Day Three
The overnight batsman Robson and Ballance resumed the proceedings for England on Day 3.It was vital for England not to lose early wickets in the morning session as it would have given India an early advantage.Robson and Ballance played cautiously and though their scoring rate was just above 2 runs per over in the first hour of play,they were occupying the crease and it was important for their team's cause.Both of them played out the entire session as Indian bowlers failed to make any inroads into the English batting line-up.
They say Cricket is a funny game and it was again evident in that afternoon session.It turned out to be a fantastic session of Test Cricket as a flat,placid pitch showered some blessings on seamers as 6 English wickets fell for just 74 runs.Ishant Sharma was at his best as he got Ballance and Robson trapped in front of their stumps in the space of 20 deliveries.Ishant bowled with good pace and fantastic line and length as ball made a lot of talking in that passage of play.Ishant was steaming in and danger man Ian Bell was his third scalp.Bell poked at a wide delivery away from his body as faintest of faint edge landed safely into Dhoni's gloves.M Ali joined Root at the crease and responsibility of steadying the England innings rested on their shoulders after triple strike from Sharma shook England.But it was not to be as M Ali was deceived by the slow and low nature of the pitch as the short ball from Shami didn't bounce as he anticipated and he was guilty of taking eyes off the ball and the ball after hitting his gloves loomed up in the air and easy catch was taken in slip cordon to bring down curtains on his short stay at the crease.Prior,the wicket-keeper batsman wa the next man in and was dubiously given out by umpire as replays clearly showed daylight between bat and ball.Stokes,came in at No.8 with barely 15 minutes to Tea but even he didn't last long as his wicket was like icing on the cake for Indians.It was a remarkable session not only from India's point of view but also in the context of the match as the match which was going nowhere at Lunch suddenly got momentum and Indians were in a position of strength at Tea interval.
Ishant is ecstatic after dismissing Ian Bell
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| Broad punishes India with a defiant 47 |
The Tea interval gave English batsman time to think and rethink their strategies as the duo of Root and Broad came out with a clear mind and positive intent in the evening session.Broad,in particular ,came out with all guns blazing as he didn't miss out on a single opportunity to score.England who were crawling at 205/7 at Tea time scored quickly and reached 250 within 45 minutes of play in the evening session.They overhauled their first target ,258 i.e they avoided the follow-on and the inception of new ball brought runs thick and fast for England.Broad was finally dismissed just 3 short of what could have been a fabulous half century but by then he had done his job and certainly saved England from deep waters.After dismissing Prior,Stokes and Broad ,B Kumar also accounted for plunkett as England's score read 298/9 still trailing India by 159 runs.The No.11,Anderson joined defiant Root and it was important for India to close out on England innings as early as possible.But poor tactics from Dhoni meant Root shielded Anderson over after over for the first four balls of the over and leaving the remaining two balls for the latter to negotiate.These defensive tactics worked perfectly for England as Root and Anderson stretched the English total past 350 at the close of play on Day 3 without being conquered.
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| Root consolidates with a gritty half-century |
Score:
India 457
England 352/9
Stumps,Day 3
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