In a remarkable comeback, India on Tuesday reduced England to 311/9 in their second innings at Trend Bridge, forcing the hosts to still trail by 209 runs with three sessions of the game still in play.
England would desperately be playing for the fifth day’s play to be washed out by rains, but it looks highly unlikely. India now need just one more wicket to secure a big win to make it 1-2 in the five-Test series.
The visitors have already lost the first two Tests in Edgbaston and Lord’s respectively.
Although the Indian bowlers bowled very well on the fourth day of the play, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes put up a spirited fight with the former scoring his maiden century. Stokes, who scored 62, had a decent partnership of 169 runs for the fifth wicket with Buttler. This partnership gave some respectability to the England’s total given that the side were reduced to 62 for 4 in their second innings.
India scored 329 and 357/7 (declared) in their two innings, while the hosts were bundled out for just 161 in their first innings. They needed 520 runs to win the third Test, but are now just a wicket away from suffering a heavy defeat at the hands of Virat Kohli’s men.
Scorecard in brief:
India 329 & 352-7 declared: Kohli 103, Pujara 72, Rashid 3-101
England 161 & 311-9: Buttler 106, Stokes 62, Bumrah 5-85