England vs India, 1st Test: Virat Kohli's unwavering grit sets up a cracking Day 4 finale
By the looks of it, the Edgbaston Test just keeps getting better and more engrossing with each passing day. With three days concluded as of now, the match is evenly poised and both teams will fight their hearts out to clinch a win tomorrow morning and draw first blood in the series.
England were in a bit of a bother early in the piece as Ashwin plucked out two more wickets to leave them reeling on 39 for 3 with just over 10 overs into the day. Keaton Jennings, much like his opening partner Alastair Cook, fell for the dip and ended up granting an absolute dolly to the slips fielder. Joe Root, though, got out in shocking fashion: glancing a ball from his hips straight into the middle of leg slip's palm.
It was the Ishant Sharma show from there onwards. With the relatively new Duke ball taking some reverse, Sharma decided to change angles for the lefties and come around the wicket. The change of angle did the trick for him and made him a far more lethal option for English batsmen to cope with. Sharma squared up Malan with an absolute peach that pitched round about the off stump and taken away by the angle: a simple grab in the slips.
The carnage, however, was to be unleashed in the 30th over. Sharma had Johnny Bairstow brilliantly caught by Dhawan at first slip before routing out Ben Stokes two deliveries later in a manner similar to Malan's dismissal. This wasn't all, though, as following lunch, Sharma returned to conclude his over and in the process, took Jos Buttler's crucial wicket, too. Within a space of deliveries, Sharma had rattled the English middle order and left them hopelessly befuddled at 87-7.
The game looked like slithering away from England's control before the 20-year-old Sam Curran, once again, came to the party. The teeny youngster set out on a counter-attack, playing expansive drives and even belting Ravi Ashwin high into the stands for a gigantic maximum, once.
He brought up his maiden half-century in Test Cricket with an effortless six over extra cover while facing Sharma, definitely the boldest of ways to go to your 1st ever milestone in International Cricket. The flurry, though, halted after a while as Indian bowlers wrapped up the tail. Sharma picking a five-for on the way.
In pursuit of a not-so-easy-looking 194, India commenced solidly and once Malan dropped yet another catch in the slips, it seemed as if India might sleepwalk through this target. However, Murali Vijay could only add three runs to his tally after getting a reprieve. He shoulder-armed to a Broad in-dipper and was adjudged plumb by Chris Gaffaney.
By then, Broad already had gotten a sniff. He was really running in, putting hefty effort behind every ball he bowled. Root saw the opportunity was right to get the crowd going too. With the Barmy Army comrades all pumped up and ensuring their support from the Hollies stand, Broad ran in and chipped away with another vital breakthrough, this time Dhawan falling prey to his impeccable combo of pace and swing.
Virat Kohli, India's glorified son, then walked in with his team in slight torment. With a couple of gorgeous off drives, the Indian skipper got himself going to exert some pressure back on the hosts. India's worries worsened as KL Rahul soon returned to the pavilion, a fresh victim of yet another of Stokes' beauties.
Against Anderson, his arch-nemesis, Kohli was all but watchful and his application, more adept and strong-willed. To see off his threat, he kept caution just as he had done in the 1st innings.
The havoc, though, continued from the other end as Ajinkya Rahane played another ugly waft and ended up throwing his wicket, again. Ashwin, who was promoted up the order with a bit of a pressure-releasing license, got a typical Anderson-esque delivery that had him nicking back to Bairstow.
At 78 for 5 with a handful of runs and overs still to play with, England would have hoped to seal the show with a couple of wickets and complete the post-battle proceedings tomorrow morning. Kohli, however, is a warrior. They were never going to get past him that easily. Not when he has scored exactly 50% of the team's total runs in this match so far; not when he's single-handedly carrying a team lidded with out-of-form batsmen.
Karthik did well to not only stick around with his skipper but also compile crucial runs before the play resumes next morning. India are positioned at 110 with 5 wickets in hand and 84 runs to achieve.
The match sits right in the balance but you'd want to call England's bag a bit more 'weightier' given that Hardik Pandya is the only recognized batsman following this pair. But you wouldn't want to take chances with Kohli, will you? He is the only thing standing between England and 1st Test triumph. Utterly resolute with unfaltering perseverance.
England would want to see his back early to strengthen their chances. It's all set for a cracking day's Cricket tomorrow as the Birmingham humdinger takes its final twist.