As the shadows stretched out at the Oval on a lovely soft, drowsy Friday afternoon, something strange happened. Sam Curran took the ball from the Vauxhall end, paced out his comically furious run-up, and began to whistle up an unfamiliar kind of energy.
Curran, with his 81mph full-pitch swingers, is an unlikely enforcer. But his outstanding quality is his intensity of purpose. Steve Smith fenced and was dropped by Joe Root. Tim Paine drove at an away-nibbler. Pat Cummins went lbw to another full, drifty hand grenade. Each time Curran came leaping down the pitch punching the air.
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