Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the fourth day’s play of England’s fourth Test against India at Old Trafford which begins with Ben Stokes’ side 186 runs ahead with three first-innings in hand and, with the captain himself at the crease, on the verge of clinching a victory that would secure the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Stokes starts on 77 and although he hasn’t been as fluent as he has been at his best, often appearing as though he was batting with a chair leg, his bat all edges and toe, he must have his eye on a first Test century for two years to go with his first five-wicket return for eight years, cramp notwithstanding.

Given that the pitch is now betraying signs of uneven bounce, taking turn and England’s batsmen have given their bowlers a long rest for the first time in ages, England may well be confident of wrapping up victory today. Rishabh Pant will probably try his boy stood on the burning deck act again but scoreboard pressure, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse and Chris Woakes will each fancy their chances of a wicket-taking spree on that pitch.

India, by contrast, are in a hole of their own making because of their pusillanimous selection policy that has become a dirty habit on tour, packing their batting to the detriment of their bowling It wasn’t just the sidelining of Kuldeep for the entire tour but the way Shubman Gill underused his best bowler, Washington Sundar, yesterday, persevering with the dibbly Shardul Thakur and the dobbly Anshul Kamboj who between them share figures of 29-1-144-1. Left-arm leg-spinners are such rare, rare finds and to ignore one who has taken 56 Test wickets at 22 borders on the negligent. Perhaps Gill and his batsmen can dig the selectors out by batting for the best part of two days to keep the series alive but the odds, pitch and momentum are all against them.