BIRMINGHAM, United
Kingdom— Jonny Bairstow was eyeing a third hundred in successive Tests
after leading England's fightback against India at Edgbaston on Sunday in fine
style.
اضافة اعلان
England were 84-5, a huge
332 runs behind India's first innings 416, when play resumed on the third day
of the COVID-delayed fifth Test, with Bairstow 12 not out and captain Ben
Stokes unbeaten on naught.
But by the time rain
brought the morning session to a halt 15 minutes ahead of schedule, England
were 200-6, in sight of avoiding the follow-on in a match they had to win to
end the five-Test series all square at 2-2.
Bairstow was 91 not out,
his latest display of dynamic run-making following scores of 136 at Trent
Bridge and 162 at his Headingley home ground during England's recent 3-0
whitewash of Test world champions New Zealand.
England's first series
under their new leadership duo of Stokes and red-ball coach Brendon McCullum
had several times seen them hit their way out of trouble.
But doubts had been
expressed over whether batting in 'Bazball' fashion, a reference to former New
Zealand captain McCullum's nickname, would work against India's formidable pace
attack.
The strengths and
weaknesses of such an approach were encapsulated in Stokes's exit for 25.
Already dropped on 18,
when Shardul Thakur floored a routine catch at cover, Stokes was missed again
on 25 when India stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah dropped a low chance at
mid-off, with Thakur the unlucky bowler on this occasion.
But Thakur was not
unlucky for long as Stokes, far from retreating into his shell, drove harder
and higher next ball only for Bunmrah, diving to his left, to hold a brilliant
catch and one far harder than the chance he had missed.
England, at 149-6 were
still in trouble.
That catch continued an
excellent all-round match for Bumrah, leading India for the first time after
regular captain Rohit Sharma was sidelined by Covid-19.
The tailender had smashed
Stuart Broad for 29 in an over costing a total of 35 — the most expensive in
Test history — in a flourish to an India total built on hundreds from Rishabh
Pant (146) and Ravindra Jadeja (104).
Bumrah, in his more
familiar role of new-ball spearhead, then removed all of England's top three in
a superb haul of 3-35 in 11 overs. That gave him 21 wickets in the series,
the most by an Indian bowler in a series in England.
But Bairstow, undisturbed
by a verbal altercation with Virat Kohli that prompted the umpires to speak to
the former India captain, completed an 81-ball fifty before hammering Mohammed
Siraj and Thakur for two resounding sixes.
This decider should have
been played in Manchester last September only to be postponed just hours before
the start at Old Trafford because of coronavirus concerns within the India
camp.
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