Lunch, Day Two – India 321-6 (Pant 39, Washington 20) v England
Rishabh Pant, one foot in a moon-boot and the other in trainers, still found a way to reach the middle at Old Trafford. India’s wicketkeeper-batter refused to sit out, helping his side nudge to 321 for six by the interval despite obvious pain and some typically grumpy Manchester skies.
England had sniffed a quick breakthrough when Ben Stokes removed Shardul Thakur for 41 in the 102nd over. “A wicket there and we’re into them,” Stokes had told his slip cordon in the huddle – the stump mic caught every word – but the moment lasted all of two minutes. Pant descended the stairs at a gentle shuffle, the crowd offering sympathetic applause rather than the usual roar.
Earlier, Jofra Archer struck with the very first over of the morning, kissing Ravindra Jadeja’s outside edge to make it 273 for five. Archer and Chris Woakes then fashioned chance after chance with the second new ball; twelve overs produced “at least a dozen genuine nicks,” said former England skipper Alastair Cook on BBC radio, “yet not one went to hand.”
Thakur and Washington Sundar refused to flinch. Both left well, drove sparingly and ran hard when the ball stopped swinging. Their sixth-wicket stand of 48 looks modest on paper but, given the circumstances, felt worth double. “We backed our defence first,” Washington explained to the host broadcaster. “If they bowled six good ones, fair enough – we’d fight again next over.”
Pant’s arrival changed the mood. Running was reduced to a cautious hop-and-hobble, but any width disappeared when he lashed two cut shots to the rope off Woakes. “That bloke has silly bravery,” remarked Cook, shaking his head almost in disbelief.
Rain rolled in five minutes before the scheduled break, sending players and umpires off for an early lunch. England will fancy shifting India’s tail quickly once play resumes; India, one suspects, have no intention of giving up easy runs – broken bones or not.
A simple session on the scorecard, then, but a quietly gripping one in real time.
