Leeds: KL Rahul oozed sheer elegance yet again in his cover drives to be unbeaten on 47 as India's lead swelled to 96 runs against England after reaching 90/2 in 23.5 overs at stumps on day three of first Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at Headingley on Sunday.
India had initially got a slender six-run lead by bowling out England for 465, with fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah picking magnificent figures of 5-83 – his 14th five-wicket haul in Tests - in 24.4 overs. Bumrah, who picked his third five-wicket haul in England, has also equalled the legendary Kapil Dev for the most fifers picked by a bowler for India in away Tests (12), as his spell ensured the match will be decided through a second innings shootout.
Rahul then got India’s second innings underway with great watchfulness before unleashing seven boundaries – four of which were via picture-perfect cover-drives to be unbeaten on 47. With skipper Shubman Gill unbeaten on six, India will be aiming to get more runs on day four after rain forced an early end to day three’s proceedings.
Brydon Carse gave England the early breakthrough when he got one to bounce and nip away while bowling from around the wicket and forced Yashasvi Jaiswal into poking at it, as the batter edged behind to Jamie Smith. While Sudharsan’s soft hands got him two early boundaries to get his Test runs tally going, Rahul was all class in his on-drive and cover-drive off Carse, before square-driving Josh Tongue and pulling Shoaib Bashir for his boundaries.
Sudharsan’s plan to play late and with soft hands fetched him two more boundaries and was even dropped by Ben Duckett at gully. But three overs before stumps, Sudharsan clipped an inswinger from Ben Stokes to midwicket, who took the catch with ease, as the England skipper dismissed him for the second time in the match. Rahul and Gill ensured there were no more fall of wickets before heading off the field with the game on a knife’s edge heading into the last two days.
Earlier, Bumrah showed why he’s one of the best fast bowlers in the world by picking an outstanding 5-83 to help India take a lead of six runs after bowling out England for 465 in 100.4 overs.
England were well on their way to take a lead, as Harry Brook led the charge for them with a stunning knock. But Brook fell one run agonisingly short of his first Test century at his home ground, as Bumrah took over to pick his third five-wicket haul in England, despite four catches being dropped off his bowling. Though Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj were amongst the scalps, they weren’t at their best to curb the scoring rate.
The post-lunch session began with Jamie Smith taking a four and six each off Prasidh’s short balls via pulls. But in a bid to pull the pacer again, but didn’t get enough connection on the ball, as some outstanding relay work from B Sai Sudharsan and Ravindra Jadeja ensured Prasidh bagged a crucial wicket.
With Siraj wayward in his lengths, Brook thrashed him for back-to-back boundaries, before being given a reprieve on 83 as Jaiswal put down a catch in the gully region, as a helpless Bumrah and slip cordon watched on. Brook continued to drill boundaries, before falling one run short of a century - he had no control over the pull on a bouncer from Prasidh and once long leg completed the catch, the right-handed batter had to make a long walk back to the dressing room.
With India bowling too many boundary balls, Woakes and Carse collected their runs easily, before the former brought up his 2,000 Test runs in style, with consecutive sixes on short balls from Prasidh – over mid-wicket and third man respectively. Carse then smacked Siraj for two more fours before being castled by a yorker from the pacer, as the rollicking counter-attacking partnership 55-run stand between him and Woakes came to an end.
Woakes’ lovely innings was brought to an end by Bumrah, who beat him on the inside edge with a tight fuller ball and went through the gate to hit the stumps. Bumrah eventually picked his five-wicket hail with another impeccable delivery which hit Josh Tongue’s top of off-stump to ensure India took a first innings lead to set the stage for a second innings shootout. IANS
Scoreboard
India: 1st innings : 471
England: 1st innings
Zak Crawley c Nair b Bumrah 4
Ben Duckett b Bumrah 62
Ollie Pope c Pant b Krishna 106
Joe Root c Nair b Bumrah 28
Harry Brook c Thakur b Krishna 99
*Ben Stokes c Pant b Siraj 20
Jamie Smith c Sudharsan b Krishna40
Chris Woakes b Bumrah 38
Brydon Carse b Siraj 22
Josh Tongue b Bumrah 11
Shoaib Bashir not out 1
Extras: 34; Total: 465-10 (100.4)
FOW: Crawley (4-1, 1), Duckett (126-2, 28.3), Root (206-3, 46.3), Pope (225-4, 51.1), Stokes (276-5, 64.5),Smith (349-6, 79.3), Brook (398-7, 87.3), Carse (453-8, 94.5), Woakes (460-9, 98.5), Tongue (465-10, 100.4)
Bowling
Jasprit Bumrah 24.4 6 83 5
Mohammed Siraj 27 0 122 2
Prasidh Krishna 20 0 128 3
Ravindra Jadeja 23 4 68 0
Shardul Thakur 6 0 38 0
India: 2nd innings :
Yashasvi Jaiswal c Smith b Carse 4
KL Rahul not out 47
Sai Sudharsan c Crawley b Stokes 30
*Shubman Gill not out 6
Extras: 3; Total: 90-2 (23.5)
FOW:Jaiswal (16-1, 3.1), Sudharsan (82-2, 20.5)
Bowling:
Chris Woakes 6 3 18 0
Brydon Carse 5 0 27 1
Josh Tongue 5 0 15 0
Shoaib Bashir 2.5 1 11 0
*Ben Stokes 5 1 18 1
Also Read: ‘I try to take it deep’: Yashasvi Jaiswal reflects on special century
Also Watch: