England vs India, 3rd Test : Hits and Misses

In a do or die Test for the Indians, they were put in to bat on a pitch with a greenish tinge and overcast conditions. The Indian batsmen showed more discipline and application this time around and propelled the team to a decent score of 329. In reply, the England batsmen struggled to get going and Pandya bowled a memorable spell to restrict England to 161. With a huge amount of lead, Indians confidently attacked the English pacers in the third innings.

Led by Kohli’s superb century, the Indians set England an improbable target of 521. Cook and Jennings yet again fell cheaply and England were facing a historic defeat. But Butler and Stokes showed a lot of character and patience and provided some respite to the English supporters. But once Butler fell to Bumrah, it was all about a matter of time when India went through the lower order.

However, the grit shown by Rashid and Anderson even after India opted for an extended half an hour, the duo managed to take the game on Day 5 to keep India at bay.

But it just took visitors 10 mins and 17 balls exactly to wrap up the game on Day 5 as they defeated England by 203 runs. In spite of the win, the visitors still trail in the series by 2-1 with two games to go.

Let us have a look at the few hits and misses from the match.

---

#1. Hit : Virat Kohli

The hundred at Edgbaston silenced many of his critics, but this performance at Nottingham will make even his biggest haters stand up and applaud. His batting in the first innings was marked by patience and composure, but his second innings century was just pure class full of glorious drives.

His on-field captaincy was spot on with some good bowling changes and aggressive field placements. He will be very happy with the way his team has performed after a hard-hitting defeat at the Lord’s and would be hoping for a similar win at the Ageas Bowl.

#2. Hit : Hardik Pandya

There was a lot of question marks on the all-round skills of Pandya before the match. He was being criticized by both the fans and the former cricketers. He put all the criticism to rest with a breathtaking spell in the 1st innings that is going to be fondly remembered for a long time.

He bowled a perfect 4th stump line throughout that spell which resulted in the wickets of Root and Bairstow. Finally, he picked up Broad’s wicket with a beautiful inswinger which resulted in his first 5 wicket haul.

#3. Hit : Jos Buttler

When he came out to bat in the 2nd innings, the crowd was dead silent and England were staring at a shameful defeat . But he combined with Stokes for a good partnership and scored his maiden ton in Test cricket.

He showed tremendous maturity in his innings and never missed out on a loose ball. His much improved defensive technique also played a huge role in the 176 ball knock. Along with being an exceptional limited overs player, he has now started showing promise of becoming a good Test cricketer too.

#4. Miss : Alastair Cook

England’s highest run scorer in Test cricket is going through a horror run with the bat. On either side of his magnificent double century at the MCG are very poor performances for a player of his caliber. His batting looks aimless and he looks like a pale shadow of the player who was the most reliable English batsman for a long period of time irrespective of the conditions.

His impeccable ability to leave the balls outside off stump is now nowhere to be found as he is just pushing at harmless deliveries outside off stump with little foot movement. He looks totally deprived of confidence and might even be dropped from the England squad for the reminder of the series.

#5. Miss : Keaton Jennings

It is most likely that we have seen the last of Jennings in Test cricket for the foreseeable future. He was already dropped from the Test squad once, but Stoneman’s poor performances on the overseas tours led to his comeback. In the ongoing series, he has done absolutely nothing to be retained in the squad.

His technique is very questionable, particularly his foot movement, which is very little and hence inefficient. He just does not look like a player capable of handling experienced international bowlers and must work really hard to get back to the England dressing room again.