England batsman Gary Ballance has refused to write off India in the fifth Test at the Oval, even though the tourists are already staring at a significant first-innings deficit.
Half-centuries from Alastair Cook, Ballance and Joe Root lifted the hosts to 385 for seven and a lead of 237 after the second day’s play, with India now seemingly on the verge of a third straight loss and a 3-1 series defeat.
Yet Ballance, whose 64 was the sixth time in Tests this summer that he has gone past 50, is wary of counting out MS Dhoni’s team.
“I don’t think so yet. It’s Test cricket, it’s tough. You’re not going to win a Test in two days but we want another good day tomorrow, try and score as many as we can and then bowl well in the third innings,” he said.
“It’s been a great day. Yesterday went well but we still had to bat well on a pitch that was doing a bit. It’s great that we’ve batted well, batted all day and given ourselves a good lead.”
Ballance, whose observation that there is still some seam movement in the pitch will be music to the ears of England’s pacemen ahead of India’s second innings, also paid tribute to Root.
Ballance’s Yorkshire teammate steadied the ship after England had lost three wickets for 13 runs and will need another eight runs to bring up a fifth Test ton on Sunday.
“It’s just the way Rooty’s been playing. We lost a few wickets and he decided to try and put the bowlers under pressure and he did that very well,” Ballance said on Sky Sports 2.
“He scored quickly and he’s put us in a great position.”
Just like Old Trafford last week, Root (92 not out) and Jos Buttler restated England’s authority. Root’s 93-ball half-century was his fifth of the series, one in every match to replicate a feat achieved previously by only two Englishmen – although a third, John Edrich, made it six in six in Australia 43 years ago.
The 23-year-old Yorkshireman’s innings was a trademark contribution, full of his habitual hurry and scurry, with just two boundaries on the way to 50 but also a rare six when he hooked Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Cook’s century drought had earlier extended to 31 innings, and the prolific Ballance could not convert his sixth 50 in 11 attempts into a fourth hundred this summer as England hit a temporary blip.
Cook and Ballance went in quick succession after putting on 125 for the second wicket; Ian Bell was then soon gone and Moeen Ali’s fretful stay ended before tea to put the onus on Root and Buttler again.
They responded much as they had in similar circumstances in Manchester, keeping England well ahead here and on course to close out a 3-1 series victory.
Buttler appeared set to make it three consecutive 50s at the start of his Test career but fell five short when he clipped Ishant Sharma to midwicket. By then, though, the sixth-wicket pair’s Old Trafford reprise had realised 80 and kept England well on top.
Before they took over, Cook had contributed a curious innings.
He was notably solid before lunch, yet could barely locate the middle of the bat when he returned. He was twice dropped badly at slip, on 65 and 70, but could not take advantage.
By the time Murali Vijay made up for his earlier drop by holding a low chance off Varun Aaron, it felt like a mercy as the England captain trooped off.
Ballance, who had convinced throughout and reached his 50 with an upper cut off Kumar for his 11th four, went in bizarre circumstances – poking an innocuous length ball from Ravichandran Ashwin straight and slowly to silly point off the face of the bat.
When Bell went cheaply, Root and Moeen were suddenly together without a run between them.
Earlier in the morning, the hosts had lost only Cook’s opening partner Sam Robson. With just four added to their partnership, he missed just a hint of swing from Aaron and lost his off stump.
But Ballance was off the mark with a four first ball. He had five boundaries in his first 21 runs – including three off his pads when the Indian seamers strayed there.
He appeared untroubled until his sudden aberration, after which Bell edged a good delivery from Ishant behind to MS Dhoni.
Moeen impressed and alarmed in near equal measure, with sweet timing but much uncertainty against Ashwin before trying to leave the off-spinner and instead edging down into his crease and on to the stumps.
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