Rishabh Pant
during day five of the Specsavers 5th Test match between England and India at The Kia Oval on September 11, 2018 in London, England.

Rishabh Pant scored his maiden Test century while KL Rahul built on his ton as the duo helped India recover from 121 for 5 in the second innings of the fifth Test. At tea, India were 298 for 5, still needing 166 runs to win the game.

KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant had their task cut out when the second session began. The writing was very much on the wall when Pant joined Rahul in the middle. India were reeling at 121 for 5 in the first session while chasing 464  with little less than one full day remaining.

After being reduced to 2 for 3, an 118-run partnership between Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane had revived India’s hopes. However, India lost Rahane and Hanuma Vihari in quick succession to find themselves in deep trouble. Moeen Ali dismissed Rahane to end the 118-run stand. One run later, Ben Stokes dismissed Vihari for a duck to reduce India to 121 for 5.

But Rahul held firm from one end and went on to score his fifth Test century. And in Pant he found an able partner as the duo mixed caution with aggression to revive India’s hopes. With Rahul waging a lone battle, Pant eased the pressure off him bu scoring a couple of boundaries off Moeen, including a one-handed six over long-on. The duo shared an unbeaten 46-run stand to take India to lunch without any further setback.

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Rishabh Pant, Century,
during day five of the Specsavers 5th Test match between England and India at The Kia Oval on September 11, 2018 in London, England.

 

And they began the second session in the same manner. In fact, it was Pant who took the onus on himself to keep the scoreboard ticking. While Rahul held firm from one end, Pant kept on hitting boundaries at regular intervals to ease the pressure.

The partnership soon crossed the 100-run mark before Pant reached his maiden Test fifty, off 78 balls, with a cut for a single off Ben Stokes. The duo rarely looked in trouble as the partnership grew from strength to strength.  And just before the tea, Pant hit Adil Rashid for a maximum to reach his maiden Test ton.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the session:

 

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