Gill-Rahul partnership powers strong Indian comeback

KL Rahul Following England’s dominant performance on the fourth morning of the fourth Test in Manchester, Rahul and Shubman Gill‘s unbroken 174-run partnership guaranteed two wicketless sessions. England shook India with two early runs after taking a commanding 311-run lead thanks to a brilliant innings from skipper Ben Stokes. However, despite facing over 370 deliveries between them, Rahul and Gill staged a steady comeback that saw India finish the day at 174/2, 137 runs behind.

The hosts posted a massive 669 thanks to Stokes’ outstanding 141 in the morning, his first Test century in more than two years. On a gloomy Manchester morning, India had hoped to finish the tail as soon as possible, but Stokes had other ideas. The English captain launched a counterattack after Dawson was dismissed early by Jasprit Bumrah. He reached his century with a leg flick off Mohammed Siraj and then added 41 more in only 34 balls. In the process, he achieved the double of 7000 runs and 200 wickets, making him just the third all-rounder in Test history to do so. Before getting bowled out just before lunch, Carse contributed a quick 47 as England attacked pace and spin.

The momentum continued after that. Woakes left the visitors astonished with a devastating double-wicket maiden, as India needed to bat out three overs before the break. On back-to-back deliveries, Sai Sudharsan lost his composure and Yashasvi Jaiswal was undone by away movement. When the damage was done, India had not yet scored a run in their second innings.

Gill then made it through the session after surviving a close LBW appeal on the hat-trick ball.

After a frantic three-over burst before lunch left them reeling, Gill and Rahul provided some solidity to India’s second innings with a calm stand in a second session that saw no wickets. Together with a cautious Rahul, Gill scored a fluid half-century to lead India to 86/2 at tea. The seamers from England, headed by Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer, bowled incisive lines, beating the bat frequently and generating several lbw appeals. The on-field decision of not-out stood despite Archer’s close call against Gill being reviewed early in the session. Rahul was put to the test by balls that jangled in sharply, while Gill also got a hit on the glove.

The occasional barrier provided the couple with relief despite the pressure. Gill used a number of graceful strokes, such as an upper cut off Archer and a cover drive. Woakes and Carse persisted in their interrogation, but England wasted a second review when Carse hit Gill on the pad; replays revealed that the leg was absent. Rahul also survived a top-edged sweep that landed cleanly, and Gill had a bit of luck when Dawson dropped him at Gully. As India entered Tea without suffering any more damage, Gill eventually reached another fifty in the series.

At the beginning of the last session, Dawson had three consecutive maidens, but the Indian batsmen were patient and put up a hundred-run partnership. After Rahul reached fifty too, Archer was hammered for three fours and a couple of boundaries followed. Before turning back around, Dawson went over the wicket for an over. Stokes was on the pitch but was having issues with his hamstring, so England missed his services with the ball. Carse came around the wicket and bowled back-of-length deliveries as part of England’s attempt at short-ball tactics, but no harm was done.

With the help of an inside edge, Dawson managed to get one armball past Gill and almost trap him in front. However, despite this, the Indian hitters were mainly unaffected as they reached 150 in their partnership. Then, Gill looked for a boundary off a Dawson ball while Rahul hit two fours off Woakes. Before Stumps, Dawson and Root bowled together, but they were unable to break the third-wicket stand.