ENG vs IND 2nd Test Day 4 Session 1: Pant rides luck to maul English attack

Pant was dropped twice in the first session-first on 10 by Crawley and then on 31 by Woakes

India, despite losing their overnight batters KL Rahul (55) and Karun Nair (26), are still pretty much in control of the match after finishing the first session with the scoreboard reading 177 for 3 and their lead at 357 runs.

 

India started the day in a steady manner with the overnight score at 64 for 1. The pair of KL Rahul and Karun Nair got occasional boundaries off Brendon Crase, who continued to try different lines in each over, while keeping things simple off Chris Woakes, who had a few big appeals only to be denied by the umpire. Unexpectedly, Brendon Crase was the one who finally got the first breakthrough of the day by getting Karun Nair (26) caught behind by Jamie Smith. 

 

A few overs later, England took an LBW appeal against Shubman Gill, who came out to bat after Nair. But just like the review taken against him in the first innings, Gill survived due to an inside edge. Amidst all the commotion, KL Rahul silently kept ticking the scoreboard with cautious shots and finally went on to bring up his 18th Test half-century in 78 deliveries. But his innings came to a close after adding just five more to his total, as he was dismissed for 55 by Josh Tongue, with England continuing to crawl back into the game. But then arrived Pant, who in his first five balls scored a four and a six to put the pressure back on England. He was also dropped by Crawley in the very next over off Stokes.

 

Pant continued to attack, adding quick runs for India, sending a wave of frustration through the English camp. He got another lifeline on 31 after Woakes dropped his catch, as India crossed the 100-run mark in the session.

 

India ended up adding 113 runs in the session to extend their lead to 357 runs. They will have in-form Rishabh Pant (41 not out) and Shubman Gill (24 not out) still at the crease when they return for the second session of the day, looking for quick runs.

 

India scorecard at Lunch on Day 4: 

India 2nd innings
Batter	R	B	4s	6s	SR	Dismissed By
Yashasvi Jaiswal	28	22	6	0	127.27	b Josh Tongue
KL Rahul	55	84	10	0	65.48	b Josh Tongue
Karun Nair	26	46	5	0	56.52	c Jamie Smith b Brydon Carse
Shubman Gill (c)	24*	41	3	0	58.54	not out
Rishabh Pant (wk)	41*	35	5	2	117.14	not out
Extras	3 (b 1, lb 2)
Total	177/3 38 Overs
Bowling – England
Bowler	O	M	R	W	Econ
Chris Woakes	12	3	39	0	3.2
Brydon Carse	12	2	56	1	4.7
Josh Tongue	9	1	50	2	5.6
Ben Stokes (c)	2	0	12	0	6
Shoaib Bashir	3	0	17	0	5.7