Rahul departs after sublime fifty, Pant keeps England crowd on edge

Birmingham: K L Rahul lost his middle stump to a beauty from Josh Tongue before Rishabh Pant made the morning session more entertaining with his inimitable strokeplay, leaving India at 177 for three at lunch on day four of the second Test against England here on Saturday.

The 13-over old ball was expected to do a bit under cloudy conditions and it did for the England pacers especially Brydon Carse, who bowled his heart out in the session.

First innings double centurion Shubman Gill (24 batting off 41) and Pant (41 batting off 35) were in the middle when lunch was taken with India leading by 357 runs.

Considering England’s ultra aggressive style of play and the batting friendly nature of the surface, India would need at least 500 runs to rule out any possibility of hosts making a match of the target.

Rahul (55 off 84) played some majestic cover drives before being undone by a peach from Tongue that straightened from an angle to uproot the Indian batter’s middle stump.

Karun Nair (26 off 46) was the first wicket to fall on the day, a result of Carse’s relentless pressure. Soon after being driven for four, Carse continued to lure Nair into a drive and was rewarded with an outside edge to the wicket-keeper.

The tall bowler, who dismissed Nair with a snorter in the first innings, hit his helmet grille with a nasty bouncer, prompting a concussion check.

Pant came out in the 30th over and went ballistic from the get go. He smashed Josh Tongue for a four and a six over mid-off to make his intentions clear before executing a falling pick up shot off Ben Stokes that went all the way.

The crowd thoroughly enjoyed the battle between Pant and England bowlers. Towards the end of the session, Pant attempted a wild slog off Tongue but the bat slipped out his hands. Jamie Smith did well to collect the ball behind the stumps.