30th over: England 95-5 (Bairstow 12, Stokes 10) Bosh! Stokes skips down and bunts Shami back over his balding pate for four. Shades of Rishabh Pant about that shot. He then nurdles a single to get off strike. Ayayayay – Shami then nips one back to Bairstow that misses his stumps by a gnat’s eyelash. It is not dull.
29th over: England 90-5 (Bairstow 12, Stokes 5) Stokes skips down to Bumrah but the fast bowler holds back his length and beats Stokes on the outside edge. It looks like both men are relishing this battle and neither will take a backward step. Sure enough Stokes clips Bumrah away through mid-wicket for four! He’s up and running.
28th over: England 84-5 (Bairstow 12, Stokes 0) Shami is finding a bit of movement and there’s some wobble as the ball passes through to Pant behind the timbers, he spills one and does well to cling onto another. Shami starts with a maiden. Stokes v Bumrah up next!
The players are out on the field in the hazy Birmingham sunshine, Bairstow is scratching his guard, Shami has the ball. PLAY!
And this by Jonathan Liew, provides quite a sobering reality check:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2022/jul/02/england-ben-stokes-india-reality-check-test
Here is Andy Bull with those bullish Anderson quotes:
Preamble
Sunday Morning Coming Down.
Welcome to the day three OBO of England v India, Jim here with the Sunday morning call before the mighty Rob Smyth takes over this afternoon. And what position might the match be in by then?
England we’re chastened yesterday by the Indian juggernaut and if they are to come back from this far behind in this Test then it will take something even more crackers than anything we’ve seen in ‘BazBall’ thus far.
The day started with Stuart Broad being flogged for the most expensive over in Test history, winding up on his belly in the dirt of the popping crease from whence he had been slayn by Jasprit Bumrah.
Bumrah, the smiling assassin with the bullwhip action then got to work on England’s top order with the ball, whipping away Lees, Crawley and Pope and England find themselves 84-5 trailing India by 332 runs.
Stokes and Bairstow are at the crease and it would be wise to tune in from the get-go as Jimmy Anderson’s rallying call that “attack will be the best form of defence” suggests that they aren’t going to change their aggressive approach and will try to hit themselves out of strife once more.
Play gets underway at 10:30AM BST – a little over ten minutes time (the earlier start has caught me out already…)
Time for a quick splosh of coffee and we’ll be ready to go. Gulp.