After losing the Pataudi Trophy last month, India is facing another defeat against England. An embarrassing 1-4 series defeat looks imminent for India as of now, as Virat Kohli-led team need 406 runs with 7 wickets in hand on the penultimate day of the fifth Test at The Oval which is an almost impossible feat.
Deflated after fielding for over 112 overs, India’s wobbly top-order once again faltered on Monday with Shikhar Dhawan (1), Cheteshwar Pujara (0) and Virat Kohli (0) dismissed in quick succession with day end score being 58 for 3.
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KL Rahul (46 batting) batted in cavalier fashion hitting eight boundaries in the company of Ajinkya Rahane (10 batting).
However, the day certainly belonged to Alastair Cook. Batting for one last time, Cook made 147 off 286 balls in his final knock while skipper Joe Root roared back to form with 125, his first hundred in 28 innings. Courtesy the twin hundreds, England declared their second innings on 423/8 with a massive target of 464 for the Indians.
Additionally, Cook has become the fifth batsman in Test cricket history to score hundreds in his first and last matches, after Australians Reggie Duff, Bill Ponsford, Greg Chappell and India’s Mohammad Azharuddin. This was his seventh Test hundred against India, more than any other English batsman, ahead of Kevin Pietersen’s six hundred. He is now also the second-highest run-scorer in Test cricket after Ponting (2555 runs). With 15 hundreds in second innings in Test cricket, he also overtook Sangakkara’s 14 hundreds.