4th Test: India’s tail stings England

Shardul Thakur smashed his second halfcentury of the match while Rishabh Pant showed required restraint while returning to form as India scored 466 in their second innings to take a lead of 367 on Day Four of the fourth Test here on SundayEngland were 77 for no loss at stumps with openers Rory Burns 31 and Haseeb Hameed 43 staying unbeatenMini collapse for visitorsIndia did encounter another mini middleorder collapse as they slumped from 296 for 3 to 312 for 6 in a space of 10 overs in the first session but Thakur 60 off 72 balls and Pant 50 off 107 balls joined forces to add 100 runs for the seventh wicketIf that wasnrsquot enough Umesh Yadav 25 and Jasprit Bumrah 24 used the long handle gleefully adding muscle to the already beefed up totalIt did help that the pitch became flatter as the day progressed and under bright sunshine strokeplay became easier for both the batters as they could hit through the lineWhile Shardul who is fondly called Beefy by teamrsquos head coach Ravi Shastri for his Ian Bothamlike exploits is reinforcing his value as a bowling allrounder His three straight drives were as good as any of the shots that his illustrious seniors Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara hit on the third day It was sight to behold as he picked an Ollie Robinson 2105 slower early and dispatched it over longon to reach 49 and then a pull shot for a single helped him complete his fiftyIf Shardulrsquos 57 in the first innings had helped the team reach a respectable total his approach in the second innings ensured that Pant wasnrsquot in his usually harakiri mode that brought about his downfall during a number of occasions this summerIn fact the left hander curbed his instincts to charge down the track and played as per merit of each delivery Only when he was in his 30rsquos that he lofted Moeen Ali for a one bounce four and in his 40rsquos charged out to slash James Anderson 179 over covers for a boundary In the first session of the day Virat Kohli 44 96 balls showed promise with his cover drives but a beautiful slider from Moeen saw his back as his forward defensive prod found the outside edge into the sliprsquos handsRahane flopsBut amid a good batting performance what struck like a sore thumb was vicecaptain Ajinkya Rahanersquos 0 another failure in what were the best batting conditions so far in the seriesBrief scores India 191 amp 466 R Sharma 127 C Pujara 61 S Thakur 60 R Pant 50 C Woakes 383 Robinson 2105 Moeen 2118 v England 290 amp 77 for no loss R Burns 31 H Hameed 43Also Read Mumbai boxer Simran My mother singlehandedly raised me and my brothersThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliabilitsy and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever