By Matt Somerford
A world-record last-wicket partnership between Joe Root and James Anderson set up the likely prospect of a draw in the first Investec Test against India at Trent Bridge.
Their 198-run stand smashed the previous world mark set here almost a year ago to the day – when Australians Ashton Agar and Phil Hughes put on 163 – during a stunning morning session.
Root’s fourth Test century was almost lost amid the cavalcade of new Test bests that were set, which included Anderson pocketing the highest score by an England number 11.
By the time he was finally dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar shortly after lunch for 81, England had claimed the most unlikely of 39-run first-innings leads as they were belatedly bowled out for 496.
Any hopes England might turn the momentum of Root, who was unbeaten on 154, and Anderson’s heroics were, however, snuffed out by a combination of India’s defiance and a tired pitch.
The tourists reached drinks in the evening session at 97 for one – a lead of 58 runs – and appeared intent on dropping anchor for the remainder of the game to put miles in the legs of England’s bowlers at the start of this five-Test series.
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Evening Session
6.33pm - STUMPS! - Ind 167/3; Kohli 8 Rahane 18 - A barely-forgettable day comes to an end with India holding a lead of 128 runs. England can take some hope into the final day that they might yet pull off a stunning win, although a lifeless wicket will ensure the draw remains the most likely outcome.
6.22pm - England appeal for a catch behind against Rahane, but umpire Bruce Oxenford is not fooled by the sound of the ball hitting thigh pad as Plunkett drifted down leg side. Rahane then responded with a couple of boundaries to take him to 18 from 18 balls.
6.15pm - The two new batsmen - Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane - are in watchful mode as they look to see through these final 15 minutes. England would love one more before the close - especially Kohli who is still yet to score after nine balls.
6pm - WICKET! Pujara c Stokes b Plunkett 55; 140/3 - Well, well, well. Perhaps this game isn't done yet. Two wickets in two balls as Pujara picks out Stokes at backward point. The all-rounder spilled the ball initially, but recovered to dive back and take the catch.
5.57pm - WICKET! Vijay c Prior b Moeen 52; 140/2 - A second wicket for Moeen. Take your pick how he is out. He stormed down the wicket and if he didn't feather an edge to Prior the wicketkeeper made sure he was on his way by flicking off the bails.
5.54pm - FIFTY! Pujara (95b 7x4 0x6) - Plunkett drops short and Pujara leaps all over it, sending his seventh boundary to the square-leg rope.
Vijay has reached his fifty for India, here is how he did it. India are currently 126-1: #EngvIndpic.twitter.com/hzxpJ2EllB
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 12, 2014
5.41pm - FIFTY! Vijay (111b 7x4 1x6) - Vijay knocks Moeen away for a single and he has a half-century to go with the ton his made in the first innings.
5.30pm - Vijay gets down the wicket to Moeen and lofts him over long-on with some ease. Despite the situation requiring little aggression, you get the feeling India are intent on attacking the spinner and getting the quicker bowlers back on to increase their workload.
5.16pm - The players are taking drinks with the score 97 for one. India are therefore 58 runs ahead. I suspect Moeen Ali might have a bit of work to do until stumps with 19 overs to be bowled.
5.07pm - It is not the most interesting of sessions unfortunately. India look content to bat this match through to the end and take a draw. There's not much urgency and perhaps the tourists are thinking that putting some miles in the legs of the England bowlers at the start of a five-match series is the primary aim.
4.57pm - James Anderson and Stuart Broad have taken over the duty of plugging away. There is a little bit of reverse-swing to create a bit of interest. Prior is standing up to the stumps too.
4.45pm - Stokes over-pitches and he pays for it. Pujara crunches it through the covers for four. As if we needed reminding, this pitch is difficult work for the bowlers. India are 51 ahead.
4.30pm - Stokes is bending his back to try and finding anything out of this tired wicket. He did manage to surprise Pujara with some extra bounce in the previous over and the ball hit high up the bat neat the handle, but it flew away safely between the slips and gully or two. India are 78 for one - that's a lead of 39 runs.
4.18pm - Stokes and Liam Plunkett are plugging away at the start of this evening session. We still have 32 overs to bowl today so we will certainly play until 6.30pm.
