Pujara's maiden ton in England saves India's pride
Fighting all alone to save the Indian batting, the 30-year-old batsman slammed his first-ever century on the English soil while the entire stadium gave him the standing ovation for his brave and patient batting
Remarkable innings from Cheteshwar Pujara saved the Indian ship from sinking on the second day of the fourth Test at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. With Pujara’s 15th Test Ton, India managed to take a lead of 27 runs after getting bundled-up for 273 in 84.5 overs.
In return, the English openers survived the tricky last 15 minutes of the day going to stumps at 6 for no loss. Alastair Cook was batting at 2 while Keaton Jennings remained unbeaten on 4.
While the Indians were on the verge of getting bowled out before the 200-run mark, Cheteshwar Pujara chose the perfect time to show his might against the English bowling attack. Fighting all alone to save the Indian batting, the 30-year-old batsman slammed his first-ever century on the English soil while the entire stadium gave him the standing ovation for his brave and patient batting.
— Baahubali (@bahubalikabadla) August 31, 2018
On the other hand, Jasprit Bumrah probably played the best-ever inning of his small Test career. The 23-year-old, who is not so known for his batting skills, withstood 24 balls to support Pujara from the other end. The duo stitched a partnership of 46 runs which turned out to be the second highest of the Indian innings.
Earlier this day, the Indian openers were expected to make the most of the Southampton track after they resumed the innings at 19/0 on the second day. However, their poor show continued as KL Rahul was departed early in the first session while Dhawan followed him to the dressing room after almost 10 overs.
Stuart Broad removed both the openers after which the onus of rebuilding the innings once again fell on Kohli and Pujara and the right-handed duo did that in style with a solid batting effort, that saw them forge a 63-run unbeaten stand.
Meanwhile, Kohli also became the quickest Indian to enter the elite club of batsmen notching 6,000 Test runs. Earlier, Sunil Gavaskar had achieved the landmark in 117 innings, while the 29-year-old Kohli took two innings less to get to the feat.
However, the downfall of the Indian batting began after the lunch break. Resuming the session at 100/2, Pujara and Virat Kohli (46) consolidated the innings further by putting together a brilliant 92-run third wicket stand that deflated the English attack to some extent until left-arm quick Sam Curran got the back of the India skipper, caught by Alastair Cook.
All-rounder Ben Stokes, who was introduced very late did not look to be in any trouble with his knee and in his very third over, struck with the wicket of Indian vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (11).
Thereafter, Pant joined Pujara in the middle and the duo managed to put on 20 runs, despite the fact that the rookie stumper failed to open his account even after facing 29 balls before being finally trapped in front by off-spinner Moeen Ali.
That was just the beginning of the mayhem which was caused by Moeen. The English off-spinner though missed a fair chance to claim a hat-trick but successfully took a five-wicket haul to floor the Indians.
But Pujara held the nerve and played a memorable knock to not only save the Indian batting but to guide the team to take a lead.
Brief scores:
England 246 and 6 for no loss in 4 overs (Alastair Cook batting 2, Keaton Jennings 4)
India 1st innings: 273 all out in 84.5 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 132 not out, Virat Kohli 46; Moeen Ali 5/63, Stuart Broad 3/63)
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