Manchester, July 23: Bad light forced an early end to play on Day One of the fourth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series at Old Trafford, with India reaching 264/4 in 83 overs, largely due to B Sai Sudharsan’s impressive 61 – his first fifty in Tests.
Brought back into the playing eleven in place of Karun Nair, Sudharsan had a nervy start to the innings and was even dropped on 20.
But the left-handed batter managed to progress superbly by hitting seven boundaries in his knock worth 151 balls on a hard pitch under overcast skies.
Yashasvi Jaiswal hit a gritty 58 while sharing a 94-run opening stand with KL Rahul, who hit 46.
But India’s eyes will also be firmly fixed on Rishabh Pant’s right foot injury, causing him to retire hurt on 37. With him being sent for scans after taking a nasty blow on his foot and swelling becoming huge, the extent of his participation could determine the result of this game.
In the morning, Ben Stokes won the toss for the fourth time and asked India to bat first.
Initially, Jaiswal rode his luck as Chris Woakes repeatedly beat him on the outside edge, but the veteran pace bowling all-rounder couldn’t find an edge in his marathon eight-over spell, with the left-handed opener taking three fours off him while Rahul hit him for two boundaries.
When Brydon Carse came in, Rahul cut him twice for fours, before Jaiswal carved him in the gap between third slip and gully.
Rahul went past 400 runs in the series and faced Archer more than his younger partner Jaiswal, who fell to the pacer twice at Lord’s.
After cutting Stokes for four, Jaiswal got a lucky boundary off Archer for four, before upper-cutting the England skipper for six, as he and Rahul helped India get through the session without losing a wicket in the first session before lunch break came.
The second session began with Jaiswal slashing and punching Carse for a brace of fours, before Woakes and England were finally rewarded for his persistence.
On the last ball of the 30th over, a back-of-the-length delivery from Woakes nipped away to take a thick outside edge of Rahul, who looked to punch away from the body, and Zak Crawley took the catch at third slip, as the opener fell for 46, and an opening partnership of 94 came to an end.
Jaiswal went on to bring up a gritty 12th Test fifty, but fell just after the drinks break. Liam Dawson got his first Test wicket on his comeback after eight years on the seventh ball he bowled – Jaiswal looked to defend, but the ball caught the outside edge of his bat on forward defence and flew to Harry Brook at first slip, as he fell for 58.
Dawson, included in place of an injured Shoaib Bashir, managed to keep Sudharsan quiet. Sudharsan could have been out on 20 if Jamie Smith hadn’t made a mess of the leg-side strangle off Stokes’ bowling.
But in his next over, Stokes struck when Gill shouldered arms to an in-ducker from him and was rapped on his pads.
After being adjudged out by on-field umpire Rod Tucker, Gill decided to go up for a review, but replays showed the ball hitting the top of the off-stump, meaning that the India skipper walked off for 12, as Stokes and England found reasons to be happy after a wicketless first session.
The final session began with Sudharsan hooking Archer through fine leg for four, before stylishly pulling him for another boundary.
Pant left everyone jaw-dropping with a front-foot sweep off Archer for four, before making an audacious attempt to reverse-ramp him.
Pant then smacked Carse over long-on for six, as he and Sudharsan brought up the fifty of their counter-attacking partnership and later raised India’s 200.
But on the fourth ball of the 68th over, Pant attempted to reverse-sweep off Woakes, but under-edged straight onto his right foot.
Though England burnt a review on the attempted lbw, Pant looked in serious pain, with the swelling on top of the foot taking the shape of a table tennis ball.
Eventually, an ambulance buggy resembling a golf cart took a grimacing Pant off the field, as he retired hurt on 37, putting on hold his partnership worth 72 runs with Sudharsan.
Sudharsan then got his maiden Test fifty in 174 balls with a crisp drive through cover off Joe Root for four. But Stokes’ short-ball play finally worked as Sudharsan was cramped for room and top-edged a pull to long leg, making it the third time the England skipper dismissed the left-handed batter in this series.
With bad light causing England to bowl spinners from both ends, Jadeja and Shardul Thakur, both unbeaten on 19, hit three boundaries between themselves before play was called off to end a see-saw day of Test cricket.
Brief scores:
India 264/4 in 83 overs (B. Sai Sudharsan 61, Yashasvi Jaiswal 58; Ben Stokes 2-47, Chris Woakes 1-43) against England
(Auto generated news from IANS Feed. This has not been edited by enewstime desk)
