India are a good team and give you nothing, Yesterday they snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat in a similar way to the Botham and Willis Test against the Aussies at Headingly, was it 81 ? But Root left the back door open for them, that is my point. If the situations had been reversed I don't think our number 9 and 10 would have been allowed to put on nearly 100 runs so quickly and allow the captain to be in a position where he could declare, which was unthinkable, and probably un backable at 11.30am on the 5th day of a Test Match. It was a thrilling test for the neutral, which I am not. I want England to win which we should have done.
England overcame odds of 5000/1 (five thousand) to win at Headingley. The Aussies may have lose the test match but won a tidy sum from the bookies. Not that I am suggesting anything untoward in their spectacular collapse.
The English batting has been woeful. See posts above. Capped in this second innings by both openers being dismissed for ducks. The guardian report gives this as the first time this has happened in 531 tests on home soil. Also in commentary, Sam Curran achieved a Lord's first. A Golden Pair.
But, yes, Root should have concentrated on taking the tail end wickets, instead of exacting some sort of revenge for the barrage Anderson faced.