Top-class opening batsmen know that as important as knowing how to play the ball is knowing when to leave it. Mark Richardson let 89 balls go through to the wicketkeeper today; that's 40% of the 220 balls he faced. He was a picture of patience and concentration, and much as Rahul Dravid had yesterday, he guided his team to respectability. As many as 35 of his runs came in the V behind the wicket; he made 56 in all behind square, which amounted to 67% of his runs. This reflects both the length of the Indian bowlers and how late Richardson was playing his shots. He did hit two beautiful off-drives for four, but those were his only two scoring strokes in the classical V.

The key to Richardson's innings was his immaculate shot selection. Like a Test batsman should, he left the good balls alone and hammered the bad ones. The 140 good-length deliveries he got went for just 23 runs, while the 9 half-volleys he got went for 16. He got 39 off the 56 short balls he faced. He was in control of his strokes for 86% of his innings – a percentage any top-order batsman in the world would be proud of.

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