England vs India, 4th Test Day 4: Shardul Thakur, Rishabh Pant hit fifties to set a target of 368 for England

After
India’s
middle-order
failed
to
score
runs
in
the
morning
session,
Pant
and
Thakur
stitched
a
century
partnership
between
them
to
help
their
team
take
a
sizeable
lead
of
367
runs
in
their
second
innings.

England
now
have
a
daunting
task
of
chasing
368
runs
to
win
the
game
on
a
pitch
that
looks
good
for
batting.
However,
the
hosts
have
never
chased
a
target
of
360
or
more
in
their
entire
Test
cricket
history.

1

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Thakur
–
who
slammed
a
sensational
half
century
in
the
first
innings
and
helped
India
post
191
in
their
first
innings
–
started
from
where
he
left
as
he
notched
up
back-to-back
fifty
in
the
match.

Like
his
previous
innings,
Thakur’s
innings
was
laced
with
brilliant
cover
drives,
straight
drives,
and
backfoot
punches
–
which
even
put
some
of
the
top-order
batsmen
a
stiff
challenge.
Shardul’s
knock
of
60
off
72
deliveries
was
laced
with
seven
boundaries
and
a
six
and
became
the
ninth
batsman
to
score
a
fifty
in
both
the
innings
of
a
Test
match
batting
at
number
eight
or
below.

Pant
–
who
struggled
with
the
bat
in
the
series
–
showed
better
intent
and
went
on
notching
up
his
first
fifty
of
the
tour.
Pant
–
who
was
getting
dismissed
playing
rash
strokes
on
the
tour
–
showed
composure
and
curbed
his
natural
instincts
to
score
the
slowest
half-century
of
his
career.

The
southpaw
took
105
deliveries
to
get
to
his
seventh
fifty
in
Test
cricket.
With
his
fifty
completed
and
Thakur’s
dismissal,
Pant
decided
to
take
on
the
offensive
against
England
bowlers
but
was
dismissed
by
Moeen
Ali
as
the
off-spinner
took
a
sharp
return
catch
to
end
his
innings.

Later,
Jasprit
Bumrah
(25)
and
Umesh
Yadav
(24)
also
played
some
good
strokes
to
help
their
side
go
past
450-run
mark.
Finally,
English
bowlers
took
the
wickets
of
Bumrah
and
Umesh
soon
after
the
tea
break
and
ended
the
Indian
innings
for
466.

Earlier
in
the
day,
England
bowlers
came
back
strongly
on
day
four
of
the
fourth
Test
as
they
picked
up
three
wickets
in
the
morning
session
at
the
Oval.
The
fall
of
three
wickets
ensured
the
England
bowlers
pulled
things
back
and
kept
themselves
in
the
game
with
some
disciplined
bowling
effort.

Chris
Woakes
–
who
remained
wicketless
in
the
second
innings
–
gave
the
hosts
back-to-back
breakthroughs
on
day
four
as
he
dismissed
Ravindra
Jadeja
and
Ajinkya
Rahane
in
two
overs
and
pushed
Team
India
on
the
backfoot.

Woakes
first
trapped
Jadeja
in
front
and
ended
the
left-handed
batsman’s
innings
for
17.
Jadeja
went
upstairs
to
review
it
but
in
vain.
The
Saurashtra
batsman
–
who
was
promoted
at
number
five
in
both
the
innings
of
the
Oval
Test
–
failed
to
impress
with
the
bat
as
he
could
make
a
contribution
of
10
and
17
runs
in
the
game.

After
Jadeja’s
dismissal,
Team
India’s
regular
face
at
number
five
–
Ajinkya
Rahane
–
walked
into
the
middle
at
number
six.
The
right-handed
batsman
–
who
has
been
under
tremendous
pressure
due
to
lean
patch
–
once
again
disappointed
with
the
bat.
In
the
very
next
over
bowled
by
Woakes,
Rahane
was
found
plumb
in
front
and
was
dismissed
for
a
duck.

But
the
biggest
moment
of
the
session
came
in
Moeen
Ali’s
hands
as
the
spinner
dismissed
India
captain
Kohli
for
44.
Kohli
looked
set
for
a
well-deserved
half-century
but
a
little
lapse
of
concentration
against
the
spinner
cost
the
Indian
captain
his
wicket.
Kohli
–
who
played
some
brilliant
shots
against
England
pacers
–
was
caught
at
slip
cordon
by
Craig
Overton
and
it
was
the
eleventh
occasion
when
he
was
dismissed
by
Ali
in
Test
cricket.