Dharamsala: England staged a remarkable comeback in the final session of the second day, displaying clinical bowling prowess. However, India’s steadfast tail-enders ensured that the hosts maintained their advantage in the final Test at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium on Friday. At the stumps of the day’s play, India had amassed a total of 473/8, establishing a commanding lead of 255 runs.
Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah remained unbeaten, scoring 27 (55) and 19 (55) respectively, bolstering India’s position. Kuldeep relied heavily on sweep shots to survive England’s high-flying spin bowling unit, while Bumrah executed the late cut to deal with the balls that spun away from him.
The ‘Chinaman’ spinner perfectly timed his shots to keep the scoreboard ticking while Bumrah adopted a cautious approach and picked his moments to rotate the strike.
Rohit completed his hundred which was laced by 13 fours and three sixes in his innings. On the second ball of the 59th over, Gill also scored his fourth Test ton as he slammed a boundary on the bowling youngster Shoaib Bashir with the help of 10 boundaries and five sixes.
Sarfaraz Khan notched up a half-century before falling victim to Shoaib Bashir. Meanwhile, debutant Devdutt Padikkal also registered his maiden half-century.
India Playing 11: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravindra Jadeja, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
England Playing 11: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Stokes (c), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes (wk), Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, Mark Wood, James Anderson
