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Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul started positively to keep England at bay in the last hour of play on Day 2 of the ongoing fourth Test at Kennington Oval in London.
Rohit and Rahul stayed unbeaten at 20 and 22 runs, respectively, to put 43 runs on the scoreboard before the officials announced the stumps.
Earlier, England were bundled out for 290 runs after Ollie Pope and Chris Woakes shined with the willow and smashed their respective half-centuries to help hosts take a vital 99-run lead.
Pope made 81 runs while Woakes contributed 50 runs to guide England’s comeback after a shaky start. Moeen Ali (35) and Jonny Bairstow (37) also added important runs along with Pope lower down the order.
For the visitors, pacer Umesh Yadav picked up three wickets for 76 runs, while spinner Ravindra Jadeja claimed two wickets for 36 runs to keep India in the game.
Frontline pacer Jasprit Bumrah also bagged a couple of scalps for 67 runs. Shardul Thakur (1/54) and Mohammed Siraj (1/42) took one wicket apiece.
During the game, Yadav accomplished a personal milestone as he became the sixth Indian pacer to complete the 150-wickets benchmark in the longest format. It happened when the right-armer dismissed nightwatchman Craig Overton for 1 in the second over of Day 2.
Most wickets in Test Cricket by Indian pace bowler:
- 434 – Kapil Dev
- 311 – Zaheer Khan
- 311 – Ishant Sharma
- 236 – Javagal Srinath
- 195 – Mohammed Shami
- 150 – Umesh Yadav*
Here is how Twitter reacted:
India have clawed back into the game to an extent by not losing a wicket today. But there’s a mountain to climb still to save/win the match which is unlikely unless middle order finally wakes up
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) September 3, 2021
Good response from Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. India 43-0 at stumps, a deficit of 56. Another very good Test.
— Husky Trades (@Huskky_Trades) September 3, 2021
Sound and watchful beginning by India in the crucial 2nd innings. #indiavsEngland
— Jatin Paranjape (@jats72) September 3, 2021
An excellent fightback by England had put them ahead in the game. India's primary target was for the openers to stay undefeated at close. That done, they need to overhaul the deficit for no loss. Then, we have a game!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 3, 2021
India has seen collapses in the last four Test innings. India has conceded 99 runs lead. But still there’s something about this team that makes you think that they’ll find a way to bounce back. And make a match of it. Perhaps, win it too. #EngvInd
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 3, 2021
Bumrah fires a direct-hit and then assured three 99s at the same moment.
✔️99-run lead by England
✔️99th not-out of Anderson
✔️Bumrah would stay on 99 wickets for longer time#ENGvIND— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) September 3, 2021
Game in the balance … 👍
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) September 3, 2021
WinViz as it stands:
England – 48%
India – 48%
Draw – 4%#ENGvIND— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) September 3, 2021
An excellent little session that for India’s openers who played really well. They have reduced England’s lead to 57 without losing any wickets although Burns should have caught Rohit. This game is still very evenly poised indeed. Tomorrow should be fun #ENGvIND
— Rob Johnston (@RobJ_Cricket) September 3, 2021
Milestone 🔓 – @ImRo45 breaches the 15K run mark in International Cricket.#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/st5U454GS6
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 3, 2021
Few of famous Indian away wins came when the opponents had the 1st inns lead: Oval 1971, MCG 1981, Adelaide 2003, Lord's 2014 & 2021, Brisbane 2021. I think @gulu1959 had pointed this out a few days back. If India set 250+ target then they'll win
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) September 3, 2021
