Ben Stokes paused for a moment to gather his thoughts and then shook his head and said, simply: “The absolute GOAT.” England’s captain has been asked about Joe Root so many times it was as if, in his pre-match briefing, he had nothing more to say, no more insight to give and settled on the shortest, most definitive thing that came to mind instead.
It feels a little like that writing about Root on a Test match day now. What more is there to say? He has done it so often, playing with the same beautiful rhythm and tempo, style and elegance, that it feels like every innings is a show-reel of a player who has reached a level of excellence attained by very few in the history of the game.
It was a Joe Root day at Old Trafford, of course it was. He made his 38th hundred, and so became the second highest runscorer in Test history, passing three fellow greats along the way, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting, who, helpfully, was there to witness the passing of his own tally of 13,378 runs, which came five minutes before tea to great, throaty acclaim from the Lancastrian crowd.
Stumps on what has been another commanding day for England, one in which Joe Root stole the show — moving up to second on the all-time list of leading runscorers in Test cricket with his wonderful innings of 150 (Elizabeth Ammon writes).
India’s best bowlers have been their spinners and it was Washington Sundar who briefly gave them some hope after lunch with two quick wickets. The pitch is dry and taking turn and Jadeja picked up a couple too, but yet again India did little with the new ball and England have been able to press home their advantage with a lead of 186.
There is plenty of time left in the match so they’ll just keep going tomorrow and hope the pitch continues to dry out, spin and have some uneven bounce.
Thanks again for your company today and stay tuned for reaction and analysis.
This might be one of the first signs of an impending apocalypse but we are going to have 90 overs bowled today (Elizabeth Ammon writes). For the first time this series. A lot of spin has helped to be fair.
One keeps very low on Chris Woakes and he’s been cleaned up by Mohammed Siraj from the James Anderson End (Elizabeth Ammon writes). It got the toe of the bat, not sure Woakes did much wrong really but the ball just didn’t get up. And Stokes is back out there…
A different Cristiano Ronaldo celebration at Old Trafford as Siraj takes the wicket of Woakes
ED SYKES/REUTERS
Ben Stokes has his pads on
Good news for England, because realistically the captain wouldn’t have to bat if he didn’t need to, given the situation of the game. At the crease itself Chris Woakes and Liam Dawson are dealing with pace from both ends in the form of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, and are ticking along fairly slowly, Woakes lucky to avoid chopping on off Bumrah.
How many more can England get?
Ben Stokes is yet to return and England have a long tail with Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer, plus Dawson and Woakes at the crease presently of course, so a score of 600 and thus a lead of about 240 is certainly attainable. Dawson dispatches a Bumrah short ball through square leg with panache, tries to repeat the trick on the over’s final ball and misses everything.
Jasprit Bumrah is back, he’s bowled four overs since tea and his first ball brings a wicket for caught-behind (Elizabeth Ammon writes). Jamie Smith has given himself out before the umpire could even get his finger up. It was a pathetic appeal, only the keeper went up and there were questions about whether it carried but Smith, in a very sporting way, knew it had and just walked. Out comes Chris Woakes.
Welcome back to Test batting, Liam Dawson
Liam Dawson has gone aerial and launches Washington Sundar straight back over his head for four (Elizabeth Ammon writes). I expect there might be a bit of tonkage from these two.
That’s against the run of play (Elizabeth Ammon writes). Joe Root has been stumped. Big dip outside off stump from Ravindra Jadeja, Root comes down the pitch and misses the ball and Jurel whips the bails off.
Liam Dawson is at the crease and Finchy the Barmy Army trumpeter is leading the party stand in a rendition of I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers. Two new batsmen at the crease and this is an opportunity for India with an hour left of play.
The ECB, meanwhile, has confirmed that Stokes is suffering cramp in the left leg.
The crowd sing Joe Root’s name again as he passes 150, to the tune of Hey Jude.
