Nottingham: England captain Joe Root slammed a brilliant 109 to steer the hosts to 303 all out in the second innings asking India to chase 209 on Day 4 of the first Test at Trent Bridge on Saturday.
Jasprit Bumrah picked up a five-wicket haul crashing through the English batting line-up before the Men in Blue finished at 51/1 in their second essay. Rohit Sharma and Cheteswar Pujara are at the crease needing 157 runs to win.
After bundling the visitors out for 278 in their first innings, England resumed the day at 25/0. However, Bumrah’s (5/64) bowling masterclass completely bamboozled the top-order as the seamer picked up three quick wickets upfront to put pressure on the hosts.
England though kept the fight going through their talismanic Root who brought all his tricks out of hat anchoring innings throughout the day bringing up his 21st Test century. The middle and lower order again added valuable runs especially Sam Curran who hit breezy 45-ball 32 while Daniel Lawrence (25) and Jonny Bairstow (30) also contributed enough.
England’s chances of taking up a big lead were demolished by a superb collective bowling performance by India denying the hosts to settle down at the crease. In reply, KL Rahul gave a positive start to visitors with a 38-ball 26 but unfortunately fell to Stuart Broad just before the stumps.
The Men in Blue are in contention for a win and will be interesting to see how the batters tackle the morning session on the final day with English seamers testing them to the limit.
Brief scores: England 183 & 303 (Joe Root 109, Sam Curran 32; Jasprit Bumrah 5/64, Mohammad Siraj 2/84) vs India 278 all out and 52/1 (KL Rahul 26, Rohit Sharma 12 not out; Stuart Broad 1/18). India need 157 runs to win.
