Day three preview
England find themselves in a strong position going into day three in Ranchi. After posting 353 thanks to Joe Root’s unbeaten century, they restricted India to 219/7 at the close with India still 134 runs behind.
Shoaib Bashir starred with the ball, taking four wickets in a mammoth spell that spanned two sessions; it was the longest spell by an England bowler since 2013. Tom Hartley also chipped in with two wickets as the two spinners bowled well in tandem for a long period in the afternoon and evening sessions.
Earlier in the day, England took their overnight total from 302/7 to 353 all out. Ollie Robinson scored a maiden Test half century and Joe Root finished unbeaten on 122. After failing to reach 50 in the first three Tests of the series, Root was happy that he could contribute an innings of substance.
“As an experienced player, the amount of cricket I’ve played, you trust your instincts in the moment.
Joe Root (pictured) scored an unbeaten century on day two
Credit: Tauseef Mustafa/Getty Images
“The reason that I’ve been able to play as many games as I have and been fortunate to play as many games as I have is because under pressure, a lot of times I’ve managed to make those right decisions.
“It was nice to finally contribute with the bat. It’s been a lean few games for me and very frustrating. I do like coming to this part of the world and I feel my game is set up nicely to play well here.
“It was good to spend some time out there, build some good partnerships and get what feels like a very good first-innings score on that wicket.”
India resume with Dhruv Jurel (30) and Kuldeep Yadav (17) at the crease, who built a solid partnership in the final hour of yesterday’s play. England are just seven overs away from the new ball.
Play resumes at 4.00am (GMT).