4th Test, day 1: Broad and Anderson cause India batting collapse in fourth Test by Andy Jalil

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Ground:	Old Trafford, Manchester
Scorecard:	England v India
Player:	SCJ Broad, JM Anderson
Event:	India in England 2014

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DateLine: 7th August 2014

 

By Andy Jalil at Old Trafford In association with INVESTEC

 

Andy Jalil at Old Trafford In association with INVESTEC cricketarchive.com, pcboard.com.pk © Andy Jalil

 

Manchester – In a lamentable batting performance India inexplicably lost quick wickets to give England the upper hand so early in the fourth Investec Test. By stumps England on 113 for three were trailing by just 39. Placing them in such a strong position on day one was Stuart Broad whose brilliant fast bowling brought him a return of six for 25 in just 13.4 overs and saw India lose six batsmen on naught for the first time after MS Dhoni surprisingly decided to bat under heavy cloud cover. They equalled the highest number of scoreless wickets that have fallen in Test cricket.

 

To add to India’s woes the hosts’ third wicket stand between Gary Ballance, who hit 37 before falling lbw to Aaron and Ian Bell, 45 not out added 77 after Bhuvneshwar Kumar claimed the first wicket on 21 and the second fell to Varun Aaron on 36.

 

The debacle of the India batting began early, after three overs with the score on 8 of which Gautam Ghambir had four. He is one of three changes in the India team, along with Ravichandaran Ashwin and Aaron, from the defeated third Test side. England have remained unchanged.

 

It was a sensational start by England as the first four India wickets fell in a space of 14 minutes, all on the total of eight. After Ghambir was held at gully, having been forced to play a ball, tight in line and bouncing a little, Murali Vijay gave Alastair Cook the first of his two catches at first slip. It was off James Anderson who seamed a ball away late to take the edge. Two balls later his outswinger to Virat Kohli was edged to Cook.

 

In overcast conditions England bowlers achieved much ball movement in both directions and Broad struck again in his following over with Chris Jordan at gully holding a fine diving catch to his right to dismiss Cheteshwar Pujara. India had lost three for naught in a space of ten balls. A stand of 54 between Ajinkya Rahane and MS Dhoni checked the landslide of wickets.

 

But the momentum for England was soon restored with wickets on either side of lunch. Ajinkya Rahane, on 24, should have left the ball he received from Jordan outside off stump but instead he edged it to second slip. That was in the penultimate over before the break and the second over after it brought great delight to Anderson who pinned Ravindra Jadeja lbw with an in-swinger on the leg stump which went straight on.

 

Dhoni, had moved on to 25 before combining with Ashwin in a partnership of 66 to bring about some recovery to the rapidly declining India innings. Both batsmen looked for opportunity to score and played attacking shots. Ashwin pulled a six over long leg off Anderson early in his innings and Dhoni suddenly became very cautious on taking his score to 49 on which he spent half-an-hour before reaching his 32nd Test half century with his eleventh four.

 

The seventh wicket stand was broken with Ashwin, on 40 from 42 balls, pulling Broad into the hands of square leg. That was the start of the last four wickets that fell to Broad. Dhoni then went on the attack batting with the lower order and after Kumar was beaten for pace by a ball that came in to hit the top of his middle stump, Dhoni, having revived the innings to some extent was dismissed.

 

He went for a big hit off Broad and pulled into the hands of Jordan at backward square leg. He had faced 133 balls and 60 of his 71 runs had come from boundaries. The ninth and tenth wickets fell on 152 with Broad having taken the last four for 6 in a 19-ball spell.

 

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
Copyright © 2014 Andy Jalil)