adminBIRMINGHAM. – England’s new entertaining style took a bizarre turn when Stuart Broad was hit for the most expensive over in Test history by India number 10 Jasprit Bumrah.
A total of 35 runs came from Broad’s set on Saturday, beating the previous record of 28, which had occurred three times.
In chaotic, comedic and downright daft scenes on the second morning of the fifth Test at Edgbaston, Bumrah swiped two sixes and four fours.
Broad’s plight was made worse by one of the sixes coming off a no-ball and another delivery going for five wides.
It meant Bumrah, a tailender with a Test average of six, set a batting record against a bowler who had just claimed his 550th career wicket.
Bumrah, standing in as India captain, also set a new record for the number of runs off the bat in a single Test over – 29.
The previous record of 28 was jointly held by Australia’s George Bailey and West Indies legend Brian Lara, meaning Bumrah has taken a batting record from one of the all-time greats of the game. Lara dished out his punishment to South Africa spinner Robin Peterson in 2003, while Bailey’s assault was on Broad’s long-time new-ball partner James Anderson in an Ashes Test in Perth in 2013.
Coincidentally, England’s Joe Root, who was on the field at Edgbaston, had also previously bowled an over that went for 28, but only 24 of those runs were off the bat.
It is also the second time in Broad’s career he has set an unwanted record with the ball. In 2007 he became the first bowler to be hit for six sixes in a Twenty20 international when he was flayed by India’s Yuvraj Singh.
The mayhem caused by Bumrah compounded a poor morning for England, as India moved their overnight 338-7 to 416 all out.
Though England were able to remove Ravindra Jadeja for 104 and Mohammed Shami for 16, their nonsensical short-ball tactics allowed Bumrah to punish Broad in one of the strangest overs ever seen in Test cricket.
How the mayhem unfolded
l Ball one – four runs – A top edge at a short ball teases Zak Crawley at fine leg, but bounces to the boundary.
l Ball two – five wides – Too short, over the head of everyone, including wicketkeeper Sam Billings.
l Ball three – no-ball, six runs – A top edge flies over the slips, thudding into the advertising boards. The no-ball means it is seven in total and Broad has conceded 16 from one legal delivery.
l Ball four – four runs – The wheels are off now. Broad serves up a full toss that Bumrah swats through mid-on for four.
l Ball five – four runs – It’s all Bumrah. Even an inside edge goes for four. Start reaching for the record books.
l Ball six – four runs – Bumrah has swung himself off his feet for a boundary on the leg side. He equalled the Test record of 28 from an over and there are still two balls to go.
l Ball seven – six runs – Incredible. Bumrah breaks the record with his second six, as yet another short ball is swung into the stands at fine leg.
l Ball eight – one run – The final insult. Broad finally bowls a yorker, Bumrah digs it out and wants a single. Broad is in a race with non-striker Mohammed Siraj. Both men dive, Broad destroys the stumps, but Siraj is home. The over has cost 35 runs. – BBC Sport.
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