Jamie Smith has less aptitude against spin. He is coming a long way forward to try and smother the spin when the ball is fuller, but there is always the danger it spins past the edge. Time for drinks.
Close to the source on Stokes
Jamie Smith is taking his guard right over on off stump, trying to negate the foot marks that the off spinner is targeting (Elizabeth Ammon writes).
We’re awaiting an update from the England dressing room on Stokes. They are one floor below us here so I could, in theory, just lean over our balcony and shout down there but I don’t think I would be very popular. Joe Root, meanwhile, has just reached his 150.
Uh oh, Ben Stokes is retiring hurt (Elizabeth Ammon writes). It’s unclear what the issue is but it might just be cramp. Let’s hope that’s all it is and not a repetition of any hamstring issues. Jamie Smith is rapidly putting his gear on and out he comes.
It is rare for players to leave the field with just cramp but maybe he feels that progress is more likely to be made with Smith at the crease. Perhaps the umpires are not allowing much on-field treatment given the over-rate issues.
Mohammed Siraj is being brought back into the attack (Elizabeth Ammon writes). It’s a very defensive field but maybe there is some short bowling coming. It might be the only option for the seamers really, in these conditions.
Ben Stokes has a bit of cramp, but he’s just hammered Siraj away in front of square with an aggressive pull shot. He’s on the charge.
Stokes ramping up aggression
A slogged reverse-sweep off Jadeja from the captain who then overbalances and ends up flat on his face as the ball races to the rope. Just before that he’d top-edged another sweep that landed safely in no man’s land on the leg side.
ALEX DAVIDSON/GETTY IMAGES
Ben Stokes gets well forward here against Sundar and the ball spits back towards the bowler, it was pad then bat in fact. It wasn’t too far away but no more than half a chance, and once Stokes gets back on strike, he reaches his 50 with a poke to mid-wicket.
Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar are both on with a spread field but England seem fairly happy to just knock it around for singles. There’s a half appeal for leg-before against Ben Stokes as Jadeja spins one into him sharply but they don’t take the review. The spin will give something for India to ponder, at least.
It’s not often you see Jasprit Bumrah bowl 23 wicketless overs but that’s exactly what’s happened here. Before this latest over the coaching staff were checking on him out by the rope, and England are just cruising along with little danger of losing a wicket.
Stokes is on track for his first half-century of the series
ANDY KEARNS/GETTY IMAGES
He’s been going pretty hard at a lot of deliveries and seldom finding the middle of the bat but the captain finally drills Bumrah through the covers, the ball cutting the lawn on its way to the rope. Only his third four of the innings as he moves to 46 off 81.
Overpitched from Shardul Thakur and Joe Root just pushes this past him for four (actually five, with a no-ball) as he skips down the ground. But hello, there’s an edge on this ball, though it falls well short of the cordon as Root has a swish. Not much excitement even at that, everything feels very passive out there for India at the moment.
That’s the 100 partnership between Root and Ben Stokes, it has come from just 158 balls — pretty brisk (Elizabeth Ammon writes). The second new ball has done not much at all and is now no longer new at about 22 overs old.
More concerns over Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah is bowling, his 21st over in fact, but his ankle is definitely giving him trouble. He’s struggling to get much above 80mph and one has to wonder how long it will be until we see spin again.
GARETH COPLEY/GETTY IMAGES
And we’re back (Elizabeth Ammon writes). A 2½ hour session for England to get a hefty lead. The good news for India is that Jasprit Bumrah seems OK and is going to bowl from the Brian Statham End.
England definitely took the last 90 minutes of that session after Sundar took two quick wickets after lunch (Elizabeth Ammon writes). The new ball has brought a bit of extra bounce and seam movement but Bumrah could only do one over before going off for treatment and now Siraj is off as well with some sort of ailment. The India team are falling apart.
