a brief moment - and then went down in complete agony. The crowd were groaning at the replay on the big screen - sickening stuff. It looks like he'll continue but he was down for a long time. Don't expect too many quick singles...

          1.10pm: Rahul bogged down

          play
          1:41
          Laxman: Rahul will be disappointed not to have converted that start

          VVS Laxman explains why KL Rahul felt he hadn't nicked that delivery from James Anderson

          The game is about scoring runs, Nasser Hussain said on Sky as he noted how Cheteshwar Pujara starting positively including punching a square-driven boundary, Nagraj Gollapudi writes. While Pujara started with gusto, the man he replaced, KL Rahul endured a long dry phase which eventually contributed him nicking at a ball he might have actually left alone in a more positive frame of mind.

          Rahul had pulled Woakes for a handsome six in the first hour of the morning, but went quiet since then. But it would be harsh to blame Rahul entirely: it was England's disciplined line that piled the pressure on Rahul and Rohit even as the Indians scored 36 runs in the first hour on an cloudy morning suited for bowlers.

          Until that six, England had bowled just 14 off the 45 deliveries on a good length. 16 of those balls were full and the Indian openers took advantage, picking up four fours. Out of 63 balls after that Rahul six, England attacked the channel and the stumps, pitching 33 deliveries on a good length. Only a dozen of the 63 balls were full - the sustained pressure meant, Rohit and Rahul failed to even score a boundary.

          It was fascinating to watch this classical who-blinks-first duel, which underpins the basic nuance of Test cricket: the bowler is testing the batter's patience, temperament and skills. At Trent Bridge, in far more challenging conditions Rahul had come out on top. At Lord's, in the first innings, he got his name engraved on the visitor's honor's board. He struggled in the following three innings chasing balls he could have left.

          This morning he started more composed, keeping the bat close to his ribs. But he then grew impatient. He managed just five runs in 36 deliveries since that six. The ball before he nicked Anderson, he cut fiercely for a certain boundary which was intercepted nicely at backward point by Ollie Pope. Anderson noted that the batter had been distracted. He moved the line of attack closer, forcing Rahul to commit the mistake.

          1.00pm - Lunch, India 108 for 1, lead by 9

          India's session on balance despite Anderson dismissing KL Rahul. India's top order have again fought hard, with Rohit heading into lunch unbeaten on 47 - though he was dropped at second slip by Rory Burns off Ollie Robinson just before the drinks break. Cheteshwar Pujara has scored quickly at the start of his innings, with a drive and a cut for four and a larruped pull over square leg off Moeen Ali.

          12.25pm: Anderson strikes

          Jimmy Anderson has struggled for second-innings wickets over the last couple of home summers but gets a crucial wicket half an hour before lunch. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma had just started to get tied down, with England posting a deep point on the boundary to help stem the flow of runs, and UltraEdge detects a faint nick as Anderson locates the fourth-stump channel and has Rahul pushing at it slightly - albeit Rahul seemed convinced that his bat had hit the pad. Replays confirm that he did - but before the spike appeared.

          It brings another excellent opening stand to an end. Sampath Bandarupalli tells me that Rahul and Rohit have played out 985 balls across this series - only one other opening partnership has played out more in a series in England since 1999.

          11.55am: Another England drop

          The sixth catch England have put down as Rory Burns dives to his left at second slip but can't cling on. There had been a third slip in but Root had shifted him into the covers - it would have been a regulation chance for a fielder there. Here is the list of clangers.

          Sky have shown a table of the percentage of slip catches taken by each team in recent Tests, which reflects badly on England, but I've been speaking to CricViz and it seems relevant that taking slip catches is simply harder in English conditions than in most countries in the world: they tell me that 75.7% of catching chances in the slips have been taken in England in the last decade, compared to 83.8% in South Africa, 83.2% in Australia and 82% in New Zealand. We saw on the first day in particular that the ball was actually swinging between hitting the outside edge and reaching the slip cordon - it's a very tough job for the fielders.

          11.45am: Injury worry for India?

          Rohit Sharma has been calling for the physio semi-regularly in the first hour this morning and appears to be struggling with some kind of niggle. He has been running gingerly and reluctantly between the wickets and occasionally grimacing. Nagraj Gollapudi at The Oval suggests it might be an issue with his back but we are awaiting confirmation.

          Updated: "Rohit has his knee braced - that's the issue," reports Nagraj. He's moving a little more freely now despite the obvious discomfort.

          11.05am: Rohit up and running

          play
          0:57
          How Rohit Sharma tightened his front-foot game

          Zoomed In: Aakash Chopra explains the differences between Rohit in 2021 and Rohit in 2014

          This could well be the best day for batting of the five: the pitch looks like it has flattened out, most of the surface-level grass has dried out, and while there is some cloud cover early on, the sun should come out later today.

          Rohit Sharma got a life last night when Rory Burns failed to pick up the ball as an outside edge came his way at second slip but has been in brilliant touch throughout the series and his first boundary of the morning is a statement of intent. Anderson overpitches by a fraction, and Rohit presses the ball straight back past his right boot in his follow-through to pick up four down the ground; economy of movement, and sweet timing out of the middle.

          10.30am: Pope's strong return

          Ollie Pope was England's main man on the second day, making 81 in his first innings of the series. "I was pretty gutted," he told Sky Sports last night about missing out on a hundred. "Home ground, it would have been a dream to get over the line. But if someone had said I'd get an 80 in the first game back I'd have taken it."

          There was an obvious change to his stance yesterday, as he stood on middle stump rather than on off, which was a topic of debate throughout the early months of the summer. Pope has previously explained that he sees his guard as something flexible, which he can change depending on the attack he is facing and how they will try to get him out.

          "I watched the way Rooty has played this series and how he has gone about it," Pope said last night. "I have recognised the Indian attack's main port of call is to attack that knee roll." That stands in contrast to earlier in the season, when he told ESPNcricinfo that he was covering off stump in county cricket in order to avoid edging balls in the fifth-stump channel from medium-paced swing bowlers like Hampshire's Mohammad Abbas and Ian Holland.

          Regardless, Pope's tinkering appears to be working - and George Dobell wrote last night that "...if he is not still playing for England in 10 years with an average in excess of 40, something will have gone pretty badly wrong." Read his analysis in full here.