INDIA TOUR OF ENGLAND, 2025
The Indian captain brought up his fourth fifty-plus score of the series © Getty
Shubman Gill and KL Rahul brought some stability to India’s second innings in the Manchester Test with a composed partnership in the second session, following a frenetic three-over burst before Lunch that had dented India’s reply to England’s massive lead. Gill notched up a half-century and, along with Rahul, stitched an unbroken stand that took India to 86/2 at Tea on Day 4, still trailing by 225 runs.
Rahul and Gill got a few boundaries at the start of the second session but Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer bowled testing lines to keep the batters on their toes. There was a shout for lbw and a review from England when Archer thought he had trapped Gill in front in the first over after the break but there was no conclusive evidence to overturn the onfield call of not-out. Gill was also hit on the glove by Archer and there were a couple of more lbw enquiries against him when he was struck on the pad. The bowlers also went past Rahul’s bat multiple times and a few jagged back into him, adding to the pressure.
Brydon Carse then bowled in tandem with Woakes, with both bowlers finding enough movement both ways to trouble the batters. But Gill and Rahul eased the pressure a bit with classy boundaries as they raised a half-century stand. Gill took on Archer to play a lovely cover drive and executed an upper cut as well for two fours, before playing a cut off Liam Dawson for another four that took him into the 40s. Rahul was a lot more sedate at the other end, defending and leaving. England, meanwhile, lost their second review when Carse struck Gill on the pad, with replays revealing it was going down.
Gill had a lucky break as he went for a drive off a Carse delivery pitched outside off and was dropped by Dawson at gully. Rahul then top-edged a sweep off Dawson and luckily for him, it landed clear of the fielders. England sneaked in an over from Joe Root late in the session and Gill clipped him away for three runs to bring up another fifty-plus score in this series, and saw India through to Tea along with Rahul to ensure a wicketless session.
Earlier, Ben Stokes led the charge with a brilliant 141 – his first Test century in over two years – helping the hosts post a mammoth 669 and stretch their lead to a daunting 311. India had hoped to wrap up the tail quickly on a grey Manchester morning, but Stokes had other plans. After Dawson fell early to Jasprit Bumrah, the English skipper launched a counterattack, reaching his century with a leg glance off Mohammed Siraj and then adding 41 more in just 34 balls. Along the way, he became only the third allrounder in Test history to complete the 7000-run and 200-wicket double. Carse chipped in with a brisk 47 as England attacked both spin and pace, before being bowled out just before Lunch.
The momentum didn’t stop there. With India needing to bat out three overs before the break, Woakes delivered a crushing double-wicket maiden to leave the visitors stunned. Yashasvi Jaiswal was undone by away movement, while Sai Sudharsan fell to indecision, both edging to the slips within the span of five balls. India were yet to get off the mark in their second innings when the damage was done. Gill then survived a close LBW appeal on the hat-trick ball and managed to see out the session.
Brief scores: India 358 & 86/2 (Shubman Gill 52*, KL Rahul 30*; Chris Woakes 2-25) trail England 669 (Joe Root 150, Ben Stokes 141; Ravindra Jadeja 4-143) by 225 runs.
© Cricbuzz
