England openers Alex Lees and Zak Crawley set the stage for the hosts to chase down a mammoth target of 378 runs against a high-quality India bowling attack. The English openers put on a 107-run stand for the opening wicket as they began the chase with a ‘bads-ball’ philosophy to counterattack the Indian bowlers.
At tea, England were 107/1 in 23 overs, with Lies (56*) and Ollie Pope (0*) in the middle. Captain Jasprit Bumrah became the only bowler to add a wicket to his name in the second session on Monday.
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Lease hit back at the Indian bowlers, who looked confident with a target of 378 runs on the scoreboard. The southpaw has faced 61 balls so far and hit 8 boundaries to reach 56 after a poor first innings dismissal where he was dismissed for 6.
While Crowley also looked calm and solid during his 46-run knock, his lack of concentration led to the loss of his wicket as Bumrah pushed him to end the innings with 76 balls in the middle.
Earlier, skipper Ben Stokes took four wickets as England bundled out India for 245 in 81.5 overs in their second innings.
If England are to take a 2-1 lead in the series, they will have to strive to chase down their highest successful target in Test cricket and on this ground as well.
Earlier, Rishabh Pant scored 146 runs in the first innings with 57 runs, while Cheteshwar Pujara scored 66 runs in the second innings.
Shreyas Iyer was a big disappointment for India as he again succumbed to the short ball. Brendon McCullum, who worked with Iyer at KKR, instructed his bowlers to attack the middle-order batsman with short deliveries and Matt Potts worked for his coach and team. Potts cuts it short and Iyer fails to connect the pull short well and is dismissed for 19. He looked good on the ball which was pitched well or at full length but his misery continued on the short deliveries which is a dangerous sign for him and the team. management.
Meanwhile, India lost their last four wickets for just 47 runs as Tail failed in a fight against the short ball trap set by the English pacers.
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