4 days ago
England vs India, fourth Test, day three: live scores and latest updates
Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport's live, over-by-over coverage of day three at Old Trafford. This could be the day that a seriously hard-fought series turns decisively England's way. If they are still batting at the close, it will take a Herculean effort from India – or a repeat of the 2023 downpour that saved Australia – to stop England taking an unassailable 3-1 lead.
England were brilliant yesterday, pummelling India all round Old Trafford with ball and bat. They will resume on 225 for 2, a deficit of 133, after scoring their runs at almost five an over. India bowled poorly, particularly with the new ball, but Zak Crawley and especially Ben Duckett played with a skill and chutzpah that we have rarely, if ever, seen from England openers.
'He's an unbelievable player,' said Crawley of his opening partner. 'We talk a lot in the middle about how we're going to play and some of the stuff he comes up with … he's a phenomenal thinker about the game and he hits the ball in areas that made it hard to contain him. I just tried to stay with him. He's the leader of that partnership.'
One word of caution. India's bowling improved as the day progressed and they will come hard at England this morning. And there are some uncomfortable parallels with last year's Rajkot Test. On that occasion England started day three on 207 for 2 in reply to India's 445, having scored their runs at almost six an over. Then Joe Root tried to reverse ramp Jasprit Bumrah and the match went in a different direction. England were destroyed by 434 runs and lost the series 4-1.
Not that the England dressing-room will be thinking of Rajkot. The past, the worst-case scenarios, are for people like us. They'll be accentuating a sizeable positive: if they dominate today's play, they will be on the cusp of lifting the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
