England 669 all out (Root 150, Stokes 141, Jadeja 4-143)
India 358 & 1-2 (Woakes 2-0) trail by 310 runs
Ben Stokes has been in the wars this summer, yet on the fourth morning at Old Trafford he added 75 brisk runs to his overnight 66, turned the cramps into a statement and, by lunchtime, was already in the slips celebrating Chris Woakes’ double strike. India, kept in the field for 157 overs, were plainly jaded and slipped to 1 for 2 in just three overs.
“It was a pretty simple plan, really—bat as long as we could and then let the bowlers loose,” Stokes told Sky Sports once play stopped for lunch. “I was cramping last night, but the physio shoved a lot of fluids into me. Sometimes that’s all you need.”
He can say that with a grin. The century, his first in 35 Test innings, also completed the rare double of 7000 runs and 200 wickets—territory previously occupied only by Garry Sobers and Jacques Kallis. A folded-finger salute, a nod to his late father Ged, felt more subdued than the fireworks around him, yet it summed up the mood: professional, not theatrical.
Morning started with a scare. Anshul Kamboj threw down the stumps from mid-off; Mohammed Siraj wheeled away, finger aloft. Replays overturned the run-out and, next ball, Stokes advanced at Siraj and cracked him through cover. A couple of flirtations outside off added tension, but a clip off the hip finally took him to three figures. The Old Trafford trumpeter dutifully blasted the Superman theme.
Joe Root, who resumed on 134, pushed on to 150 before slog-sweeping Ravindra Jadeja to deep mid-wicket. The lower order nudged England to their fifth-highest Test total—669—and would have taken more had Jadeja not wrapped up the tail just before midday.
India looked physically drained. Fielders fumbled, throws missed, the cordon stood deep for No.10 Ollie Robinson. Those 15 minutes before lunch can be horrible for a side that has spent two days chasing leather, and Woakes exploited the fatigue. Round the wicket to Yashasvi Jaiswal, he aimed at the stumps; the ball jagged away late, kissed the leading edge and Root completed the catch at second attempt. Next delivery, a tired Sai Sudharsan flirted with a short, wide ball and nicked off while trying (belatedly) to leave.
“You could see they were heavy in the legs,” Woakes said. “The idea was to make them play from ball one, no freebies.”
Shubman Gill had to negotiate the hat-trick with five slips and a leg-slip for company. He survived, though India managed just a solitary single before the break. Head coach Rahul Dravid remained calm: “We’ve been in the park a long time, yes, but there’s still plenty of cricket left,” he told the host broadcaster. It was measured, not resigned.
England, meanwhile, can afford to be greedy. A surface offering occasional seam movement and a lead north of 300 places them firmly in charge. Yet weather is due on the fifth day, and Old Trafford has seen stranger escapes. Stokes, cramp and all, prefers not to think that far ahead. “Stick to the basics,” he shrugged. “That’s normally good enough.”
Plenty of work remains, but the body language at lunch said enough: England bouncing, India stretching. Sometimes the simplest plan is the hardest to counter—score big, bowl fresh, and hope fatigue does the rest.
