Two runs from Dom Bess’ over. England dominated the proceedings once again but there’s a lot to do for them in the final day. The target is 420 and India leave the field with 39 on the board for the loss of one wicket.
After 12 overs,India 37/1 ( Shubman Gill 14 , Cheteshwar Pujara 11)
Leach to Pujara. The batsman taking his time to get settle between the deliveries. Indians don’t want to face another over. Pujara cuts the final ball to deep point and takes a double. There’s time for one more over on this day.
After 10 overs,India 34/1 ( Shubman Gill 14 , Cheteshwar Pujara 8)
Dom Bess is introduced into the attack. There’s a short leg and a fielder at mid-wicket. Pujara steps out to reach the pitch of the ball and pushes towards the mid-wicket fielder. Another good ball from Bess, on the off-stump and the ball rises. Pujara plays with soft hands towards leg slip for a single.
Leach continues. Bowls a bit fuller than he would like to and the line is on the stumps. Subhman Gill looks solid with his blocks. It’s a maiden.
After 9 overs,India 34/1 ( Shubman Gill 14 , Cheteshwar Pujara 8)
Anderson for his second over the innings. He’s targetting the stumps and almost gets a wicket. Pujara gets an inside edge and the ball falls short of Pope at backward short-leg. Pujara does well in the rest of the deliveries.
After 8 overs,India 34/1 ( Shubman Gill 14 , Cheteshwar Pujara 8)
Leach goes down the leg, Pujara clips it fine towards fine-leg and collects two runs. He punches the next ball on the backfoot to off-side for a single. Three dots to end the over.
After 7 overs,India 31/1 ( Shubman Gill 14 , Cheteshwar Pujara 5)
James Anderson into the attack. Shubman goes on the backfoot and almost hands a catch to a backward short leg fielder. Strays off the line in the next one, Pujara pushes it to deep mid-wicket for another single. Solid defensive shots from Shubman. Two from the over.
After 6 overs,India 29/1 ( Shubman Gill 13 , Cheteshwar Pujara 4)
The commentators were talking about the body language and lack of intent from English players but Leach shuts them down with a ripper to dismiss Rohit Sharma. A ball like that deserves a wicket. Pujara is the new batsman and he gets off the mark with a boundary. Still 20 minutes of play left. England will hope for one more wicket.
India vs England, Live Cricket Score, 1st Test Live Updates: Stumps! Two runs from Dom Bess’ over. England dominated the proceedings once again but there’s a lot to do for them in the final day. The target is 420 and India leave the field with 39 on the board for the loss of one wicket.
Day 3 report: Rishabh Pant’s beautiful edge-of-the-seat hitting ended with his now customary indiscretion, putting India under the pump against a supremely confident England gunning for victory at the end of third day’s play in the opening Test on Sunday.
At stumps, India were 257 for 6 in reply to England’s massive first innings score of 578 with 122 runs still needed to avoid the follow-on after Pant (91 off 88 balls) and Cheteshwar Pujara (73 off 143 balls) added 119 runs for the fifth wicket.
Washington Sundar (33 batting, 68 balls), primarily a batsman converted into a specialist off-spinner, was trying to make amends for his poor show with the ball in company of Ravichandran Ashwin (8 batting, 54 balls), who is never tired of a good on-field scrap, at stumps.
With a couple of days’ play still left, it will be interesting to see if England team management decides to give its bowlers some respite if it gets a chance to enforce the follow-on.
The day belonged to the current toast of the Indian team, Pant, who smashed five towering sixes — all in the arc between long-on and deep mid-wicket off left-arm spinner Jack Leach (17-2-94-0). Leach didn’t exactly know what had hit him.
Sourav Ganguly treated left-arm spinners with disdain but what Pant showed on Sunday was more of pure, unadulterated contempt.
Leach wanted to target the rough outside Pant’s off-stump but every time he tossed it up, the stocky man from Rourkee came out like a raging bull who had been shown the red rag and hit the spinner with the turn into the Chepauk stands.
He dazzled with his brilliance and then in an annoying manner, forgot that discretion is always the better part of valour while trying to hit off-spinner Dom Bess (23-5-55-4) over extra cover against the spin.
This was after dispatching England’s most successful bowler to the square leg boundary.
And he found the only man stationed at the deep extra cover — none other than Leach, who latched onto it as if his life depended on it.
It was an innings that can evoke different emotions depending on one’s own perception of Pant.
A Pant fan who loves his craft will feel an overriding sense of joy and exhilaration just seeing him hit Leach for four sixes few minutes after India were down and out at 73 for 4. Or just smack James Anderson through the cover region.
If one is talking about a Test cricket fan then exasperation can take over just thinking about the possibilities had he decided to exercise some caution. Pant has quite literally thrown away Test hundreds four times in his short career.
But then that’s Pant. There won’t be any middle path and perhaps the Indian team management will now try to mould itself rather than trying to change him which obviously didn’t work for both parties.
Just like they don’t want to change Cheteshwar Pujara, whose 73 off 143 balls over nearly four hours, was in complete contrast to Pant’s pyrotechnics.
The Indian team’s ‘PPP’ model — the ‘Pant-Pujara Partnership’ worked and even more so because the senior player was dispatching those boundary balls during their 119 runs stand in just over 24 overs.
But then Virat Kohli, who looked a touch dejected in the end, wouldn’t mind if Pant’s shot had sailed into the stands. Pujara’s pull had bounced off Ollie Pope stationed at forward short leg off Bess only to lob into the waiting hands of Rory Burns.
Bess easily impressed as he got the ball to dip and drift, something that worked for him while outfoxing Virat Kohli (11), who was caught at forward short leg.
Ajinkya Rahane (1) was brilliantly caught by Joe Root when a full toss dipped on him at the final moment. This was after Rohit Sharma (6) and Shubman Gill (29 off 28 balls) were dismissed by Jofra Archer (16-3-52-2).
With inputs from PTI