On what turned out to be the best batting day for India so far in this series with the opening day at Lord’s now falling to the second, Rohit Sharma smacked a century and Cheteshwar Pujara scored 61 to give India control against England of the ongoing fourth Test at The Oval.
India, who resumed the third day’s play on Saturday at 43/0 and still behind by 56 runs against England in the second innings, finished with an overall lead of 171 runs and at a strong score of 270/3. Rohit brought up his first century away from home and eighth overall while Pujara contributed with yet another score of significance, making 61 in his brilliant innings on Saturday to give India control against England.
Rohit and Pujara defied and deflated the English bowling attack under cloudy conditions to add as many as 153 runs for the second innings, which helped India extend their lead to a dangerous position for the home side which continued to fumble in the field.
Rohit was given two lifelines when he was on 6 and 31 and the Indian opener cashed in on the opportunities to produce a Test century of highest quality, replete with 14 boundaries and a six to punish England and display his class and mettle. Rohit was absolutely magnificent in his innings on Saturday, proving why it was the right call by the Indian team management a few seasons ago to promote him as the Test opener since he has only been the best in that role.
But the start of the day was marked successful by the pair of Rohit and KL Rahul, who extended their exploits against the English bowling attack by displaying tremendous application, discipline and skill to thwart any challenge that the home team threw at them with a ball which was only 16 overs old.
The two Indians with stoic batting and great intent added 83 runs for the opening wicket before the home team tasted any success. It was James Anderson, who was probing continuously outside the off stump, and provided England with a breakthrough, getting Rahul caught behind for 46, which came from 101 balls and with the help of six fours and one six.
The dismissal of Rahul close to the lunch break brought Pujara at the crease and after seeing off initial few deliveries, the India No 3 settled in well. Pujara and Rohit not only took India safely until the lunch break but they also remained unbeaten throughout the second session on Saturday, in which India made runs at a brisk rate of more than 3.3 per over.
Pujara brought out the cut shot to the maximum limit as he collected plenty of boundaries with that stroke, whereas Rohit was belligerent on all the parts of the ground, while not showing any mercy to the lone England spinner in Moeen Ali. The two batsmen went on to add as many as 153 runs for the second wicket which not only solidified India but also put them in a handsome lead against England.
While the pitch remained perfect for batting, England tried every trick in the book to break their strong partnership. The likes of Chris Woakes and Craig Overton tried short pitch bowling but Indians showed no discomfort whereas Root also kept rotating his most trusted weapon, Anderson, throughout the day, but could not penetrate enough into the Indian batting much for his liking.
Rohit brought up his century with a six off Moeen, but did not celebrate much beyond showing his bat to a packed house at The Oval and a wide grin to the dressing room.
England finally made the breakthroughs in the first over with the second new ball when Ollie Robinson had Rohit caught for 127 and a few deliveries later, Pujara dismissed for 61. Rohit faced as many as 256 deliveries and cracked 14 boundaries and one six whereas Pujara faced 127 balls and struck nine boundaries for himself.
For the second time in as many innings, Ravindra Jadeja came out to bat at No 5 and joined his captain Virat Kohli at the crease after India were rocked twice in quick succession. The all-rounder did not show any discomfort against the new ball and was steady in his defence and overall approach for batting to make 9 not out from 33 balls with the help of two boundaries.
On the other hand, Kohli, who has himself lacked big scores, looked primed for one as he reached 22 not out from 37 balls with the help of four boundaries when the umpires called off the okay owing to bad light.
India, who are ahead by 171 runs in the second innings, would now want to bat for at least two more sessions to take their overall lead beyond the 300-run mark and have about four sessions to bowl England out and take an unassailable lead in the five-match series which is currently levelled at 1-1.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
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