Stokes blasts century but India still frustrate England

Perth Now

2 days ago

Ben Stokes hit another century. Chris Woakes was in sight of a hat-trick before he'd even completed the first over of India's second innings. The fourth day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford certainly started with a bang.
So much so that by lunch, and with the visitors 2-1 and 310 runs behind, there seemed the genuine possibility that England could claim a series-clinching victory on Saturday without the need of going to the final day.
But given the way this thrilling and feisty series has gone, India were never likely to go down without a fight.
The odds are still stacked against the visitors holding out for a draw in Manchester.
But through the stubborn stand of KL Rahul (87 not out) and Shubman Gill (78 not out), they were given hope of salvaging something from the Test and the five-match series as a whole, which England lead 2-1.
India ended the day on 2-174 and trailing by 137 after frustrating the hosts, and with some rain forecast for Sunday, England may run out of time to seal a win that looked so likely earlier in the day.
Stokes scored his 14th Test century as England ran up a 311-run innings lead to seemingly put it in complete control.
A score of 141 continued his brilliant all-round performance after taking five wickets in India's first innings.
With his ton, the 34-year-old England captain became his country's fourth player to get five wickets and a century in a Test.
Having resumed on 7-544, England were determined to pile the pressure on India, reaching 669 all out.
Stokes's spectacular batting enthralled the crowd as he scored his first Test century in two years with the help of three sixes.
He was eventually caught by Sai Sudharsan off Ravindra Jadeja, who finished the innings with four wickets.
The end of the morning session could hardly have gone worse for India.
Yashasvi Jaiswal went for a duck after just four balls, caught by Joe Root off Woakes. And Woakes immediately struck again, to give himself a chance of a hat-trick, when Sudharsan went for a golden duck, caught by Harry Brook.
At 1-2 at lunch, it looked like being a painful rest of the day for India, but through Rahul and Gill they rallied to 2-86 at tea. A resilient second session included a fourth 50 of the series for Gill.
India grew in confidence as the partnership of the two leading run-scorers in the series looked immovable through the evening session, with Rahul emulating Gill by also reaching a fourth 50 of the series.