Shubman Gill had more lives than a cat on Sunday. He is too good a player to have missed out on a day like that.
He scored a hundred when he — and India — badly needed it. His third Test century (104, 147b, 11x4, 2x6) has given India an excellent chance for a series-levelling win in the second Test at the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Stadium. No other batter got to 50, as India was bowled out for 255.
That left the Englishmen to chase a record target of 399. They ended the third day at 67 for one, after Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett provided another quick-fire fifty-run stand for the first wicket. It should be a fascinating fourth — and possibly the final — day on Monday.
England will be chasing history: the highest score chased down in a Test in India is 387, by India against England, in 2008. Expect this Bazballing, England to have a go at it.
Earlier, India resumed at 28 for no wicket, but both the openers were back in the dressing room within 20 minutes of play. James Anderson yet again belied his 41 years, steaming in and making life difficult for the batters.
He moved the ball a shade away to beat the defensive bat of Rohit and pegged back his off stump. In the following over, he had the first-innings hero Yashasvi Jaiswal edging to Joe Root at first slip. His first spell of the morning read 4-1-6-2.
At 30 for two, it was a challenging situation for India, but it presented an opportunity to Gill.
The move from the opening slot to No. 3 hadn’t seemed to work, and his last score of over 40 in Tests was the 128 against Australia at Ahmedabad in March last year.
Slices of luck
This morning there were signs that Gill’s wait for a major innings could get longer. He was on four when he was given lbw to Tom Hartley and he reviewed the decision only after consulting with the non-striker Shreyas Iyer. He survived: the ultra-edge technology suggested the bat was involved.
He survived again: in the very next over, England reviewed when Anderson’s appeal for lbw was turned down by the umpire. And it proved the umpire’s call on DRS.
Before long, though, the real Gill made an appearance. He began to use his feet beautifully against the spinners, the timing became better.
He stepped out to hit Shoaib Bashir over his head for a six, swept Tom Hartley for a four and there was a scorching straight drive off Rehan Ahmed as well. But for his partnerships with Shreyas — 81 for the third wicket — and Axar Patel (45, 84b, 6x4) — 89 for the fifth wicket — India may have struggled.
Some of the Indian batters were guilty of soft dismissals once again. Ben Stokes deserves credit, though, for creating chances with his clever field changes. He also brought off a spectacular running catch to send Shreyas back.
England will be looking to the captain fantastic for more magic.
SCOREBOARD
INDIA — 1ST INNINGS
396 in 112 overs
ENGLAND — 1ST INNINGS
253 in 55.5 overs
INDIA — 2ND INNINGS
Yashasvi Jaiswal c Root b Anderson 17 (27b, 3x4), Rohit Sharma b Anderson 13 (21b, 3x4), Shubman Gill c Foakes b Bashir 104 (147b, 11x4, 2x6), Shreyas Iyer c Stokes b Hartley 29 (52b, 2x4), Rajat Patidar c Foakes b Rehan 9 (19b, 1x4), Axar Patel lbw b Hartley 45 (84b, 6x4), K.S. Bharat c Stokes b Rehan 6 (28b, 1x4), R. Ashwin c Foakes b Rehan 29 (61b, 2x4, 1x6), Kuldeep Yadav c Duckett b Hartley 0 (5b), Jasprit Bumrah c Bairstow b Hartley 0 (26b), Mukesh Kumar (not out) 0 (2b); Extras (lb-2, nb-1): 3; Total (in 78.3 overs): 255.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-29 (Rohit, 6.4 overs), 2-30 (Jaiswal, 8.3), 3-111 (Shreyas, 27.1), 4-122 (Patidar, 30.6), 5-211 (Gill, 55.6), 6-220 (Axar, 59.6), 7-228 (Bharat, 64.4), 8-229 (Kuldeep, 65.5), 9-255 (Bumrah, 77.4).
ENGLAND BOWLING
Anderson 10-1-29-2, Bashir 15-0-58-1, Rehan 24.3-5-88-3, Root 2-1-1-0, Hartley 27-3-77-4.
ENGLAND — 2ND INNINGS
Zak Crawley (batting) 29 (50b, 3x4, 1x6), Ben Duckett c Bharat b Ashwin 28 (27b, 6x4), Rehan Ahmed (batting) 9 (8b, 2x4); Extras (nb-1): 1; Total (for one wkt. in 14 overs): 67.
FALL OF WICKET
1-50 (Duckett, 10.5).
INDIA BOWLING
Bumrah 5-1-9-0, Mukesh 2-0-19-0, Kuldeep 4-0-21-0, Ashwin 2-0-8-1, Axar 1-0-10-0.
