Before lunch, Shami and Jadeja play out their final over amicably. The pull shot mastery of Shami has been impressive. He scores four runs by pulling a short ball from Potts to fine leg. Shami’s batting performance against pace and spin has dramatically improved. Shami cuts past the backward point on a fast, wide delivery from Jack Leach to extend India’s advantage to 350.
IND 212 – 7 (70 overs): Had Anderson not missed a problematic opportunity to dismiss Jadeja at the cover, Potts may have taken two wickets in the same over. He had ten on. Shami now belongs to Jadeja. Potts immediately throws a short pitch. Three males are under arrest. WICKET! Against Thakur, who mistimes a pull to Crawley, Potts continues to use the quick ball strategy. Thakur earlier dove to avoid a Potts short ball and was struck flush in the grille of his helmet. He needed the physio’s attention. The ball before it had risen from the back of a length, but this one stayed a little lower.
The England hitters, who must chase on this worn-out surface, will be bothered by the uneven bounce.
WICKET! IND 201 – 6 (66 overs) 57 (Pant ct Root b Leach) Leach has found his man. Although Pant tries to play the reverse sweep, Joe Root at slip receives it straight. Significant progress There are grins all across the England camp. They are aware of the magnitude of this innovation. Shardul Thakur enters at position eight. He hasn’t started well yet.
IND 198 – 5 (62 overs): Jack Leach, a left-arm spinner, enters the fray. He steps in for Broad. What is Pant’s job? He sweeps the opening pitch for a four. With an outside edge that falls to the third man for four, Jadeja misses the mark. WICKET! (Iyer ct Anderson b Potts 19) The short ball ruse is effective.