England are not always so clinical, India rarely this generous

NICK FRIEND AT HEADINGLEY: Ishant Sharma's opening over was more expensive than James Anderson’s entire spell, and there cannot have been a soul at Headingley who was not entirely perplexed by what had gone on before their eyes

Headingley (first day of five): India 78, England 120-0

Scorecard

And just like that, England were right back in the series.

A ridiculous day’s cricket began with a wicket in the first over and peaked in a frantic – and, frankly, downright astonishing – spell after lunch when India lost 7 for 22 in 89 balls.

As Virat Kohli led his troops out afterwards, there was an animated huddle on the edge of the outfield: 78 runs on the board and a firm requirement for a fast start with the ball.

Instead, the wheels came loose and threatened to roll away entirely: Ishant Sharma bowled nine deliveries in a first over that featured a wide, two no-balls and a Haseeb Hameed cut shot through cover-point. Rory Burns, with so much duck talk around his name, was fed a clip off his hip to the first ball he received to relieve that burden from his shoulders – while the left-hander has his technical deficiencies, that is not one of them. The over was more expensive than James Anderson’s entire spell, and there cannot have been a soul at Headingley who was not entirely perplexed by what had gone on before their eyes.

Before the day was out, Ishant had dived over a drive at mid-off, Burns was pulling the second six of his Test career and even Ravindra Jadeja, standard-bearer-in-chief, managed to injure himself mid-misfield. Such are the exceptional standards set by this Indian team, it felt oddly appropriate that this off-day should end with an overthrow off its final ball. England are not always so clinical, India rarely so generous.

Four hours earlier, the tourists had won the toss and elected to bat, presumably determined to make the most of the hazy sunshine and run England – with two changes to their side and surely still reeling from what became of their brief spell of Lord’s dominance – ragged on a day that looked fairly ideal for batting.

Joe Root picked Craig Overton over Saqib Mahmood, and so James Anderson – at 39 – was arguably the hosts’ fastest bowler.

For a moment, ignore what that says about the ongoing fitness woes of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad and Olly Stone, the designated cartel for the pitches of Australia before their injuries – of varying recovery times – put paid to those best-laid plans.

^{It was a remarkable day at Headingley, where England could do no wrong}

Instead, focus on Anderson, a champion athlete as much as a truly brilliant bowler. In the pantheon of niggly incidents that have engulfed the first half of this series, don’t let it be forgotten that he is playing his third Test in a fortnight. Had those listed above been fit, you can be pretty confident that he’d have sat out one of these.

But he ran in unchanged until drinks, and then continued on afterwards. Under blue skies, his first spell of a crucial Test brought figures of 3 for 6 in eight overs, five of those maidens. The morning had to go England’s way: you’d do mightily well to lose a Test in the opening two hours, especially in the field, but given the circumstances through which India won at Lord’s, it was pretty important that the home side put on the show of a team raring to respond in the right manner.

Anderson, of course, had been at the centre of much of it: Virat Kohli spoke of how their spat had galvanised his side in London, but Anderson used his Telegraph column to remind India’s captain that he is averaging 20 through this series.

That figure has dropped now. Indeed, since Kohli’s last Test hundred, he has made just three fifties in 18 innings. A reminder that even the best go through these patches: this was the seventh time that Anderson has taken his wicket – the joint-most in Test cricket, alongside Nathan Lyon.

It was an exhibition that had long-since started before Kohli’s arrival at the crease was greeted by some with pantomime jeers: KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara had already fallen to impeccable outswingers that followed glorious setups.

None of the trio could have departed the field with the belief that they might reasonably have left the balls that brought about their dismissals: the previous inswingers made it impossible to do so, although Kohli’s flashing, hard-handed drive was the shot of a man searching for the boundary that might click his game back into gear.

He was immovable on India’s last visit to these shores, but, at the same time, his great strength on that trip was his patience, particularly against Anderson. Just as England had lost the battle of egos on the final morning at Lord’s, perhaps they had won this one, with India’s skipper looking to assert his early dominance.

Eventually, Anderson was replaced by Moeen Ali for an intriguingly early introduction. And he wasn’t seen again: there were three wickets for Craig Overton, and two each for Ollie Robinson and Sam Curran. To sum up their contributions in a single sentence would be grossly unfair, but the ghost of Anderson haunted India thereafter.

The tourists had turned up with a series lead and a psychological advantage but found themselves powerless against his excellence; when the change bowlers came on – and Robinson had been equally good from the other end in partnership – the ball was still swinging and Rohit Sharma, as pure a timer as exists on the global circuit, resorted to survival mode. He faced 75 balls for 15 before lunch and watched Ajinkya Rahane nick off to the final delivery of the session.

^{Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed put together a century partnership for England}

Losing a wicket at that time is always significant but perhaps more so then than on most other days. For, coming into the interval with no further loss after Anderson’s initial salvo might have laid the foundations for a recovery. Rather, in reality, it meant that Rishabh Pant strolled to the crease at 1.40pm, typically skittish and ready to lead a counterattack that no one would have anticipated three hours prior. He charged the first ball he faced and was almost run out as he scampered back when Rohit declined a kamikaze single. Eventually, he flashed at a tempter from Robinson and gave Buttler his fifth catch of a quite staggering day.

Overton was a surprising pick ahead of Saqib Mahmood, if only in the sense that the Lancashire man would have offered a greater sense of difference in a bowling attack that otherwise lived around 83mph. But his selection gave a glimpse of the much-vaunted extra yard so often attributed to his international recall.

It wasn’t immediately obvious – and his average speeds didn’t suggest any new turbocharge – but he gave little away and found himself on a hat-trick against Ishant Sharma, who kept out the subsequent delivery, which was Overton’s fastest of the day. It was a fine return on a pitch that seemed to suit him; Root had raved at the toss about how his height gave him the highest release point in the side. Curran also found himself on a hat-trick, and had Mohammed Siraj in his sights for his third – only for an inside edge to prevent that bedlam.

Cricket has a funny way of biting back: only a matter of days ago, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami had proven impenetrable – the difference, possibly, between victory and defeat. There, England lost the plot, gift-wrapping an 89-run unbroken partnership at Lord’s in 120 balls. Kohli praised the work done by his tailenders on their batting, while Root and Anderson regretted a plan of attack that was emotional rather than pragmatic. And yet, they lasted a ball each today. England even held onto a pair of slip catches, for goodness sake. All told, the innings lasted 194 minutes.

Then, they had to bat, and so the mood around Headingley changed accordingly.

Giddy expectation turned to a kind of fearful delirium. Burns was cheered off nought like he was celebrating his benefit game; each ball faced by Hameed was heaving with goodwill, his backfoot punch oozing with a confidence that seems to be returning. Both reached fifty to kingly acclaim.

There will have been sweepstakes and scepticism around how long the latest new-look line-up might last, around how Hameed would fare back at the top of the order and around whether England’s fragility would be able to fully exploit a position of outrageous strength given to them by their bowlers.

The answers – at this point, anyway – have been quietly emphatic.