The Ben Stokes revival spearheading England's charge at Old Trafford

Independent

4 days ago

Ben Stokes raised the ball that he had swung to dismiss Anshul Kamboj for a duck. Stokes has received plenty of applause and acclaim in the last few years, but never for this. The days when he took five wickets in an innings seemed consigned to the past; sometimes he didn't take five in a series.
A day that featured a terrific opening partnership between Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley was shaped by the bowling double act of Jofra Archer and Stokes. The England captain was in fine company in another respect. Only Garry Sobers, Ian Botham and Jacques Kallis had made at least 10 Test centuries and got a minimum of five five-wicket hauls. Now Stokes is the fourth all-rounder in a select group. At a point in his career when he has gone two years without a Test hundred, his revival as a bowler was cemented with a landmark.
Stokes being Stokes, it came when it mattered. England have the advantage heading into day three, just as their series lead owes much to Stokes' efforts with the ball at Lord's. He has been England's best bowler this series. He swings it more than Brydon Carse. He is quicker than Chris Woakes. He may be more durable than Jofra Archer.
His first wicket of the Test was his biggest, Shubman Gill trapped leg before wicket without playing a shot. Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar were both caught at long leg but Stokes has the pace to bounce them. Shardul Tharkur was brilliantly held by Duckett in the gully. Kamboj got a beauty. He finished with 24-3-72-5, the last number significant, but the first as well.
Stokes bowled 24 overs in the second innings at Lord's, 24 in the first at Old Trafford. It is becoming a regular workload. He has never bowled more overs in a series and he has three more innings to go. He has never taken more wickets in a series, his 16 beating the 15 he took in his first.
But, after Liam Dawson 's first Test wicket since 2017, came Stokes' first five-wicket haul for eight years. His 6-22 against West Indies was before his World Cup final and Headingley 2019 heroics, before Bristol and Bazball.
At 34, he has rewound the clock. In recent years, there were matches where Stokes didn't bowl, others where he was very much the fifth bowler. He had knee and hamstring injuries. He entered his mid-thirties. Even given Stokes' propensity for the unexpected, few envisaged this bowling comeback. Now he has drawn level with Darren Gough on 229 Test wickets; he may pass Sobers by the end of the series.
It helped that he had support. He and Archer shared the six wickets to fall on Thursday. Archer, with his wonderful record against left-handers, dismissed Ravindra Jadeja, courtesy of a terrific catch from Harry Brook, and removed the off stump of Rishabh Pant, India's limping Lazarus, with a glorious delivery.
Yet India's total of 358 had felt above par until England batted, before the deficit was under 200 when they still had their openers together and just 133 at the close, with Ollie Pope and Joe Root together at 225-2. The conditions were better for England, with cloud cover when they bowled and the sun emerging when they batted. Yet England also bowled better.
India were too wayward with the new ball, with even Jasprit Bumrah less menacing than usual, allowing England to rattle along at more than five an over. Duckett raced away at better than a run a ball, getting 26 before Crawley was off the mark. Yet he overtook his partner in the evening session.
Crawley, back on the scene of his 189 in the Ashes, enjoyed Old Trafford again. He had one reprieve, when he didn't play a shot against Mohammed Siraj and was rapped on the pads. Otherwise, it was the sort of innings to explain England's unwavering faith in him and to invite questions why a player with such strokeplay barely averages 30. There was, though, no century for either, Crawley on 84 edging Jadeja to KL Rahul at slip, Duckett taking a swipe to give Kamboj his maiden Test wicket. Gone for 94, his conversion rate remains too low, but his attacking bent makes him invaluable.
Duckett had set the tone, taking three boundaries from the debutant Kamboj's first over. Shubman Gill's surprise decision to give the newcomer the new ball backfired. Mohammed Siraj had struck early in three of the previous four innings and he was relegated to first change. By then, Duckett had seized the initiative. By the time Kamboj eventually struck, England were only 161 behind.
It was the second time in the series that Crawley and Duckett had added more than 150. Their stand of 188 at Headingley laid the platform for victory. It is too soon to say this was a sequel. But if it is, it may need another influential display from the bowler Stokes may be coming to trust the most. Himself.