England have taken a comfortable lead on the third day
Washington Sundar’s inclusion in the playing XI for the third Test against England at Lord’s was questioned as the Indian team management went against the opinion of many pundits to pick Kuldeep Yadav on a pitch with uneven bounce.
But the decision to include Washington not only added to their batting depth, but also yielded four wickets at a crucial juncture in the second innings when England were recovering through the partnership between Joe Root and Ben Stokes for the fifth wicket.
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HKG
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FRC
122/4
KLG
108/6
Fatemi Resources Cricket Club beat KL Gladiators by 14 runs
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SWCL
48/3
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Match Cancelled
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The off-spinner sent off Root batting on 40 as the hosts went from 4-154 to 192 all out. This came at a juncture when the old ball wasn’t working for the pacers and the pitch was offering turn when bowled in the right areas.
Similarly, the Tamil Nadu spinner got two quick wickets in the first innings of the fourth Test at Old Trafford as the surface on Day 2 got drier and flatter. However, Washington came in to bowl until the 69th over when England were in a comfortable position, nearing India’s total of 358 at the loss of only two wickets.
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This strategy to hold their in-form spinner took former England pacer Stuart Broad by surprise as he questioned Shubman Gill’s captaincy in the match.
“At Lord’s, Sundar bowled beautifully, and then to not have bowled a ball in 67 overs when the opposition team are 301/2 just seems bizarre,” Broad said while Sky Sports.
Washington got the better of Ollie Pope batting on 71 as he edged it to KL Rahul in the slips and then deceived Harry Brook with a flighted delivery.
Brook danced down the track and missed the ball completely as wicket-keeper Dhruv Jurel completed an easy stumping.
However, that seemed to be a small hiccup for England as they cruised into a 50-plus lead very soon. Joe Root also reached his 38th Test hundred in the process while also surpassing Jacques Kallis to become the third highest run-scorer in Test history.
India’s pace trio of Mohammed Siraj, Anshul Kamboj and Jasprit Bumrah couldn’t show much of an impact on the third day’s play while Shardul Thakur was once limited to a small role.
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