India pair Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja dent England's hopes of victory

Independent

a day ago

England's hopes of a series-sealing win over India looked to be slipping away following stubborn resistance from Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja on the final afternoon.
Ben Stokes defied a problem with his right shoulder to dismiss KL Rahul for 90 and end a 188-run stand with Shubman Gill, who was out for 103 on the stroke of lunch in the fourth Rothesay Test.
Jadeja was dropped by Joe Root off his first ball and he and fellow all-rounder Sundar settled India's nerves, taking them to tea on 322 for four – wiping out a 311-run first-innings deficit to lead by 11.
Sundar, promoted to number five with Rishabh Pant injured, ended the session on 57 not out with Jadeja unbeaten on 53, leaving England facing the prospect of just a second draw in the Bazball era – both at Emirates Old Trafford following the 2023 Ashes washout.
Aside from the prize scalp of Gill, England could not cash in on the second new ball, taken 40 minutes before lunch, with Liam Dawson offering containment but unable to exploit the foot holes on a fifth-day pitch.
Indeed, Stokes offered the most threat, especially at the start of the day. There were doubts about whether he would even bowl after struggling with cramp and soreness in his left leg in Manchester.
More fitness concerns became apparent after Liam Dawson started the day, with Stokes rubbing his shoulder following his first over then straightening his arm frequently from then on.
Stokes might have had Gill on 81 but a drive burst through a leaping Ollie Pope's hands at cover to give Gill his second reprieve, having been put down on 46 by Dawson on Saturday.
But variable bounce was increasingly in play and Rahul was struck on the knee roll by a delivery that jagged back and kept low, with an already-celebrating Stokes not even turning back to see umpire Rod Tucker's finger being raised.
Gill wore a painful blow to his bruised right hand and helmet after another delivery from Stokes leapt off a length, but the India captain soldiered on to a ninth ton in 36 Tests.
Alongside Sundar, Gill took India into safer waters and the deficit into double digits after England had taken the new ball without much reward.
However, Gill then fiddled outside off to Archer a few minutes before lunch and feathered through a simple catch to Jamie Smith. Jadeja also edged his first ball, but Root could not cling on to a head-high chance at first slip.
Archer, usually excellent to left-handers, was too straight in the afternoon session, perhaps targeting the pads of Sundar and Jadeja, both of whom were all too happy to clip off their legs.
Dawson was tidy but ineffective to the left-handers, prompting Root to be brought on after just 20 overs with the new ball, with the Yorkshireman getting one to rip past Sundar's outside edge.
Stokes delivered a short burst before tea but leaked 15 runs from his third over and hooked himself as a short-ball ploy backfired, thumped twice to the boundary by Sundar and once by Jadeja as the pair brought up their fifties and took India into the lead.
There was a possibility of a run out after Jadeja had pushed into the covers and set off, but the incoming Archer fell over while scooping up the ball and the chance was gone.