Indian young wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel and bowler Kuldeep Yadav salvaged situation for India on third Day of Ranchi Test. The young batter has showed extreme resilience and crubbed his instincts to play responsibly in the morning session of 3rd Day. He absorbed all the pressure and kept hitting the bad balls. At the other end, Kuldeep Yadav showcased huge resilience with his defensive batting skills.
From 177/7, the two batters have taken Indian score to 253/8 in the morning session. With their 76-run partnership for the 8th wicket, both of them could curtail English bowler’s aggression and turn the match over to India. Kuldeep Yadav fell after scoring 28 runs from 131 balls. Dhruv Jurel carried on and scored 90, missing out on his maiden century. Due to his resilient effort, India scored 307 in 103.2 overs.
England certainly looked disappointed that they did not get the huge lead that they have been aiming for after putting India on the rocks for majority of the Test. Still, they ended up with 46 runs lead which could have been proved to be futile for India. Shoaib Bashir took 5 wickets and put India under pressure. Tom Hartley(3/68) and James Anderson(2/48) got wickets for England.
India started off with ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin with the new ball along with Ravindra Jadeja. Ashwin quickly removed Ben Duckett(15), Ollie Pope(0) and Joe Root(11) while Zak Crawley scored 60 runs of 91 balls at a quick pace. Kuldeep Yadav sent him and Ben Stokes(4) before Tea to push England to 120/5. Post Tea, for the first ball Ravindra Jadeja got Jonny Bairstow(30) and India looked to end any resistance from lower order of England.
Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Tom Hartley(7) and Ollie Robinson(0) quickly. Ashwin completed his 35th 5-for by dismissing frustrating Ben Foakes(17) and James Anderson(0). As a result, England got bowled out for 145 and could only set 192 runs target for India. Rohit Sharma(24) and Yashasvi Jaiswal(16) quickly knocked off 40 runs from 8 overs to give India firm edge in the chase.
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