Moeen Ali century gives England a strong platform
England may be out of the series but they are not out of spirit. A vibrant display from the middle order in the positive manner that the coach, Trevor Bayliss, has constantly espoused enabled the tourists to finish the day on 284 for four.
In Mumbai there was a stark reminder that a solid first day guarantees nothing – England were 288 for five there after the first day there; nonetheless they have given themselves a chance of a consolation victory.
To the fore was Moeen Ali, the most felicitous of strokemakers once he is established at the crease, but often the most fallible in his first half-hour. It is very hard to tell when Moeen leaves the middle whether he has been dismissed for a duck or a hundred; he is so imperturbable on the outside.
But here he finished unbeaten on 120, his fifth Test century, just enough to elicit a quiet smile. Just to confirm, Moeen was batting at No4 again in this match. It is not clear whether this should be his permanent post and my guess is that this will not be the case next summer. But once again Moeen demonstrated why England always want him in their XI; so do the fans for there is always a delicious uncertainty when he comes out to bat. Here he began batting as if he was a clone of Jimmy Anderson; by the end of the day he was provoking those comparisons with David Gower.
His most significant partnership, of 146, was with Joe Root. Most batsmen would secretly settle for 88, but there was no hiding Root’s frustration when he was dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja on that score. He has a remarkable record against India; in every one of his 11 Tests against them he has scored a half-century. However Root wants hundreds and that must be a source of exasperation for him in this series, in which he has now scored 485 runs and has always looked in exquisite form.
After Root’s departure out came Jonny Bairstow in pugnacious mood, the third of England’s musketeers. In his 49 there was not a single four – but there were three sixes all crisply struck off the spinners, all clearing very substantial boundaries by a distance, a sound tactic on a slow outfield.
The early signs had not been so optimistic for England even though Alastair Cook contrived to win his fourth toss of the series. Stuart Broad was recalled; Liam Dawson was given his first cap as Anderson, short of fitness, and Chris Woakes, short of wickets and runs, were omitted.
Batting was not easy in the first hour when – unsurprisingly – the pitch had a tacky feel to it. It was a minor miracle that there was any sort of pitch to play on or a stadium fit for purpose given the ferocity of Cyclone Vardah. Keaton Jennings was subdued and then dismissed by Ishant Sharma, who was brimful of energy either because of his recent marriage or the fact that he has been on the sidelines all series or perhaps a combination of both. Jennings drove at a wide delivery and edged to the keeper; in the ever-moving pecking order he is currently significantly below Haseeb Hameed.
Cook survived the seamers, but was undone yet again by Jadeja. This time he nudged defensively outside the off-stump and edged to Virat Kohli at slip. Jadeja has now dismissed the England captain five times in this series and has conceded only 60 runs to him. Before Friday Cook had been lbw three times against Jadeja and, more perversely, stumped. At the moment he cannot defend securely against the left-arm spinner, which is an unusual state of affairs and one that seems to reflect a jaded cricketer. In his past five knocks Cook has reached double figures without registering a half-century.
Moeen might have been out without scoring. Against Jadeja he drove and the ball just slipped through the outstretched fingers of KL Rahul at midwicket. Soon the innings was boosted when a howitzer throw from Kohli hurtled straight onto a helmet stationed behind the wicketkeeper, producing five penalty runs and a source of mirth even for Indian fielders provided they were outside their captain’s eyeline.
Otherwise the pattern in the morning was one of Root purring while Moeen stuttered.
In the afternoon, Moeen found his touch, driving the spinners in the air in carefree manner. Root had scored quickly often through his slog-sweeps against Jadeja. But his last one did not work so well. There was a noise and India asked for a review; to Root’s horror and apparent amazement a bottom edge was spied.
Bairstow mixed steady defence with three spectacular strikes over the boundary. But like Root he was unable to go past the 1,481 runs scored by Michael Vaughan in a calendar year. He was furious – but only with himself – when a drive against Jadeja was caught at short extra cover.
While Stokes dug in Moeen gave himself free rein when Sharma took the new ball 20 minutes from the close; the first two deliveries were caressed to the cover boundary and thus Moeen became the fourth Englishman to score 1,000 runs in a calendar year, which contained 17 matches, thereby joining Root, Bairstow and Cook.
Source: The Guardian
