India v England - live!

137th over: England 356-5 (lead by 26 runs; Cook 175, Prior 91): Khan does find some good reverse swing, throwing in a yorker that Cook deals with. His next ball, however, is a pearl. Cook, I think, was leaving it but it cut back in and missed the stumps by the proverbial paint lick. Two byes, and clip off his pads for four follows.

So that's 16 runs in the first half hour, plus a ludicrous lbw appeal. This is going to be a long, grinding, battle. Or at least it is as long as these two are in. I'm not sure how much stomach Broad or Swann, for example, have for the long, grinding battle.

136th over: England 350-5 (lead by 20 runs; Cook 171, Prior 91): Here's Ojha, rattling through his overs again. Cook seems happy to get off strike and leave Prior to deal with his looping, tossed-up left-arm spinners and nurdles a single first ball. He's bowling a good length to Prior, who is playing him both back and forwards without looking entirely comfortable with either.

135th over: England 349-5 (lead by 19 runs; Cook 170, Prior 91): Khan is working hard on the ball, trying to get something out of it. He's finding a little reverse. I said it yesterday, but this is one of the greenest outfield I've ever seen in India - a Fletcher plan, perhaps, to nullify England's seamers. However, it's not helping Khan much at this point either. He sets Cook up with three outside off, then brings in a sharp inswinger. The England captain nudges it to leg to bring up the 150 partnership.

"This is Roy in Brighton," emails Roy from Brighton. "Talking of hope - an entire US presidential election was decided on who could read that word off a TelePrompter in a convincing manner. Hope works - unless it's a Test match. Oh wait ... I think England will lose the match, but not before giving us lots of hope. At least till Lunch. Then India will win by tea. I am told they have a plane to catch. Which will be just around the time BCCI will announce truce with the camera bearers."

134th over: England 348-5 (lead by 18 runs; Cook 169, Prior 91): Ojha continues, and Prior slaps the ball through silly point. But Tendulkar is there in the covers to prevent a run. Prior then goes back to a ball that was a touch quicker than he expected, causing him momentary alarm. Another maiden.

133rd over: England 348-5 (lead by 18 runs; Cook 169, Prior 91): Cook runs a quick single to cover to get off the mark for the morning, before Prior works Khan to gully for another. Khan is keeping the ball very tight, hoping to get Cook lbw before his feet are moving properly. He does rap him on the front shin with his last of the over, but the ball was going down.

"Good morning Tom," emails Chris Bourne. "Glad to hear you're not encumbered with women when the only thing on any true Englishman's mind should be a forward defensive prod. If we are going to riff on the great philosophers today, then I think Albert Camus had something important to say about Cook's innings: 'Au milieu de l'hiver, j'ai d?couvert en moi un invincible ?t?.' If ever a batmsan carried an invincible summer in him, it must be Alistair." Tell you what, let's not riff on philosophers. I need little enough temptation to question my existence at this time of the morning.

132nd over: England 346-5 (lead by 16 runs; Cook 168, Prior 90): Ojha has an ambitious lbw shout, pitching the ball outside leg stump and not turning it enough to hit them. Two balls later, though, he bowls a stunner: the ball turns sharply, keeping very low, and just avoids Prior's edge. Yikes. A maiden, and blimey, India are cracking through the overs.

131st over: England 346-5 (lead by 16 runs; Cook 168, Prior 90): That eases the pressure. Khan bowls shortish and wide to Prior and, batting out of his crease, he flays the ball to the point boundary. He feels for a better, wide one later in the over, the one slip in to Prior momentarily twitching. A drive then brings him both a single and into the 90s.

"Apparently if you don't sweat it's very dangerous," emails Dr Ian Forth. "There must be a chance that at some point Cook will overheat, then spontaneously combust, like Mr Krook in Bleak House. I'm guessing he would be the first visiting captain to India to do so (though I haven't checked statsguru). How many more records will he break?"

130th over: England 341-5 (lead by 11 runs; Cook 168, Prior 85): Ojha, two wickets in this innings, starts at the other end. He bowls to Prior who has no maker's name on his bat - the theory being that he's gone out and bought a local piece of timber rather than use his more usual one. These are the tense overs as they try to get their eyes back in. Prior works a single to the deep

"The most concerning aspect of this test from an England point of view is not necessarily many of the players' inability to play spin, but the fact that our supposed strength in fast bowling has been proven totally illusory," emails Peter Hook from a cool and cloudy Sydney. "Our trio have barely reached 80mph on the speed-gun, where as Yudav has been managing close to 90mph and both he and Zaheer have extracted swing, where as Bresnan, Broad and Anderson were barely able to move the ball in the air or off the wicket. There is a point where blind loyalty just becomes blind, and Bresnan and Broad need to replaced by Finn and Monty. Samit may have got a couple of dubious LBWs but he needs to be replaced by a specialist who can score a century (ie Morgan). While I'd love Captain Cook and Sgt Major Prior to bat England to safety it will tend to cover over the very obvious selection mistakes England have made. But can we have both a draw and selection overhaul, pleeease?" I think both Broad and Bresnan need to have a bit of a think.

129th over: England 340-5 (lead by 10 runs; Cook 168, Prior 84): Zaheer Khan opens the bowling on the fifth day with no slips and a split field. Cook prods forward at his first ball and misses it by a margin. He's better with the erst of the over, which is largely full and straight. A maiden, England are basically 10 for five.

Good lord, it's early for this from Liam Drew. "Nietzsche's take on hope: Zeus intended that man, notwithstanding the evils oppressing him, should continue to live and not rid himself of life, but keep on making himself miserable. For this purpose he bestowed hope upon man: it is, in truth, the greatest of evils for it lengthens the ordeal of man."

3.57am: Oh, well there's the tin lid on it. Ian Botham says he has no reason not to believe England will save this. Go back to bed everyone. Night, night. Never going to happen now.

"Morning Tom," emails Harry Tuttle, he of the startling revelations yesterday. "Fifth day, absolutely knackered but feeling better after managing to sleep in a socially acceptable fashion all through Sunday. As a final, decisive act of derision towards the BCCI, I present my artist's portrayal of yesterday's events. Can your readers do better? I think not ... Oh, and here's Matt Prior." Oh dear.

"Wake up!" hollers Zaph Mann. "The game starts again in 12 minutes!!! That woman you're holding is just a dream, wake up Tom! Wake up..." Have no fear Zaph. As if any woman, imaginary or otherwise, could be better than a grindingly defensive, rearguard Test innings.

Hope: it's a cruel mistress. Yesterday at this time of the morning, this felt like a wander into the masochist's parlour. England fans knew this was a doomed cause, they knew this would end in tragedy and farce. Yet still they watched, enjoying the curious pain and addiction unique to watching a Test cricket side being gently crushed.

But now? Now, it's even worse. Because after Cook and Prior's heroics, there's that glimmer of maybe. Just maybe. You suspect that, at the current rate of scoring, they'll probably need to bat to around tea in order to post a target they can defend. That's a mighty big ask. Mighty big. But can they?

But then there is a precedent of a solid, reliable England captain and opener batting with his wicketkeeper to save a Test. Vic Marks wrote a great piece on Mike Atherton and Jack Russell's 1995 innings against South Africa here, so there's no need to rehash it. It is worth pointing out, though, that India don't have an Allan Donald in their ranks, while Prior is a better (and less helter skelter) batsman than the tea, biscuit and baked-bean obsessed Russell. There's that hope again...

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/nov/19/cricket-india-england-first-test

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