Twitter erupts as Jasprit Bumrah's five-fer takes India one-step closer to victory at the end of Day 4
The Indian team was written off by many after the Lord's Test loss which left the team 2-0 down. Just when flashbacks of the previous tours started to surface again, the Indian rose up again and showed why they are the No.1 team in Test cricket.
In the third Test at Trent Bridge, it was a collective effort from everyone in the team. Just like the first Test, Virat Kohli made a total of 200 runs in the match but this time he had the able support of the rest of the batsmen. While the openers put together 60-run opening stands in both the innings, three other batsman - Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwara Pujara and Hardik Pandya scored half-centuries in the match.
After India posted 329 in the first innings as a result of half-centuries from Kohli and Rahane, it was the bowlers who put India in a position of dominance. Under favorable bowling conditions, India bowled out the home team in less than 40 over, 38.2 to be precise.
While Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah took the wickets of the top order, it was Hardik Pandya who bamboozled the middle and lower order batsmen of the English team, It was Pandya's five-wicket six-over spell that changed the face of the game. The all-rounder's maiden five-wicket haul helped India post a huge first innings lead of 166.
The lead gave a lot of confidence to the batting unit which ensured that they tired out the English bowlers by making them bowl nearly 205 overs in less than eight sessions in three days. With Pujara and Hardik Pandya chipping in with half-centuries, centurion Virat Kohli helped India set a daunting target of 521 for the home team.
During the final innings, Indian bowlers brought their A-game in the first session of the fourth day and picked up four wickets in that session. In the second session, it was centurion Jos Buttler and half-centurion Ben Stokes that dominated the proceedings. The two batsmen put together 159 runs for the fifth wicket before the introduction of the new ball.
As soon as the new ball was introduced Jasprit Bumrah demolished any little hope that the English fans had. He took three wickets - Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow and Chirs Woakes in the second and third overs bowled by him with the new ball. Hardik Pandya too chipped in with the crucial wicket of Ben Stokes in the very next over.
Bumrah would have taken his fifth wicket in the very next over but had to wait for it for more than 10 overs, thanks to a no-ball which delayed the ninth wicket. After that wicket, Adil Rashid and James Anderson saw off 6-overs of treacherous bowling to take the game to the final day. With the game completely in their control, India will look to wrap up the game quickly tomorrow morning.
Here are the Twitter reactions to fourth day's play: