England set to face mammoth chase as Rishabh Pant helps India stretch big lead

Independent

a day ago

England were facing up to the prospect of a record-breaking chase at Edgbaston as India stretched their lead to 357 on the fourth morning of the second Rothesay Test.
Ben Stokes' side have earned their reputation as a fearless fourth-innings unit, but with seven wickets still to take before they even get their chance, they are likely to require a world record.
India took lunch on 177 for three, Rishabh Pant unbeaten on 41 and attacking hard as he made the most of a bad drop by Zak Crawley on 10.
The tourists held all the cards as play began, 244 in front with nine wickets in hand. England needed things to happen quickly if they were to drag themselves back into the battle and Brydon Carse did what he could to oblige.
Charging in with good rhythm he got on top of KL Rahul and Karun Nair, beating the bat and picking up a couple of edges that failed to go to hand. India had almost survived his spell but Carse got his rewards when Nair nicked an attempted cover drive to Jamie Smith.
The wicketkeeper, whose unbeaten 184 on Friday prevented England's position being even more painful, added a solid diving catch to his list of achievements and showed impressive glovework by standing up to the stumps off Chris Woakes.
Rahul was a thorn in England's side, reaching 50 and then taking the lead past 300 with a thick edge through the vacant gully area. He was beginning to look at home when Josh Tongue sent him packing in no uncertain terms, firing a quick ball through his defences and detonating middle stump.
That brought Pant to the crease and the madness quickly followed. He pulled his third delivery for four, then stepped back to his fourth and swatted Tongue back down the ground for six.
That should have been the extent of his scoring but when he backed away to leg and pumped a simple chance to mid-off, Crawley fumbled badly. It did not take long for England to start counting the cost, Pant stooping to sweep Tongue for six more over square-leg, before punishing some drag downs from Shoaib Bashir.
At one stage he swung so hard he launched his bat 20 yards into the outfield, a comedy moment he followed by offering another chance off the leading edge. Woakes sprinted in vain to reach the looping ball but could not reel it in.