Root passes Ponting for second
And there it is (Elizabeth Ammon writes). Root goes past Ricky Ponting into second place with a push into the off side, he’s still more than 2,000 runs away from the top spot though, held of course by Sachin Tendulkar.
Ponting is on air and being very gracious about it all. A knowledgeable crowd here and they are on their feet applauding and singing Root’s name. Ponting thinks there is no reason at all why Root can’t overtake Tendulkar at some point.
Stokes has advanced down the pitch and tried to crack it away on the off side but it’s off the toe end, goes nowhere and now he wants a new bat (Elizabeth Ammon writes). The 12th man is on the pitch with a drink for the batsmen and a selection of five bats has been run out to Stokes.
The list of problems for Shubman Gill continues to grow with Mohammed Siraj now struggling physically, and indeed he’s off the field too after completing his 22nd over. Root, meanwhile, is now level with Ricky Ponting for second in the all-time Test runs list. What a day he’s having.
He’s off by the boundary and doesn’t look very comfortable, but Bumrah is at least back on, gingerly stepping from one foot to the other and pacing back and forth with a grimace on his face. Apparently he did some damage to his ankle while coming down the stairs.
Big chants from the crowd for Ravindra Jadeja again as England take three off the Thakur over.
Concerning signs for Bumrah
It’s not entirely clear why but Jasprit Bumrah has been off the field for a while and doesn’t look entirely happy in the India team area (though he won’t be the only one in that regard, right now). Meanwhile, Ben Stokes plays and misses wildly at a couple of cuts off Siraj. Loose but he gets away with it. Here’s Shardul Thakur to bowl, it’s been a while since we’ve seen him.
And there is Joe Root’s 38th Test century, his 12th against India (Elizabeth Ammon writes). He goes level with Kumar Sangakkara in terms of the number of Test hundreds, fourth in the all-time list.
The Old Trafford crowd are on their feet and there’s an almighty roar as Root tickles it to fine leg for four. This one has come from 178 balls and yet again he’s put England in a strong position.
Ben Stokes takes a single off the fifth ball off Mohammed Siraj which gives Root one ball to face, he clips it off the pads and so keeps the strike for the next over. Tense…
Nervy first over for Root
The Yorkshireman was really put to the test there — a couple of plays and misses to start and the third ball absolutely shoots up past him from Siraj. The fifth one is on the pads but Root doesn’t make contact with the flick, the ball nearly dropping back onto the stumps. Nervous nineties, anyone?
Bumrah has only bowled one over with the new ball and has now gone off the field, so it’s Anshul Kamboj from the Anderson End. A bit odd (writes Elizabeth Ammon). Stokes then tonks him straight down the ground for four.
Stokes is spent sprawling by a body blow from Siraj
ALAN MARTIN/COLORSPORT/SHUTTERSTOCK
A brief break here as Joe Root climbs to 98. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are both struggling for control, as Ben Stokes flicks a loose delivery from Bumrah through fine leg.
Overall, a good first hour after lunch for India with a couple of wickets (Elizabeth Ammon writes) but they need to make sure they use the new ball and not squander it like they did yesterday. England lead by 36.
This is a big passage of play for India, they need to get through England’s middle order (Elizabeth Ammon writes).
The first ball hits Stokes in the unmentionables and he’s down on his knees in pain. There is a red mark right on the spot on his whites, and Sky Sports have had to apologise for some expletives. You can’t really blame the England captain.
Joe Root is such a brilliant player of spin (Elizabeth Ammon writes). It is the way he picks up and plays off the length that gives him the edge and some of that is how comfortable and solid he is off the back foot.
The new ball is on the field. Mohammad Siraj is coming on from the Brian Statham End, but he’s going to bowl a couple with the old ball just to get loose.
That means Jasprit Bumrah will come from the James Anderson End, where the ball is keeping a bit low, whereas there is bounce from the Statham End (which commentator Dinesh Karthik has just called the Jason Statham End — there are a lot of Fast & Furious jokes being made).
