Indian spinners fight back with bat to earn brave draw

England fail to capitalise on huge lead as series stays alive

- RICHARD JOLLY AT OLD TRAFFORD

And so a Test that long threatened to be decided by the unstinting efforts of an all-rounder was. Though not one but two and not Ben Stokes, who discovered that not even he can bend every game to his will, but Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.

Centuries for the two India spinners in a partnership of 203 capped a terrific fightback and ensured the series remains alive when these teams reconvene at The Oval on Thursday. India cannot win it but, as their doggedness at Old Trafford showed, they have a willingness to scrap to avoid defeat.

In the process, they secured that rarity: a draw. It was just the second of Stokes’ captaincy, both at Old Trafford, but the first to be unaffected by weather; the forecasts were inaccurate and England were denied not by the elements but the opposition. That England ended with Harry Brook’s hopeless attempts at off-spin underlined how, for once, they have given up on victory.

Shubman Gill led the defiance and it was fitting he marked it with his fourth hundred of the series. As important as the 103 runs the captain made was the 379 minutes he lasted. He came to the crease with Chris Woakes on a hat-trick and India 0-2, 311 runs behind and with five sessions to bat. Then a finish on Sunday felt possible. Instead, after two wickets in two balls, England only took two more in the next 142 overs.