England vs India, 4th Test: Day 4 Lunch Report - Hosts Sense Victory, Visitors Lose Top Three

Hosts England stamped their authority on India in the morning session of the 4th Test on the penultimate day’s morning session at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton and is currently in a situation where they can boss the game.

It was always going to be an essential session for both teams. England wanted to add some critical runs to their tally before asking India to chase the target down. Sam Curran who was still at the crease to score runs

The southpaw has scored runs whenever he has come out to bat in the series so far. He looked well set for a well-deserved half-century.

However as he ran out of partners, Curran wanted an improbable second run. He eventually fell well short of the crease. It was a great throw from birthday boy Ishant Sharma from fine leg, and Rishabh Pant whipped off the bails in a flash.

Meanwhile, it was Mohammed Shami, who bagged the wicket of Stuart Broad in the very first delivery of the day’s play. It was a full-length delivery outside the off stump, and Broad edged it straight to Rishabh Pant behind the stumps.

Additionally, India was set a target of 245 to chase. After a good batting display in the previous Test, India would have backed themselves to chase the target down. However, the English bowlers had other ideas. After a few shots here and there from Shikhar Dhawan, it was Broad who provided the first breakthrough in the form of KL Rahul’s wicket.

The ball kept very low, and Rahul had just nothing to do. It hit his under edge and castled onto the stumps. Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored a magnificent century in the first innings hoped to carry on his good form.

But, he was struck right in front by James Anderson as India lost a couple quite cheaply. On the other hand, Dhawan again looked in fluent touch and hit three gorgeous boundaries. However, it was Anderson again who induced a false shot from his blade.

The ball took his outside edge and was brilliantly taken by Ben Stokes in the slip cordon. Following the dismissal skipper, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane made sure India went to lunch without losing any further wickets. India are currently 46 for three at the end of 20 overs when lunch was taken.

England vs India 2018, 4th Test Southampton – Brief Scores:

England 1^st innings 246 all-out in 76.4 overs (Sam Curran 78, Jasprit Bumrah 3/46)

India 1^st innings 273 all-out in 84.5 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 132, Moeen Ali 5/63)

England 2nd innings 271 all-out in 96.1 overs (Jos Buttler 69, Mohammed Shami 4/57)

India 2nd innings 46/3 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 17, Jimmy Anderson 2/15)

India needs 199 runs to win and level the series 2-2