Lovely! Another reverse-sweep from Joe Root off Ravindra Jadeja takes him to 92, the timing on that was just excellent. A shovel to mid-wicket gives him an extra single, and England have a first-innings lead of 19 and counting. A misfield from Jadeja, normally an excellent fielder, allows another single and the new ball is out on the field — but remains in the umpire’s hands for now.
Still no sign of the new ball
India, understandably, persisting with the spin that is doing so much damage. A slightly uppish flick from Stokes into the leg side off Jadeja and then a hint of an outside edge to third man to retain the strike.
India exerting some control here
An excited appeal for leg-before against Joe Root off Ravindra Jadeja but it’s turned down. India have just the one review, remember, and they don’t use it here, which is wise as it was going down leg. England’s scoring rate has come right down, they’re 17-2 in the past ten overs. Ben Stokes has just 3 off 22 balls, the bowling has been that tight from Jadeja and Sundar.
Troubling moments for England
Washington Sundar is getting some lovely drift, it’s troubling Stokes a bit and has caused a couple of inside edges (Elizabeth Ammon writes).
Interestingly, Sky Sports has just shown which bowlers in the series are getting most drift and Joe Root is second behind Sundar ahead of all the other spinners.
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The Old Trafford crowd are in good voice (Elizabeth Ammon writes). The India supporters have livened up with those two post-lunch wickets, chanting Ravindra Jadeja’s name as he bowls to the England skipper Ben Stokes. He’s off the mark with an edge (or dab, if you’re being generous) down to third man.
Stokes then goes hard at Sundar and gets a thick inside edge into the leg side when he probably wanted to clobber it down the ground.
Beautiful bowling and Sundar gets another wicket with lovely deception (Elizabeth Ammon writes). Harry Brook goes for 3, charging out of the crease and getting stumped by the keeper after hitting nothing but fresh air. The Yorkshireman has been done all ends up there. Very odd that they didn’t bring Sundar on to bowl earlier.
Still spin at both ends through Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja as Harry Brook comes in. He sees out the rest of that Sundar over and off the next, Joe Root cracks a sweep off Jadeja for four through mid-wicket.
New ball available in two overs (Elizabeth Ammon writes). It will be interesting to see if they take it straight away, given the spinners seem to have been the most effective bowlers.
Sundar, left, and his captain Gill celebrate Pope’s wicket
ALEX DAVIDSON/GETTY IMAGES
Ollie Pope throws his head towards the heavens having got out tamely to Washington Sundar (Elizabeth Ammon writes). A prod and an edge to KL Rahul to slip. He goes for 71 and he really feels he’s missed out on an opportunity to get three figures.
Will we see spin until the new ball?
“Loveeeeely,” shouts Dhruv Jurel behind the stumps as Jadeja finds a good line, but the next one is too straight and Joe Root shovels it through mid-wicket, beating the fielder’s dive.
Washington Sundar is back with ball in hand, the new ball due in five overs remember. Pretty tight lines and lengths to start which will help negate a flat deck. A pretty spread field though and England claim three singles without fuss.
Play under way in five minutes
The question, if you’re an England fan, is just how many runs can England pile up? As things stand anything less than 500, even 550, would surely be a letdown for Ben Stokes’s side despite the hints of turn and occasional low bounce. For India, it’s a real uphill mountain to climb here and another test of the captaincy of Shubman Gill. A lot riding on this session, you feel.
That is lunch, ladies and gentlemen (Elizabeth Ammon writes). Another session goes to England, they’ve added 107 without losing a wicket. Both Joe Root and Ollie Pope have made half-centuries and Root has moved to third on the all-time runscoring list. The hosts only trail by 26 now.
Good bowling from Washington Sundar
His first three overs may have gone for 16 but Sundar is starting to find his rhythm here with good drift around the off stump. At the other end Ravindra Jadeja, who can normally rattle through an over, is slowing things down here as lunch approaches. India won’t be too keen to fit one more in, you feel.
