INDIA TOUR OF ENGLAND, 2025
Gill notched up his fourth hundred of the series. © Getty
A slow moving morning amped up in action just before Lunch with a century, a wicket and a dropped catch all transpiring in the final 15 minutes of the session. The dogged KL Rahul-Shubman Gill stand that helped India avert a crisis last evening was broken by Ben Stokes while Jofra Archer dismissed the Indian captain, who carried on to score his fourth ton of the series, just before the break. Archer and England were denied a fifth wicket when Joe Root put Jadeja down at first slip the very next delivery. With India trailing by 88 and England requiring six wickets, the game continues to hang in the balance.
Rahul and Gill extended their watchful approach with England starting the day with Dawson’s spin. England’s captain Ben Stokes, who did not bowl all of yesterday after suffering a bout of cramps, took the ball at the other end and began probing early. In their quest to break India’s resolute stand, however, England burned their only remaining review after unsuccessfully challenging a decision for caught-behind against Rahul.
Stokes though exploited the wearing surface’s uneven nature, with some deliveries bouncing menacingly high with some others keeping perilously low. Gill survived an LBW shout against one such ball that kept low but his partner wasn’t so lucky. A good length delivery kept low before pinning Rahul in front and so confident was Stokes in his appeal that he did not bother turning around to confirm if the umpire had raised his finger.
Once the 188-run stand was broken, after Rahul was dismissed ten runs short of a century, India opted to promote Washington Sundar up to No. 5. The uneven bounce continued to pose challenges with Gill being struck on the forefinger of the bottom hand by a delivery that sprang up sharply before he barely kept out one that snuck along the carpet two balls later. The Indian captain, who resumed the day batting on 78, slowly ticked along to then bring up his eight Test ton and fourth of the series.
Chris Woakes and Archer weren’t immediately effective with the second new ball as India continued to bat with caution. The Indian captain’s resolve, however, finally wore thin late in the session when he was out caught chasing a wide delivery from Archer. Jadeja was let off the very next delivery when Root put down a fairly straightforward chance at first slip.
Brief scores: India 358 & 223/4 (Shubman Gill 103, KL Rahul 90; Chris Woakes 2-57) trail England 669 (Joe Root 150, Ben Stokes 141; Ravindra Jadeja 4-143) by 88 runs.
© Cricbuzz
