ENG vs IND 2nd Test Day 5 Session 1: India inching towards historic win

India only need 4 wickets to win the match in the last two sessions of the day

India have put themselves in a starring position to win their first ever Test match at Edgbaston against England, as after the first session of Day 5, India now need only 4 wickets to win, while England still need 455 runs to win.

 

The start of the day was delayed for 100 minutes due to start-and-stop rain, but the excellent work of the ground staff made the field play-ready as soon as the sun was out in full glory. England started in steady fashion, not looking to attack, but Akash Deep was still able to find the chink in their armour and dismissed Ollie Pope (24) and Harry Brook (23) in the span of his two overs to reduce the English innings to 83 for 5.

 

The loss of the fifth wicket pushed the English side into defensive mode as skipper Ben Stokes and Jamie Smith started to defend every ball, only going for risk-free shots. They brought up their 50-run stand at a steady pace, confirming England’s intention to go for the draw. Stokes (33) lost his wicket just at the stroke of lunch as India once again marched back into the game. 

 

England played out 25 of the 80 overs scheduled for Day 5 in the first session and added 81 runs with the loss of three wickets. Jamie Smith (31*), who will resume the English innings in the second session, will have to play as long as he can if he wishes to save the match.

 

England Scorecard at Lunch on Day 5: 

England 2nd Innings (T: 608 runs)
Batting		R	B	M	4s	6s	SR
Ben Duckett	b Akash Deep	25	15	8	5	0	166.66
Zak Crawley	c sub (B Sai Sudharsan) b Mohammed Siraj	0	7	25	0	0	0
Ollie Pope	b Akash Deep	24	50	87	3	0	48
Joe Root	b Akash Deep	6	16	29	1	0	37.5
Harry Brook	lbw b Akash Deep	23	31	49	3	0	74.19
Ben Stokes (c)	lbw b Washington Sundar	33	73	94	6	0	45.2
Jamie Smith †	not out	32	53	-	4	0	60.37
Extras	10 (b 4, lb 3, nb 2, w 1)
Total	40.3 Ov (RR: 3.77) 153/6
Bowling	O	M	R	W	ECON	WD	NB
Akash Deep	14	1	58	4	4.14	0	0
Mohammed Siraj	10	3	52	1	5.2	1	1
Prasidh Krishna	9	2	20	0	2.22	0	1
Ravindra Jadeja	6	2	14	0	2.33	0	0
Washington Sundar	1.3	0	2	1	1.33	0	0