Pant’s twin hundred puts India on top
KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant stitched a 195-run partnership on Day Four to put India in a commanding position heading into the final day of the first test match.
India’s newly appointed second-in-command, Rishabh Pant, created history by scoring back-to-back centuries in a test match. This feat has eluded even the great Sachin Tendulkar. Sunil Gavaskar, who has achieved this feat on three instances, was seen jubilantly cheering for India’s man of the hour after he punched one of the back foot towards backward point to get to his hundred.
India looked ready to grab the game by its throat at the start of Day Four, but Gill’s early wicket put them on the back foot. From there, KL Rahul and Pant cautiously treaded the choppy waters to fend off any further dismissals. The duo tactfully negotiated the first session, ticking at just over two runs per over to stretch the innings into session two.
The Indian batters accelerated the run scoring post lunch, particularly Pant, who played an explosive hand after getting off to a streaky start in the first session. The pair upped the ante, striking at more than six runs per over as they brought up their respective hundreds. Rahul was the first one to get there after being dropped on 58 by Harry Brook, driving the balls through covers for a double to bring up his hundred in 202 balls.
Pant promptly reached the mark, bringing up his second century of the match in 130 balls. He dictated the English spinners, scoring a barrage of boundaries off Shoaib Bashir and Joe Root. Rahul and Pant’s 195-run partnership was followed by a repeat lower-order collapse, losing the last five wickets for just 21 runs. Josh Tongue proved to be the architect of the collapse once again, picking up Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah in the same over.
Cameos by Ravindra Jadeja and Karun Nair took India’s lead past the psychological 350 mark to a whopping 371. English openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley masterfully navigated the nervy last half an hour to start Day Five with all the wickets intact. England ended the day at 21/0 in six overs, requiring 350 runs in the final 90 overs of the match.
The English batters will look to nullify Bumrah, who could tilt the match in India’s favor with a good couple of spells. England will aim to get off to a brisk start in the first session, scoring at least 90-100 runs to give them a chance to chase down the total. All the England batters must fire to pull off an absolute miraculous victory.