India beat England by 203 runs in Nottingham to reduce deficit to 2-1

Despite this victory, a lot has to be done in the series. India cannot afford to lose another game. It’s essential to win the 4th Test to equalise the rubber.

Making a strong comeback in the series, India defeated England by 203 runs in the third Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on Wednesday. The visitors needed just one wicket to the take the game home and the job was perfectly done by R Ashwin in the third over of the final day. Despite losing the match, England still lead the 5-match rubber 2-1 with two more games to go.

Earlier today, Adil Rashid (30) and James Anderson (8) took the crease to resume the innings at 311/9. They needed 210 runs to capture the series but didn’t enough men to win the battle. The hosts were bowled out for 317 in the 105th over and handed over the visitors their first win.

The game was a do-or-die situation for Virat Kohli and his men. They have already lost the previous two battles and desperately needed to bounce back. In order to do so, the batsmen were required to show more commitment on the field.

The management made a few changes in the playing XI and received a fruitful outcome. The opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul provided decent starts, stitching a strong 60-run partnership for the opening wicket in both the innings.

It was great to see the Indian Test specialists – Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane – coming out their shells and performing bravely against the English pace attack. Rahane played a massive knock of 81 runs in the first over while Pujara got 72 runs against his name.

Recovering from his back pain, Kohli played the captains knock and smashed 200 runs in the entire match. Though he missed a century by mere 3 runs in the first innings, he made sure to get one in the next. In the second innings, he ended up scoring 103 runs off 197 balls including 10 boundaries. He has now become the highest scorer of the series with 440 runs under his belt.

The Nottingham Test turned out to be a great outing for the speedsters Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah.

On the second day, Pandya struck his maiden 5-wicket haul in Test cricket and helped his team bundling England at 161. While on the other hand, Bumrah broke the backbone of the English batting line-up on a penultimate day, scalping five wickets in his 29 overs.

Adding to India’s all-round performance at Trent Bridge, debutant Rishabh Pant played an equally important role. The 20-year-old wicketkeeper firstly became the first Indian batsman to open his run-account in Test cricket with a six and later, scripted history with his stumping gloves.

He grabbed 7 catches in the entire game and now has become the first Indian wicketkeeper to do so on debut. Apart from Pant, Rahul was the next man who grabbed 7 catches at the slips.

Despite this victory, a lot has to be done in the series. India cannot afford to lose another game. It’s essential to win the 4th Test to equalise the rubber.

The next match starts on August 30 at The Rose Bowl, Southampton.