Match report, highlights and Twitter reactions: Woakes' maiden Test century takes England to a comfortable lead of 250 at the end of day 3
Match Report:
When the first day of the second Test match got washed out, there were a lot of apprehensions about the result as rain was predicted on the rest of the days of the match. As predicted it did rain on Day 2 but thanks to Anderson's five-fer England skittled out India for just 107 in 35.3 overs.
While England effectively utilised the overcast swing-friendly conditions on Day 2 to restrict India, Day 3 was all about exerting dominance on the visiting side. on Day3, the conditions for batting were highly favourable in comparison to Day 2 and England made the most of it. After the dominant day's play, England might look to force a result in the last two days of the match in which rain can play a big role.
English openers, Alistair Cook and Keyton Jennings, looked in good touch but thanks to some good bowling by Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami both the openers were dismissed within a span of 5 balls. After the departure of the openers, English captain, Joe Root, stitched a min-partnership of 45 runs with debutant Ollie Pope.
Just when things seemed to be going out of hand, Indian seamers pulled things back by sending both the settled batsman back to the pavilion. While Hardik Pandya took the wicket of Ollie Pope, Shami took the wicket of Joe Root just before lunch.
End of session 1: England 89/4 in 24.4 overs
After lunch, the scoring rate went up as the batting conditions eased a little bit. The presence of two dangerous batsmen, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, in the middle, meant that there was no respite to the Indian bowlers. The pair added 42 runs off just 39 balls. Shami produced a breakthrough in the form of Buttler's wicket but that did not stop the run flow.
Chris Woakes entered the field at 131/5 in the 32nd over and the all-rounder's performance with the bat changed the whole dynamics of the innings. Woakes' partnership with Bairstow was of 99 runs before tea with both batsmen reaching their respective half-centuries.
End of session 2: England 230/5 in 55 overs, Bairstow 62*(98), Woakes 55*(73)
The two half-centurions continued their good show with the bat after the break. The duo put together 189 runs for the sixth wicket before Bairstow missed put on a chance to score a century. On the other hand, Chris Woakes reached the triple-digit mark even before Bairstow's dismissal and he also stood strong after his partner's dismissal. Young Sam Curran and Woakes did not allow another wicket to fall and took their side to a 250 run lead.
Stumps: England 357/6 in 81 overs, Bairstow 93(144), Woakes 120*(159)
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