Shubman Gill gets another hundred; Pant, Jadeja hit half centuries; hosts 72/3 at stumps

India set England target of 608 runs

Birmingham: England have been set a mammoth target of 608 runs to win the second Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series after India captain Shubman Gill hit a majestic 161 off 162 deliveries to help the visitors declare their second innings at 427/6 in 83 overs at the Edgbaston here on Saturday.

England managed 72 runs in 16 overs at stumps, but lost three top order batters including Joe Root who made 6. Mohammed Siraj took the wicket of Zak Crawley (0) in the second over, the Akash Deep claimed Ben Duckett (25) and Root. They need another 536 runs on Day five with 7 wickets in hand.

Gill, yet again, stepped up with his elegant strokeplay to hit 13 fours and eight sixes in what was his eighth Test hundred, fifth against England, and third one in his fourth innings as India’s Test captain. With an aggregate of 430 runs, Gill has become the second-highest run-scorer in a single Test match after England’s Graham Gooch (456 runs) and is also the first player to score 200 and 150 in the same Test match.

He was ably supported by fifties from KL Rahul (55), Rishabh Pant (65), and Ravindra Jadeja (69 not out) to give England a very stiff run chase, which looks way tougher compared to their Bazball standards.

Earlier in the morning session, KL Rahul hit a calm 55 while Rishabh Pant was at his rollicking, yet chaotic, best to hit an unbeaten 41, as India’s lead swelled to 357 runs after reaching 177/3 in 38 overs at lunch.

The afternoon session belonged to India, who are now in the driving seat, thanks to the efforts of Gill and Pant, who shared a fourth-wicket stand of 110 runs off 103 balls.

The final session began with Jadeja smashing over Shoaib Bashir's head for a straight six on the very first ball he faced.

Gill continued to be at his run-making best by smacking Chris Woakes for a six and two fours, before he and Jadeja took a boundary each off Bashir. Jadeja then cut Joe Root away for four through backward point to bring up the second half-century of this game off 94 balls.

After Jadeja swept Gill for four, Gill slog-swept Joe Root for consecutive sixes, before the former cleared the mid-off fielder for another boundary. Gill got his 150 up by executing a slog-sweep off Root to perfection, before Ollie Pope lost sight of a top-edge to give him another boundary.

Gill then swung Bashir over midwicket for six, before his attempt to get another maximum resulted in him mistiming back to the bowler, as he walked off to a standing ovation for his knock of 161.

After Nitish Kumar Reddy holed out to long-off against Root, Washington Sundar hit the part-timer for a four and six before declaration came from India to have a crack at a tired England line-up.

Brief scores: India 587 and 427/6 dec. in 83 overs (Shubman Gill 161, Rishabh Pant 65, KL Rahul 55, Ravindra Jadeja 69 no; Josh Tongue 2-93, Shoaib Bashir 2-119); England 407  and 72/3 (Duckett 25, Ollie Pope 24no, Harry Brook 15, Akash Deep 2/36). Agencies

Also Read: Shubman Gill’s record-breaking 269 puts India in control at Edgbaston

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