England started the second Test just as they had the first, by winning the toss and putting India in to bat. The plan was to make inroads before the last, vague vestige of green was burned from the surface and it so nearly came good during an opening spell from Chris Woakes that brought the wicket of KL Rahul but also two marginal umpire decisions that both favoured that batting side. “On a day like this, it is frustrating,” Woakes said. “It was a good day but it felt like a day that could have been so different.”
Twice batters were saved on umpire’s call when England reviewed on-field decisions of not out – first in the seventh over, with India 14 without loss, when Yashasvi Jaiswal was reprieved, and then in the 11th, when they were 21 for one, with Karun Nair the beneficiary. On both occasions DRS technology showed the ball going on to hit the stumps, but not by enough for the TV umpire to reverse the decisions taken by the Bangladeshi umpire Sharfuddoula. Jaiswal went on to score another 75 runs and Nair another 26 before the India captain, Shubman Gill, scored an unbeaten 114 to take his team to 310 for five at stumps.
“We looked at the wicket this morning and there was a little bit of grass still on it, and we thought if it was going to do a bit it would be first up,” Woakes said. “And it could have been justified because we could easily have had them 30 for three. A couple of decisions go our way early doors and we’re looking at a completely different day ahead – at 30 for three you’re into the middle order when the ball is still hard and new. They’re decisions which can obviously go your way or not. That’s the game we play.”
England won the first Test at Headingley having reached stumps at the end of the opening day with India on 359 for three, so this position is unlikely to daunt them. “We actually look at it and say it’s probably been a very good day,” said Woakes. “If we can break this partnership you’re into the tail, then hopefully we can get batting as soon as possible. A great day would have been 300 for seven – if we’d got two more in that last session it would have been a very, very good day on what’s a very good batting surface from what we’ve seen.”
Jaiswal, who was eventually caught behind off the bowling of Ben Stokes for 87, insisted India were feeling equally positive about their overnight position. “I think the situation is very nice and we ended up on a very good score,” he said. “We just need to focus on our process. That is what we always try to do. We just need to keep doing what we are doing and keep believing.”
It promises to be a trying Test for the bowlers, on a wicket that has so far offered them little assistance. “I’d be amazed if it changes too much,” Woakes added. “It didn’t feel like a massive nick-off wicket, to be honest. It didn’t feel like it had the pace in it for that. So it felt like the stumps and lbw were what we were looking for. It was trying to find the right length that allowed you to be full enough not to get driven, but still bring the stumps into play.”
after newsletter promotion
Having spent his entire senior career at Warwickshire this is Woakes’ 55th first-class game on this ground, but just his fourth Test. “You don’t get that many games at your home venue – for this to be my fourth, it clearly doesn’t come around too often,” he said. “So they’re really special weeks. I’ve got a love for Warwickshire which goes deep and it’s all I’ve ever known. My whole professional career has been here. And there’s a lot of people behind the scenes who support you through the good times and the bad.”
