Dark, damp skies. Hint of swing. Add to it the quick dismissals of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and M.S. Dhoni. The first Test’s final day threw up a morning with ominous signs often associated with India’s struggles overseas.
But before you could say ‘collapse’ and give into grief, India’s lower-order found a fine shepherd in debutant Stuart Binny (78, 114b, 8x4, 1x6), who stood his ground, and Trent Bridge were resigned to see an inevitable draw.
As the game concluded with India declaring its second innings at 391 for nine, Alastair Cook’s two overs yielded his maiden Test wicket in Ishant Sharma’s, much to the spectators’ amusement.
Walking in at the fall of his skipper’s wicket (184 for six in 61.1 overs), with nearly an entire day’s play ahead of him and the team, Binny strode in with that gait familiar to cricket-watchers of the 1980s; there is so much of his father Roger in him.
Stuart ignored the retrospective speculation over his inclusion as the fourth seamer on a dead pitch. And, when he finally returned to the dressing room, he could justifiably feel proud of what he had achieved.
It may not be in the same league as his father’s achievements at the 1983 World Cup where Roger emerged as the highest wicket-taker with 18, but the youngster did enough to draw grudging praise from bunch of sceptical former England captains in the Sky Sports commentary team.
With the bat, Binny had to rescue India, and he did that riding on a straight bat, eschewing the flashiness that had marked his limited tenure in the first innings. The revival had its peaks upon two significant partnerships that Binny sewed up — with Ravindra Jadeja (65 for the seventh wicket off 129 balls) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (a 91-run eighth-wicket stand).
Soon, England gave up, and Moeen Ali and Joe Root bowled in tandem. By then, Binny had gone past his maiden Test 50, racing towards it with two successive fours off Liam Plunkett before dancing down the pitch to twice launch Ali over cover.
England’s misery was aggravated when Bhuvneshwar glided his fours through third-man and even though Ali scalped Binny, there was no relief in sight.
Earlier, Sunday grumpily beckoned, with low-slung clouds and a steady drizzle that delayed start by 15 minutes. With India ahead by just 128, Stuart Broad (6-3-6-2) and James Anderson (8-3-16-0) bowled nagging spells.
Broad trapped a shuffling Kohli and brushed Rahane’s tentative bat. Though the wickets came off different overs, Broad had two wickets in a span of five deliveries without conceding a run.
Dhoni, left with no option but to defend, edged Broad when on five, but Cook dropped a straight-forward catch at first slip. Jadeja twice went through sequences of charge-and-miss and getting beaten on defence against Anderson.
Once Plunkett replaced Broad, Dhoni’s first across-the-line forcing shot got him castled. India was in a pickle, but with Binny commencing his 167-minute vigil, the visitors survived.
Classical A cover-drive off Plunkett, was classical in nature, in marked contrast to Jadeja’s smashed four off a sarcastically applauding Anderson; it was Jadeja’s first runs from 37 deliveries.
Together, Jadeja and Binny, ensured that India did not have too much worry on its lunch plate, and Dhoni’s men saw it through to close.
Trent Bridge was a belter, what does Lord’s, where the second Test commences on July 17, have in store?
Scoreboard
India — 1st innings : 457 in 161 overs.
England — 1st innings : 496 in 144.5 overs.
India — 2nd innings : Murali Vijay c Prior b Ali 52 (119b, 7x4, 1x6), Shikhar Dhawan c & b Ali 29 (29b, 6x4), Cheteshwar Pujara c Stokes b Plunkett 55 (101b, 7x4), Virat Kohli lbw b Broad 8 (29b, 1x4), Ajinkya Rahane c Prior b Broad 24 (29b, 5x4), M.S. Dhoni b Plunkett 11 (30b, 2x4), Ravindra Jadeja c Prior b Anderson 31 (98b, 5x4), Stuart Binny lbw b Ali 78 (114b, 8x4, 1x6), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (not out) 63 (138b, 10x4), Ishant Sharma c Prior b Cook 13 (55b, 2x4), Mohammed Shami (not out) 4 (3b, 1x4); Extras (b-9, lb-7, nb-7): 23; Total (for nine wkts. in 123 overs): 391.
Fall of wickets : 1-49 (Dhawan), 2-140 (Vijay), 3-140 (Pujara), 4-168 (Kohli), 5-173 (Rahane), 6-184 (Dhoni), 7-249 (Jadeja), 8-340 (Binny), 9-387 (Ishant.
England bowling : James Anderson 21-8-47-1, Stuart Broad 21-7-50-2, Liam Plunkett 20-1-85-2, Moeen Ali 28-4-105-3, Ben Stokes 18-3-60-0, Joe Root 12-4-22-0, Alastair Cook 2-0-6-1, Gary Ballance 1-1-0-0.
Man-of-the-match : Anderson.
