Birmingham [UK], July 1 (ANI): An unbeaten 76-run stand between Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja guided India to 174/5 at Tea during the ongoing fifth and final Test against England here at Edgbaston on Friday. India were struggling at 71-4 when the duo joined forces. At Tea, Pant (53*) and Jadeja (32*) were at the crease.
Resuming the innings at 53/2 after lunch, the duo of Hanuma Vihari and Virat Kohli added eleven more runs to their partnership, before Vihari was dismissed for 20 after being trapped leg before wicket by pacer Matty Potts. This brought wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant to the crease. Kohli was soon back to the pavilion as well. He was caught by fantastic delivery from Potts at 11 runs, with the ball hitting the inside edge of his bat and hitting the stumps.
This brought Shreyas Iyer to the crease. The batter was looking good and hit Potts for three fours. But he was dismissed for 15 by James Anderson after being caught by wicketkeeper Sam Billings. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was next on the crease. The duo formed a solid partnership. They maintained a solid running between the wickets and went for big hits occasionally. Pant infused life into the innings by hitting spinner Jack Leach for 4,4,6 in the 37th over. With this, Jadeja and Pant completed their 50-run partnership. Pant reached his half-century with a four over the deep square leg.
Earlier, rain played a spoilsport in the fifth Test between India and England, as Jasprit Bumrah-led side ended the first session at 53/2. Put to bat first, India started off on a steady note with openers Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara anchoring the innings. England got their first breakthrough in the 7th over, when James Anderson dismissed Gill, who departed after scoring 17 runs, leaving the team’s total at 27/1.
Vihari came to the crease and tried to stitch a partnership with Pujara. The duo took India’s score to 46 before Anderson struck again and sent Pujara back to the pavilion. Kohli joined hands at the crease with Vihari and took India’s total at 53/2 before rain interrupted the game and forced an early lunch.
Brief Scores: India 174/5 in 44 overs (Rishabh Pant 53*, Ravindra Jadeja 32*, James Anderon 3/41) vs England. (ANI)
