Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s live cricket blog and updates for the third day’s play in the fourth Test, between India and England at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. This is Suvajit Mustafi, and I will bring you the live cricket updates from the game. England dominated on Day One but India came back strong on Day Two. Responding to England’s first innings total of 400, India were 146 for 1 at stumps on Day Two with Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara batting on 70 and 47 respectively. Though India dominated the second day, England will be happy with the position they find themselves in. On a track where Indian spinners were getting enough purchase, Jos Buttler answered the critics in style. His 76 at his Indian Premier League (IPL) home ground was uncharacteristic of his style as he curbed his natural aggressive instincts and batted maturely, especially with the tail.
From the Indian camp, it was Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja who claimed 6 and 4 wickets respectively but could not restrict England under the 400-mark. The last two Tests that England played at this venue, they managed to cross the mark and on both occasions, ended as the winner. This was Ashwin’s 23rd five-wicket haul. However, the star of the English innings was debutant Keaton Jennings who became the third cricketer to score a century on Test debut for England against India. Jennings’ 112 off 219 balls included 13 boundaries and led England’s charge after they won the toss and decided to bat first.
Full Cricket Scorecard: India vs England 4th Test at Mumbai
Vijay and Pujara will lead India’s charge on Day Three. They enjoy batting with each other and have so far amassed 2,251 runs at 66.20, and this is their 7th century stand. Pujara has been in sublime form and will look forward to make another start count. He has already 3 hundreds under his belt this season. With Ajinkya Rahane missing out this Test, India have one Test-old Karun Nair in their line-up, so it become all the more important for the set batsmen to make it count. With captain Virat Kohli still to bat, India have a lot of batting left and with them playing fourth on this surface, piling up a big total will be all the more important.
England have stacked their side with four specialist pacers with James Anderson leading the attack. Reverse swing is the weapon they will look to unleash. Though there is a lot of turn in the surface, the England spin duo Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali have failed to imitate Ashwin and Jadeja so far. Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar got their pace and length right on this wicket when they bowled England to a famous win in 2012. Tough to replicate the mentioned quality but expectations from English fans will be nothing less.
Teams:
India XI: Virat Kohli (c), Parthiv Patel (wk), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
England XI: Alastair Cook (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Keaton Jennings, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Jake Ball, James Anderson.
Full Cricket Scorecard & ball-by-ball commentary: India vs England 4th Test at Mumbai
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