In a Test match that has swung in sessions and with wickets, it is no surprise that the game remains in balance even at the end of Day 3 at Southampton. England though will consider themselves to be a little ahead after finishing on 260/8, with a 233-run lead and some more to be added, when Stuart Broad joins Sam Curran (37) at the crease tomorrow.
For India, the last-ball wicket of Adil Rashid will show brighter prospects after England seemed to snatch the game away from being reeled down to 92/4 at one stage.
Mohammed Shami was India’s chief wrecker, taking three wickets all of which came at important intervals. And why despite being India’s best bowler, he ended up bowling the second lowest number of overs, might be a serious question Virat Kohli needs to answer if the match doesn’t go in their favour.
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Bowling the final over before lunch, Shami caught Keaton Jennings (36) dead in front of the wicket before returning 40 minutes later to uproot Jonny Bairstow’s leg stump for a golden duck. It was fitting that Shami had Rashid caught behind in the final over of the day’s play.
England, however, had by then taken the lead over 200 and anything excess than 250-260 will make India sweat in the final innings. But the target looked to be a modest total when Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma had removed Alastair Cook and newly promoted Moeen Ali all inside three overs.
Then Shami struck gold with two back-to-back wickets and soon from a battling survival– after India were reduced to 195/8 – the visitors once again are back in the driver’s seat.
But ask England and their answer would be the same and therefore as Joe Root stood with hands on hips when Cheteshwar Pujara was racing to his century, Kohli on Saturday had the same emotions running through him as Jos Buttler and in his company, Ben Stokes rescued their side’s tumbling ship. Young Sam Curran also joined in later, playing his strokes to give the hosts a sizable lead.
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Buttler made 69 and was once again England’s best batsmen before being tapped IBW off Ishant Sharma. The Delhi bowler was phenomenon in his opening spell, where he dismissed Cook to one of KL Rahul’s two brilliant catches on the day.
His second one was even better in how he stooped so low to catch Ali for Bumrah’s first wicket. But what looked a promising day for India, soon changed wheels when Buttler joined Stokes in the middle, after the latter had run-out the keeper, having hurried him into stealing banks?.
Ravichandran Ashwin was though India’s biggest disappointment taking just one wicket in 35 overs in a pitch believed to have been tailor-made for him. In an understatement, Ashwin bowled twice as much as Ali did for England, but while the latter accounted for five wickets, Ashwin had none until tea.
He eventually got Ben Stokes, ending his painful 110 balls 30 runs stay with an edge to Ajinkya Rahane at slip.