4.02pm - Ben Stokes bowls the first over after tea and it is an eventful one. Cheteshwar Pujara steers away a boundary before getting an edge that flies through where first slip would have been. Instead, Matt Prior's valiant dive comes to nothing as he can't make up the ground.
Afternoon Session
3.42pm - TEA! - Ind 57/1; Vijay 19 Pujara 8 - Moeen claims the only wicket of the session and India are effectively 18 for one.
3.34pm - WICKET! Dhawan c & b Moeen 29; Ind 49/1 - Moeen strikes in his first over, albeit with a full toss. Dhawan can not believe he has smacked the ball back into the waiting hands of the spinner. It was a smart catch and Moeen won't mind how it came about.
Perhaps buoyed by that Moeen has tried another full toss. This one disappears to the long-off rope though as Cheteshwar Pujara starts with successive boundaries.
3.20pm - Alastair Cook does swing that bowling change bringing on Liam Plunkett and he almost gets a wicket first ball. Dhawan cuts just short of a diving Ben Stokes at backward point. Dhawan then crashes away the seventh four of the innings to wipe out England's 39-run first-innings lead.
3.10pm - India's openers have been fairly untroubled so far. Dhawan and Vijay have traded boundaries in the past couple of overs and India are 31 for none after seven overs. With half-an-hour to go before tea we might be in for a bowling change soon.
2.57pm - Broad finds Dhawan's edge only to see the ball squirt away at a catchable height between second slip and gully. Chances are being created.
2.52pm - CHANCE! - Matt Prior has missed the chance to catch Murali Vijay before he had scored. Anderson finds a regulation edge and the ball dipped as it got to Prior who was left clutching at thin air.
2.50pm - After James Anderson begins with a maiden before Shikhar Dhawan takes six from Stuart Broad's first over, highlighted by a confident cut shot past point.
2.31pm - END OF INNINGS! - Anderson c Dhawan b Bhuvneshwar 81; Eng 496 - The fun is over. Anderson flashes a big drive at Bhuvneshwar Kumar and edges it to first slip where Shikhar Dhawan takes a sharp catch low to his right. Joe Root is left unbeaten on 154 and their record-breaking stand will go into the history books as being worth 198.
England's lead is 39.
2.15pm - 150! Root (283b 15x4 0x6) - Joe Root drives Ishant Sharma through mid-on for four and that brings up his 150. The next ball Ishant thinks he has Root caught behind, but there was no edge as he wafted at a wide ball.
The tall quick and Root then exchanged a couple of words just to clarify their points of view.
Morning Session
1.30pm - LUNCH! - Eng 485/9; Root 143 Anderson 81 - The Trent Bridge fans are on their feet and offer a rousing applause for Root and Anderson as they head off for their lunch. Their stand is worth 187 runs. Wow.
Here’s @jimmy9 talking about his previous highest ever score - 49 not out for Burnley CC - http://t.co/4JP2JNPaGW#EngvInd
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) July 12, 2014
1.22pm - Root hits his first boundary for 82 balls. It was worth the wait as Stuart Binny is cover-driven away after over-pitching. Lunch will be taken at 1.30pm. I reckon these two will enjoy getting back to the pavilion.
A year ago, Ashton Agar & Phil Hughes scored 163 here for Australia's 10th wicket. Joe & Jimmy have that record now pic.twitter.com/Y8JZq56str
— Nottinghamshire CCC (@TrentBridge) July 12, 2014
1.15pm - Anderson clips Shami through midwicket for four. He's on 75 and apparently no number 11 has ever batted longer than him. Certainly, it must feel like that for the Indians.
1.09pm - We have another record. Root turns away a single and the world record last-wicket stand has been cast into the dustbin with all the others this morning. The old record was, of course, made on this same ground last year when Ashton Agar and Phil Hughes put on 163 for Australia. They might have expected that record to have lasted a little longer than it has.
12.56pm - England are ahead. Root plays away a single and, astonishingly, India's 457 has been surpassed. Worse still for the tourists, with England nine down I imagine that lunch will be delayed.
12.53pm - England are level! Anderson pops Vijay back over his head for four. Amazing.
12.49pm - Root reverse-sweeps Jadeja for a couple of runs to bring up the 150-run parternship. These two have been batting for 170 minutes.
This is Anderson's highest score in any form of cricket. Previous high 49 not out for Burnley in Lancashire League when he carried his bat.
