As the ball described a gentle parabola to Jason Holder at short midwicket, Joe Denly would have been forgiven for wondering if the stroke was his last as an England cricketer. If so, an innings of 29 would be a fitting farewell: neither here nor there, not insubstantial, but not exactly unanswerable.
For a while now, Denly's conversion-rate – of twenties into fifties (low), and of fifties into hundreds (non-existent) – has been tolerated while England forge a new top order in the post-Alastair Cook era. But it is danger of becoming his epitaph.
Joe Root will return from paternity leave for Thursday's second Test in Manchester, and the question that has needed no resolution in Southampton will demand an immediate answer.