An unbeaten 149 from Joe Root put England in complete control of the final Test against India, and they picked up the wickets of openers Murali Vijay and Gautam Gambhir before lunch on the third day yesterday.
England were bowled out for 486, a lead of 338, and India crumbled to 9-2 before rain forced the players off the field 10 minutes before the scheduled interval.
Vijay was trapped LBW by James Anderson for 2 and Gambhir, looking for a nonexistent single, was run out by a direct hit from Chris Woakes after being sent back by Cheteshwar Pujara.
Photo: AFP
England, 2-1 up in the series, tore into the India attack after resuming on 385-7.
Root clipped Ishant Sharma for three through midwicket to reach his fifth Test century, celebrating with a leap in the air and flamboyant fist pump.
Chris Jordan, on 20, edged a fierce Sharma delivery through to wicketkeeper M.S. Dhoni to end an eighth-wicket partnership of 82 from 76 deliveries.
Photo: AFP
Stuart Broad threw his bat at everything and raced to 37 off 21 deliveries, including a six and five fours, before he gloved a short ball from Sharma to Virat Kohli at third slip, although replays suggested his hand was not on the bat when he hit the ball.
Root, reprieved on 110 when he was bowled by a Sharma no-ball, continued to plunder the wayward attack and struck a succession of boundaries all round the wicket.
Anderson was out LBW to Ravichandran Ashwin for 1 to end the carnage, and Root was left unbeaten on 149 from 165 deliveries, including a six and 18 fours.
On Saturday, India took four wickets in quick succession before tea with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claiming two for three runs in eight deliveries, as England captain Alastair Cook (79), Gary Ballance (64), Ian Bell (7) and Moeen Ali (14) were dismissed.
At the interval England were 246-5, 98 runs ahead, on a day where overhead conditions largely favoured the batsmen and much of the early moisture in the pitch had evaporated.
Root and wicketkeeper Jos Buttler put on 80 before Buttler fell for 45 when he chipped Sharma straight to Ashwin at short midwicket.
Root then hooked a short ball from swing specialist Bhuvneshwar Kumar for six before reaching 50.
Root has scores of 154 in the drawn first Test at Trent Bridge, 66 in India’s 95-run second Test win at Lord’s, 56 in the hosts’ 266-run victory at Southampton and 77 in their even more emphatic innings and 54-run success at Old Trafford.
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