All -rounder Washington Sundar took 4 wickets and brought India to the best position on the fourth day of the third Test match here on Sunday, but chasing the target of 193 runs, England took four wickets up to 58 runs till the stumps of the visiting team. India could not start well and in the second over, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed without opening the account. Karun Nair (14) and captain Shubman Gill (06) fell victim to Bridan cars. Both England and India scored 387 runs in the first innings.
The night was stumped as soon as the Akash Deep was dismissed by Ben Stokes. The fifth day of the match will be exciting as India need 135 runs and England need six wickets to win. KL Rahul (33 runs off 47 balls) is present at the crease.
Archer dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal in his first over. The Indian opener tried to bridge the Archer’s wide ball but it went into the hands of wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, touching the upper edge of his bat. India lost the first wicket for five runs in the second over.
Nair could not take advantage of his beginning once again and by wrongly guessing the length, Bridan was out of the cars. Cars then took Gill’s prized wicket, which was out of the ball coming in fast.
Chris Woakes gave a life to Rahul leaving a catch on his own ball. So far, Rahul’s cover drive in the series has been excellent. He launched a brilliant cover drive against both Vox and Archer in the last hour of the game.
England’s team was reduced to 192 in the second innings due to the four shaking of spin all -rounder Sundar. His score was 175 runs for six wickets till tea, but in the early session, he lost his remaining four wickets within just 17 runs. Soon after the break, Sundar dismissed captain Ben Stokes (33) and then dismissed the last batsman Shoaib Bashir (2). India’s main fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets for 38 runs.
The first innings century, Joe Root (40 runs) and Stokes disappointed India by sharing a 67 -run partnership on the deteriorating pitch. But Sundar gave India two successes in the second session by dismissing the root and dangerous Jamie Smith (eight runs).
In the morning session, Mohammad Siraj took two wickets while Nitish Kumar Reddy and Akashdeep took one wicket each. Ravindra Jadeja and Sundar were helped by the pitch that finally made a comeback by Indian spinners. Any score above 250 will be a competitive target on this pitch. Root decided to sweep Sundar after escaping from Pagbadha close DRS off Mohammad Siraj but the ball went to his stumps.
Smith was also dismissed soon and he fell off his off stump by playing the low ball on the wrong line. A total of 77 runs were scored at the loss of two wickets in this season. Siraj scored England’s score to 98 for four wickets till brilliant bowling lunch on a broken pitch in the first two hours of the game.
The thrill on the field continued at the beginning of the fourth day after a dramatic development in the last over of the third day. England started playing ahead by two runs without losing wickets in the morning. Siraj Ben Docket (12), who specializes in a sharp debate with opposition batsmen, got excited after dismissing from the pavilion end. He made a slight change in his line and length to target the stumps and he got another wicket as Oli Pope.
The bowlers were getting more help from the nursery end, which made Siraj bowled well. In his initial spell of seven overs, he took two wickets for just 11 runs. Jasprit Bumrah started bowling with Siraj and once again harassed Jack Croly. Crowley survived his dismissal in one over on Saturday. The ball at the nursery end was bouncing with a strange length which further increased the thrill in the packed lords.
Indian captain Gill replaced Bumrah on bowling Nitish Reddy and the all -rounder, who took two wickets in the first innings, dismissed Croly for the second time in the match. Reddy bowled the ball outside the off stump and Croly tried to drive but Yashasvi Jaiswal managed to catch his catch in the street. Harry Brook (23 runs) took an aggressive stance and hit two ramps off the ball of Akash Deep and then hit a six on the mid-off.
Akashdeep kept bowling at the stump and he benefited from this when Brook missed the sweep and his middle stump was shattered. This made England score 87 runs for four wickets. Language edited by: Sudhir Sharma
