India strengthened their hold over the fourth test match of their ongoing series against England. The match that is being held in Southampton has witnessed stark changes in the pitch conditions, and hence England’s ploy of playing the spin duo of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali helped the hosts to finish off India’s middle and lower-middle order batsmen.

Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul provided India a decent start, only for both to be dismissed by Stuart Broad. Cheteshwar Pujara stitched a valuable partnership with captain Virat Kohli, who himself raced to 46 runs in 71 deliveries. He was undone by Sam Curran, and hence the Indian batting order suffered a major hiccup after that.

However, during the course of Kohli’s innings, he became the second-fastest Indian batsman to score 6000 runs in Test Cricket. Apart from Pujara’s gritty, unbeaten knock of 132 runs, Rishabh Pant’s departure for a duck despite facing 29 deliveries caught major attention. Pujara’s temperament was in display, as he negated the English bowlers with his patience on the crease.

He was quite smart with his decision-making in the middle, and his overall demeanor indicated confidence and belief. After being down to eight wickets for 195 runs, Pujara carried Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah with him, eventually garnering a lead of 27 runs in the end.

This seemed to be unlikely as such, but Pujara’s innings could have a strong, meaningful impact on the match as we enter the third day tomorrow. Alaistar Cook and Keaton Jennings faced four overs from the Indian bowlers, and managed to return to the dressing room without any loss of wicket.