The match again hangs in balance after Ishant Sharma got the dogged Moeen Ali (39) out with a rising delivery which he fended awkwardly to be caught by Cheteshwar Pujara at short leg. This was after a fighting 101 run stand for the fifth wicket with Joe Root (52 batting), who is again looking good for a big score.
Ishant (3-47) was in fact smashed for 13 runs in the previous over Root, who struck three of his five boundaries in that single over. While Root has faced 126 balls so far, Ali played 147 balls hitting five fours. The duo defied Indian bowlers for close to 45 overs (44.4 overs).
They had used the heavy roller on the morning pitch and perhaps it helped calm the pitch down a little bit. Even so, the bowling was tight as they gave away only 35 runs in the first 16 overs.
But as the batsmen got set the runs started flowing, 68 runs off 30 overs coming in the session then as the target went down.
Root then shifted gears and started stroking some quick boundaries to bring up his fifty off 122 balls, in the 74th over of the innings, while in the very next, the 100-run partnership between the two batsmen also came up.
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