Finance
On day four of the rescheduled fifth Test at Edgbaston, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow smashed unbeaten fifties to lead England’s mammoth chase of 378 against India. At stumps, the hosts were 259/3 in 57 overs, needing just 119 on a sold-out final day to level the five-match Pataudi Trophy series.
On a day when rain did not stop play, England celebrated as Root and Bairstow returned to the dressing room after scoring 76 off 110 balls and 73 off 89 deliveries, respectively. Prior to this, England had taken the last seven Indian wickets for 120 runs on a pitch with variable bounce and some turn for spinners, with Ben Stokes adding three more scalps, to bowl the visitors out for 245 in 81.5 overs.
The impact of the heavy roller on the pitch was demonstrated by a fantastic opening stand of 107 between Alex Lees (56) and Zak Crawley (46), before a ball change after 20.5 overs yielded India three wickets in as many overs. The day, however, belonged to the hosts thanks to Root and Bairstow’s unconquered stand of 150.
Bumrah enticed Ollie Pope to poke at a back-of-the-length ball coming in, and the batter duly obliged. But the ball held its line and took Pope’s outside edge behind Pant, leaving the scorers unconcerned.
Lees inside-edged off Ravindra Jadeja into the leg-side in the next over and had no idea where the ball had gone. Lees ran belatedly, and was easily run out at the non-end, striker’s with Root already running from the non-end. striker’s
Bairstow opened the scoring with a boundary off Jadeja’s back-foot punch, while Root survived lbw appeals from Jadeja and Shami as India lost two reviews in as many overs. Root reverse-swept and paddled Jadeja for a pair of boundaries in the 37th over, signaling a shift in gears.
At the second slip, an outside edge of Bairstow’s blade burst through Hanuma Vihari’s hands, sending the ball flying towards the boundary rope. This set the tone for the duo’s counterattack, with Root using the sweep and whips to reach his half-century in 71 balls.
Bairstow, on the other hand, used flicks, pulls, and slices to reach his fifty with a brace through his square leg. At 39, he was given another chance when a faint edge on the flick didn’t stick into the gloves of a diving Pant.
Following his fifty, Bairstow carved Shami through backward point for a boundary before playing a fierce hook off Siraj for a six over fine leg to keep England in contention for their highest successful Test score.
Earlier, Rishabh Pant added 57 to his 146 in the first innings, while Cheteshwar Pujara contributed 66 to India’s second innings total of 245. In Stuart Broad’s first over, Pujara added 16 runs to his overnight total of 50 before cutting straight to backward point.
Pant reached his fifty with a delicate flick through fine leg, becoming only the second Indian wicketkeeper, after Farokh Engineer, to score a century and a fifty in the same Test.
After hitting three boundaries, Shreyas Iyer fell to the short ball again in the match, pulling straight to mid-wicket off Potts.
Despite falling to the ground, Pant welcomed Jack Leach with a reverse sweep behind fine leg for a boundary. He attempted another reverse sweep to unsettle Leach’s line and length, but could only glove behind to first slip, finishing the match with 203 runs across both innings.
Potts shook Shardul Thakur with short balls, once hitting him on the side of the helmet. Thakur attempted to take on the short ball with a pull in his next over, but the top-edge flew to deep fine leg. Stokes then bounced Shami out before jabbing in sharply and forcing Jadeja to chop onto his stumps. He ended India’s innings by having Bumrah hole out to fine leg immediately after being hit for a six.
Lees and Crawley hit two boundaries each to help England reach 43 runs in eight overs in pursuit of 378. The introduction of Jadeja by India had little impact on England, as Lees danced down the pitch to drive through mid-off before nailing the gap through point to make it two boundaries off his first over.
Lees’ stroke play remained eye-catching, reaching his fifty in just 44 balls with a textbook back-foot punch through cover-point off Siraj. Crawley, who survived Jadeja’s caught behind appeal, unleashed some exquisite drives, flicks, and began to find gaps crisply for fun. The left-right duo brought up England’s century in 19.5 overs, marking the duo’s first century stand.
Bumrah came on for India in the 22nd over and got success on the fourth ball as Crawley’s off-stump was castled, with the batter offering no shot to an in-ducker, providing India with a vital breakthrough an over before tea.
After tea, India would take two more wickets before Root and Bairstow combined to put England on track for their fourth consecutive successful chase in as many Tests.
Brief scores: India 416 and 245 in 81.5 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 66, Rishabh Pant 57; Ben Stokes 4-33, Matthew Potts 2-50) versus England 284 and 259/3 in 57 overs (Joe Root 76 not out, Jonny Bairstow 72; Jasprit Bumrah 2-53). England trail by 119 runs.
Source:OCN
