India v England: fourth Test, day one – live

77th over: England 251-7 (Root 82, Robinson 5) Rohit gives Ashwin a break after a long spell and brings back Jadeja. The ball slips out of his hand, producing another full toss, waist-high this time. Robinson hits it for four like a dad on the beach. And that’s drinks, with India back in business thanks to an inspired spell of reverse swing from Mohammed Siraj, who has taken 2-9 off five overs. But Joe Root is still there, and he can sniff a hundred.

76th over: England 246-7 (Root 82, Robinson 1) Here’s Ollie Robinson, playing a game of cricket for the first time since July. He can bat, but reverse swing is so hard to face when you first come in. Luckily for him, Siraj doesn’t produce another peach right away. Robinson gets a full toss, which he blocks, and then a length ball, clipped for a single.

A ripper from Siraj, angled in, moving away, clipping the off bail.

75th over: England 241-6 (Root 82, Hartley 9) After three dots, Hartley again has a dart at Ashwin, drilling a straight drive to mid-off and picking up a single on a misfield from Akash Deep, whose mind may be on whether he will get another new ball.

74th over: England 240-6 (Root 82, Hartley 8) The new ball is due in six overs, and it made things happen this morning. But Rohit may be wondering whether to take it as Siraj is getting plenty of movement with the old one, jagging it into Root and away from Hartley. He draws an inside edge from Root that might well have been an LBW for any other right-hander.

73rd over: England 240-6 (Root 82, Hartley 8) Hartley suddenly gives Ashwin the charge and lofts him over mid-on for six. Then he is pinned on the pad by the arm ball and given out on the field, but England review and there seems to be an inside edge. It might have been missing leg as well.

72nd over: England 233-6 (Root 81, Hartley 2) The wicket has encouraged Rohit to attack a bit more. For Siraj bowling to Hartley, he has two slips, a short mid-off, and no fine leg. Hartley survives for now, doing well to smother a yorker.

71st over: England 230-6 (Root 79, Hartley 1) Root sees that reverse swing and brings out the reverse sweep. It’s off Ashwin, played calmly enough, and it brings two. He adds a quick single, trusting Hartley to cope with the last three balls.

70th over: England 227-6 (Root 76, Hartley 1) Siraj has suddenly gone from a non-speaking role to centre stage. He finds even more reverse swing now, in fact too much: Hartley, wafting outside off, is not nearly good enough to get a nick.

69th over: England 227-6 (Root 76, Hartley 1) England are down to the tail now, well though Tom Hartley has played in his first few Tests. He and Root won’t have batted together before and it shows as they almost concoct a run-out.

68th over: England 225-6 (Root 75, Hartley 0) That’s the end of a fine innings from Foakes, who made 31 off his first 117 balls and 16 off his last nine. Some of the credit goes to Rohit for bringing back Mohammed Siraj and replacing spin with reverse swing.

And now he perishes! Not playing a big shot but clipping a touch loosely to midwicket, where Jadeja takes a sharp low catch. That is a big moment.

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67th over: England 224-5 (Root 74, Foakes 47) We have a plot twist. Ben Foakes has gone bananas! Out of nowhere he attacks Ashwin, playing a slog-sweep for six, a regular sweep for four, another slog-sweep for four and a dab for two. The six brought up the hundred partnership, only England’s second one of the series – and the first, with Crawley, also involved Foakes. He’s so good at playing second fiddle, and in this over he’s shown that he can also take over on lead guitar.

66th over: England 208-5 (Root 74, Foakes 31) Jadeja keeps Root quiet and rattles through a maiden.

“Top of the morning Tim!” says Kim Thonnger. “It’s a beautiful sunny day here in waterlogged Northamptionshire, and I awake to the dulcet tones of Dr John Cooper Clarke on the Radio 4 Today programme. Isn’t it a shame he did not become a cricket commentator? He has the finest voice since John Arlott and his descriptive powers would be second to none, with the added bonus he’s funny.” I’m sure we can find room for him on the OBO.

65th over: England 208-5 (Root 74, Foakes 31) Two more singles off Ashwin.

64th over: England 206-5 (Root 73, Foakes 30) A single to each batter off Jadeja, who persuades the last ball to keep low. Root, fully himself now after three tough Tests, is able to keep it out.

63rd over: England 204-5 (Root 72, Foakes 29) One of the commentators, Sanjay Manjrekar I think, is saying that Root is moving his feet not according to the length but the line – going back if the ball starts outside off, forward if it’s at the stumps. In this over it works a treat as Ashwin, for once, gets milked – three singles and a two.

62nd over: England 199-5 (Root 68, Foakes 28) Jadeja continues, not firing the ball in at middle-and-leg as he often does, but giving it some flight and aiming more at off. Root picks up a single with a glide behind square.

The Indians take the field and go into a huddle. The TV director finds Joe Root and puts up a caption showing that he has faced 154 balls, 113 of them dots.

