LONDON: Murali Vijay fell five runs short of a well-deserved century on Sunday as England took three valuable wickets in the morning session of fourth day of the second test at Lord's.
A free-hitting Ravindra Jadeja (37) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (13) will resume after the break with India on 267 for seven, having extended their lead to 243 as they seek to give England a challenging fourth innings chase.
Opener Vijay looked set for his fifth test century, having resumed on 59, but fell shortly after the new ball was taken, edging James Anderson to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.
England's bowlers had started poorly, pushing the ball either side of the wicket, but once against Yorkshire paceman Liam Plunkett provided the burst of inspiration his side desperately needed.
On Saturday afternoon, as the England attack grew increasingly weary, he removed Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli in consecutive balls to haul his side back into the match.
The following morning, a touch of extra bounce saw an unusually circumspect Mahendra Singh Dhoni (19) edge through to Ian Bell at slip.
Moeen Ali was introduced for a few overs of spin before the new ball was taken and Alastair Cook's decision immediately vindicated when Stuart Binny, yet to get off the mark, skied a shot that the captain caught at full stretch.
The hosts will be conscious of wrapping up the India innings quickly, with Jadeja prepared to chance his arm in the pursuit of quick runs and Kumar, who was dropped by Joe Root, full of confidence after two half-centuries in the drawn first test at Trent Bridge.
Comments
Comments are closed.