Published: Dec 19, 2016, 02:40 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 19, 2016, 03:07 PM (IST)
After a blistering 199 by KL Rahul, his Karnataka teammate Karun Nair slammed his double century — second by an Indian this series —on Day Four of the fifth and final Test between India and England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai. Experienced and in form players like Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay took a backseat in this Test as Nair and Rahul fired, thus making it the sixth instance for India where two batsmen have scored in excess of 150 in the same innings. With the magnificent batting from these two young batsmen, India have taken a lead in the first innings after England put up a challenging 477.
Day Three was a ‘KL Rahul show’ for India. Rahul, after putting up a 152-run partnership with fellow opener Parthiv Patel, went on to score his first century on home soil. He gradually went past his previous best 158 but remained unlucky to get out for 199, remaining 1-run short of his 200-run mark. Rahul became the ninth batsman in the world and second Indian to get out for 199. Nair, meanwhile, went on to score his maiden half-century and remained unbeaten at 71 with Murali Vijay (17) as India put up 391 for 4 at stumps of Day Three. Though Vijay got out for 29 on Day Four, Nair went on to score his maiden century and then built on the score to go past 150. Ravichandran Ashwin provided him with ample support, scoring his half-century as Nair got to 200. With this, he became the quickest among Indians to get to 200 in his Test career as he took only 3 innings to get to the landmark. With Nair getting to the landmark, India have extended their lead to 112 reaching 589 for 5 in the first innings.
FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs England, 5th Test at Chennai
Though the England bowlers were successful to pick up a few wickets, their economy rates were ruined by the Indian batsmen. India have already won the series 3-0 and will now look to win the final Test with full domination.
