A tantalising final day is in store at Headingley, the kind that may challenge England’s aggressive outlook on more than one front. Ben Stokes and his side need 350 more runs to beat India and, with 10 wickets in hand, will no doubt believe another miracle is possible on a ground with something of a reputation for them.
And yet a target of 371 to win, set up by a pair of wonderful centuries from KL Rahul with 137 and Rishabh Pant with 118, may also put to the test their long-held contempt for the draw. Jasprit Bumrah is eyeing three out of the five matches in this series and dodging defeat in one of those he plays would surely be a positive outcome.
By the same token, India will be desperate to cash in on Bumrah’s presence here and with England needing the second highest successful chase in their history – albeit with No 1 coming against them at Edgbaston three years ago – the tourists are clearly strong favourites. No wickets fell before stumps on day four as Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley reached 21 for no loss. The task, however, remains significant.
If there was encouragement to be found for England beyond some possible showers, it was that the surface at Headingley remained relatively good for batting on day four. Until a late rush of wickets during the hunt for quick runs, India had been largely untroubled en route to 364 all out, with Pant becoming just the second wicketkeeper in history after Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower to make twin centuries in a Test.
Albeit this may in turn have said something about England’s attack, which has toiled in the main and may well need a rejig before the second Test. All eyes will be on Jofra Archer’s continuing exploits in Chester‑le‑Street, even if it would still be a gamble to throw the fast bowler into his first Test for four years after a solitary county outing.
Perhaps the biggest question before the series moves to Edgbaston next week is how exactly they stop Pant scoring. The left-hander may play in an unorthodox way that tricks bowlers into thinking a chance is just around the corner but he now has three centuries and two fifties from his past five innings in this country.
Pant was at it again here, striding out after Brydon Carse had castled Shubman Gill for four with the seventh ball of the morning and starting out like a man with itching powder in his slacks. But whether taking on Rahul’s calm by osmosis, or simply regretting an early hack that flew over the slips, Pant silenced the devil on his shoulder and set about constructing his half of a critical fourth-wicket stand worth 195 runs.
It was initially the kind of slow grind to which England are themselves largely averse, India adding just 28 runs to their overnight 90 for two in the first hour as they saw off a probing initial burst from Carse and Chris Woakes. Pant was heard on the stump microphones telling himself to calm down, while Rahul was kept honest by a couple of deliveries that spat up from the seamers at the Kirkstall Lane End.
There was one chance that came and went before lunch – the latest sliding doors moment in a Test riddled with them – when Josh Tongue produced some extra lift and Rahul, on 58, guided it high to gully. But Harry Brook could not cling on above his head and the partnership continued to swell, rolling into an afternoon during which the odd edge flew through vacant slips and both batters secured personal milestones.
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With Pant breathing down his neck from what was a standing start, Rahul was first there as a driven two off Shoaib Bashir turned his overnight 47 into an eighth Test century away from home. The 33-year-old celebrated as he played overall, coolly removing his helmet and acknowledging the ovation his patience had earned.
For Pant, the chief question was whether he might bring out the forward somersault witnessed in the first innings. But despite being urged to do so by Sunil Gavaskar from the pavilion – the former India opener was among his harshest critics during the tour of Australia last winter – Pant kept it low-key, overcoming a bit of cat and mouse in the nineties and marking the moment with a look to the heavens.
Having crashed three sixes to make it a record nine struck in a Test in England, Pant eventually holed out off Bashir and India reached 298 four at tea. Thereafter something of a collapse unfolded, the tourists losing six for 31 to the second new ball including three in four deliveries for Tongue. Among these was Mohammed Siraj via a glove behind, the fast bowler walking off wringing his hand in pain.
Any Indian fears – or English hopes – that this might impair Siraj with the ball were soon dispelled, however, when he fizzed down two of the six overs before stumps. Besides, if England are to pull this one off, Bumrah is the quick who must be tamed.