— BBC TMS (@bbctms) July 12, 2014
12.34pm - We've hit a bit of a lull in the record breaking, in that we haven't had one for 20 minutes. That said, I'm not so sure there are any records left for these two to break. Perhaps the most significant milestone ahead is the 14 runs England need to erase India's lead.
12.26pm - It doesn't seem unrealistic to suggest we could be toasting an Anderson century at some stage today which, ironically, was a notion that was completely unrealistic at any point in history until today. He's just pinged Jadeja into the square-leg rope to go to 64. The deficit is 17.
12.14pm -New broken stat alert. This partnership is now the record last-wicket stand ever for England in Test cricket. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is having a morning to forget and he fails to glove a Ravindra Jadeja delivery to allow four byes. That takes Root and Anderson past the previous record of 130 held by Tip Foster and Wilfred Rhodes back in 1903 at Sydney. Their place in history is, sadly for them, lost after 111 years.
12.10pm - The record books need pulping. Here's another broken stat. Anderson has beaten the record score by an England number 11 as he goes by the 59 made by John Snow against West Indies at the Kia Oval in 1966.
Fifty for @jimmy9!! Brilliant batting from #Anderson!! His maiden Test fifty #EngvIndpic.twitter.com/JYKxDxgozt
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) July 12, 2014
11.59am - FIFTY! Anderson (61b 11x4 0x6) - Just to clarify that, yes, the Anderson who has scored 50 is James Anderson. His first ever in first-class cricket. Just the lazy 11 boundaries to get there too and, fittingly, he finds the rope to bring up the landmark. He steps away and dismissively swats Shami to the square-leg rope. The Trent Bridge crowd stand up as one - they have loved this.
11.56am - Root crunches Ishant Sharma backward of point for four and the stand is now worth 111 - the same amount that India's last pair Bhuvneshwar and Mohammed Shami put on.
11.48am - CHANCE! - Anderson given a life. India can hardly afford that. England's number 11 steers away a short ball to gully where a stiff looking Murali Vijay was slow to get down to a low catch. Anderson takes a single and he's on 47 - a maiden half-century in his 94th Test awaits.
11.44am - CENTURY PARTNERSHIP! - The records keep coming. The second century last-wicket stand of the game is completed. It's come from 139 balls - that's fair going - and while we've barely had an hour of play today, India look like they might prefer to be anywhere else.
11.36am - CENTURY! - Root (186b 12x4 0x6) - Back-to-back boundaries and Root has his ton. The shot to bring it up was a delightful carve through point. He's straight down the wicket to hug Anderson and thank him for ushering him to his milestone. Root was on 50 when this stand began.
.@joeroot05& @jimmy9’s partnership is now the highest 10th wicket partnership for Eng vs India in Tests #EngvIndpic.twitter.com/DzDdnweqoh
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) July 12, 2014
11.26am - Root ticks the partnership into record status with a couple off Bhuvneshwar before pulling away a ball that was far too short on this pitch. The Yorkshireman is 88 and the deficit is down to 83.
11.20am - We're four overs into the day and another 15 runs have been added. Root and Anderson are a run shy of England's record 10th-wicket stand against India.
11.13am - Anderson produces another stunning shot as he gets on the back foot and carves Bhuvneshwar through cover for the seventh boundary of his innings. He's 31 and three shy of his highest Test score.
11.04am - Joe Root took a single from the first ball of the day and appeared apologetic to James Anderson for exposing him. He need not have been as Anderson clipped Bhuvneshwar Kumar to the midwicket rope.
Pre-Play News
The players are walking out to the middle on day 4. Here's the view from the press box at @TrentBridge#EngvIndpic.twitter.com/wzI8eqluS1
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) July 12, 2014
10.40am - Root has just completed his net with the India batsmen warming up alongside him. On the other side of the ground England's bowlers - minus Anderson - have been doing some run throughs.
10.30am - Welcome to our live blog for the fourth day. The weather forecasters have insisted all week that the rain is coming - it isn't. There is not a cloud in the sky, it's warm and the conditions for cricket could not be better.
Well the bowlers might think differently - especially on this pitch - but for the first part of the day at least England will look to crack on with the bat as Joe Root and James Anderson resume their last-wicket stand, which has so far frustrated India to the tune of 54 runs.