Jadeja swells India’s score and Cook keeps his hopes of a farewell ton alive – all you need to know from day three at The Oval..
SCORECARD | HIGHLIGHTS | AS IT HAPPENED
The Report
Alastair Cook’s hopes of fairy-tale century in his final Test remain on course as he hit an unbeaten 46 on day three at The Oval, writes Kalika Mehta.
The 33-year-old strode out for his final international innings to another standing ovation and, alongside Joe Root (29 not out) saw England to 114-2, and a lead of 154, by stumps.
Ravindra Jadeja earlier showed impressive resistance to shepherd the tail as his unbeaten 86 meant India scored 272 to restrict their first-innings deficit to just 40.
Moment of the Day
0:57 Watch Cook stride out for his final Test innings
Cook received a guard of honour as he strode out to bat in the first innings of his final Test but things were less formal as he bounded out for his second dig. They were no less memorable, mind you – the outgoing opener receiving a standing ovation from the Oval crowd and a handshake from Virat Kohli before he went about his business. There will be at least one more chance for Cook to be clapped onto the turf in a Test, with the 33-year-old ending day three unbeaten on 46, despite a few jittery strokes and plenty of plays-and-misses as stumps approached in the capital.
Stats of the Day
Talking Point
James Anderson’s overzealous questioning of why Kumar Dharamsena did not give Virat Kohli out lbw on Saturday evening saw him fined 15 per cent of his match fee for “dissent” and slapped with one demerit point, a sanction we learnt about on Sunday morning. Michael Atherton accepted the punishment but saw nothing too untoward from Anderson, who is yet to dismiss Kohli in the series, despite coming close numerous times.
“I don’t like players being predetermined in their aggression towards umpires or the opposition but when something happens as a consequence of some intense action and it is spontaneous I am fine with it,” said the former England skipper. “It happens in a red-blooded game.”
Bumble, meanwhile, saw fit to praise Dharmasena. “The umpire was terrific. He said ‘I’ve made my decision’ and ‘I’m not having that’ [from Anderson]. He did it in a real proper way. Sleeping on it, Anderson would understand he stepped over the mark.”
The other talking point, of course, is where on earth Ravindra Jadeja has been before now in this series!? The spinning all-rounder was omitted from the first four matches but took four wickets in England’s first innings at The Oval and then struck an unbeaten 86 in India’s as he farmed the strike.
What they said
David Lloyd: “[Cook’s] a big story and it’s massive for the crowd – every day has been a full house and there’s every chance that so many people will want to come along tomorrow. Can Cook get to a century? It will be a fabulous ending. He’s been beaten outside off-stump so many times and they’ve bowled so well at him, particularly Mohammed Shami, but he’s got to 46. He’ll go to bed thinking ‘right, there’s a big dream for tomorrow’.”
Ravindra Jadeja: “It’s all about pride whenever you represent your country. After a long time I was playing today so I was looking to play normally – not thinking about how I’m going to play my innings, just trying to focus ball-by-ball. I think we now need to restrict England as early as possible – we need to get wickets in the first session tomorrow; around 250 is a par score.”
Tweets of the Day
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