India vs England, 5th Test: Dropped on zero, Moeen Ali finishes a hero

England’s best day of a chastening series since the heady high of a first Test draw in Rajkot became the tale of two Yorkshiremen and their foiled pursuit of a record held by one of the most famous cricketing sons of the county.

While Moeen Ali led the way by showing he really can bat at No 4 with an unbeaten century, Jonny Bairstow followed Joe Root in just failing to overtake Michael Vaughan and become the leading English runscorer in a calendar year.

If England can get beyond 500, as they really should in this fifth Test, then they will have one last golden opportunity to make the most of winning yet another toss by dictating terms to India.

A first day that saw Moeen, with his fourth hundred of the year, inspire England to the riches of 284 for four came too late to make any difference to the outcome, but it at least provided hope they can end a rotten series on a high.

This may be a dead rubber but England went into their final assignment of a demanding year of 17 Tests with much to play for, not least proving to their captain Alastair Cook that he is still leading them in the right direction.

When Cook, who became the first Englishman to reach 11,000 Test runs off the very first ball, followed Keaton Jennings in being dismissed far too easily, England were 21 for two and in danger of another implosion.

The fact they did not implode says much for the character of a team who would not be human if they did not have one eye on the flight home after a run of seven Tests in 62 days on the sub- continent that, so far, has brought them just one victory.

It could have been very different had Moeen — who has looked too loose to be batting so high in these conditions — been caught without scoring when he aimed another careless waft in the direction of Lokesh Rahul at mid-wicket.

Luckily for England it went down and Moeen joined Root in a stand of 146 that showcased the positive approach coach Trevor Bayliss wants from his batsmen.

Root, just as in the second innings in Mumbai, was sublime and looked certain to pip Bairstow in the race to Vaughan’s record by reaching the score of 99 that would take him to 1,482 runs this year.

But, just as in the fourth Test, he again got out before he had gone on to the sort of Test-defining contributions that Virat Kohli provides for India.

Yes, Root may have been unlucky to get the thinnest of under-edges to be given out on 88 on review by TV official Bruce Oxenford after Marais Erasmus had turned down another of Ravindra Jadeja’s highly animated appeals.