England surge ahead thanks to Woakes’ maiden Test hundred
With the wicket of Ishant Sharma having brought a close to day two, the day began with Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings preparing to start their innings. India’s had begun with rain around and conditions overcast, and in comparison England’s openers started in luxury, especially as Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami offered plenty on their pads to get them off the mark.
They soon found their range however, and both fell within the space of six deliveries, Jennings pinned in front by a very full Shami ball that he should have straight-batted and Cook having his edge snaffled by a rising seaming corker from Ishant.
That brought out debutant Ollie Pope to join his captain Joe Root, and though the 20-year-old didn’t look overawed, clipping his second ball sweetly for four and then grinning broadly, he could only make 28, hit on the back pad by one that skidded through.
Root looked uncomfortable throughout his stay, and by the time he was dismissed by one that kept low on the stroke of Lunch, India may have harboured hopes of keeping England’s lead manageable and then utilising any variable bounce in the fourth innings.
Jos Buttler came and went for a one-day style cameo, a 22-ball 24 which offered little suggestion of permanency but at least took England into the lead. Bairstow started skittishly, and remained so for much of his innings, but Woakes, only playing in the absence of Ben Stokes, was calmness personified.
Though classified now as a bowling all-rounder, his technique has long been lauded as that of a top-order batsman. He is no stranger to batting in the top five for his county Warwickshire, and made his debut at No. 6 for England, and this was the innings of a proper batsman.
Even coming at the rate it did, there was little undue adventure. Woakes was simply in the form were every attacking stroke pinged off the middle and went for runs. He had outpaced Bairstow by the time he brought up three figures, meaning he joined the select group of players on all three honours boards, having claimed a 10-wicket haul against Pakistan in 2016.
England’s wicket-keeper had to be content with 93, edging Hardik Pandya to Dinesh Karthik, who took an excellent catch, but though he didn’t reach a hundred or bat with the fluency of Woakes, his innings was still vital to England’s cause, and there is a skill to etching out runs when struggling which he showed in spades. His choice to counter-attack was a calculated risk, and today it came off.
Sam Curran entered, and helped by a healthy serving of full tosses from Kuldeep Yadav, raced to 22 from 24 before bad light brought a premature close to proceedings.
The wrist-spinner struggled in his first outing of the series, and with England able to play him watchfully it may be that he can’t have the same impact in whites that he had in blue during the limited-overs series. But such a suggestion might be premature considering none of India’s bowlers covered themselves in glory.
Though conditions were less helpful on the third day than the second, they still didn’t explain the profligacy which saw Pandya’s 3.88 as the best of the economy rates. Even the usually metronomic Ravichandran Ashwin, whose introduction was puzzlingly delayed by Virat Kohli until England had a lead, went at four an over as he dipped into his bag of variations, pulling out only a strange short wide quick ball which was smashed for four.
With India as far behind as they were, trying something was undoubtedly the right call, it just didn’t work for them today. The day closed with England 250 runs ahead, and the forecast improving by the hour. It will take a special effort with the bat, and a vastly improved one, if they are to emerge from Lord’s just one behind in the series.