Openers give England hope for record chase
ENGLAND made a strong start to their pursuit of a daunting 368run victory target against India in the fourth Test, which appeared delicately poised heading into the final day at The Oval.
Openers Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns guided England to 77 for no loss at stumps with the hosts needing a further 291 runs to go 2-1 up in the five-Test series.
Hameed had made a fluent 43 at stumps, with Burns on 31, but the home side will need to pull off something special today to accomplish a record chase.
England’s highest successful run chase came when they reached a 359-run target – Ben
4 Members of India’s backroom staff, including head coach Ravi Shastri, have tested positive for coronavirus and have gone into isolation
Stokes’ famous ‘miracle of Headingley’ in the 2019 Ashes.
Earlier, India’s No.8 Shardul Thakur smashed his second half-century of the match and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant his first of the series to help India post 466, the highest total of the five-match series.
The 100-run partnership between Thakur and Pant was followed by cameos from tailenders Umesh Yadav (25) and Jasprit Bumrah (24) as the tourists recovered after losing three wickets, including captain Virat Kohli, in the morning session.
Chris Woakes, who took three for 83, was again the pick of England’s bowlers, claiming a match haul of seven wickets to go with his breezy 50 in the first innings of what is the all-rounder’s first Test in 12 months.
After India resumed on 270 for three, England captain Joe Root brought back Woakes to end Kohli’s 59-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja, and he responded with two quick wickets.
Woakes trapped Jadeja lbw for 17 and, in his next over, sent back Ajinkya Rahane for a duck in a similar manner.
With left-hander Pant at the crease, Root introduced Moeen Ali, who had Kohli caught at slip six runs shy of what could have been the batsman’s third fifty in as many innings.
Thakur had smashed a 36-ball 57 in the first innings and he followed with a relatively restrained 60, which included a towering six off Ollie Robinson.
Both batsmen, however, fell in successive overs, Thakur edging Root to slip and Pant giving a return catch to Moeen soon after completing his fifty.
Yadav clobbered a couple of sixes, while Bumrah smashed four boundaries against a jaded English attack.
India’s Rohit Sharma (knee) and Cheteshwar Pujara (ankle) did not field in England’s second innings and were being assessed after complaining of niggles.