England had a fighting chance of winning the first Test at Headingley with a score of 21-0 in their second innings at the close of play on day four, chasing 371 to win.
With three wickets in four balls, Josh Tongue made it 31 runs for the visitors on Monday, matching his first innings form.
The dangerous Jasprit Bumrah had the opportunity to attack England before the game was over because India was 36 for 36 as a result of the collapse. However, neither the opener’s opponent, Zak Crawley, nor Ben Duckett, appeared uneasy as they fought back until stumps.
More than the Ben Stokes-inspired heroics on the same field against Australia in 2019, reaching 371 would be England’s second-highest successful Test run chase, and the second-highest at Headingley.
Tongue told Sky Sports, “Ducky]Ben Duckett] and Zak [Crawley] batted really well to get them all out and not lose a wicket in the final half hour.”
“I thought we were unlucky the first session because we really batted really well.” The point was to “hit the pitch as hard as we can.” In the second session, it flattened out. Simply put, we needed to be patient.
India’s captain Shubman Gill, who had already scored his highest Test score in the first innings, chopped onto his stumps to fall for eight to Brydon Carse, who finished day four 90-2 ahead of the hosts.
After returning to the Test on Sunday, England saw an opportunity. However, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant’s 195-run middle-order partnership gave India a boost.
Pant Rally, Rahul
The normally box office Pant relaxed and watched as Rahul completed his ninth Test series, which included eight international appearances, with a relatively conservative opening inning.
After crashing two sixes in three balls after lunch, Pant hit the accelerator and unleashed his trademark flamboyant shots from every angle of the field, with the result of his 100th score, the first time ever in a Test match for India.
Pant eventually attempted one shot too many before being caught by Crawley for 118 chasing another six before Rahul, who had just finished tea for 137, cut back once more onto the stumps from Carse’s bowling.
The fast bowler then took three wickets and the catch that saw India’s innings come to an end after losing their final six first-innings wickets for 24 runs.
As Crawley continued to record unbeaten on 12 and Duckett will start a enthralling Tuesday on 9 while Bumrah, the world’s top-ranked Test bowler, took five wickets in the opening innings.
On the final day, England faces a tough competition, but there is at least hope. India only lost once in 59 Tests against opponents who had over 350 winning combined. However, that was in 2022 against England.
Rahul told Sky Sports, “Someone has got to win tomorrow, it will be an interesting day.”
The first innings were not as straightforward as the wicket. They won’t be as quick to hit the ball up. We’ll be in the game just fine if they get a significant partnership and a few wickets.
Source: Aljazeera
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