ENG vs IND: Jadeja, Sundar heroics help India force gritty draw in 4th Test

Both Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar waited to complete their hundreds before shaking hands with England skipper Ben Stokes to settle for a draw in Manchester.

Team India have managed to fight out a draw in the 4th Test against England at the Old Trafford cricket ground in Manchester as they take the series to the 5th and final Test in Kensington Oval now. The sereis remains 2-1 in the favour of England but with India having a chance to draw the series in the final attempt. 

 

Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar's gritty yet eventful 203-run partnership did the trick in the end for the visitors as England couldn't pick 8 wickets on the final day of the encounter to seal the series.

 

Brilliant effort put in again by both the sides who fought till the last hour and saw players picking up niggles along the way because of the demands of the Test match that tested the players both physically and mentally in the course of the 5 days.

 

England opting to bowl first

 

The match started with English skipper Ben Stokes winning the fourth toss in a row in the series and opting to bowl first. However, to their surprise, India started the match in promising manner, adding 94 runs for the first wicket before KL Rahul (46) lost his wicket to Chris Woakes. Yashasvi Jaiswal (58), Sai Sudharsan (61) and Rishabh Pant (54) all hit brilliant half-centuries, followed by gusty cameos from Shardul Thakur (41) and Washington Sundar (27), which helped India post 358 runs on the board before being bundled out. Ben Stokes was England’s best bowler with a spell of 5 for 72 to his name.

 

England's dominance with the bat

 

In reply, England showcased pure dominance as their top three, Zak Crawley (84), Ben Duckett (94) and Ollie Pope (71), despite missing out on Test tons, put England in a commanding position before Joe Root (150) and Ben Stokes (141) ripped apart the Indian bowling line-up, as England finished their innings at 669 before losing all 10 wickets. The hosts took a huge lead of 311 in the first innings, putting India in danger of an innings defeat. 

 

Gill-Rahul paving the way for a draw

 

India’s start in the second innings was exactly the opposite of the first, as they lost Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan, both on a duck, in the first over itself. But just when the game looked all but done for India, KL Rahul, along with skipper Shubman Gill, led one of the best fightbacks in Test cricket, adding 188 runs for the third wicket before Rahul was dismissed by Ben Stokes on 90.

 

Skipper Gill went on to score his fourth Test hundred of the series but was then dismissed by Jofra Archer on 103, as India found themselves in a tough spot after a brilliant fightback. However, the two Indian all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar then took charge and stitched a century stand for the fifth wicket, to not only take India past the 311-run mark to avoid an innings defeat but also push the match further towards a draw.

 

Jadeja-Sundar's 203-run stand does the job for the visitors

 

The final session then saw both batters take the run scoring up a notch and get the score past 350 on the day as well. With almost an hour of play left in Manchester, it is at that point that both captains shook hands and decided to call this riveting tie a draw.   The control percentage between the two batters was up to 92% in the final session despite of experiencing more turn in the middle. This just shows the level of grit and determination between the two batters to take their team through to the finish line. Both batters were given the chance to complete their hundreds with Sundar scoring his maiden Test ton as well as both Stokes and Jadeja were then seeing shaking hands to call it a day in what was a riveting test match in Manchester.  Shubman Gill and co. go to Kensington Oval with the thought of levelling the 5-match series in the final Test now. 

India 2nd Inning
425-4 (143 ov) CRR:2.97
Batter				R		B			4s		6s		SR
Yashasvi Jaiswal		c J Root b C Woakes		0		4			0		0		0
KL Rahul		lbw b B Stokes		90		230			8		0		39.13
Sai Sudharsan		c H Brook b C Woakes		0		1			0		0		0
Shubman Gill (C)		c JL Smith b J Archer		103		238			12		0		43.28
Washington Sundar		Not out		101		206			9		1		49.03
Ravindra Jadeja		Not out		107		185			13		1		57.84
Extras		24 (b 14, Ib 2, w 2, nb 6, p 0)
Total		425 (4 wkts, 143 Ov)
Yet to Bat		Rishabh Pant,Shardul Thakur,Anshul Kamboj,Jasprit Bumrah,Mohammed Siraj
Fall of Wickets
0-1(Yashasvi Jaiswal 0.4),0-2(Sai Sudharsan 0.5),188-3(KL Rahul 70.2),222-4(Shubman Gill 87.4)
Bowler	O		M		R		W			NB		WD		ECO
Chris Woakes	23		4		67		2			1		0		2.91
Jofra Archer	23		3		78		1			0		0		3.39
Brydon Carse	17		3		44		0			4		1		2.59
Liam Dawson	47		11		95		0			0		0		2.02
Joe Root	19		2		68		0			0		0		3.58
Ben Stokes	11		2		33		1			1		1		3
Harry Brook	3		0		24		0			0		0		8