And here is Washington Sundar! Not before time it seems, but Joe Root greets the spinner dismissively by nailing a reverse-sweep through four and then bringing up his 50 with a push behind point. Half-century No67 for him in Tests, the numbers keep piling up.
We’re pretty lucky to be living in the Joe Root era (Elizabeth Ammon writes). What an incredible player he has been and continues to be, and you get the feeling he’s a long way from hanging up his boots. He has barely missed any Tests since his debut and has been blessed with being very injury-free.
Ollie Pope flicks a full ball into the leg side off Anshul Kamboj and some quick running for two brings up the team’s 300.
The spinner Washington Sundar, who is yet to bowl an over so far, does some impressive stretches lying down, rotating his legs and extending them over his head. Surely he must be due a go soon?
Gosh, the Surrey man was close to chopping on against Ravindra Jadeja there, going back and across and being cramped for room as he tried to force the ball on the cut. He gets away with it though. He brings up the 100 partnership in the next over with an arrow-straight drive off Anshul Kamboj down the ground.
That is Pope’s fifty, his 16th half-century in 60 Tests (Elizabeth Ammon writes). He’s looked pretty assured today and is averaging almost 40 for the series.
Jasprit Bumrah has just tried to throw the ball back at the stumps after a defensive block into the covers and throws it almost at his own feet, it goes about half a foot in front of him. Village moment of the day so far.
The England 12th men have just run some drinks on and umpire Rod Tucker has given them the hurry-up to get back off the pitch. It’s a bit weird that Washington Sundar hasn’t had a bowl yet.
India have turned to spin as Ravindra Jadeja bowls from the Anderson End, he actually looked the best bowler yesterday and he opens with a pretty tight over (Elizabeth Ammon writes). There is a bit of turn, not loads, but a bit. A tough chance here for India as Dhruv Jurel puts down an inside edge off Ollie Pope. It goes down as a drop but that would have been an incredible grab.
No dice for appeal against Ollie Pope
An excited appeal for a caught behind as Pope tries to pull Anshul Kamboj, but umpire Rod Tucker isn’t interested and quite rightly so as Pope actually copped it on the shoulder. No review from India. Pope then drives loosely and gets away with it, and on the fifth ball of the over gets four more overthrows from a loose shy at the striker’s end. Siraj the man responsible. And here comes spin from Ravindra Jadeja…
England trailing by only 90 now and, bar the occasional shooter with that low bounce, India haven’t overly threatened with the ball. No sign of either Ravindra Jadeja or Washington Sundar so far, as Pope crunches Siraj through wide mid-off for four.
Joe Root reaches third on all-time list
A push into the off side, a scamper through and Root is up to third in the all-time Test runscorer list (Elizabeth Ammon writes). He needs another 90 or so to pass Ricky Ponting and move into second behind Sachin Tendulkar.
Root’s stats were put up on the big screen at Old Trafford, met with a big round of applause which Joe acknowledges with a little raise of the hand. The Barmy Army trumpeter breaks into Root’s song: You Fill Up My Senses.
“One night in Calcutta, we met our new hero/Got ruined on vodka and a blue marker pen/He made his Test debut on a dust bowl in Nagpur/Our baby faced batsman/He’s super Joe Root.
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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceOllie Pope looking more comfortable
Ollie Pope has settled in and has just played a lovely pull shot. Was slightly skittish, as he is, early on in his innings last night but looks much more settled today.
If (or when?) Root hits 31* he will have passed both Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid to move into third on the all-time Test runscorer list. Meanwhile, there is some variable bounce as Pope is nearly cut in half by Mohammed Siraj thanks to a ball that keeps low.
Chaos! One leaps up on Joe Root, it came off the shoulder of the bat, loops to the gully region and then there was nearly a run-out (Elizabeth Ammon writes). Ollie Pope calls for a run and they both nearly end up at the same end, the throw was wayward but had anyone been backing up Root would have been gone.
