Root, Bairstow firm as England eye to level the series
BIRMINGHAM: Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, a reliable pairing from England, held their ground with their 150-run unbeaten partnership before the opening games provided a solid start as the home team need 119 runs to level the series.
In the rescheduled fifth test of the series, India set England a big target of 378 after being eliminated by 245 in the second session.
Middle-order right-handed batsman Cheteshwar Pujara and late-inning centurion Rishabh Pant were the batsmen’s choice as they both scored significant half-centuries while the rest of the batsmen couldn’t score much.
Pujara scored the highest with 66 of 168, tied with eight bounds, while Pant improved his last innings century to 57 of 86 with the help of as many bounds.
For England, captain Ben Stokes led from the front with his four wickets, while Matthew Potts and Stuart Broad bagged two apiece. James Anderson, on the other hand, did a scalp.
In the run chase, the hosts got off to a great start as their opening duo defended their team in an important situation and laid a solid foundation for the run chase with a superb starting position of 107 runs.
Left-handed starter Zack Crawley, who was seeking his sixth Test century, fell four short of him when Indian captain Jasprit Bumrah castled him for 46. He faced 76 balls and shattered seven bounds in the course of his outstanding strike.
Crawley’s departure triggered a frustrating meltdown as England lost two more wickets after adding so many runs to their total and dropped to 109/3 with Alex Lees bringing in his second Test fifty the victim of a mix-up between wickets after scoring 56. 65 deliveries.
With the team struggling at 109/3, Root and Bairstow showed courage and created an astonishing 150-run partnership to put England in command before the conclusion of day four.
Bairstow scored an unbeaten 72 from just 87 balls, while England’s leading innings scorer Root is unbeaten with his 76 from 112 balls, including nine limits.
The duo will now resume the England race chase on the final day of the rescheduled fifth test at 259/3 as the hosts need a further 119 races.
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