It was the primary supply with the brand new ball that felled Ben Stokes. Mohammed Siraj had waited till the third ball of the over to make use of it and, as Stokes tried to drag it on to the legside, it struck him amidships.
Stokes went down exhausting and lay on the popping crease, writhing in ache. When the group noticed the replay on the large screens at both facet of Outdated Trafford, there was an enormous groan of collective sympathy.
One social media web site produced a right away catalogue of different events on which Stokes had been equally incapacitated and pronounced that, given he had gone on to be participant of the match in three of them, this may truly be an excellent omen.
Siraj, by no means essentially the most sympathetic of opponents, stood over him for a second and checked out him with disdain, as if he had been mystified as to why Stokes had been making such a fuss. Stokes tried to say one thing however gave up and allowed himself to get better.
Then the England skipper hauled himself again to his ft. A method or one other, Stokes all the time hauls himself again to his ft. After which play resumed. And in what could show to have been crucial session of this fourth Check, he and Joe Root took the match and the collection away from India.
This was indisputably Root’s day, a day when he handed Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting within the ranks of the best Check run scorers of all time on his option to a powerful innings of 150, and now sits behind solely Sachin Tendulkar within the pantheon.
It was the primary supply with the brand new ball that brought about Ben Stokes to wither in ache on Friday
However, as he all the time does, the England captain hauled himself again to his ft to proceed
In crucial session of the Check, Stokes and Joe Root took the sport and collection away from India
However a part of the enjoyment of what unfolded right here in Manchester on Friday was the privilege of watching two England greats, two mates, two captains, two leaders, two fantastic cricketers, on the crease collectively, working collectively at a seminal stage of a dramatic collection. So the day was a triumph for Stokes, too.
If one had been to choose a Participant of the Sequence on the finish of the third day of this Check match, it might be him. Stokes has led England fantastically — he’s the collection’ main wicket-taker, he took 5 wickets in India’s first innings right here and now he has stepped up with the bat, too.
England weren’t precisely in hassle when Stokes got here to the crease at 349-4 however they’d misplaced the wickets of Ollie Pope and Harry Brook in fast succession and their prospects of constructing an enormous lead over the vacationers had been beginning to dim.
Stokes modified that. He performed with much more restraint than savagery. He guarded his wicket jealously and allowed Root’s elegant carving to do a lot of the injury. Stokes was content material to verify he caught round so England might construct the defining partnership of this contest.
And that’s what it turned. Stokes scored 14 from his first 38 balls and noticed off the problem of India’s spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, bowling at him in tandem. When Siraj returned to the guests’ assault, he could have put Stokes down however he didn’t take him out. Stokes resumed.
There have been remoted moments of pure atavism. Not lengthy after he had been felled, Stokes danced down the wicket to Anshul Kamboj who was bowling with the brand new ball, and thrashed it again previous him via mid-on for 4. Later, he smote a lovely drive via the covers off Jasprit Bumrah.
He clipped a Sundar supply to mid-wicket for a single after tea to convey up his first half-century of the collection and take England to 470-4, a lead of 112. It took him 97 balls to succeed in his 50.
He solely hit three boundaries on his option to the landmark, the fewest of any Check 50 he has compiled. It was an indication of his utter willpower to not let England’s grip on this collection slip with victory in sight.
If one had been to choose a Participant of the Sequence on the finish of the third day, it might be Stokes
It was an indication of utter willpower that Stokes reached his 50 with simply three boundaries
After Root, Jamie Smith and Chris Woakes had been out cheaply, Stokes, retired damage, made his means again to the crease
Finally, Stokes started to let free however an extravagant reverse sweep appeared to set off a bout of cramp that received worse and worse and when he reached 66, his partnership with Root value 142, he limped again to the pavilion to permit Jamie Smith to take his place.
Then he hauled himself again up once more. Root was out quickly after Stokes had disappeared into the England dressing room and Smith and Chris Woakes had been each out cheaply. So, simply after 6pm, lower than an hour after he had limped off, Stokes strode again out to the center like Captain Indestructible.
There have been large cheers from the steepling momentary stand to Stokes’s left because the England captain walked down the steps and the group realised who was coming in. Stokes added one other 11 runs to his whole to complete the day not out on 77, with England on 544-7. Their lead is 186.
It was a masterful innings in its personal means, too, a doggedly affected person innings, an innings performed in opposition to sort, an innings stuffed with braveness and defiance and resolve. By shut of play, it was the longest England had batted in a Check innings on this nation below the captaincy of Stokes.
Because the gamers walked off the pitch within the weak daylight of a fading Manchester night on Friday night time, the scenario was clear: England are in command. Stokes is in command.
