A fifth-day ticket at Headingley is £20 and there are not many better value-for-money deals going around at the moment than that as England sniff another run chase for the ages.
England are 21 for nought and need another 350 to win as a terrific Test match promises to go down to the wire having already produced plenty of blockbuster action after Rishabh Pant’s second century of the game.
If they get over the line it will be the second highest successful run chase by an England side and bettered at Headingley only once before. That was by a team known as the Invincibles and led by Sir Donald Bradman; the kind of history that would unnerve most.
But this England side recognises no limit to its ambitions and will have only one aim in mind when Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley restart after playing a controlled 20 minutes before the close of day four because this was the plan when Ben Stokes decided to bowl first on day one.
Jasprit Bumrah is the Bond villain with a ball in his hand who can wreck any side’s hopes in the space of a couple of overs, so no matter how well England start, India will always be in the game. Can England then tear up the Bazball philosophy and play for the draw if necessary? Don’t bet on it.
