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| Ben Stokes manhandles New Zealand attack to put England on front foot | Ben Stokes manhandles New Zealand attack to put England on front foot |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Until Ben Stokes arrived at the crease midway through the afternoon session, it had unquestionably been Alastair Cook’s day. For 70 overs, the England captain had underpinned the England second innings, instrumental, along with Joe Root once more, in pulling the game round from potential catastrophe to a point where the match looked not only there for the saving, but actually to win. Cook was within two runs of his 27th Test match hundred when Root pulled a short ball as sweet as a nut straight to long-leg and departed, having made 84 of a fourth-wicket stand of 158, an alliance begun when Ian Bell was dismissed by the third ball of the morning. | Until Ben Stokes arrived at the crease midway through the afternoon session, it had unquestionably been Alastair Cook’s day. For 70 overs, the England captain had underpinned the England second innings, instrumental, along with Joe Root once more, in pulling the game round from potential catastrophe to a point where the match looked not only there for the saving, but actually to win. Cook was within two runs of his 27th Test match hundred when Root pulled a short ball as sweet as a nut straight to long-leg and departed, having made 84 of a fourth-wicket stand of 158, an alliance begun when Ian Bell was dismissed by the third ball of the morning. |
| What ensued was staggering. One hundred and 13 years ago, in the final Test against Australia at the Oval, Gilbert Jessop, the Croucher, made 104 in 77 minutes, a phenomenal demonstration of hitting that in terms of time taken has not been equalled by an England batsman. Stokes, who made 92 in the first innings, reached his second Test century on Sunday at precisely a run a minute. There was no documentation of how many deliveries Jessop required and the over rate would certainly have been faster than the desultory pace these days, but among the 85 deliveries it took Stokes to reach three figures, there were 15 fours and three sixes, each of them pulled disdainfully into the crowd at the bottom side of the ground as Tim Southee suspected a weakness on the pull shot and tested out the middle of the pitch. | What ensued was staggering. One hundred and 13 years ago, in the final Test against Australia at the Oval, Gilbert Jessop, the Croucher, made 104 in 77 minutes, a phenomenal demonstration of hitting that in terms of time taken has not been equalled by an England batsman. Stokes, who made 92 in the first innings, reached his second Test century on Sunday at precisely a run a minute. There was no documentation of how many deliveries Jessop required and the over rate would certainly have been faster than the desultory pace these days, but among the 85 deliveries it took Stokes to reach three figures, there were 15 fours and three sixes, each of them pulled disdainfully into the crowd at the bottom side of the ground as Tim Southee suspected a weakness on the pull shot and tested out the middle of the pitch. |
| It is a lesson Southee may have learned in the harshest manner, his six overs with the second new ball going for 53 runs, in the process the bowler adding an unwelcome hundred of his own in the second innings to go with that of the first. Lord’s has never seen a century more rapid, two deliveries faster than that of Mohammad Azharuddin in 1990, (a rather more deft innings, one might venture). | It is a lesson Southee may have learned in the harshest manner, his six overs with the second new ball going for 53 runs, in the process the bowler adding an unwelcome hundred of his own in the second innings to go with that of the first. Lord’s has never seen a century more rapid, two deliveries faster than that of Mohammad Azharuddin in 1990, (a rather more deft innings, one might venture). |
| By the time Stokes was out, edging an attempted slog-sweep to slip (there was just enough turn for Mark Craig to suggest some interest for Moeen Ali on the final day), Cook had added 24 to his own score, their fifth-wicket stand worth 132. By then, though, the game had been turned on its head in a manner that had the crowd entranced. By the close on the fourth day, one in which the pessimists had foreseen further New Zealand dominance and perhaps even England demise, it is the home side, at 429 for six, a lead of 295, who hold the upper hand. If the ball continues to swing on the final day and Moeen can continue the rhythm he rediscovered in the first innings, New Zealand could find survival tricky. Cook will resume on 153 and Moeen 19. | By the time Stokes was out, edging an attempted slog-sweep to slip (there was just enough turn for Mark Craig to suggest some interest for Moeen Ali on the final day), Cook had added 24 to his own score, their fifth-wicket stand worth 132. By then, though, the game had been turned on its head in a manner that had the crowd entranced. By the close on the fourth day, one in which the pessimists had foreseen further New Zealand dominance and perhaps even England demise, it is the home side, at 429 for six, a lead of 295, who hold the upper hand. If the ball continues to swing on the final day and Moeen can continue the rhythm he rediscovered in the first innings, New Zealand could find survival tricky. Cook will resume on 153 and Moeen 19. |
| In no way, though, should the sheer effrontery of Stokes in manhandling a fine New Zealand attack diminish the brilliance of Cook, who had warmed up for this match last Friday in the challenging environment of a match between Bedford Farmers and the Masters of Bedford School, his alma mater (he made nine). | In no way, though, should the sheer effrontery of Stokes in manhandling a fine New Zealand attack diminish the brilliance of Cook, who had warmed up for this match last Friday in the challenging environment of a match between Bedford Farmers and the Masters of Bedford School, his alma mater (he made nine). |
| Watching this innings in the grandstand was his coach and mentor Graham Gooch, whose own status as a superlative opening batsman was in no small part based on the capacity to assess a pitch and the bowling, and make a judgment on which strokes would be appropriate and which should be kept in the locker. The strategy here was clear: the Black Caps’ seamers, swingers of the ball, would pursue a full length, inviting the sort of drive that did for Bell before many of the spectators had settled into their seats. | Watching this innings in the grandstand was his coach and mentor Graham Gooch, whose own status as a superlative opening batsman was in no small part based on the capacity to assess a pitch and the bowling, and make a judgment on which strokes would be appropriate and which should be kept in the locker. The strategy here was clear: the Black Caps’ seamers, swingers of the ball, would pursue a full length, inviting the sort of drive that did for Bell before many of the spectators had settled into their seats. |
| So with almost puritanical self-denial, he refused to be drawn into the shot until well past his century, no matter how great the temptation. Instead, he cut, particularly the off-spinner Craig, who suffered from Brendon McCullum’s refusal to acknowledge that sometimes a spinner, especially one raw to international cricket, needs protection rather than the apparent encouragement of attacking fields (drying runs up can be productive too). Cook pulled, too, from midwicket to behind square, he worked it off his hips, he leg-glanced a couple of times, and all the while he collected his bread-and-butter runs around the corner. It was simple, pragmatic batting, with adherence to a game plan. | |
| The manner in which Cook batted in the latter part of the West Indies tour, particularly his century in England’s previous match in Barbados, showed that he had rediscovered the synchronised timing of foot movement and strokeplay that makes one contingent on the other but done without thought. The resurrection of his Test match game, though, which has also involved an opening up of his stance a little to counter a propensity to play around his front pad, began last summer as the series against India progressed. | |
| If a century had been a long time arriving, he was at least starting to put the sort of scores together consistently that suggested more profitable things to come: including this innings he has averaged more than 61 in his last nine matches. This innings was simply outstanding against both new balls, especially the first, but chanceless only up to a point: twice, when in three figures, he was recipient of the benevolence of the umpire S Ravi, who gave not out lbw decisions that any other umpire might reasonably have deemed otherwise, the batsman saved on each reviewed occasion by the merest smidgeon of an umpire’s call. Ravi should be on his Christmas card list: Cook may not be so lucky on another occasion. |