Rise and fall in fighting spirit is big worry for India

Tourist's flaws with the game still in the balance were exposed under pressure and led to their downfall

- Simon Burnton

The day started with drama and tension and later, for a while, they returned. But the period in between was in its own way equally intriguing, a phase that exposed in the tourists a deficiency not of quality, but of spirit. This turns out to be a team whose shoulders suffer from such severe premature drooping someone should invent some kind of blue pill to deal with it.

They started with spirits high and performance levels to match, Jasprit Bumrah from the Kirkstall Lane End and Mohammed Siraj coming up the hill from the other, lines and lengths unerring. Ben Duckett hit the third ball for four, after which seven overs passed before the next boundary.

Bumrah, as he does, produced a couple of absurd deliveries Duckett survived by little more than luck. His four-over spell brought eight runs, Siraj started with five overs that brought 13. In the first 10 overs Duckett faced 35 deliveries and scored six runs. The game was in the balance and teetering, mulling over which direction to fall.