It’s all over. IT’S ALL OVER!
Overton takes the last two wickets. It’s an utterly emphatic 76-run win for England.
What a breathless morning. This was almost more impressive than the first day, when England had substantial help from the conditions. Here, they had blue skies over head, and two batters who were batting comfortably the day before. They had to work a little to open the tap early in the morning, but once they did, the dismissals came like a flash flood. India lost their last eight wickets for 63 runs; their last seven for 41. It was a continuous, rapid unraveling, and they will now have to pick themselves back up.
Robinson got the most wickets by a distance, but England hunted as a pack. Anderson was excellent, and was unlucky to get more than his one breakthrough this morning. Overton, who had been good yesterday, came in to wipe out the innings. Moeen Ali produced a wicket with a terrific delivery in the middle somewhere. Sam Curran wasn’t even needed this morning.
Robinson gets his fifth!
You know the drill by now. It’s fullish, it’s outside off stump, angled in. Ishant doesn’t move his feet, hangs his bat out, the ball takes the edge, the keeper swallows it. This is excellent reward for Robinson, who has been England’s best bowler in the second innings. It’s his second five-wicket haul, to go with the five-for he got in Nottingham, in the first Test of this series.
India two wickets away from a big defeat.
When will the wickets stop?
Moeen Ali into the attack, and straight away, produces a big-spinning beauty, floating it up way wide of off stump, drifting it away slightly, before suddenly the ball dips, grips and rips past Shami’s bat and back into his off stump. It’s all falling apart so quickly for India, who would have begun the day with talk of batting four more sessions, and really gritting out the day. As good as England have been, there have been a lot of mistakes from India too.
Robinson strikes again! India lose fourth wicket for 24 runs
This time it’s Pant. He ran at the bowlers a couple of times, attempting to flay them away, but missed. Then he tried a prod outside off stump to a length ball angled across him, and sent the ball to Craig Overton at third slip. India collapsing rapidly and emphatically. Mohammed Shami the No. 8, is at the crease.
Innings victory incoming?
India are rapidly running out of wickets and running low on hope. Anderson, who has bowled beautifully this morning, finally gets a wicket for himself. It’s Ajinkya Rahane. This is a length ball outside off stump (you can probably guess I’m about to describe a classic Anderson dismissal). It’s close enough to the stumps that Rahane feels like he has to play, so he pushes his bat out, hard hands. But of course, the ball moves away a touch, takes an appreciable outside edge, and Jos Buttler gobbles it up.
England are almost into the tail now. Unless Pant produces something spectacular (and here’s hoping), this could be over by lunch.
That wicket, by the way, was Anderson’s 400th at home. There are a lot of all-time great bowlers who didn’t get 400 in total.
But he’s out now! Kohli’s gone.
It’s been a scintillating morning, and that over from Robinson – the tenth of the day – epitomised this. First, Kohli whips Robinson through midwicket for four to get to his fifty. It’s not just his first half-century of the series, it’s his first since February. Then he smokes the fifth ball of the over down the ground, beating a diving mid on, suddenly looking like he’s gained some confidence after the nervy early overs.
But Robinson has other ideas. Again he goes wide-ish of the crease, and angles a length ball at Kohli which the batter will feel he probably didn’t have to play at. But he prods at it and sends a straightforward catch to Root at slip.
India’s two big middle-overs batters are gone. They are still 115 runs behind. England utterly ascendant.
Kohli v Jimmy heats up, and now Kohli’s out… wait, no he isn’t! DRAMA.
This is the high-octane battle of the series, has had a high octane over. Second ball, Jimmy pitches it up on a fifth stump line, angled in. Kohli is suckered into the drive as the the ball curves away, only juuuust beating his outside edge (he’d managed to nick the nearly identical delivery that got him out in the first innings.) Next ball, Anderson bowls an inducker and hits him high on the pad, but that one seems to be bouncing over the stumps.
Last ball, England think they have him. Anderson is leaping into teammates’ arms, and England are whooping, Headingley in ecstasy around them. The ball was slightly wider, and full, leaving Kohli again. There was a sound as it passes the bat and the umpire has raised his finger. But wait. Kohli reviews, after a quick chat with Rahane. The sound turns out not to be bat on ball, but bat on pad, and it’s clear from snicko and the replay that Kohli hasn’t hit it. He survives. Just. Thrillingly.
Biiig shout fourth over…. Pujara’s gone!
Pujara’s been leaving dangerously all through the innings, particularly to Robinson, who has frequently angled balls in towards the right-handers’ pads. This time it’s cost him big. This was delivered from slightly wide of the crease and might have nipped back juuust a touch. Pujara is expecting it to swing away and shoulders arms, but it keeps coming with the angle, and hits him just outside off, mid-way up the front pad. Umpire Kettleborough declines to give it out, but this just looked so close on first viewing, it always felt like one England would review. They do. And ball tracking shows the ball crashing into the middle of off stump.
Pujara’s going to have to wait longer for that hundred. He doesn’t add to his overnight total. Gone for 91.
Calling for predictions
Personally, I’m hoping for an early mini-collapse from India, before Rishabh Pant comes in and whomps a mindblowing 160 in the company of Mohammad Shami (a-la Angelo Mathews and Herath at Headingley, 2014), to get India about 100 runs ahead. This doesn’t seem like enough at first, but then Jasprit Bumrah gets five wickets in a spell, and we go to stumps with England needing 20 to win and just two wickets in hand, setting us up for a tensest of fifth-day mornings.
A boy can dream.
Showdown incoming
10:40am
Three days, 22 wickets, 725 runs, and it’s all led up to this high-stakes morning at Headingley.
In the blue corner are India’s two most experienced batters, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli, who had skidded their way through the series on modest scores, but discovered something of their most resilient selves on Friday. They battled through difficult spells under gloomy skies to put on 99 together, giving India some hope of making England bat again. Pujara is on 91 – nine runs short of his first century in over 36 months. Kohli is five runs short of his first fifty since February. Happily for them, the sun is said to be out at Headingley, which technically should make batting easier.
In the red corner, though, is the great grump-faced grandaddy of swing bowling, James Anderson, who frequently makes the ball do mocking orbits of the batter before it seeks out his edge then a pair of hands in the slips. He was unplayable at the top of day one, dismissing both Pujara and Kohli with outstanding deliveries. He’ll have a brand new Dukes ball, which whom he has built a partnership more impressive than Lennon+McCartney (and which has lasted longer too). He’ll also have a cohort of right-arm acolytes – Ollie Robinson (who was excellent yesterday), Craig Overton, and Sam Curran in support.
Who will triumph? Stick around and find out.
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo’s Sri Lanka correspondent. @afidelf
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