Gill, Rahul dig deep to pull India back in Manchester
After an early brace from Chris Woakes, India bounce back with the bat as a riveting Day 5 beckons.
Shubman Gill and KL Rahul’s dominant partnership helped keep India in the game after England amassed a sizeable lead in the first innings on Day 4.
The duo stitched together a 174-run partnership, steading the ship after an early brace of wickets for England. The tourists trail by 137 runs and have eight wickets in hand as the fourth Test moves into Day 5.
England resumed their innings from Day 3 with a lead of over 200 runs and three wickets in hand. Skipper Ben Stokes exuded brilliance with the bat, bringing up his 14th Test century.
Stokes built a crucial 95-run partnership for the ninth wicket along with Brydon Carse, piling further pressure on India.
The England captain amassed 141 runs from his stay of 198 deliveries, which included 11 fours and three maximums. Ravindra Jadeja though, finally provided India with the big breakthrough as Stokes miscued a shot to Sai Sudharsan at long on.
Jadeja finished as India's pick of the bowlers with four wickets from 37.1 overs, conceding 143 runs in the process.
England compounded India’s woes by striking in quick succession with the ball just before Lunch. Chris Woakes struck twice off as many deliveries in his first over, finding the edge of both Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan to leave the visitors reeling.
Coming into the second session with immense pressure and the five-Test series on the line, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill provided much-needed stability to India’s innings.
The duo, calculative in their approach, notched gritty half-centuries - negotiating a total of 377 deliveries between them.
Skipper Shubman Gill, who is the top run-getter in the ongoing series, piled on an unbeaten 78 off 167 deliveries - an innings composed of 10 fours.
The 25-year-old surpassed Virat Kohli to move second among the list of Indian captains with most runs in a Test series. Gill is now only behind Sunil Gavaskar, who holds the top spot for a whooping tally of 732 runs against West Indies in the 1978/79 home series.
KL Rahul, now second in the run charts in the ongoing five-match ICC World Test Championship series, continued his fine form with the bat. Rahul finished the day unbeaten at 87 off 210 deliveries.
England lead 2-1 in the ongoing five-Test series as the fourth Test heads towards an exciting conclusion on Day 5 in Manchester.