Cricket: India fight to salvage draw against England in fourth Test at Old Trafford
Indian batsmen stand firm in second innings in Manchester
Despite losing the toss and being put in to bat on Day 1, India got off impressive start with Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul posting a 94-run opening wicket stand, which saw them shoot off to become early favourites, according to the betting odds.
Half centuries by Sai Sudharsan and Rishabh Pant helped the Men in Blue to 266/5, but after the dismissal of Ravindra Jadeja, India’s tail-end crumbled, with the final five wickets falling for an accumulated tally of just 92 runs.
Ben Stokes was the pick of the English bowlers in the first innings, notching up an incredible 5/72 in 24 overs at an economy rate of just 3.00. The skipper then followed up in a big way with the bat, smashing 141 in 198 deliveries, including 11 fours and three sixes.
However, the star of the piece was once again Joe Root, who, as he has done so many times in the past, proved to be the rock of the Three Lions’ batting order. He scored 150 off 248 balls and led his team to 669, firmly laying out the challenge to their opponents.
After Chris Woakes knocked over Jaiswal and Sudharsan in consecutive deliveries in the first over of the second innings on Day 4, alarm bells were ringing for India, but skipper Shubman Gill and KL Rahul navigated the side to safety to end the day at 172/2.
Rahul went on to score 90 runs off 230 balls, and Gill notched up another century in this series. Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja saw the match to its conclusion with both players reaching tons before stumps on the final day.
Why did India refuse Ben Stokes' handshake to accept draw?
In a somewhat unusual incident on Day 5, Ben Stokes offered his opponents a handshake to signal mutual agreement that the match would end in a draw, but to the surprise of the England captain, the opposing batsman declined.
At the time, India were on 386/4 after 138 overs, leading by 75 runs, and the match was evidently heading toward an inevitable draw. Despite this, the Indian batsman opted to continue playing with the aim of recording personal milestones.
Sundar was on 80* and Jadeja had 89* when Stokes made the offer for a draw. As it turned out, the pair forced the visibly fatigued England bowlers to trudge on and both ended the match in triple digits, with Sundar on 101* (206) and Jadeja on 107* (185).
There are just three days before the final match of the series gets underway at The Oval in London. The Three Lions are in the driver’s seat, and anything less than a win for India will see the first-ever Anderson-Tendulkar trophy remain in England until the next instalment.
