"England in India" Joe Root's side set up push for victory in Chennai

"England in India" Joe Root's side set up push for victory in Chennai

 

First Test, Chennai (day four)

England 578 (Root 218) & 178 (Root 40 Ashwin 6-61)

India 337 (Pant 91 Sundar 85 Bess 4-76) & 39-1

India need 381 to win

Scorecard

England will need nine wickets on the final day to beat India after setting up their victory push on day four of the first Test in Chennai

India closed on 39-1, requiring a record 430 to win or more realistically, needing to bat out the final day for a draw

India, who faced 14 overs lost opener Rohit Sharma to Jack Leach

Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara reached the close unbeaten on 15 and 12 respectively

England were tentative in their attempt to set India a challenging target - posting 178 all out from 46.3 overs

They initially batted positively - building on a 241-run first-innings lead secured earlier in the day - but their scoring rate dropped to a crawl after tea

Rather than declare they batted on allowing overs to be lost from the game - overs which they may need when they attempt to take nine wickets on day five

India began day four on 257-6 in their first innings and added 80 runs before they were dismissed for 357 shortly before lunch.

Washington Sundar made an impressive 75 while James Anderson and Leach took two wickets each

Should England secure victory and take a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series/ it would mean just a second defeat for India on home soil since 2013