India dig deep with bat to draw fourth test against England
After losing two wickets before they had scored a run in their second innings, India batted for over five sessions for the loss of two more wickets to end the final day on 425-4 at Old Trafford.
A courageous hundred from Gill - his fourth of the series - and dogged unbeaten centuries from Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar gave the home crowd little to cheer on a tough day for England.
A closely-fought series remains at 2-1 to England and the hosts must avoid defeat in the final test at the Oval in London, starting on Thursday, to win it.
"This is no less than a win for us, given we were around 300 runs off the lead. Our batsman put on a great display," Gill told the BBC.
"As soon as England got the new ball, it was doing a little bit but our batters did really well and it was tremendous, with a little bit of luck going our way as some balls can get dragged on, brilliant batting and brave batting."
England captain Ben Stokes, who took five wickets in India's first innings but was not fit to bowl much on Saturday, brought himself into the attack on Sunday morning with India resuming on 174-2.
The hosts were firm favourites to seal victory at this point, even more so when Stokes' reintroduction paid dividends. The 34-year-old trapped KL Rahul lbw for 90, ending his excellent third-wicket partnership with Gill at 188.
Gill remained undeterred, however, even after getting a nasty blow on the hand. In his first series as captain, the 25-year-old became only the third skipper to score four hundreds in a single test series.
GILL FALLS
After almost seven hours at the crease, a tired-looking Gill wafted at a Jofra Archer delivery to fall just before lunch for 103. Jadeja was dropped the next ball by Joe Root, a tough chance at first slip.
England still had plenty of time to secure victory, but the home side barely created any chances, with India seeing out the draw in relative comfort.
Washington moved along conservatively after lunch, but hit successive boundaries, one a huge six, to move to his fifth test half century. Jadeja reached his fifty and passed 1,000 test runs against England - the third Indian to do so this series.
After tea, with their chance of victory gone, England offered India the chance to call a halt to proceedings early, but Gill kept his team out there.
With England rotating their bowlers, Jadeja swept to his fifth test ton under no pressure, before Washington quickly completed his maiden test hundred.
India did then agree to a draw – the first non-rain affected draw for England since coach Brendan McCullum and Stokes came together in 2022.
"Another hard-fought test," Stokes told reporters. "Another five-dayer. We set the game up really well, the way we put the Indian bowlers under pressure, focusing on batting once.
"We gave ourselves a great chance of bowling them out. We played the game how we wanted to, it didn't just pan out the way we wanted," Stokes added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Broad, Hussain warn England against risking Archer at the Oval
Find out what's new on ST website and app. FILE PHOTO: Cricket - International Test Match Series - Fourth Test - England v India - Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester, Britain - July 26, 2025 England's Jofra Archer appeals unsuccessfully for the wicket of India's Shubman Gill Action Images via Reuters/Ed Sykes/File Photo England will be putting fast bowler Jofra Archer at risk of a fresh injury if they select him for the fifth and final match against India at the Oval this week, according to former test players Stuart Broad and Nasser Hussain. Archer is taking part in his first test series in four years after overcoming elbow and back injuries. The 30-year-old sat out the first two matches before claiming five wickets in his return to the format at Lord's and four in the drawn Manchester test. While India could draw the series with a win at the Oval, Broad told Sky Sports that England should prioritize Archer's long-term fitness. "We can't not have Archer for four years, bring him back and then bowl him into the ground and not see him for another four years," he said. "(Josh) Tongue started the series, and I know he mainly got lower-order players out, but you probably have a natural replacement for Archer." England have added fast bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton to their tiring pace battery. Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse have played all four tests, while skipper Ben Stokes said he would "run through a brick wall" to try to be available for the final test beginning on Thursday. Gus Atkinson and Tongue are likely to feature in the decisive final test, and England are likely to rest Archer with the Ashes series against Australia in four months' time. "I don't think you can have Archer playing three on the bounce coming back after four years," former England captain Hussain told Sky Sports. "Gus Atkinson coming back after a long time, and then Stokes with a niggle as three of your four seamers - but I would definitely play Atkinson on his home ground if fit." REUTERS
CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
Broad, Hussain warn England against risking Archer at the Oval
England will be putting fast bowler Jofra Archer at risk of a fresh injury if they select him for the fifth and final match against India at the Oval this week, according to former test players Stuart Broad and Nasser Hussain. Archer is taking part in his first test series in four years after overcoming elbow and back injuries. The 30-year-old sat out the first two matches before claiming five wickets in his return to the format at Lord's and four in the drawn Manchester test. While India could draw the series with a win at the Oval, Broad told Sky Sports that England should prioritize Archer's long-term fitness. "We can't not have Archer for four years, bring him back and then bowl him into the ground and not see him for another four years," he said. "(Josh) Tongue started the series, and I know he mainly got lower-order players out, but you probably have a natural replacement for Archer." England have added fast bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton to their tiring pace battery. Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse have played all four tests, while skipper Ben Stokes said he would "run through a brick wall" to try to be available for the final test beginning on Thursday. Gus Atkinson and Tongue are likely to feature in the decisive final test, and England are likely to rest Archer with the Ashes series against Australia in four months' time. "I don't think you can have Archer playing three on the bounce coming back after four years," former England captain Hussain told Sky Sports.
CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
Australia sweep T20 series against West Indies
Australia completed a 5-0 sweep of the West Indies in their Twenty20 international series with Ben Dwarshuis's bowling paving the way for a three-wicket victory in Basseterre, Saint Kitts on Monday. Mitchell Owen top-scored for Australia with 37 off 17 balls, while Cameron Green (32), Tim David (30) and Aaron Hardie (28 nout out) all made valuable contributions as the visitors reached their target of 171 with 18 balls to spare. The win sealed the first T20 series sweep by an Australian men's team in the West Indies, and saw them end the tour with a perfect 8-0 record after a similar sweep in the three-test series. "I didn't expect 5-0 at the start of the series," Australia captain Mitchell Marsh said. "But we played some great cricket. It was something we spoke about after the fourth game. "We knew no Australian team had completed a clean sweep. We've had guys come in and played different roles for us." The match featured 15 sixes, which Marsh attributed to the size of the venue. "I think it's a small ground, so there's always going to be more sixes than normal," he said. "But I think if you look down our batting order in all the five games, we had a lot of power and I guess the messaging was just to play their natural game." Marsh also lauded the performance of his relatively inexperienced bowlers in the death overs. "I'm pretty sure in the last four overs, we didn't go for more than 40 or 50 across the five games," he said. "It's really hard to do. So I think all of them executed. Nathan Ellis was outstanding, Sean Abbott was brilliant. Ben Dwarshuis hasn't played a lot, did a really good role, and even Xavier Bartlett has grown and grown as a bowler." West Indies fans must have feared the worst when Australia won a fifth straight toss and bowled the hosts out for 170, a total they reached thanks in large part to Shimron Hetmyer's knock of 52 off 31 balls. Dwarshuis picked up Hetmyer's wicket as well as those of openers Brandon King (11) and Shai Hope (9). "It was a little bit of a slower wicket so we tried to hit the wicket hard and use the slower balls as well," said Dwarshuis, who was named player of the match.
