[How’s the body and mind?] Pretty good,It’s a good position to be in, three down, so if we have a good day tomorrow we are right in the game,I worked on a few things at the end of the IPL and looking at the results I think they are working for me,Taking the catch [to dismiss Ben Duckett] was really good for our confidence,It was something we spoke about: we felt if [we had caught better] in the previous match the result would have been different.

My word.That last over feels like a decent precis of an increasingly difficult day for England.India are in control of the game thanks to an exquisite 269 from their captain Shubman Gill and three early wickets with the ball.20th over: England 77-3 (Root 17, Brook 30) Two near misses in a dramatic final over of the day.Root top-edges a pull not far short of deep square leg; Brook times a boundary and then knocks a defensive shot into the ground that bounces back the stumps.

Brook panicks, probably on some level remembering his weird dismissal to Nathan Lyon on this ground in England’s Ashes whitewash of 2025, and positions himself to do whatever it takes to stop the ball hitting the stumps.He does the first part by shouldering the ball to safety – but in the process he almost staggers into the stumps himself.19th over: England 72-3 (Root 17, Brook 26) Jadeja is racing through the over, even by his standards, so that India can get another in before the close.Brook tries to slow things down and is reminded by the umpire that he needs to be in position when Jadedja is ready to bowl.A maiden… and Jadeja is the winner because India will have time for one final over from Krishna.

18th over: England 72-3 (Root 17, Brook 26) Krishna has changed ends, which makes that four bowling changes in a row.Root’s defence is watertight for most of the over, though he does play one slightly awkward defensive shot to squeeze a nipbacker between bat and pad.Root was outside the line so there was no danger of LBW.17th over: England 71-3 (Root 17, Brook 25) Shubman Gill makes it a hat-trick of bowling chances by bringing on Jadeja after a single over from Krishna.Jadeja, who has a slip and gully for the two right-handers, starts with a no-ball before settling into his work.

Brook plays two or three authoritative forward defensives at the back end of the over.16th over: England 67-3 (Root 16, Brook 23) A double bowling change, with Nitish Kumar Reddy coming on for the impressive Siraj (7-2-21-1).Reddy didn’t bowl much in his debut series in Australia but took some useful wickets, including Marnus Labuschagne twice.His first over is relatively harmless, gunbarrel straight at around 80mph.This is still a really good pithc.

Just over 10 minutes until the close.15th over: England 66-3 (Root 16, Brook 22) Prasidh Krishna replaces Akash Deep, who pushed things forward in a spell of 7-1-36-2.His loosener is tucked off the pads for four by Brook, who rightly or wrongly is still looking to score at every opportunity.The rest of Krishna’s over is better, just a single from the last five balls.14th over: England 61-3 (Root 16, Brook 17) Siraj’s line has been relentless.

He’s into his seventh over now, so maybe there’s a bit of fatigue involved when he strays onto the pads.Root puts that away for four and then switches to a Peter Willey tribute stance when Siraj moves round the wicket.The rest of the over passed without incident.13th over: England 55-3 (Root 11, Brook 16) Deep strays outside leg stump to Brook, who stiffens his wrists to ping four through square leg.Brook is starting to time the ball but there’s still a slightly frisky feel to his batting, particularly given the match situation.

As I type that, Brook plays an airy-fairy dab and is beaten.“Bad shot,” says Mike Atherton on Sky.“Bad shot! Brook’s gotta get his batting head on here.There are three slips in place and he’s trying to run that down.Ridiculous.

”12th over: England 51-3 (Root 11, Brook 12) Siraj charges into Brook, who charges back towards him and drives an outrageous yet familiar six over extra cover/mid-off.It’s not often in the modern game that a batter doubles their score from the 22nd delivery they face; that’s what Brook has just done.The inside-out drive for six is fast becoming Brook’s signature shot.Let’s be honest, we’ve seen worse.11th over: England 44-3 (Root 10, Brook 6) Since you asked, this is still a belter of a pitch.

The new ball has done a bit, as it did for England yesterday, but the wickets are down to India’s intensity and England’s dodgy shot selection.There’s still a huge score out there for somebody, or there should be.“Per Hari Menon’s message at 4.46pm,” begins James Crane.“Quantitatively speaking or otherwise, has anyone ever missed out quite as much as Alviro Petersen in that 2012 SA innings? (After this last half hour Bumrah is probably currently thinking he has a claim.

”)I give you Grahame Clinton in May 1990.Don’t miss the second innings postscript.10th over: England 33-3 (Root 5, Brook 5) Siraj is straining so hard for wickets that he bowls a couple of no-balls.Brook continues to run towards the danger, leaving his crease to club four down the ground.It wasn’t well timed but it got the job done.

After a scintillating first 10 overs, it’s time for drinks,“The draw massively flattered Australia in that 2023 series,” says Phil Harrison,“Just as, in the interests of balance, it flattered England in 2019,”I’m not sure about this, though I realise it’s fairly common view in this country,Old Trafford I understand, but the other four games were all really close and the last Test at The Oval would have played out differently had the series been level at 2-2.

