In this Test series against India, England might have believed that Rishabh Pant had made his comeback.
Pant was open to new ideas.
After missing the opening day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford with a foot injury, Pant returned on Thursday with a limp and scored a half-century as India reached 358 all out, with England captain Ben Stokes scoring 75-72.
Although Pant’s involvement surprised the visitors and prolonged their first innings, England then won the match with a blistering opening partnership of 166 between Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett.
The hosts led by 133 runs at stumps on Day Two at Old Trafford thanks to the explosive bat of Crawley (84) and Duckett (94), which included 26 fours between the pair (13 each) and a six for Crawley.
At the crease are Joe Root and Ollie Pope, who are both not out, for the season.
The five-game series is 2-1 for England.
In the morning session, England took the wickets of Ravindra Jadeja (20) and Shardul Thakur (41). India resumed with a score of 264-4.
However, Pant’s return, following overnight reports that he had sustained a fracture, presented an unexpected challenge for England.
He made his way to the crease to cheers from the entire stadium as he slowly and uncomfortably began his innings, winning by 37 runs.
The ball deflected onto Chris Woakes’ right foot during an attempted reverse sweep off him, who was hurt a day earlier when his showmanship got the better of him. He had to leave on a cart after suffering pain on the field and his foot severely swollen.
Before being bowled by Jofra Archer, who sent the stumps flying, he added 17 more runs to reach 54.
With Crawley and Duckett on a mission, England made no mistake in chasing down India’s total.
At tea in reply, Duckett hit 43 off 41 balls with seven fours, while Crawley hit 33 off 44. The hosts were 77-0.
When play resumed, the pair continued to look on the same course until India’s breakthrough.
KL Rahul caught KL Rahul off Jadeja, and Dhruv Jurel’s replacement off Anshul Kamboj caught Duckett. As soon as it became apparent that he had only surpassed the milestone of a test century, Duckett’s head began to drop.
After a fifth test result, the England captain now has the best five wickets in the series.
On Day One, Stokes added Shubman Gill (12) and Sai Sudharsan (61), Washington Sundar (27) and Kamboj (61).
Source: Aljazeera
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