India and England are engaged in an appealing contest in the second Test for the Pataudi Trophy at Lord's. It was a close contest, with England marginally having the upper hand on Day 4.
On Sunday, England marginally had the upper hand on Day 4 against India during the second Test for the Pataudi Trophy 2021 at Lord's in London. While India has extended its lead to 154 after losing six wickets, bad light forced early stumps.
Earlier, put in to bat, India had managed 364 by Day 2. As for England, it managed to score 391 by Day 3, leading by just 27 runs before stumps were called for the day.
As India began its second innings on Day 4, it was off to a shaky start, losing KL Rahul for a mere five to pacer Mark Wood after being caught behind by Jos Buttler, with just 18 runs on the board. It was nine runs later, when fellow opener Rohit Sharma too, departed for 21 to the same man after an attempted pull off a short ball landed in the hand of Moeen Ali at deep fine-leg.
The pair of Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Virat Kohli looked to take control of the innings, but the latter's poor outing in England continued after he was caught behind for 20 off pacer Sam Curran at the score of 55. In came vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane and, along with Rahane, managed to bat out until the lunch break kicked in, leading by 29 runs.
It was an extremely slow session for India in the post-lunch session, as the pair played a super-composed innings, frustrating the English bowlers in the process. Both Pujara and Rahane contributed 49 runs in the session, as no damage was done, while the lead was extended to 78 at the tea break.
The post-tea session saw 50 more runs being contributed by the pair, as they produced a 100-run stand for the fourth wicket before Pujara fell for 45 to Wood after being claimed by Joe Root at the slips. While Rahane had already brought up his 24th Test half-century by then, at 167, he departed for 67 after being caught behind by Jos Buttler off Moeen Ali.
As all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja walked in to stabilise the innings again, just eight runs later, he was knocked over by Moeen for a mere three. In came Ishant Sharma and supported Rishabh Pant at the other end before bad light forced the players to walk off the field 30 minutes before, as stumps was called for the day.
For England, six bowlers have been utilised so far. While Wood has been the most successful as of now, seamer James Anderson has been the most economical.
Brief scores: India 364 & 181/6 (Rahane- 61; Wood- 3/49) leads England 391 (Root- 180*, Bairstow- 57; Siraj- 4/94) by 154 runs
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