India’s Hardik Pandya in action. Photo: Reuters
NOTTINGHAM: India routed England on a dramatic afternoon at Trent Bridge as Hardik Pandya took five wickets, including one with his first delivery, to dismiss the home side for 161 and breathe new life into a rollercoaster series on Sunday.
All 10 wickets went down in the session as England, who won the first two tests in the best-of-five series, conceded a first innings deficit of 168.
Pandya took a career-best five for 28 in six overs to transform the game after England had lunched in the comfortable position of 46 without loss.
But the bowlers knew that, like England’s attack in the morning when India’s remaining four wickets fell cheaply to see them bowled out for 329, balls pitched on the right length found instant success. With England on 56, Alastair Cook was first to depart for 29, caught behind off a probing delivery from Ishant Sharma, with his partner Keaton Jennings following next ball when Jasprit Bumrah squared him up horribly.
From that moment, England were always fighting a rearguard action, with Ollie Pope edging down the leg side before Pandya had captain Joe Root caught by Lokesh Rahul’s fingertips at slip.
Root clearly felt the ball had bounced before reaching the fielder and remained unhappy even after the TV umpire confirmed the dismissal, shaking his head in disapproval.
Ben Stokes soon followed for 10, caught by Rahul off Mohammed Shami, before Pandya accounted for Jonny Bairstow (15), Chris Woakes (8) and Adil Rashid (5) in quick succession.
The last two were both caught behind by keeper Rishabh Pant, who marked an impressive debut by taking five catches.
Jos Buttler raised the biggest home cheer of the afternoon by scoring a streaky run to avoid the follow on. The batsman did his best to fight back, striking several strong blows before he finally holed out on 39.
Earlier, India lost their final four wickets for 22 runs in 40 minutes as Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad bowled superbly to lay down the template for an astonishing afternoon.
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Written by Mausam
This news first appeared on https://thehimalayantimes.com/sports/pandya-takes-five-wickets-as-england-lose-10-in-session/ under the title “Pandya takes five wickets as England lose 10 in session”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
