Dropped catches could haunt England at the end of Day 2 as three catches in the first 15 overs leave them frustrated.
Dropped catches leave England ‘frustrated’ and ‘disappointed’ in India’s second innings.
India’s second innings at The Oval saw England lose three catches in the first 15 overs, leaving them “disappointed” and “frustrated” as the fifth Test looked to be slipping away from them.
On a fast-paced pitch, India ended the second day with a 52-run advantage and eight second-inning wickets remaining. Yashasvi Jaiswal, the young opener, rode his luck to a half-century off only 44 balls. Zak Crawley shelled a chance at third slip off Sai Sudharsan, and Jaiswal was dropped twice, once by Harry Brook at second slip on 20 and again by Liam Dawson at long leg on 40.
Both of the drops in the slips were solid hits despite being real chances, but Dawson, who was sent on as a replacement fielder for Chris Woakes due to injury, took one blow directly to the face. Jaiswal hooked Josh Tongue to him, so he didn’t have to move, but he was fortunate to escape a serious injury after losing the ball in the floodlights or the sunshine (his sunglasses were on his cap).
“You’re always frustrated when you miss opportunities,” Marcus Trescothick, England’s assistant coach, said. “Of course, we pride ourselves on being very good in those sorts of areas, but it just didn’t happen. We all know how important they are and we all know how tough catches can be – especially in the slips – so [we are] disappointed, but it is what it is.”
Compared to India’s 20 drops in the series, Crawley’s was England’s fifteenth. Last week, their catching proved costly in Manchester when Joe Root put Ravindra Jadeja down off the first ball of his game-saving undefeated hundred, and Shubman Gill was dismissed by Dawson and Ollie Pope en route to his century.
After only batting for 51.2 overs in their opening innings, England were exhausted in the field on Friday night, but Trescothick refused to attribute their declines to mental and physical exhaustion.
“I don’t think that’ll be anything to do with it,” he said. “It just happens over the course of some days and some games. It’s just the game, as we see it.”
Trescothick believes that the Test is “evenly poised” after two days, and expects the pitch will continue to be “lively”. “There’s more life in it,” he said of the surface. “There’s more pace, more seam movement, and we’re at the extreme version of what we see in those types of pitches, but it’s definitely what we like.
“We want pace on the ball, we want the ball to bounce and we want the ball to carry through so that when we’re batting, we can be aggressive, we can attack, and we can put pressure back on the bowlers; and when we’re bowling, if we get opportunities and we catch the edge, hopefully it will carry through… We’re very happy with how [the pitch] has performed so far.”