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The English dressing room door had barely closed when Haseeb Hameed found himself stepping through it, his return to tryout cricket after a five-year absence having been spectacularly called off for a golden duck.
Mohammed Siraj had just put out Dom Sibley with his second bullet after tea and as he loaded into a bowl 30,000 people inside Lord’s were holding their breath in hopes that a prodigy who rebuilt his career after a disconcerting fall in form could dodge the misfortune that is supposed to strike on Friday the 13th.
It was not to be, Hameed advancing with impeccable defense down the wrong line and hearing that deadly wooden rattle behind him. Anyone can guess why Siraj felt the need to put his finger to his lips after such a brief encounter, but there was plenty of time for Hameed to simmer it all in the locker room security.
Obviously, this was not a day for romantics, although hearts were warmed by £ 500,000 raised for the Ruth Strauss Foundation. And in the end, England could reflect on three sessions of honorable work which, from the now traditional 23 for two, kept their heads just above the water at 119 for three from 45 overs in response to the 364. of India thoroughly.
Jimmy Anderson was tasked with keeping relative control over tourists after their dominant presentation on day one with typically distinguished numbers of five for 62, while with the bat Rory Burns and Joe Root chiseled a stand of 85.
Burns fell before the close, trapped lbw around the wicket by Mohammad Shami, but Root would pick up on the morning of 48, with Jonny Bairstow on six for company.
The England captain had arrived in the middle after his team’s 33rd duck in 2021 and, more worryingly, the 14th by a member of the top three.
The latter is a record for a team in a calendar year, but Root offered a confident defense to deny Siraj his hat trick and then rolled over to the form seen at Trent Bridge.
Indian bowlers, bolstered by Ishant Sharma’s recall, had delivered a harsh examination on the sluggish surface, even as Siraj tested Virat Kohli’s patience when two confident lbw calls against Root resulted in scorched criticism. The second, sliding down the leg like the first, led the Indian captain to walk out of the group upon seeing the first replay, not even bothering to wait for the Hawk-Eye screening.
A penny for Anderson’s thoughts during this last tense session, his feet in the dressing room and a break after the 31st five-wicket run of his career had already taken England off the canvas. Mike Selvey once wrote that Angus Fraser was “like Eeyore without the zest for life” and Anderson is suspected of letting out a few sighs.
The fact that Root relies heavily on a 39-year-old, who needed a late fitness test to play, is in part due to a bout of absenteeism that plagued the bowling stable. But even taking into account the loss of Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes, and Stuart Broad – a practical test attack in itself – it’s also slightly unsettling.
That said, Anderson’s class lives on and while 29 overs of hard work may not have been the preferred outcome after his captain won the toss and chose to go bowling, his reward came when, for the seventh time in his Lord’s career, he found himself walking with the match ball in the air to the sound of warm applause.
India had started in a worrying position, 276 for three with KL Rahul picking up from 127, but thanks to Anderson’s incisions and three of the reinforcements, England claimed seven wickets at a cost of 88 points. This was the best-case scenario, even if two captures failed and their radar for runway excursions remained wobbly.
By 11:07 a.m. England had landed two early punches, with Rahul crushing Robinson’s second ball of the day to cover short on 129 and Anderson slashing Ajinkaya Rahane without adding to his score on the night of one.
Sam Curran finished without a wicket once again – England are no closer to playing their role in Test Cricket – but there were two wickets for Mark Wood, the dangerous Rishabh Pant first in feathers behind on 35 at a time when it threatened to explode, and Ravindra Jadeja the last man to take one out of 40.
In between was Moeen Ali’s 190th tryout wicket, Shami playing midwicket and Anderson doing light work of Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah. Suddenly England’s predicament was not as bad as predicted and when Burns and Sibley survived 14 overs before tea, two full sessions had been won.
You can tell Sibley is desperately trying to get more side and follow orders to make the strike run more. But when he emerged after tea on the 11th and immediately cut Siraj short in the middle of the wicket for the second time in this series, it left a feeling that his second inning would be time to make or break the first game.
Hameed may be the batsman to go up if Sibley fails once more, but after such a harsh initial comeback in the spotlight, the 24-year-old’s only thoughts will be to look at the ball more closely as he drops the ball. stairs. in its pads.
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