Jadeja and Sundar post unbeaten tons as India repel England to draw fourth Test

The Guardian

4 days ago

At the end of five exhausting days that produced plenty of memories but no outright winner, it was India who were celebrating. England made most of the running in this fourth Test, only to be thwarted by an impressive rearguard on the final day and left grumbling by the pursuit of two milestones that delayed the handshakes.
Sitting 2-1 down with one to play, Shubman Gill's tourists can no longer win the series outright but they now head to the Oval buoyed by drawing this game. Ben Stokes gave it everything – 141 in England's first innings, six wickets with the ball – and could reflect on his finest all-round match by way of numbers but this was scant consolation, one suspects, having pushed through the pain barrier for the result he dislikes the most.
It was just the second time that a Test has ended as a stalemate under his captaincy, but unlike the previous one – that soggy affair here two years ago, when England's hopes of regaining the Ashes were washed away – there were no gripes about the Manchester weather. The final day stayed dry and India, who started it on 174 for two, still 137 runs in arrears, batted all three sessions for the loss of just two more.
As much as England toiled, continuing a series in which their potency has dropped off after the ball has lost its shine, this was decided chiefly by an uncompromising display from India's batters. The surface still had more Mogwais than Gremlins on its fifth day but from none for two before lunch on the fourth, 311 behind after shipping 669 runs in 157 overs, lesser sides might have wilted under scoreboard pressure alone.
Yet India repelled everything, Gill's masterful 103 from 238 balls, and 90 from KL Rahul, setting a template that was followed assiduously by Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Jadeja made an unbeaten 107 from 185, Sundar 101 not out from 206 — even if the completion of these centuries triggered the latest bit of needle in this series.
At 5.20pm, the start of the final hour, India were 386 for four, leading by 75 runs, and the Test had long since been decided. But while Stokes wanted to shake hands and take his team off the field, Gill in the away dressing room was unmoved. Instead he wanted Jadeja, then on 89, and Sundar, 80, to tick off the milestones their efforts deserved.
And so much to the chagrin of the England captain – and the delight of the Indian supporters who stayed far later than their equivalents – there were 28 more balls sent down. Jadeja smoked Harry Brook for six to bring up his fifth century, before Sundar drilled a four to claim his first and trigger the end. Brook, having chirped him relentlessly throughout this prickly last passage of play, had to suck it up.
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