Disappointment, peaches, debuts

My first reaction, on hearing Arun Lal come on in the comms box, was one of wild, desperate hope: could it be that Srinath had been fired? Alas, no. Still, even he couldn't take away the lingering pleasure of having seen an absolute peach of a delivery from Pathan to knock back Cook. I normally dread Darell Hair, but on that occasion, I felt strangely calm: there was no way Cook was going to be not out. It was the LBW equivalent of having had your middle-stump sent cartwheeling.

Sadly, the Mohali pitch looks like its quite flat, with not much in it for the bowlers by way of pace or bounce, and England have, after all, won the toss. Its going to need many more deliveries like that one from Pathan for India to force a decision.

I'm hoping Chawla, the new leggie, comes on before lunch. New legspinners, like new pacemen, are an event, and worth staying up late for, but these bones are not going to make it past 1:30 AM. Speaking of new pacemen, Patel looks like a big unit; surely, he should be able to bend his back, and hit the 140s? (and here comes Chawla, last over before lunch - maiden! Good stuff, on line and length). I'm off to bed.