Picture Credit: Twitter
The fifth rescheduled Test between India and England is picking its pace. After putting 416 on the board in their first innings, Jasprit Bumrah-led India have been relentless with the ball. The visitors did not give any freebies to English batters and also got rid of five of them by the end of Day 2’s play.
India then started Day 3 on the front foot but England had their captain, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow fighting for them in the middle. The first hour of the play was nothing short of entertaining with both teams going neck-to-neck. While Indian pacers were spitting venom, Stokes and Bairstow were holding the fort for England.
Amid the tense battle going on, a verbal exchange between Kohli and Bairstow also took place which eventually fueled up Bairstow. Nonetheless, while Bairstow was charging from the other end, Stokes got a few reprieves when he tried to take on the Indian bowlers. He was dropped by Shardul Thakur off the bowling of Mohammed Shami earlier.
But the pacer corrected his mistake by accounting for the England captain when he was given the ball. Thakur got rid of Stokes as he got him caught at mid-off. But rather than the bowler, it was the fielder’s effort that earned praise. Jasprit Bumrah made a wholehearted effort to catch the ball mid-air. The Indian captain leaped to his left and held on to the ball with both hands to ensure Stokes does not get another reprieve.
Watch the video of the catch here:
With this wicket of Stokes, India regained some control but Bairstow was keeping the runs coming with his aggressive shots. The right-handed batter raced to 91 off 113 balls from 13 off 60 balls. Bairstow kept hitting every Indian bowler before rain interrupted and forced an early lunch. On the back of Bairstow’s heroics, England have posted 200/6 so far in their first innings.