ENGLAND’S top order are once again thanking the batting efforts of a 20-year-old, who is primarily a bowler and was uncapped three months ago.

Sam Curran was even dropped for the third Test against India at Trent Bridge and was only handed a re-call in Southampton due to an injury to fellow all-rounder, Chris Woakes.

After an innings-saving 78 on Thursday night, Curran has now made 205 runs at 51.25 for the series while batting at eight.

England’s top four are averaging 17.70.

Curran came to the crease at 6-86 after Indian quicks Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami tore through England’s top order in another dismal collapse for the hosts.

The Surrey left-hander dug deep to stage an 81-run stand with Moeen Ali, before adding a further 63 with Stuart Broad.

Curran was the final wicket of the day, bowled by spinner Ravichandran Ashwin after spending more than three hours in the middle, and facing 136 balls.

He is now the third-top scorer of the series — not bad for a fringe player batting at No.8 — and second among England players.

Curran sits just seven runs behind middle-order batsman Jonny Bairstow in the series run tally. The other is the best Test batsman in the world, Virat Kohli.

England’s top-order woes have been growing since the start of the 2017-18 Ashes series in Australia. The nation has since fielded nine different players in the top four, averaging just 28.38.

In the last 88 individual innings, England’s top four has only scored one century: Alastair Cook’s 244 not out in Melbourne last year.

But Cook is far from being an exception. He has averaged just 18.23 since the Ashes, with a top score of 70.

Captain Joe Root has made 405 runs at 31.15 in the same period, and is without a century since August 2017.

Meanwhile, opener Keaton Jennings has made just 94 runs at 15.66 this series against India. His woes were magnified on Thursday night when he was trapped in front without offering a shot to a stunning in-swinger by Bumrah.

Bairstow had been enjoying a relatively fruitful series, making 206 runs at 41.20 while batting predominantly at five. But his outing in the fourth Test at No.4 - just the second time he has batted there in his Test career - ended when he was caught behind off Bumrah for six. His series average has now dropped to 35.33.

The top four’s average is on the slide as England increasingly struggle with batting collapses.

England went almost 80 years without losing all 10 wickets in a single session, but has done so twice in 2018. The second time cost England the third Test at Trent Bridge and let India back into the five-match series it now narrowly leads 2-1.

It was lucky Curran and Ali put the brakes on further embarrassment on Thursday night.

India will resume play on Friday night at 0-19, 227 runs behind the hosts.