Men in Blue made a strong comeback on the third day of the third Test at Headingley, ending the day on 215/2 on the back of terrific innings from Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli.
All is not lost for India, who were in a hopeless situation at the end of the second day, with England leading by 345 runs. The third day of the Headingley Test proved to be an excellent one for the visitors as they crawled their way back into the game and ended the day in a strong position of 215/2, reducing the deficit to only 139 runs.
Day three started with Craig Overton and Ollie Robinson resuming England’s innings to maximize the lead. But Indian bowlers were up to the task. Mohammed Shami pinned Overton on the crease for 32 after conceding a couple of boundaries. Jasprit Bumrah returned into the attack and cleaned Robinson upon his second delivery to wrap England’s innings on 432, a lead of 354 runs.
India had a mountain of a task in front of them. The opening duo of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma needed to provide a platform, and they did start well. Rahul, who was dismissed in the first over in the first innings, was a lot more cautious this time around, leaving everything outside off stump. Rohit was as assured as he has been on the overseas cycle.
The duo batted out 19 overs before an excellent delivery from Overton induced an edge off Rahul’s bat, and Jonny Bairstow grabbed a sensational one-handed catch to give India a blow on the stroke of lunch.
In walked Pujara, who received several freebies on the pads legside, helping him get off and running. Rohit and Pujara were quick to put the bad balls away, not letting any pressure mount on themselves. Rohit did have a couple of LBW shouts against him. The first one, England lost a review with ball going over the stumps.
On the second instance when Rohit was on 39, it looked a lot closer, but Root missed the timer by a millisecond. They rued the decision as the replays showed it was hitting the stumps. Rohit reaped the benefits of that lucky escape and brought up his fifty off 125 balls. India’s much-improved opener and the no. 3 played out the second session of the day without losing a wicket – an outstanding effort.
Straight after Tea, Rohit was hit on pads off full angling in delivery by Robinson, and the umpire raised his finger. Rohit opted for a review, but DRS showed the ball brushing the leg stump and stayed with the umpire’s call. He played some crispy shots in his outstanding innings of 59 and added 87 runs with Pujara for the second wicket.
The Headingley crowd went loud as India’s number 4 walked in, but it was Jarvo – the creative pitch invader, this time came out in batting gear. The security took him out as India’s real number 4, Kohli marked his guard.
Pujara kept doing his thing at the other end with a terrific strike rate, playing shots all around the ground. To the shock of many, he brought out the pull shot to bring up his fifty off 93 balls.
At the other end, Kohli flicked and drove Anderson for two boundaries in an over to get his innings going. The duo latched onto poor balls and punished Curran’s buffet bowling and other tired bowlers.
Joe Root tried to get through the overs quickly to get a shot with the new ball and bowled himself and Moeen Ali in tandem. The Indian duo saw the opportunity and scored at a quick rate. In the end, England couldn’t take the new ball as the light wasn’t safe to bring pacers on and the umpires called Stumps.
India were 215/2 at the end of the third day, with Pujara unbeaten on 91, eyeing a big hundred and Kohli on 45*, looking set for his big knock. India still trail by 139 runs with a fascinating day lined up ahead.
Brief Scores
India – 78 in 40.4 overs (Rohit 19, Rahane 18; Anderson 3/6, Overton 3/14)
England – 432 in 132.2 overs (Root 121, Malan 70; Shami 4/95, Bumrah 2/59)
India – 215/2 in 80 overs (Pujara 91*, Rohit 59; Overton 1/35, Robinson 1/40) trail by 139 runs.
