Daily Times

BIRMINGHAM: Captain Virat Kohli stroked an unbeaten 43 as he steered India to 110 for five at the end of the third day on Friday, leaving the visitors needing another 84 runs to win the gripping first Test against England. With 35 wickets having tumbled inside three days, England will be hoping they can grab the five remaining Indian wickets quickly on day four so that they can mark their 1000th Test with a victory. England’s bowlers made the most of the new ball in slightly overcast conditions by reducing the visitors to 78-5 in a fierce spell of swing bowling after the tea break.

With the exception of Kohli, none of the Indian top order batsmen looked at ease against the bowlers with Stuart Broad the pick of the attack with two wickets. Earlier, all rounder Sam Curran followed up his first innings haul of four wickets by scoring a solid half century to guide England to 180 all out in their second innings. The Indian bowlers ripped out the heart of the English batting line-up by reducing the hosts to 87-7 before Curran came to the rescue by scoring 63 off 65 deliveries, including nine boundaries and two sixes. He was last man out to leave India to chase down a 194-run victory target at Edgbaston. India will be hoping Kohli, who scored a brilliant 149 on Thursday, can produce another heroic performance as they will need to pull off their highest fourth innings chase in England if they want to take a 1-0 lead in the five match series.

Published in Daily Times, August 4^th 2018.