I also find it hard to reconcile Australia being flattered by the scoreline with the terror I felt, as an England fan, for most of the Headingley Test when they looked set to go 3-0 up after three games.Not sure why but the 2-2 draw doesn’t haunt me in the way it would have done in, say, 2005.Overall I have the fondest memories of those six weeks, from listening to Cricket Et Al every day while walking my dogs at 7am to frantically trying to keep up with Ben Stokes’ Lord’s rampage.And England won, so what’s not to love.A nipbacker from Siraj hits Brook on the pad and ends up in the hands of gully.

Siraj goes up for anything and everything, and gets nothing from the umpire Sharfuddoula.Gill goes the review, a no-brainer when you effectively have two bites.There’s no inside edge … and the LBW is umpire’s call.Goodness me.I didn’t think the LBW was that close but it’s another one to add to Sharfuddoula’s important on-field not-outs in this game.

9th over: England 27-3 (Root 5, Brook 1) Brook is beaten again, fiddling indecisively at Deep.England are all over the show, their brains scrambled by five sessions in the field.“Rob,” writes Kim Thonger.“Are India allowed to take the extra hour tonight if the umpires think the match could finish before the close?”8th over: England 25-3 (Root 4, Brook 0) The new batter Harry Brook is beaten by his first two deliveries from Siraj.His response, obviously, is to run down to the pitch to the third; he doesn’t make proper contact and it dribbles into the off side.

England are batting like a team who have been in the field for five sessions.Zak Crawley has gone and India’s Bumrahless, Kuldeepless attack are rampant.He drove on the up at Siraj and snicked to first slip, where Karun Nair crouched to take a smart reverse-cup catch.Crawley looked suspiciously at the pitch before walking off.I’d need to see a replay but my first thought was that it was the wrong length to drive.

[Edit: it was definitely the wrong length to drive, and it moved away as well.It was a poor shot.India’s Selectors: An Apology.7th over: England 25-2 (Crawley 19, Root 4) Close! An uppish flick from Crawley flashes past the diving Gill, deliberately placed for the catch at short midwicket, and away for four.“Afternoon, Rob,” says Ian Copestake.

“The only positive possible from processing the awful Diogo Jota news is the wish to send virtual hugs and good wishes to all others as we luckily experience this day.The cricket is a joy, as is the MBM, so thank you.”6th over: England 18-2 (Crawley 12, Root 4) Root is beaten, fencing at a back-of-a-length delivery from Siraj that snaps off the seam.He could and should have left it.By hook or by crook, England need to get to the close two down.

With clear heads and an ageing ball they could score runs in industrial quantities at the moment.But right now they look suspectible to a match-defining collapse.5th over: England 16-2 (Crawley 11, Root 3) Root works Deep into the leg side for two and then one.There’s plenty of chat from the Indian fielders now.Frankly – and I said as much at the time – they should have been doing this from ball one.

In other news, for all the emails calling me an eejit for suggesting England had a triumphant 2023 Ashes campaign.It was a joke.Obviously.But on reflection, I think it was a triumph.That word refer to achievement as well as victory, and the life-affirming brilliance of the series made it a T-word for both sides.

It was also a triumph for England to draw 2-2 after effectively being 2.5-0 down at lunch on day two of the third Test.I am, however, aware that the series was drawn, that Australia deservedly retained the Ashes and that winning draws aren’t worth a damn.4th over: England 13-2 (Crawley 11, Root 0) This is a perfect position for India, who would surely have been happy with two wickets before the close.They now have 19 overs to pick up some bonus wickets and take complete control of this game.

A maiden from Siraj to Crawley, whose defence so far has been solid.The replays of Ollie Pope’s dismissal aren’t great.It did move late but he was already trying to take it through midwicket from well outside off stump.3rd over: England 13-2 (Crawley 11, Root 0) Root defends the hat-trick ball.So much for Deep being wrong to flap his gums because everything was in the batter’s favour.

“This ‘triumphant 2023 Ashes campaign’ you mentioned in the first over,” says Edward Blackburn,“Would this be the same one England drew 2-2 at home with Australia retaining the urn?”Yep that’s the one,That’s a poor shot from Ollie Pope, who tried to whip a very full ball to leg and was undone by the late swing,It took the edge and flew to second slip, where KL Rahul shelled a sharp chance before calmly grabbing the rebound,Akash Deep is on a hat-trick and England are in – here it comes – deep deep trouble!Ben Duckett follows an epic innings with a duck – but only because Shubman Gill has followed an epic innings with a stunning catch! Duckett pushed at Deep with hard hands and edged to the side of Gill at third slip.

He swooped decisively to his left to take a brilliant two-handed catch.2nd over: England 13-0 (Crawley 11, Duckett 0) Mohammad Siraj starts with a no-ball.There’s some mirth in the crowd when Jadeja fields the ball into his face and then almost has a wardrobe malfunction when he lands.It looked like a problem with the elastic in his trousers but his modesty remains intact.A poor start from Siraj with the no-ball, but that aside it’s an excellent over – tight line, around fifth stump, and with a consistency of length that doesn’t give Crawley the chance to drive