AGENCY
MUMBAI: India put themseleves on the cusp of completing a comprehensive series victory with England caught in a spin web following skipper Virat Kohli’s career-best 235 at the end of the fourth day of the fourth cricket Test. Records tumbled one after another as Kohli’s third double ton in as many Test series was complemented by Jayant Yadav’s maiden hundred with India piling up a mammoth 631 tereby taking a lead of 231 runs. In reply, England were left tottering at 182 for 6 needing another 49 runs to avoid innings defeat as the hosts are now all but assured to regain the Anthony De Mello Trophy that they had lost back in 2012. Ravichandran Ashwin (2/49), Ravindra Jadeja (2/58) and Jayant Yadav (1/39) shared five of the six wickets. The other wicket-taker was Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/11), who removed first innings centurion Keaton Jennings (0). It was a day of records with Jayant being the first Indian to score a Test hundred at No 9 and 241 runs added for the eighth wicket between Jayant and Kohli literally put England out of the game. With Indian spinners proving to be much superior in quality than their Indian counterparts, it will be a matter of time before the home team take series clinching lead going into Chennai for the fourth Test.
Jonny Bairstow was the not out batsman for England, on 50, after Jake Ball departed in the final over of the day.
Skipper Kohli yet again proved why he is among the top three batsmen in world cricket. The India captain struck 25 fours and one six in his monumental eight-and-a-half hour innings while he faced 340 deliveries.
With an able ally in Jayant, Kohli dictated terms for the second successive hitting boundaries on both sides of the wicket. He attacked the loose deliveries, the intennsity didn’t drop one bit even after he reached 175 plus as he was still running the second run as hard as ever.
With each run that the duo scored, England players were frustrated a degree more.
The home team were dismissed 48 minutes into the second session and England with only a draw to play plunged into deep trouble to be 49 for three at tea before being revived by a fourth wicket partnership of 92 runs between Joe Root (77) and Bairstow.
