Ahmedabad: Riding on wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant’s 101 and Washington Sundar’s 60, India took 89 runs lead against England in reply of their 205 runs in the fourth and final Test, here at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday.
At stumps, India were 294 for 7 in 94 overs with Sundar and Axar Patel were (11) at the crease.
When Sundar joined Pant, India were 146/6. Both added 113 runs and took India to 259 runs. Pant hit 13 fours and two sixes during his swashbuckling knock of 101 runs off 118 balls.
For England, James Anderson took three wickets for 40 runs in 11 overs while Ben Stokes and Jack Leach got two wickets each.
Earlier in the day, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara started off cautiously, keeping Anderson and Stokes at bay in the first hour of the play.
Left-arm spinner Leach gave England the first breakthrough of the day when he trapped Pujara Leg Before wicket (LBW) for 17 off 66 balls. He took the review to change the umpire’s decision, but went in vain as the ball had hit his pad first.
Soon, Ben Stokes sent skipper Virat Kohli for eight balls duck. The captain edged a short and rising ball to wicketkeeper Ben Foakes. With this duck, he equaled MS Dhoni’s record of most number of ducks as an India skipper. It was Kohli’s second duck in the series. In Chennai too, he fell to spinner Moheen Ali for duck.
After adding 39 runs for the fourth wicket partnership with Rohit, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (27) was caught by Stokes off Anderson at the stroke of the lunch.
In the second session of the day, Stokes trapped Rohit LBW for 49. Soon, spinner Leach removed Ravichandran Ashwin for 13 runs, reducing India to 146/6. Ashwin and Rishabh Pant could add 25 runs for the sixth wicket partnership.
Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar stitched together a partnership of 113 runs for the seventh wicket, helping India get past 250-run mark.
When Anderson was brought back into the attack with the second new ball, Pant welcomed him with two consecutive boundaries. In the next over, Washington Sundar hit three fours off Stokes, destroying visitors’ hope.
Pant swept the ball for six over the mid-wicket reason off Joe Root, bringing up his third Test hundred and first on the Indian soil. He took 82 balls to score his first 50 runs but next 50 runs came in just 34 balls.
Anderson broke this partnership. Pant tried to play into the mid-wicket area, but he was caught at short mid-wicket by Root for 101 off 118 balls.
After the dismissal of Pant, left-hand batsman Axar Patel joined Sundar and took Indian tally to 294 at stumps.
On the first day of the match, England were bowled out for 205. Stokes was the highest run-scorer for England with 55 runs.
Left-arm spinner Axar Patel and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (3/47) shared seven wickets between them, while pacer Mohammed Siraj took two scalps for considering 45 runs in 14 overs. (UNI)