“I think this is really clever play from England,” says Stephen Nichols. “As Ecclesiastes says, and the Byrds sang, everything has its season. A time to sweep, and a time not to sweep; a time to bowl in the corridor, and a time to bang it in short. This morning on a tricky pitch was time for Crawley and Bairstow to attack, which meant we were 112-5 not 50-7 at lunch. This afternoon is a time for quiet accumulation. And I’m hoping when we bowl, it’s time for Turn, Turn, Turn.”

61st over: England 198-5 (Root 67, Foakes 28) Just a single off Ashwin’s over, and England have a new landmark in this rollercoaster of a series: two batters have made it through a whole session. It was 112-5 at lunch, so Root and Foakes have added 86 off 36 overs, 51 of them to Root, who has been masterly. The over rate has been 18, the run rate 2.33. Old school!

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60th over: England 197-5 (Root 66, Foakes 28) Jadeja pins Foakes on the pad. The Indians go up, the finger doesn’t, and Jadeja and Jurel persuade Rohit to review. It’s close but just missing leg stump, unlike the balls (and reviews) that accounted for Pope and Bairstow. India lose their last review, while England still have three left.

59th over: England 197-5 (Root 66, Foakes 28) Ashwin suddenly makes the ball talk, or perhaps it’s the pitch. One delivery keeps low and comes within a whisker of Foakes’s off stump. Another jumps up at Root like a yapping dog and bites him on the hand. It’s possible that this score is already a decent one.

58th over: England 196-5 (Root 66, Foakes 28) Rohit, never the most attacking captain, has only a slip and a backward short leg for Jadeja. Foakes props forward and gives what would have been a simple bat-pad catch to forward short leg. By the end of the over, Root has added a late cut for four. He has quietly moved from third gear to fourth.

57th over: England 191-5 (Root 62, Foakes 27) Root, facing Ashwin, plays the most Rootish shot in the book. No, not the reverse ramp – the back-foot force, played with no force at all, just dancing feet and flowing hands.

56th over: England 186-5 (Root 58, Foakes 26) After seven overs for 13, Kuldeep gives way to Jadeja. He makes things more interesting to look at with his bandana and shades, but doesn’t make anything happen with the ball. Root plays out a maiden.

55th over: England 186-5 (Root 58, Foakes 26) Ashwin, who has been coming round the wicket, goes back over. It doesn’t bother the batters, who take a single apiece.

54th over: England 184-5 (Root 57, Foakes 25) Root attacks Kuldeep for the first time, playing an off drive. Ashwin puts in a chase and gets a hand to the ball, but allows his foot to meet the rope at the same time, so that’s four.

53rd over: England 180-5 (Root 53, Foakes 25) Ashwin’s over is an instant replay of Kuldeep’s, yielding just a single to Root.

52nd over: England 179-5 (Root 52, Foakes 25) Root, tied down by Kuldeep, gets out again with that wristy flick to midwicket. He and Foakes have now added 67 – I missed the fifty partnership, which came up with that late cut by Root off Akash just after drinks.

51st over: England 178-5 (Root 51, Foakes 25) Root lives a little dangerously again as he plays a sweep at Ashwin, gets a glove on it, and sees the ball hit Jurel on the boot. “Another dropped chance!” says Graeme Swann, possibly mistaking commentary for sledging.

50th over: England 176-5 (Root 50, Foakes 24) When you’ve reached a milestone 91 times, it doesn’’t make you do anything different. Root plays out another maiden from Kuldeep, who has been tidy (5-2-8-0).

49th over: England 176-5 (Root 50, Foakes 24) As Rohit brings back Ashwin, Root has to keep out a grubber. But he can see a gap at midwicket and a canny flick of the wrists soon sends the ball there. He goes to 50 for the 91st time in Tests, off 108 balls with just four fours. “He looks in control,” Cook says. “Real determination.”

48th over: England 174-5 (Root 49, Foakes 23) Root is dropped! Dhruv Jurel, the new keeper, did so well in the last Test, but he can’t hold onto a tough chance now as Root goes back and glances Kuldeep. The signal is leg-byes, so Root misses out on his fifty for now. He remonstrates with the umpire, gently, with a big Rootish smile.

47th over: England 170-5 (Root 48, Foakes 22) As the designated driver, Foakes is allowed to drive. Facing Akash, he follows that handsome straight drive from before drinks with a handsome cover drive, his first four off a seamer. He even thinks about a pull, but checks the shot halfway through and doesn’t get a run for it.

46th over: England 165-5 (Root 47, Foakes 18) Kuldeep to Foakes: no alarms, and no runs either. With 18 off 73 balls, Foakes is back in his role as the designated driver of the charabanc.

45th over: England 165-5 (Root 47, Foakes 18) It’s still Akash Deep, the man of the moment, bustling in. Root defends with a straight bat while reserving the right to play a late cut for four.

