Winning a Test match on a good pitch despite losing the toss gave Virat Kohli great satisfaction. Kohli had entered the best-of-five series against England at 15th place on the ICC List and has soared on the basis of 405 runs so far.
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England’s Jonny Bairstow celebrates the wicket of India’s Murali Vijay on the fourth day of their third cricket test match in Mohali, India, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016.
England were dismissed for 283 runs in their first innings while the hosts had managed 417 in reply. Jos Buttler [18] and Chris Woakes [30] provided some resistance but neither were able to stick with Hameed [59 not out], who produced an innings of maturity to extend the lead above 100. The Saurashtra batsman misjudged the bounce and ended up offering a top edge to Root at short fine leg.
In the Visakhapatnam Test, Kohli single-handedly led England demolition as he scored 167 and 81 not out to help India pummel the touring side by 246 runs.
Hameed was left stranded when James Anderson was run out for five. The 50 came off 39 balls with eight boundaries and a six. Joe Root was dismissed by Jadeja; courtesy Ajinkya Rahane’s blinder in the slip. While he missed the half-century in the first innings, he made sure he reached there in the second. Among the Indian bowlers, spinners shared the honours among them as Ashwin scalped 3, Jadeja & Jayant got 2 each while speedster Mohammad Shami got 2 wickets.
Early in the session, England spent their two DRS reviews in a desperate search of wickets.
However, Jadeja finally got the prize scalp of Root to push India closer towards an innings victory in Mohali. Root first, and then Hameed, provided precisely that, amplifying the fact that even on the fourth day, there were no demons in the surface and that if you trusted your defence, watched the ball closely and backed yourself, you could not just survive but also score runs.
With the finish line in sight, Pujara was out caught sweeping off Adil Rashid (1-28).
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The Englishman was clearly shaken by the blow and had to pause for a drink as the England physio came out to check on him. First he broke the eight wicket partnership by having Woakes got caught by Parthiv Patel in his second delivery of his 12th over.