The 50 partnership is up in the meantime.
India burn review against Joe Root
A big appeal against Joe Root for leg-before as he misses a straight ball from Mohammed Siraj. Leg stump is visible but he’s so far down the crease, in fact he’s been batting out of it regularly this morning. The umpire says no but India are going to spin the DRS roulette…and it’s going down leg. India lose a review. And Root has knocked Siraj’s watch off as he sprinted through for a leg bye!
Some Lancashire cricket royalty
Wasim Akram rang the five-minutes bell before play today (Elizabeth Ammon writes). He’ll join the other Lancashire alumni — Paul Allott and co in the hospitality seats in the old pavilion for the rest of the day.
Here comes Jasprit Bumrah
It’s 11.08am and the India physio is on the pitch already, he’s had a starring role in this series (Elizabeth Ammon writes). He’s been doing some running repairs to one of the seamers.
Bumrah is on at the Brian Statham End now, a change of ends for him. The first ball is loose though and Joe Root flicks it aerially through square for the first four of the day.
It feels like a batting day (Elizabeth Ammon writes). Shardul Thakur is kicking off from the Brian Statham End and the over just goes for two runs. A pretty tight first over to Joe Root, who needs to get to 31 in this innings to pass Jacques Kallis in third on the all-time Test runs list (and 30 to pass Rahul Dravid, incidentally).
Old Trafford’s problems
It’s a sell-out at Old Trafford today, although only around half the people are in their seats so far (Elizabeth Ammon writes). After the chaos of the first morning queues, more stewards have been put on so it’s easier to get in but there have been plenty of complaints about Old Trafford’s organisation.
The queues for food and drink have been ridiculously long and at the end of the day there is a shambles of people being kettled at one end of the ground because the safety officer doesn’t want anyone to get near the team buses, so lots of people have to wait for ages until the buses have left. There were some very unhappy people last night as I was leaving about 80 minutes after the end of play.
Old Trafford doesn’t have a Test match next summer or an Ashes Test in 2027.
Did India’s selectors get it wrong?
Team selection has been a constant theme of this series, particularly in light of the varying pitch conditions. With India on the back foot in this game, how much fault can be attributed to the selectors? The talkSPORT pair of Jon Norman and former England quick Steve Harmison discuss on Following On.
One talking point from this match is whether the cricket authorities should think about allowing injury substitutes in the same way they allow concussion substitutes (Elizabeth Ammon writes). The argument being that if there is an injury, such as the one to Rishabh Pant, early on in the game there are four days with one team down to ten players, which can make the match not competitive and less attractive as a spectacle.
Would be interested to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
Should Pant have been timed out?
Speaking of Rishabh Pant, one train of thought has been that the India wicketkeeper should have been timed out (remember Angelo Mathews?) yesterday. The talkSPORT pair of Jarrod Kimber and David Lloyd discuss on the Super Over.
Meanwhile, both sets of players are out on the pitch warming up (Elizabeth Ammon writes). Rob Key is joining in with the morning football, it’s a good job he didn’t try to make a living from that sport though, he’s not great at it.
Pant’s broken foot heroics
One of the most astonishing moments of the series has been the sight of India’s wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant hobbling out to bat yesterday morning — and then post a half-century, no less. Relive the atmosphere as talkSPORT commentate a remarkable passage of play.
Good morning from Old Trafford where the sun is out, there is blue sky overhead and it’s set to be a balmy 23C by this afternoon (Elizabeth Ammon writes).
England had their best day of the series yesterday and India look a bit broken. They squandered the new ball, the debutant Anshul Kamboj looked underwhelming and Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj were not as potent as they have been previously. India bowled a bit better in the evening, particularly Ravi Jadeja, who was getting some grip and turn but England are in a dominant position and you think they’ll be eyeing up a massive first-innings score and just batting once.
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