Morning everyone and thanks Rob. Root and Foakes “playing very well",” says Alastair Cook. And Root ris even closing in on his first fifty of the series.

Drinks

With that, I’ll hand over to Tim de Lisle for the rest of the day. Bye!

44th over: England 157-5 (Root 43, Foakes 18) It’s starting to look like England may have been wrong to play so aggressively in the morning session, though I’m not sure anyone could have foreseen the extent to which it would flatten out after lunch.

Foakes dances down to drive Kuldeep stylishly for four, placing it wide of the stumps at the non-striker’s end on this occasion. After a confusingly good first hour for lunch (49 runs, no wickets, 19.5 overs), it’s time for drinks.

43rd over: England 156-5 (Root 42, Foakes 14) Deep has changed ends to replace Jadeja. A nipbacker hits Foakes on the top of the thigh and flies away for four leg-byes. Jaiswal might have done better in the gully.

Foakes demonstrates England’s growing confidence with a nice straight drive that takes out a stump at the non-striker’s end. He was too good for his own good.

42nd over: England 151-5 (Root 41, Foakes 14) Kuldeep Yadav, whose figures in Rajkot don’t tell the story of a match-turning performance on the third morning, replaces Akash Deep. Root gathers another run with a gentle work to leg; that’s your lot. He has 41 from 90 balls, Foakes 14 from 58.

41st over: England 150-5 (Root 40, Foakes 14) A maiden from Jadeja to Foakes. Before lunch the run-rate was 4.63 per over; in the afternoon session it’s 2.26. Root and Foakes have played well, with patience and common sense, but it does feel like there is more to it than that. Either that or I’m in denial about the virtues of old-fashioned Test cricket.

40th over: England 150-5 (Root 40, Foakes 14) It’s hard to explain the contrasting behaviour of the pitch before and after lunch. Root and Foakes have added 38 in 15.5 overs with few alarms, and I don’t really know what else to say.

39th over: England 147-5 (Root 40, Foakes 11) Foakes feels defensively at Jadeja and is beaten. This pair are playing as straight as possible and with soft hands, so it’ll be interesting to see if any edges carry to slip.

38th over: England 146-5 (Root 40, Foakes 10) Root flicks Deep for two, helped by a slight misfield at midwicket, and then slashes a drive behind point for four. That’s England’s first boundary in exactly 100 balls, which sends a very confused message to the new breed of cricket fans.

Deep ends the over by slipping one past Root’s defensive push.

37th over: England 138-5 (Root 33, Foakes 9) What’s going on with this pitch then? It’s been almost benign since lunch. Root can create that illusion when he’s playing well, but Foakes also looks secure in defence. Jadeja finds Foakes’ inside-edge once in that over; everything else hits the middle.

England have scored 28 runs in the last 15 overs.

36th over: England 137-5 (Root 32, Foakes 9) The debutant Akash Deep, who took three wickets in a startling new-ball spell, replaces Ravichandran Ashwin. Foakes survives a hopeful LBW appeal after pushing at a big inducker; it was too high but that was an excellent comeback over from Deep. Any chance of seeing any nerves? Couple of half-trackers?

35th over: England 135-5 (Root 32, Foakes 7) England haven’t hit a boundary in almost 14 overs, which might be a record for the Bazball era. Jadeja hurries through another maiden to Root, who now has 32 from 77 balls. The pitch has been confusingly well-behaved since lunch.

34th over: England 135-5 (Root 32, Foakes 7) Root flicks Ashwin to cow corner for two, which takes him into the thirties for the first time in the series. It’s been an eye-catchingly chaste innings, with nothing resembling a risky or unorthodox stroke.

33rd over: England 132-5 (Root 29, Foakes 7) Make that 20 runs in 8.5 overs – which have been bowled in just over 20 minutes.

32nd over: England 131-5 (Root 28, Foakes 7) The pitch has done less for the bowlers since lunch. There are two possible reasons: the morning moisture has gone, and the ball is getting old. Either way, England have added 19 in 7.5 overs of relative comfort.

31st over: England 129-5 (Root 27, Foakes 6) A maiden from Jadeja to Root, who is finding the middle of the bat, mainly in defence, with greater frequency.

30th over: England 129-5 (Root 27, Foakes 6) Root works a pair of twos off Ashwin, then steals a single on the off side. He’s starting to look relatively – and I can’t italicise that word enough – comfortable, which is a double-edged sword for England. If he can manage risk on this pitch, India’s batters should be able to do the same.

29th over: England 124-5 (Root 22, Foakes 6) A menacing over from Jadeja, everything darted in towards Foakes’ front pad. He defends pretty well, though it does feel like another LBW might be in the post.

28th over: England 123-5 (Root 21, Foakes 6) Root has dealt in soft-handed accumulation throughout this innings. I was going to say ‘low-risk accumulation’ but nothing feels low-risk at the moment. He’s playing well, though, and Foakes has made a busy start at the other end. No boundaries since lunch, just ones and twos.