Mohali: India is all set for another victory against England in the third test at Mohali, as the visitors are reeling at 150 – 6, in the first session of the fourth day of the match.
Despite Joe Root’s 78*, England failed to eliminate the advantage of the 134 runs first innings lead gained by India, as their batsmen crumbled in front of the Indian spinners.
After starting the fourth day with an overnight score of 78-4, Gareth Batty was trapped in front of the stumps by Ravindra Jadeja, while Jos Buttler gifted his wicket to Jayant Yadav, trying to play an ambitious shot.
Haseeb Hameed is on the crease with Root, with Chris Woakes yet to come. Although England has depth in their batting line-up, with the pitch expected to assist the spinners more with time, chances are slim that England can dominate the Indian bowling and put up a challenging second innings total.
Yesterday, after the valiant efforts of the Indian tail-enders, Joe Root opened the innings with Alaistar Cook, with the clear intention to not give away any wickets in the last session. But their plans were spoiled by India’s ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who took 3 wickets in the last session of the third day.
At the same time, from the Indian perspective, it’s important to get Joe Root’s wicket as early as possible, to not let the game drift away from their hands.